Unit 1

Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés
EDUCACIÓN
A DISTANCIA APPLIED LINGUISTICS
UNIT I
DEFINING APPLIED LINGUISTICS
MATERIALS DESIGNER: LIC. ALEJANDRA HAWRESZ
2012
EDUCACIÓN
A DISTANCIA APPLIED LINGUISTICS U1
TABLE OF CONTENTS – UNIT 1
SECTION 1 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS: AN OVERVIEW. ............................................................... 6
EXPLORING & REFLECTING. ................................................................................................................ 6
1. DEFINITION AND SCOPE ............................................................................................................... 7
1.1. Main characteristics........................................................................................................... 9
TASK 1 ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
SECTION 2 – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................... 11
2. ORIGINS ............................................................................................................................................. 11
2.1. Second generation................................................................................................................. 14
SECTION 3 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE TEACHING .......................................... 16
3. APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND TEACHING ................................................................................ 16
4. THEORY IN PRACTICE. ................................................................................................................. 20
SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................. 24
INTEGRATIVE TASK ............................................................................................................................. 26
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MAP OF THE UNIT
OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
 Define Applied Linguistics.

 Identify how applied linguistics relates different disciplines.
 Trace the origins of the term.
 Discuss the concept of AL, its past, and its present status.
 Explore the relationship between AL and Language Teaching.
 Analyse AL as an area of enquiry bearing on the techniques of Language
Teaching.
CONTENTS
To achieve these objectives, we will study:
Section 1 – Applied Linguistics: an overview
1. Definition and scope

1.1. Main characteristics
Section 2 – Historical background
2. Origins
2.1. Second generation
Section 3 – Applied Linguistics and language teaching
3. Applied Linguistics and teaching.

4. Theory in practice
CONNECTIONS
This first unit is concerned with fundamental questions relating to what may be
called the foundations of Applied Linguistics and paves the way for the analysis of
more practical issues.
KEY WORDS
Applied Linguistics – Linguistics – Foreign Language Teaching
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CORE BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cook, G & Seidlhofer, B. (1997). Principles & Practice in Applied Linguistics – Studies
in honour of H. G Widdowson. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Corder, P. (1974). An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Grabe, W. & Kaplan, R.B. (1992). Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Los Angeles:
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Kaplan, R. Grabe, W., Swain, M. & Richard Tucker, G. (2005). The Oxford Handbook of
Applied Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kaplan, R. & Widdowson, H.G (1992). Applied Linguistics. Encyclopedia of Linguistics –

Volume 1. Ed. W. Bright. New York: Oxford University Press.
Widdowson, H. G (1984) Explorations in Applied Linguistics 2. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.
FURTHER READINGS
Brown, H. Douglas (4th ed., 2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Buckingham, T & Eskey, D.E (1980). Toward a redefinition of Applied Linguistics. In R.

B. Kaplan (Ed.) On the scope of applied linguistics. Rowley (Mass.): Newbury House..
Campbell, R.N & Galvan, J (1980). Bilingual education, language immersion and home
language maintenance. In early childhood education Forum: A Bilingual perspective. T.
Escobedo, Ed.
Corson, D. (1997). The learning and use of academic English words. Language
learning 47 (4), 671-718
Oller, D.K (1980). The emergence of the sounds of speech in infancy. Chp.6 In G. Jeni-
Komshian, J.F Kavanagh & C.A Ferguson (eds.) Child Phonology. Vol 1. Production (pp
93 –112) New York: Academic Press.
Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing Language and Ethnicity among adolescents. London:

Longman.
Saussure, F. de (1974). Cours de Linguistique Generale. Eds. C. Bally and A. Sechehaye.

Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1974. Original publication: Geneva: 1916.
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Strevens, P (1966). Announcement: International Association of Applied Linguistics.
L’Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquee (L‘AILA) IRAL 4 (1): 63-65
Wardaugh, R. & Brown, H. D. (eds.) (1977). A survey of applied linguistics. An

Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
INTERACTIVE WORK
Remember to participate in the forums and exchange ideas with your colleagues.
Prepare your questions before you come to virtual lessons, so that you can make the
most of this weekly contact with your tutor.
EVALUATION AND SELF-EVALUATION
You will find activities for self-evaluation in the unit, so that you can constantly check
your progress, but you will also be requested to send some work to your tutors, for
their review.
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We will now focus on the following objectives:
 To define Applied Linguistics.

 To identify how applied linguistics relates to different
disciplines.
SECTION 1 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS: AN OVERVIEW.
EXPLORING & REFLECTING
 Write A, B or C in the space provided next to the items below according to the
following key.
A – I can give a comprehensive explanation of what it is/means.
B – I might attempt to provide a simple explanation but am not certain it would be

adequate or complete.
C – I have no idea of what it is.
Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEF)

European Language Portfolio
Text-based syllabus
(Do not send this answer to your tutor yet. Keep it for later use)
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1. DEFINITION AND SCOPE
Applied linguistics is an unusual discipline. While there is still debate as to its scope
and defining criteria, it is now evident that it is evolving into a well recognised,
broadly defined discipline.
The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics defines applied linguistics as follows:
Whenever knowledge about language is used to solve a basic language-related

problem, one may say that AP is being practised. AL is a technology which makes
abstract ideas and research findings accessible and relevant to the real world; it
mediates between theory and practice. (Kaplan and Widdowson 1992:76)
Applied linguistics, therefore, is defined as a field the purpose of which is to solve

real-world language problems. In order to do this, the field draws upon linguistics,
but not exclusively; it draws on knowledge from a variety of fields as well – from
anthropology, educational theory, psychology, and sociology, and from the sociology
of learning, the sociology of information, the sociology of knowledge, etc. (It is
important to add that this list, as well as being incomplete, is open-ended.) It may
then be said that applied linguistics is the point at which all of the social sciences (and
many of the humanities) come together and are actualised.
The term applied linguistics suggests that its concern is with the use of findings from
theoretical studies of language for the solution of problems of one sort or another
arising in a different domain. The close association of applied linguistics with
language teaching is based on the belief that such findings must necessarily be
relevant to the practical teaching of languages.
In order to try to define applied linguistics two large questions were to be answered:
First, what part of linguistics can be applied to the real-world language-based
problems that applied linguistics presumes to mediate? Second, what kinds of
problems can be solved through the mediation of applied linguistics? According to
Robert B. Kaplan and William Grabe (1992), one of the areas in which applied
linguistics has had a significant impact has been language pedagogy. A second of the
categories involves the professional uses of language. In recent years, there have
been detailed studies of the language used between doctors and patients, of the
language of the courtroom, and of the language of the classroom. A third category on
which attention seems to be focused is one concerned with both aberrant language
behaviour and language assessment to determine what sorts of language behaviour
may be classified as aberrant. In this category, the work of applied linguists has
overlapped and interacted with the work of speech clinicians, neurolinguists, and
psycholinguists.
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The fourth general category of activity on which a great deal of attention seems to
have been focused is one to which it is difficult to attach a clear label. It is that
category that has been concerned with the fact that the natural condition for most
human beings seems to involve their exposure to and acquisition of more than one
language. Included in this area are such topics as bilinguialism, multilingualism,
multiculturalism, and a number of other similar topics. This area is concerned largely
but not exclusively, with the education sector, it is concerned with how and why
individuals learn and use more than one language (and tend generally to pick up a set
of cultural assumptions along with the additional language). The applied linguist is
concerned with understanding what it means to be bilingual, how bilingualism
happens, where (in addition to the classroom) bilingualism may be acquired, and
what bilingualism does to the community in which it exists in human, ecological,
social, political and economic terms.
This brief account indicates areas in which applied linguistics have been active; they
have in these functions, as in others, intervened between theoretical models and
practitioners, moving traffic in both directions, and thereby helping to bring
theoretical concerns to the classroom and at the same time expanding theory by
bringing from the classroom problems and issues which have not been (or have not
adequately been) addressed in theory. Most recently, there has been a growing
interest in discourse, both oral and written; and discourse is gradually becoming an
area in which a number of previously separated concerns are beginning to coalesce.
Concerns with discourse weds interest into actors, in their social roles, in the
negotiation of meaning between them, and in the ways in which discourse operates
linguistically.
It may be said that virtually all areas of linguistics contribute to applied linguistics;
that is, pertinent information comes from phonology, from syntax, from semantics,
from text linguistics, from sociolinguistics, and from psycholinguistics. The kinds of
problems that applied linguists become involved with can largely be identified as
communication problems whether the communication is between individuals, or
between whole nations.
Applied linguistics recognises that there is pressure to communicate between human

beings, that human beings use language to communicate, and that communication
problems develop because language is an imperfect tool, but also because language is
a mechanism of territorial defense. Applied linguistics is not interested in describing
language itself; on the contrary, unlike linguistics, it does not regard language as an
isolate to be examined away from its social environment. It takes the view that
meaning does not lie in the sentence, but in the uses to which language is put by
human beings; that meaning is not inherent in the sentence, but rather is negotiated
between users of language; and that meaning transcends sentences.
The rationale for applied linguistics is exactly the reconnection of language not only
to the contexts of situation in which it occurs, but also, more generally, to the many
social practices involving an understanding of language. This process should be a
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dynamic interaction in which theories of language are also illuminated by insights
from practical activities.
It may then be said that applied linguistics is synoptic, systematic and principled. It is
synoptic in the sense that it keeps in view the whole range of concepts and
practicalities in language teaching; systematic in its manner of operation; and
principled in being firmly based in theory.
1.1. Main characteristics
Therefore, considering what has been discussed so far, we may agree that the
definition of applied linguistics rests on six fundamental propositions:
1. Applied Linguistics is based in intellectual inquiry, gives rise to and makes use of
research, and is discipline- related;
2. Linguistics is essential to applied linguistics, but is not the only discipline that
contributes to it;
3. The choice of which disciplines are involved in particular applied- linguistic
circumstances, and which parts of those disciplines, is contingent: it depends on
what the circumstances are;
4. The multidisciplinary nature of applied linguistics requires that its practical
operations be realised in a number of different domains of human activity.
5. Applied linguistics is typically concerned with achieving an end, with improving
existing language- related operations, and with solving language- related
problems.
6. Linguists are not exempt from being socially accountable, from displaying a social
conscience, and therefore, when possible, they should use their knowledge and
understanding in the service of humanity.
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TASK 1
Answer this question:
How does the following statement made by Peter Strevens clearly summarize what
has been discussed about Applied Linguistics so far ? Your answer should contain no
more than 50 words.
‘ It is a central feature of applied linguistics that it is task-related, problem-

oriented, project- centered, and demand- led. It is also fundamentally based in
academic disciplines.’
Upload your work to the campus for your tutor to review.
If your answer to the previous task was correct, you have achieved
the objectives of this section. Now you can:
 Define Applied Linguistics.

 Provide an overview of applied linguistics as it relates to different
disciplines.
You are ready to proceed to Section 2.
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 To trace the origins of the term.

Objectives.  To discuss the concept of AL, its past, and its present status.
SECTION 2 – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
FORUM
In the light of what you have read in Section 1, do any of the following
ideas give a comprehensive definition of AL? Why?/Why not?
 AL is the application of Linguistics to practical issues.

 AL acts a mediator between theory and practice.
 AL fulfils a multi-based, interdisciplinary language related
function.
Send your answer to the forum to be shared with the rest of the class.
2.ORIGINS
In order to understand the present status of a concept, a historical review is often

helpful and illuminating. The origin of AL, then, should logically be sought in the
origin of linguistics. Linguistics, as a scientific study of language, is claimed to be a
branch of science.
In order to systematize the growing branches of science in the 19th century, many
scholars attempted to classify scientific areas. For example, Bacon divided sciences
into areas dealing with memory, thinking and mind. August Conte, on the other hand,
divided sciences into mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and
sociology. Ampere divided sciences into two major areas. Mathematics area that
included mathematics, physics, natural sciences and life sciences, and spiritual areas
that dealt with anthropology and politics. Later, Spencer divided sciences into (a)
abstract sciences including logic and mathematics, (b) semi-abstract sciences,
including mechanic, physics and chemistry, and (c) objective sciences including
astronomy, geology, biology, psychology and sociology.
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However, it was not until Dewey's time around 1850 that the field of linguistics
manifested itself as an independent area of science along with nine other branches.
At the same time, scholars tried to apply the findings of different sciences to solving
everyday problems. Just as sciences were divers and the findings quite remarkable,
so were their applications. After some time, the applications multiplied and certain
groups of scholars devoted their time to investigating the optimal ways of applying
scientific findings to real world activities. This group of people was later called
applied scientists.
Linguistics itself as a scientific area emerged in the late 1800’s/ early 1900’s. And it
may be said that it necessarily begins with the work of Ferdinand de Saussure and
his General course on linguistics (1916). His systematic structural approach to
language has been a foundation for virtually all of linguistics since that time. De
Saussure’s work had a powerful impact on various structural-linguistic groups that
emerged across Europe, including the London School of Linguistics, the Geneva
School of Linguistics, the Copenhagen School of Linguistics, and the Prague School of
Linguistics.
American Linguistics has been historically central to the emergence of the discipline
as synchronic descriptive research on many languages received its greatest academic
support. The growth of American linguistics began when European anthropological
linguists arrived in North America to study and record native-American languages
before many of those languages disappeared. The leading figure in this migration was
Franz Boas who trained the leading American structural linguists, in particular Sapir
and Bloomfield.
The strong dominance of American structural linguistics was finally challenged in the
mid-1950’s by a young linguist named Noam Chomsky. His theories represented, and
still represent, both a strong break with American structural linguistics and, at the
same time, a basic continuity with ideas traceable back to de Saussure and beyond.
The term AL came to be used in the 1950’s, and at first it was used specially in
connection with foreign language teaching, at least in Western Europe and the
US. It was in the latter that it drew heavily on the structuralist notions of Fries
and the behaviourist psychology of B.F Skinner, but it had not evolved an
independent paradigm.
The term AL has been in use al least since the founding of the University of
Edinburgh School of Applied Linguistics in 1956, and of the Centre for Applied
Linguistics in Washington D.C, in 1957. In the case of these two academic institutions
that first bore the term applied linguistics in its title, it was the national interest of a
major speaking country – Britain in 1956 and the US in 1957 – to promote the
learning and teaching of English for educational development, and to unlock the
considerable funds necessary in order to establish an institutional base. Therefore,
Applied Linguistics was produced simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic, not as
an a priori concept, but as the consequence of creative minds aware of the
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developments then current in the discipline of linguistics, applying their talents to
specific language-related tasks.
When AL established itself as an area of inquiry in relation to linguistics on the one

hand, and independent of linguistics, on the other, an interesting issue evolved. To
some scholars, AL was simply the application of linguistics to practical issues. That is,
AL is practical not theoretical. As Corder (1973) states:
The application of linguistic knowledge to some object, or applied linguistics, is an

activity. It is not a theoretical study. It makes use of the findings of theoretical
studies. The applied linguist is a consumer, or user, not a producer, of theories. If
we use the term " theory " as is used in science, then there is no "theory of
language teaching" (p. 10).
This treatment of AL can be called the first generation, in which AL is considered a

practical field. In contrast to the followers of this approach to AL, some scholars led
by Widdowson believe that AL involves more than just mere application of the
findings of linguistics to practical issues. To this group of scholars, AL has its own
theoretical as well as practical principles.
Buckingham (1980) complains that AL in the sense of application of linguistics to

practical activities is misleading and inadequate, both too narrow and too broad. On
the one hand it is too narrow since it is limited to the applications of linguistics to
language teaching without regard to the multitude of other disciplines such as
sociology, psychology, speech therapy, speech communication, pedagogy, speech
pathology, and so on. On the other hand, it is too broad if all related fields were
included in the term of AL because AL will then be everything and nothing at the
same time.
To bridge the gap between the too broad and the too narrow definitions of AL,
Campbell (1980) claims that the term “applied’ suggests an activity rather than a
state or an attribute. The implied activity is usually a problem solving rather than
one that requires the practitioner to demonstrate some skill or some shared
knowledge.
Campbell further argues that most of the problems applied linguists face center
around the definition of the relationships or the connections between theories and
the nature of language and the establishment of the optimal conditions for teaching
or learning languages. Thus, AL stands as a mediator between descriptions,
grammars, analyses, explanations of linguistic phenomena on the one hand, and
syllabuses, textbooks, and curriculum, on the other.
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2.1. Second generation
Such shifts in the definition of AL led to the second generation of AL in which AL was
considered an area between theories and practices. This trend was strongly
supported in the 80’s by many scholars. Most of them believed that AL acts as a
mediator between theory and practice. That is, AL is neither purely theoretical nor
purely practical. Buckingham and Eskey (1980) believe that AL performs a
mediatory function between theoretical disciplines and various kinds of practical
issues. Corder also claims that AL is a set of related activities or techniques mediating
between theoretical accounts for human language on the one hand and the practical
activities of language teaching on the other.
Oller (1980) improves the mediatory function of AL and suggests an interactional

role for it. He claims that AL needs theoretical linguistics, and conversely the
theorists need to test their theories by application. Both require empirical research
techniques in order to accomplish their objectives. He further argues that areas such
as information processing, artificial intelligence, computer simulation of linguistic
processes, voice typewriters, automatic readers, sophisticated editing and printing
devices as components of AL. That is AL cannot and should not be limited to only
linguistics.
Along the same lines, Strevens sets certain principles for AL. He claims that AL has
multiple bases in theory; it is not restricted to an interest in the teaching of
languages; and it redefines itself afresh for each task. He claims that AL is at present
the only discipline that fulfills this multi-bases, interdisciplinary, language related
function.
All in all, most scholars agree that AL is more than and beyond the simplistic view of
applying the findings of linguistics to practical issues. Such a view is stated by Kaplan
(1980, p. 5) who states, “AL is the point at which all the branches of linguistics come
together. Further, AL is the point at which all the branches of linguistics intersect with
other disciplines.”
It should be noted that as the scope of AL widens, so does the responsibilities of the
applied linguists. Applied linguists can no more rely on the mere application of the
findings of linguistics to solve language related problems. Nor can they depend on
the mere speculations and theoretical principles laid by linguists, or any other single
field of study for that matter.
Of course, AL was never, is never, and will never be independent of linguistics, just as
it cannot be independent of many other fields. In fact, an applied linguist acts as a
refinery fed by raw materials obtained from theoretical principles outlined by many
disciplines. The applied linguist then combines, analyses, and refines all the pieces of
information imparted from different fields and provides the consumers of any
discipline with applicable principles.
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Through this process of receiving, refining, and providing modified and new
principles, applied linguists may develop their own principles to be utilised. That is
probably why Widdowson argues strongly and of course convincingly, that AL, “As I
conceive of it, is a spectrum of inquiry which extends from theoretical studies of
language to classroom practice”.
FORUM
Food for thought:
Why should an applied linguist be acquainted with current theory in

linguistics? Is it also the case that a general linguist should be familiar
with the current issues in applied linguistics? Why/ Why not? Your
answer should contain no more than 100 words.
Send this answer to the forum and discuss it with the other course
participants.
After studying this section, you are in a better position to:
 Trace the origins of the term applied linguistics.

 Discuss the concept of AL, its past, and its present status.
Move on to Section 3.
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 To explore the relationship between AL and Language Teaching.

 To analyse AL as an area of enquiry bearing on the techniques of
Language Teaching.
SECTION 3 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE TEACHING
In an article in the English Language Teaching Journal, Widdowson

(1984) argues that teachers should concern themselves more with
theory:
‘No matter how concerned teachers may be with the immediate

practicalities of the classroom, their techniques are based on some
principle or other which is accountable to theory.’
Comment on this idea. Send this answer to the forum and discuss it with
the other course participants.
3.APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND TEACHING
One of the major applications of linguistics to the real world activities has been its
application to the teaching of languages. As with other applied sciences, the history of
language teaching clearly shows the precedence of AL to linguistics, because
linguistics is hardly one hundred years old. As mentioned before, in the early days
language teaching was considered the only area where linguistics could be applied.
Of course, the most salient, observable, and accessible situation in real life setting in
which the findings of linguistics could be readily applied was the teaching of
languages in general, and the teaching of foreign languages in particular. That is
probably why Corder (1973) stated some thirty years ago that.
‘ AL is the relevance of those studies that are broadly called linguistic to a number of
practical tasks connected with language teaching.’
Of course, this approach might have been well justified then. However, Corder
himself believed that while the relevance of linguistics to language teaching cannot
be disputed, the approach might be criticized in the grounds that linguistics cannot
be restricted to language teaching alone. However, due to some social and
educational factors, the term AL had been restricted to language teaching.
The idea that AL is, or almost is, interchangeable with language teaching misdirected
the field of AL for some years. The reason is that the scope of AL cannot be limited to
language teaching, because linguistics was one of the fields of which the findings
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were applicable to language teaching. There were some other areas of science that
contributed to language teaching as well. Furthermore, there were other areas of
science, which had little or no connections to language teaching, to which linguistics
contributed. That is why even Corder (Ibid.) who used the two terms almost
interchangeably, later admitted that these two terms should not be taken as equal.
He stated that:
‘…theories about the human language are, of course, of use to other people
besides the language teacher. It would be a mistake to associate AL exclusively
with language teaching. There are other people who are engaged in practical
activities which involve language in a central role for whom a knowledge of its
nature could be of use in dealing with problems which arise in their work: the
speech therapist, the literary critic, the communication engineer, for example.
We do not associate AL with any single of these activities. Whilst AL and
language teaching may be closely associated, they are not one and the same
activity’ (p. 10).
Although this was a great contribution to the development and expansion of the
scope of AL, it was not comprehensive enough to elaborate on the yet to come
multiple aspects of AL. As we have seen, some scholars led by Widdowson believed
that AL involved more than just mere application of the findings of linguistics to
practical issues. To this group of scholars, AL has its own theoretical as well as
practical principles.
For Widdowson (1985) the relation between linguistic theory and classroom
activities is symbiotic. The starting point of every application of linguistics to any of
the practical tasks is a description of the language or languages involved in the task.
The possession of an adequate description of natural languages is a prerequisite for
the most efficient carrying out of these tasks and is common to all uses of linguistic
knowledge in practical affairs. In the case of language teaching it is true to say that
we cannot teach systematically what we cannot describe. This is not, of course, to say
that people do not learn what is not specifically taught.
It is characteristic of applied linguistics that the practical problems with which it

attempts to deal can rarely if ever be solved by reference to one theoretical approach
to language alone. The acquisition of adequate descriptions of the languages, dialects
and varieties of language involved in the practical activity with which the applied
linguist is concerned is his first task. From the language teaching point of view the
result is as comprehensive and detailed an account of the structural properties-
phonological, semantic and syntactic – of the language involved in the teaching
situation as current linguistic theories permit.
The descriptions which result from this activity are the raw material for the next
process in applied linguistics. This is one in which use is made of linguistic
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descriptions to solve some problems in the planning of a practical task. In the case of
language teaching these procedures are all concerned with establishing the content
of the teaching syllabus, with the techniques for selecting out the most
comprehensive descriptions of the target language those items which are to be
taught. These procedures are all comparative. The reasons for this are clear.
Selection involves weighing up one thing against another. To do this they have to be
seen together, their similarities and differences have to be discovered and analysed
and their relative importance evaluated in relation to the needs and objectives of the
teaching task.
The question that naturally arises is why has AL usually been heavily identified with
language teaching. One common and logical answer is that as applied linguistics is
concerned with the uses of language, therefore, it has been heavily identified with
language teaching. Applied linguistics have been involved with teachers in more or
less formal settings. First, language teachers wanted to be perceived as scientists
rather than humanists. Second, the emergence of applied linguistics as a discipline
occurred during the “Sputnik Era”, this resulted in heavy investment of funds of
money by the US government in education. Third, the emergence of applied
linguistics as a discipline also coincided with the great growth of English as a
language of wider communication, particularly in science and technology. This
phenomenon caused attention to be focused on English and on the teaching of
English as a foreign language. Fourth, English as a world language. Finally,
immigration created a different kind of need of ESL instruction. All of these forces
have built a bridge between applied linguistics and language teaching
It is often said that practical tasks, such as language teaching, can be performed
either by following a very detailed and precise set of instructions about how to
proceed, or by applying some set of general principles to the particular situation. As
we all know, good language teachers do not work by rule of thumb or recipe. They
possess a set of principles which guide their work, in other words, some general
notions about what is happening when people learn languages, an ‘informal’ theory
about how languages are taught and learned. It is ‘informal’ because, while
experienced teachers certainly do possess such general principles, they may not be
able, or may not have tried to formulate them explicitly and clearly in words.
But it is only when principles are explicitly formulated that one can evaluate them or
test them in order to see whether they might, in parts, be mutually contradictory and
whether they are sufficiently comprehensive and detailed to provide a basis for
solving the many different kinds of problems that arise in the course of the teacher’s
professional work.
When people talk about language teaching they tend to think of it as something
which goes on in the classroom, where the teacher meets face to face with his/ her
pupils. Teachers know, however, that this is only part of their job, the end-point of a
time-consuming and exacting activity much of which takes place outside the
classroom: planning lessons, correcting, assessing progress, discussing with
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colleagues, selecting and perhaps producing teaching materials. All these activities
involve making decisions. But there are other decisions which are not necessarily, or
indeed ever, made by classroom teachers, concerned with the organization of the
educational system in general, the relative place of language teaching in the
curriculum, the nature of the syllabus and examining systems, all of which influence
and to some extent determine what goes on in the classrooms. We should consider
all of these activities as part of the total ‘language teaching operation.’ If teaching is to
be described as creating the conditions in which learning is facilitated, then all the
decisions which bear on that objective are part of the process of planning the total
language teaching operation.
Applied Linguistics has been concerned with the identification and analysis of a
certain class of problems which arise in the setting up and carrying out of language
teaching programmes, and with the provision of the answers or part of the answers
to them. It has never claimed, of course, to be able to provide all the answers to all
the questions. Nor obviously has it claimed to provide the final answer to any of the
problems with which it deals. Some of the decisions are based on principles which do
not derive from the knowledge gained by the scientific study of language; those, for
example, which are based on political or educational policy and those which are
matters of general pedagogy and teaching methodology. Applied linguistics may
validly make reference to specifically educational contexts. As Widdowson (1990)
puts it:
‘Its scope delimited this way, applied linguistics is in my view an activity which
seeks to identify, within the disciplines concerned with language and learning,
those insights and procedures of enquiry which are relevant for the formulation
of pedagogic principles and their effective actualization in practice.’ (p.45)
FORUM
Please, answer:
After what you have read in this section, to what extent do you think that
a competent language teacher should have a good basic knowledge of
linguistics and/or Applied Linguistics? Your answer should contain no
more than 100 words.
19
EDUCACIÓN
4. THEORY IN PRACTICE.
The crucial question that arises is: Is it possible to draw a line of demarcation which
separates the applied from the theoretical?
To answer this question, certain factors that are prominent in language education
need to be elaborated on. From among many questions, the following ones may be
more illuminating: What is taught? Who is taught? What is the purpose of the learner?
Under what conditions does teaching take place? Answers to these and similar
questions, sometimes referred to as the WH-questions of language education, would
demonstrate the scope of AL.
The answer to the first question, i.e., what is taught, is simply language. As we have
already discussed, in order to teach language, one should know what language is.
Describing language is the responsibility of the linguists. And the outcome of
linguistic description is commonly called grammar. Linguistics, as the scientific study
of language, lives, grows, and advances independently of the language teaching
profession. That is why there have been a good number of theories, and thus
grammars, to describe and explain what language is. Some of these theories are
Saussurian, structural, functional, daughter dependency, case, transformational, and
universal, to name a few. Although the substance of investigation for all these
theories is language, each and every theory has looked at the phenomenon of
language from a slightly different perspective. Thus, the knowledge of the teachers
on what to teach comes from linguistics.
The second question deals with who is taught. The answer to this question is more
complex than that of the first one because this question entails multidimensional
aspects of learning, teaching, learner and teacher. Learning is one of the important
issues the field of psychology which is an independent field with its own principles,
theories, and advancements. However, while linguistics deals with language itself,
psychologists concern many issues related to human mental activities. One of these
mental activities is human learning, a branch of which is learning a language. Thus,
psychology contributes to language learning not directly, but by proposing theories
for human learning. That is why there have been many theories of learning such as
behaviorism, cognitivism, functionalism, etc. So, the teachers understanding of how
language is learned comes from the developments in psychology. The connection
between how language is learned, investigated in psychology, and what language is,
studied in linguistics has even led to the development of a new area of inquiry called
psycholinguistics.
Furthermore, learning takes place in the mind and brain. The structure of brain is
studied within the field of neurology. Although much is not known about the
structure, physiology, and the functioning of the brain regarding language, the
limited amount of knowledge has given useful insights to those involved in the study
20
EDUCACIÓN
of language. At present, studying the structure of brain, which is the main concern in
neurology in connection with the structure and functioning of language has brought
up a new field referred to as neurolinguistics that specifically addresses the issues
related to brain and language.
Another part of the questions deals with the leaner who is a human being. Human
beings are social beings. They learn language, no matter what it is and how it is
learned, in order to communicate with the members of a community. A community
lives under certain social rules and regulations that influence the use of language.
The field that inquires about such rules is sociology. Again, sociology is an
independent field of study. However, its findings are important regarding what
Widdowson calls the use of language. The interrelationship of language use and
sociology has led to the emergence of a new field called sociolinguistics. The group of
scholars studying the use of language has to get involved in discourse analysis,
pragmatics, and stylistics.
The fourth point in the question relates to the person who is supposed to help the
learner learn the languages, i.e., the teacher. Teachers, too, live in societies with all
sorts of variables influencing their personal, social, psychological, and academic lives.
All these variables influence the teacher, and thus the teaching process. A motivated,
dedicated, knowledgeable, and creative teacher would definitely help learners more
than a teacher without such characteristics.
It should be noted that the factors mentioned under the question of who is taught,
are not, by any means, unrelated to each other. Nor do they operate independently of
one another. They all function interactively within a macro network of
learner/teacher variables. A motivated teacher will certainly be more successful with
a motivated learner than with an unmotivated one. Similarly, a motivated learner will
benefit more from a committed teacher than from an indifferent one. Thus,
discussing these variables in isolation is just for the sake of clarity and not for
demonstrating their independent functioning within the process of language learning
and language teaching.
The third question deals with the purpose of learning. Undoubtedly, within the era of
communicative teaching, one of the most important factors has been the significance
of the learner needs, along with the ways of identifying, determining, and
categorizing these needs. When learner needs are determined, implementing a
program that would fulfill the needs of the learners requires considerations of
materials development, syllabus design, and teacher education. In fact, needs
analysis, materials development, syllabus design, and teacher education, each of
which has established itself as an interesting and an almost independent field of
inquiry, have collectively led to the development of a new trend in language teaching
called teaching English for specific purposes (ESP). ESP has been the focus of
research in many scientific and technological disciplines within the last quarter of a
century in order to meet, as much as possible, the learners’ purpose for learning a
language.
21
EDUCACIÓN
The fourth question addresses the issue of the conditions of teaching. Conditions
refer to so many variables including the physical environment of the class, the time of
the teaching, the facilities available for teaching, the country in which the language
istaught, to name a few. All these factors influence, directly or indirectly, the teacher,
the learner, and the outcome of teaching learning process. For instance, the number
of students in a class is an important factor in most public educational systems. In
crowded classes, the teacher does not find ample time or an acceptable environment
to have students repeat or practice the materials. The number of students is related
to the space available in the classroom. In most classrooms students do not have
enough space to sit comfortably, let alone to get involved in some class activities. So,
conditions of teaching influence conditions of learning and thus the effectiveness of
instruction.
Technological and technical facilities available in class are also important. Computer
assisted language learning (CALL) has recently established itself as a major area of
interest for language educators. The utilization of electronic devices in translation,
the so-called machine translation, has also intrigued language educators for a long
time now.
Taking into account all the WH questions of language education, along with related
issues, indicate that AL cannot be equated with language teaching. AL involves so
many variables in so many seemingly unrelated areas. Therefore, the notion that AL
equals language teaching does not hold true for two reasons. On the one hand,
theories of language, language learning, language teaching, etc., formulated through
different disciplines, were not exclusively used in classroom situations. There were
many other occasions in which the findings of these fields played a central role. On
the other hand, none of the mentioned fields alone was capable of accounting for the
multitude of variables involved in the complex process of language related activities.
The extension of theoretical perspectives has recently led to a philosophical thinking

on AL. Rampton (1995) claims that research in AL has shifted from focusing on
products, linguistics, and psychology to focusing on processes, psycholinguistics,
sociology, anthropology, and media studies, respectively. He claims that the situation
in AL is moving from autonomous to ideological thinking. According to this new
trend, AL has a sociopolitical, cultural, and ecological interpretation. In this sense, AL
research can occupy a position that deals with political orders characterized by
cultural authoritarianism, service to the governments, competition on the market,
independent analysis and critique, and new social movements.
For instance, much AL research serves the principles and policies of the government.
Whether the language education curriculum should be centralized or localized is an
AL domain of research. Whether educational system is localized or centralized, each
entails many other areas such as materials development, teacher education, teaching
methodology and so forth. In addition, many research projects dealing with ESP,
lexicography, and communication skills training are sponsored by manufacturing
and educational organizations. This indicates that part of research in AL deals with
22
EDUCACIÓN
competition in the market. Only independent critical studies conducted by individual
academicians serve the liberal aspects of AL research. Last but not least is the direct
or indirect effect of the new social movements in different parts of the world on the
social systems and the way the members of the societies behave, which in turn
influences the educational policy and language education.
Along the same lines, Corson (1997) claims that AL goes beyond ideal matters of
linguistic meaning and moves into the real world of human interaction. The
influential philosophy of human sciences, critical realism, begins with questions of
being and views the nonhuman properties of the social world as real entities
especially the reasons and accounts that people offer to interpret the material and
immaterial aspects of their world. He claims that if AL were to take these accounts
more seriously, it might contribute more directly to improving human condition.
Applied linguistics takes over theories and methods from other areas of scientific
study, which then have the status of feeder disciplines, however, it is also an
autonomous scientific activity requiring the elaboration of its own theoretical base in
relation to its intended applications.
After studying this section, you are in a better position to:
 Explore the relationship between AL and Language Teaching.

 Analyse AL as an area of enquiry bearing on the techniques of
Language Teaching.
You are now ready for the Summary and Integrative Task.
23
EDUCACIÓN
SUMMARY
Certain conclusions can be drawn from the discussion presented in this unit. The
first set of conclusions comprises the following clarifications:
1. The idea that AL is a mere application of the findings of linguistics to practical

activities is clearly wrong.
2. The idea that AL can be used interchangeably with foreign language teaching
is clearly wrong.
3. The idea that AL is only a practical field and it does not deal with theoretical
issues is clearly wrong.
4. Applied linguistics is neither a subordinate nor a super ordinate to linguistics.

That is, it is neither a subsection of linguistics nor linguistics itself.
5. AL is a multidimensional, multifaceted, and multidisciplinary field which

utilizes the findings of all theoretical and practical fields related to human life
and analyzes, modifies, and then creates new ways of approaching language
related topics.
In this unit an attempt was made to clarify the scope of AL. Through a historical
review, the emergence of applied sciences was presented. Then the concept of AL
was discussed and its different meanings were explained. It was mentioned that AL
started as a mere application of the findings of linguistics to practical problems of
foreign language teaching, moved into a theory building area, and eventually to
philosophical thinking.
We finally discussed the use of theory in language teaching and how it can help the
teacher. At times, it seems that teachers just want to know how to do things, that they
are interested in procedures, or even worse, in “recipes for success”. However, this is
perhaps only an expression of their wish to obtain results and their anxiety when
good results do not come very easily.
Procedures and techniques are important, but teaching which is well grounded on
theory is extremely solid and reliable, as command of theoretical principles enables
teachers to create their own techniques and procedure, to match their learners’
needs.
You will find a graphic summary of the scope of AL on the following page.
24
EDUCACIÓN
Linguistic
theory
Psycholinguistics Sociolinguistics
Neurolinguistics Biolinguistics
Language description:
Computer App. semantics/stylistics/ Translation
Dictionary rhetoric/phonology/ Interpretation
making. Literary morphology/syntax Language
analysis Planning
Language learning Language teaching.

First language
APPLIED
influences
influences
Child L1 Acquisition learning

Cultural
“Police”
LINGUISTICS
Child L2 learning
Bilingualism Adult L2 learning
Pedagogy
Theory of language Theory of language

learning. Psychology Learning use. Sociology.
Sociology theory
An Illustration of the Scope of Applied Linguistics taken from Kaplan (1980)
25
EDUCACIÓN
INTEGRATIVE TASK
Our beliefs, feelings, emotions and intuition, not to mention our prejudices and
taboos, greatly influence our teaching practice. This is natural, and teachers should
not disregard the importance of beliefs, values or intuition for their professional
practice. Being a sensitive person does not mean disregarding theory or simply
acting on impulse or intuitively all the time, however. As professionals, teachers
should possess solid knowledge of theory and the capability to apply it to the
solution of practical problems.
Untrained teachers sometimes adhere to pre-conceived ideas about teaching which

have become popular – a kind of folklore of teaching, not substantiated by research
or theory – or to their beliefs, probably derived from their experience as students.
Below you will find a set of these notions, expressed by different teachers. Read them
and answer:
How could the study of theory help teachers in the following situations? In
what disciplines should they seek this knowledge?
a. “My students’ grammar is terrible. I am giving them a lot of grammar exercises

and devoting all our lessons to the explanation of grammar rules, but they
don’t seem to improve.”
b. “I can’t introduce a new verb tense until they have learnt the one we are
dealing with perfectly well.”
c. “Every time I introduce a new grammar point, they begin making more
mistakes than ever, so I have to go back and review many lessons. This is
terribly time consuming and does not seem to be working.”
d. “I don’t teach grammar.”
e. “I teach my students all about the British culture. If they don’t learn that, they
can’t learn the language – I mean, British English, the purest form of this
language.”
f. “Adults don’t learn as much as children.”
g. “I want my students to have fun. We play games, sing songs, tell jokes every
lesson. We often end up having dinner together at the University cafeteria
after class. We are on very friendly terms.”
h. “I never have a plan for my lessons. I just go into the classroom and
improvise.”
Each answer should contain about 50 words.
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Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés

DEFINING APPLIED LINGUISTICS

MATERIALS DESIGNER: LIC. ALEJANDRA HAWRESZ

DEFINING APPLIED LINGUISTICS

SECTION 1 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS: AN OVERVIEW. ............................................................... 6

EXPLORING & REFLECTING. ................................................................................................................ 6

1. DEFINITION AND SCOPE ............................................................................................................... 7

1.1. Main characteristics........................................................................................................... 9

SECTION 2 – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................... 11

2.1. Second generation................................................................................................................. 14

SECTION 3 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE TEACHING .......................................... 16

3. APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND TEACHING ................................................................................ 16

4. THEORY IN PRACTICE. ................................................................................................................. 20

INTEGRATIVE TASK ............................................................................................................................. 26

 Define Applied Linguistics.

Section 1 – Applied Linguistics: an overview

1. Definition and scope

Section 2 – Historical background

Section 3 – Applied Linguistics and language teaching

3. Applied Linguistics and teaching.

Applied Linguistics – Linguistics – Foreign Language Teaching

Corder, P. (1974). An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Middlesex: Penguin Books.

Kaplan, R. & Widdowson, H.G (1992). Applied Linguistics. Encyclopedia of Linguistics –

Widdowson, H. G (1984) Explorations in Applied Linguistics 2. Oxford: Oxford

Buckingham, T & Eskey, D.E (1980). Toward a redefinition of Applied Linguistics. In R.

Rampton, B. (1995). Crossing Language and Ethnicity among adolescents. London:

Saussure, F. de (1974). Cours de Linguistique Generale. Eds. C. Bally and A. Sechehaye.

Wardaugh, R. & Brown, H. D. (eds.) (1977). A survey of applied linguistics. An

EVALUATION AND SELF-EVALUATION

We will now focus on the following objectives:

 To define Applied Linguistics.

SECTION 1 – APPLIED LINGUISTICS: AN OVERVIEW.

EXPLORING & REFLECTING

A – I can give a comprehensive explanation of what it is/means.

B – I might attempt to provide a simple explanation but am not certain it would be

C – I have no idea of what it is.

Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEF)

1. DEFINITION AND SCOPE

The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics defines applied linguistics as follows:

Whenever knowledge about language is used to solve a basic language-related

Applied linguistics, therefore, is defined as a field the purpose of which is to solve

Applied linguistics recognises that there is pressure to communicate between human

1.1. Main characteristics

Answer this question:

‘ It is a central feature of applied linguistics that it is task-related, problem-

Upload your work to the campus for your tutor to review.

 Define Applied Linguistics.

You are ready to proceed to Section 2.

 To trace the origins of the term.

SECTION 2 – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

 AL is the application of Linguistics to practical issues.

In order to understand the present status of a concept, a historical review is often

When AL established itself as an area of inquiry in relation to linguistics on the one

The application of linguistic knowledge to some object, or applied linguistics, is an

This treatment of AL can be called the first generation, in which AL is considered a

Buckingham (1980) complains that AL in the sense of application of linguistics to

Oller (1980) improves the mediatory function of AL and suggests an interactional