Reflection Chapter 1.

October 8th 2020.

Reflection Chapter 1.
After reading chapter 1, which is about applied linguistics, it can be recognized a lot of terminology
and theories analyzing and differentiating learning from acquiring, teaching takes another
perspective and the learner obtains more understanding through the process on a second language
education.

Applied linguistics, in this writer’s words, is a multidisciplinary area which focus in giving
solutions to real-life problems on language; this field was first recognized as a discipline on the
1950’s being Ferdinand de Saussure the most representative scholar of it, his famous distinction
between langue and parole was fundamental for deeper studies to modern linguistic theories of
the language. By langue he stated it was the language itself, a complex system of communication
and by parole the very use of the individual for communicating by itself. (Saussure, 1916)

Consequently, some other concepts on the Structuralist Paradigm side appear: such as
linguistic sign (every unit of language has identity and represents an idea), structure (relationship
between the elements of language), level (according to Bloomfield, 1933 is a group of hierarchical
subsystems), and component (used to characterize the phonetic and semantic levels of the
language). The aim of the Structuralists or as they called themselves Descriptivists is the description
of the language through steps of observation and collection of information.

Then, there is the Generativism which emerged against the Structuralism; the key figure of
this approach is Noam Chomsky, he stated that the generative paradigm main characteristic is that
language is in constant revision (Chomsky, 1965). Also, generativists believe that language is innate
and the speaker of the language has an innate knowledge of it, and that generative grammar is
focused on rules.

Later on, at the end of the twentieth century linguists developed the term Pragmatics, its
definition could be sum up to a contrast with structuralist theory setting language as a process with
means of communication where the speakers use their own context to produce speech by
themselves.

Therefore, Applied Linguistics (AL) became stronger at the final years of the twentieth
century obtaining more and more importance for its application in language, this application goes
from the way a child develops language, the relation between language and culture, aid to
translators, to help people learning a second language or their mother tongue; furthermore, AL has
a wide range of fields of study but, the most developed area is Learning and Teaching a Second
Language.

In addition, Applied Linguistics is extended in several fields of study which are related by the
focus on language teaching and learning (Wisniewski, 2007) and they help to have a better
understanding of the teaching and learning processes of a second language because these areas
provide solutions to problems in real life for example: how language is used, how language is
thought, or how language is learned.

Hence, the importance of Applied Linguistics lies in the significant role it has in solving
language related problems; since language is imperative in humans lives, and in our world
communication and language suffer changes constantly so that people need to investigate and
understand facts of language use and the organization of it.
 So, the relationship between language, linguistics, applied linguistics, teaching and learning
is the climax of this author’s reflection which into practice (teaching a second language) all the
terminology, concepts, theories and fields of Applied Linguistics should be taken into consideration;
as well as when planning or while the actors of the teaching-learning process are in the classroom,
language teaching must be taken beyond teaching isolated words or utterances.

To sum up, teaching a second language has a very important place into Mexican schools’
system, language teaching programmes are designed to fulfill specific purposes and teachers are
expected to be prepared enough to provide the necessary tools to students; moreover, teachers
need to have knowledge to solve real language problems that the learners may face through the
teaching and learning process.
 References

Second Language Acquisition Antology (2020). Chapter 1: Applied Linguistics (pp 05 – 20). IEXPRO
University

La Boîte à Saussure.fr. Saussure Ferdinand 1916. Course de Linguistique générale (n.d.) Retrieved
on October 6, 2020http://laboiteasaussure.fr/langage_langue_parole.htm

Khansir,A. (2013, Oct.) Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching.

https://www.academia.edu/14882959/Applied_Linguistics_and_English_Language_Teaching