Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics
that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related
real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics
are education, psychology, computer science, communication research,
anthropology, and sociology. Domain
Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics.
Major branches of applied linguistics include bilingualism and
multilingualism, conversation analysis, contrastive linguistics, sign
linguistics, language assessment, literacies, discourse analysis, language
pedagogy, second language acquisition, lexicography, language planning and
policy, interlinguistics, stylistics, pragmatics, forensic linguistics and
translation. Journals
Major journals of the field include Annual Review of Applied Linguistics,
Applied Linguistics, Journal of Applied Linguistics, International Review of
Applied Linguistics, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, European
Journal of Applied Linguistics, Issues in Applied Linguistics, Language
Learning, Language and Education and Linguistics and Education.
History The tradition of applied linguistics
established itself in part as a response to the narrowing of focus in linguistics
with the advent in the late 1950s of generative linguistics, and has always
maintained a socially-accountable role, demonstrated by its central interest in
language problems. Although the field of applied
linguistics started from Europe and the United States, the field rapidly
flourished in the international context. Applied linguistics first concerned
itself with principles and practices on the basis of linguistics. In the early
days, applied linguistics was thought as “linguistics-applied” at least from the
outside of the field. In the 1960s, however, applied linguistics was
expanded to include language assessment, language policy, and second language
acquisition. As early as the 1970s, applied linguistics became a
problem-driven field rather than theoretical linguistics, including the
solution of language-related problems in the real world. By the 1990s, applied
linguistics had broadened including critical studies and multilingualism.
Research in applied linguistics was shifted to "the theoretical and
empirical investigation of real world problems in which language is a central
issue." In the United States, applied
linguistics also began narrowly as the application of insights from structural
linguistics—first to the teaching of English in schools and subsequently to
second and foreign language teaching. The linguistics applied approach to
language teaching was promulgated most strenuously by Leonard Bloomfield, who
developed the foundation for the Army Specialized Training Program, and by
Charles C. Fries, who established the English Language Institute at the
University of Michigan in 1941. In 1948, the Research Club at Michigan
established Language Learning: A Journal of Applied Linguistics, the first
journal to bear the term applied linguistics. In the late 1960s, applied
linguistics began to establish its own identity as an interdisciplinary field
of linguistics concerned with real-world language issues. The new identity was
solidified by the creation of the American Association for Applied
Linguistics in 1977. Associations
The International Association of Applied Linguistics was founded in France in
1964, where it is better known as Association Internationale de
Linguistique Appliquée, or AILA. AILA has affiliates in more than thirty
countries, some of which are listed below.
United Kingdom The British Association for Applied Linguistics was established
in 1967. Its mission is "the advancement of education by fostering and promoting,
by any lawful charitable means, the study of language use, language
acquisition and language teaching and the fostering of interdisciplinary
collaboration in this study [...]". Australia Australian applied linguistics
took as its target the applied linguistics of mother tongue teaching
and teaching English to immigrants. The Australia tradition shows a strong
influence of continental Europe and of the USA, rather than of Britain. Applied
Linguistics Association of Australia was established at a national congress of
applied linguists held in August 1976. ALAA holds a joint annual conference in
collaboration with the Association for Applied Linguistics in New Zealand.
United States The American Association for Applied Linguistics was founded in
1977. AAAL holds an annual conference, usually in March or April, in the United
States or Canada. Japan In 1982, the Japan Association of
Applied Linguistics was established in the Japan Association of College English
Teachers in order to engage in activities on a more international
scale. In 1984, JAAL became an affiliate of the International Association of
Applied Linguistics.[1] Further reading
Berns, M., & Matsuda, P. K.. Applied linguistics: Overview and history. In K.
Brown, The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
Cook, G. Applied Linguistics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Davies, A. & Elder, C. Handbook of Applied Linguistics, Oxford/Malden, MA:
Blackwell. Hall, C. J., Smith, P. H. & Wicaksono,
R.. Mapping Applied Linguistics. A Guide for Students and Practitioners. London:
Routledge. Johnson, Keith & Johnson, Helen
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics, Oxford/Malden, MA:
Blackwell. McCarthy, Michael Issues in Applied
Linguistics, Cambridge University Press. Pennycook, Alastair Critical Applied
Linguistics: A Critical Introduction, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Schmitt, Norbert An Introduction to Applied Linguistics, London: Arnold.
References External links
mappling.com Applied Linguistics community website
Applied Linguistics information and resources