WHAT IS APPLIED LINGUISTICS?

How would you define applied linguistics?

Do you agree with the descriptions given in this presentation?

timeline

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 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1695

ALAN DAVIES AND CATHERINE ELDER


’Tis of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot

with it fathom all the depths of the ocean. ’Tis well he knows that it is long

enough to reach the bottom, at such places as are necessary to direct his

voyage, and caution him against running upon shoals that may ruin him.

Our business here is not to know all things, but those which concern our

conduct. If we can find out those measures whereby a rational creature, put in

that state which man is in the world, may and ought to govern his opinions

and actions depending thereon, we need not be troubled that some other things

escape our knowledge.

John Locke,

Role

social problems involving language.

Applied linguistics is often said to be concerned with solving or at least ameliorating

do you know ....

that are some universities in the US and Canada  that have some programs about applied linguistics and language acquisition.

University of Pittsburgh (Department of Linguistics), Pennsylvania

Note: in the linguistics department, both theory and application.

 

City University of New York (CUNY) (Department of Linguistics), New York

Note: requires theoretical background

University of Toronto (Department of Linguistics), Toronto

Note: requires sound theoretical background

Penn State University (Department of Applied Linguistics), Pennsylvania

Note: quite applied, some emphasis on theory

University of Iowa (Department of Linguistics), Iowa

Note: requires sound theoretical background

Boston University (Department of Applied Linguistics), Massachusetts

Note: both applied and theoretical

McGill University (Department of Linguistics), Montreal

Links To Applied Linguistics Sites

  Center for Applied Linguistics
  American Association for Applied Linguistics
  British Association for Applied Linguistics
  Linguist List Linguistics Resources
  International Association of Applied Linguistics
  Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics
  Applied Linguistics Association of Australia

applied linguistics is....

how to use each concept with the theories of linguistics

The term 'applied linguistics' refers to ...

 a broad range of activities which involve solving some language-related problem or addressing some language-related concern. It appears as though applied linguistics, at least in North America, was first officially recognized as an independent course at the University of Michigan in 1946. In those early days, the term was used both in the United States and in Great Britain to refer to applying a so-called 'scientific approach' to teaching foreign languages, including English for nonnative speakers. Early work to improve the quality of foreign language teaching by Professors Charles Fries (University of Michigan) and Robert Lado (University of Michigan, then Georgetown University) helped to bring definition to the field as did the 1948 publication of a new journal, Language Learning: A Quarterly Journal of Applied Linguistics.

During the late 1950s and the early 1960s, the use of the term was gradually broadened to include what was then referred to as 'automatic translation'. In 1964 following two years of preparatory work financed by the Council of Europe, the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquee (the International Association of Applied Linguistics usually referred to by the French acronym AILA) was founded and its first international congress was held in Nancy, France. Papers for the congress were solicited in two distinct strands�foreign language teaching and automatic translation.

What is language?

1. How did it/does it evolve?
2. How does language serve as a medium of communication?
3. How does language serve as a medium of thinking?
4. What is common to all languages?
5. How do languages differ?