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Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication research, information science, natural language processing, anthropology, and sociology. Applied linguistics is a practical use of language.
Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field. Major branches of applied linguistics include bilingualism and multilingualism, conversation analysis, contrastive linguistics, language assessment, literacies, discourse analysis, language pedagogy, second language acquisition, language planning and policy, interlinguistics, stylistics, language teacher education, forensic linguistics, culinary linguistics, and translation.
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. [1]
Although the field of applied linguistics started in 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." [2]
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 (ELI) at the University of Michigan in 1941. In 1946, Applied linguistics became a recognized field of study at the aforementioned university. [3] 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. [4]
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.
Australian applied linguistics took as its target the applied linguistics of mother tongue teaching and teaching English to immigrants. The Australian tradition shows a strong influence of continental Europe and of the US, rather than of Britain. [5] Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) was established at a national congress of applied linguists held in August 1976. [6] ALAA holds a joint annual conference in collaboration with the Association for Applied Linguistics in New Zealand (ALANZ).
The Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics / L'Association Canadienne de Linguistique appliquée (CAAL/ACLA), is an officially bilingual (English and French) scholarly association with approximately 200 members. They produce the Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics and hold an annual conference. [7]
The Irish Association for Applied Linguistics/Cumann na Teangeolaíochta Feidhmí (IRAAL) was founded in 1975. They produce the journal Teanga, the Irish word for 'language'. [8]
In 1982, the Japan Association of Applied Linguistics (JAAL) was established in the Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) to engage in activities on a more international scale. In 1984, JAAL became an affiliate of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA). [9]
The Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand (ALANZ) produces the journal New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics and has been collaborating with the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia in a combined annual conference since 2010, with the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ) later joining the now three-way conference collaboration. [10]
The Southern African Applied Linguistics Association (SAALA) was founded in 1980. There are currently four publications associated with SAALA including the Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies Journal (SAJALS). [11]
The British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) 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 [...]". [12] BAAL hosts an annual conference, as well as many additional smaller conferences and events organised by its Special Interest Groups (SIGs).
The American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) was founded in 1977. [13] [14] AAAL holds an annual conference, usually in March or April, in the United States or Canada.
Major journals of the field include Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, Applied Linguistics , Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Applied Psycholinguistics, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, International Journal of Applied Linguistics , Applied Linguistics Review, European Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language Learning , Language and Education, System , TESOL Quarterly , International Journal of Language Studies , and Linguistics and Education.
Language education – the process and practice of teaching a second or foreign language – is primarily a branch of applied linguistics, but can be an interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education: communicative competencies, proficiencies, cross-cultural experiences, and multiple literacies.
Rod Ellis is a Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize-winning British linguist. He is currently a research professor in the School of Education, at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is also a professor at Anaheim University, where he serves as the Vice president of academic affairs. Ellis is a visiting professor at Shanghai International Studies University as part of China’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program and an emeritus professor of the University of Auckland. He has also been elected as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
The American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) is an American organization of scholars interested in applied linguistics.
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig is an American linguist. She is currently Provost Professor and ESL Coordinator at Indiana University (Bloomington).
The British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) is a learned society, based in the UK, which provides a forum for people interested in language and applied linguistics.
William Leap is an emeritus professor of anthropology at American University and an affiliate professor in the Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Florida Atlantic University. He works in the overlapping fields of language and sexuality studies and queer linguistics, and queer historical linguistics.
Terrence G. Wiley has served as chief executive officer of the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, D.C. (2010-2017), professor emeritus of educational policy studies and applied linguistics at Arizona State University, and member of the college of education, graduate faculty at the University of Maryland.
The International Association of Applied Linguistics, or AILA, was formed in 1964 as an association of various national organizations for applied linguistics. AILA has more than 8,000 members in more than 35 different applied linguistics associations around the world. AILA continues to grow, working with existing and emerging regional networks, such as AILA East Asia, AILA Europe, AILA Arabia, and AILA Latin America. Its most high-profile activity is the World Congress of Applied Linguistics, which takes place once every three years. It also has two publications, AILA News, a newsletter, and the AILA Review, an academic journal.
The International Association of Multilingualism (IAM) is an academic, scientific professional association whose members undertake research in all areas of linguistics dealing with all facets of multilingualism. Research has focused on tri- and quadruple language acquisition by children, as well as on societal instances of multilingualism or on cases of individual multilingual repertoires, for example. IAM members work in various linguistic fields, including psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, educational linguistics, language acquisition and applied linguistics.
Janet Holmes is a New Zealand sociolinguist. Her research interests include language and gender, language in the workplace, and New Zealand English.
Hossein Farhady is an Iranian applied linguist with more than forty years of studying, teaching and researching in and out of Iran. He has worked at universities including University of Teachers Education, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran in Iran, UCLA, Texas A &M, USC, and University of Shenandoah in the United States, American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia, and Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. During his professional career, he has trained many applied linguists and university lecturers.
Marjolijn Verspoor is a Dutch linguist. She is a professor of English language and English as a second language at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. She is known for her work on Complex Dynamic Systems Theory and the application of dynamical systems theory to study second language development. Her interest is also in second language writing.
Diane Larsen-Freeman is an American linguist. She is currently a Professor Emerita in Education and in Linguistics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. An applied linguist, known for her work in second language acquisition, English as a second or foreign language, language teaching methods, teacher education, and English grammar, she is renowned for her work on the complex/dynamic systems approach to second language development.
Rosa María Manchón Ruiz is a Spanish linguist. She is currently a professor of applied linguistics at the University of Murcia, Spain. Her research focuses on second language acquisition and second language writing. She was the editor of the Journal of Second Language Writing between 2008 and 2014.
Martin Bygate is a British linguist. He is currently an honorary professor at the Department of Linguistics and English Language of Lancaster University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on applied linguistics with a special focus on tandem language learning, pedagogical grammar and task-based language learning.
Alison Mackey is a linguist who specializes in applied linguistics, second language acquisition and research methodology and is one of the most highly cited scholars in the world in these areas.
Susan Gass is an American Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize-winner linguist. She is currently a professor emerita, retired from the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on applied linguistics with a special focus on second language learning, corrective feedback, and task-based language learning. She graduated in 1961 from Kingswood School Cranbrook.
Anne Burns is a British-born Australian educational linguist known for her work on genre-based pedagogy in TESOL and EAP/ESP. She is a Professor Emerita in Language Education at Aston University (UK) and Professor of TESOL at the University of New South Wales (Australia). The TESOL International Association named her one of the '50 at 50', leaders who had made a significant contribution to TESOL in its first 50 years.
Patsy M. Lightbown is an American applied linguist whose research focuses on the teaching and acquisition of second and/or foreign languages in a classroom context. Her theories of second language acquisition earned her the SPEAQ Award for "contributions which have had an impact on the entire English teaching community in Quebec". She served in the United States Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa from 1965 to 1967. In her more than forty years in the field she has taught at multiple universities across the United States, Australia and Canada. She holds the title of Distinguished Professor Emerita at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She has written seven published books and has been featured in many book chapters and refereed journals. She currently works as an independent consultant, editor, researcher and writing in second language acquisition and learning.
Athelstan Suresh Canagarajah is a Tamil-born Sri Lankan linguist and currently an Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Applied linguistics, English, and Asian studies at Pennsylvania State University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2007. His research covers World Englishes and teaching English to speakers of other languages. He has published works on translingualism, translanguaging, linguistic imperialism, and social and political issues in language education. His book, Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations, has won three nationally recognized best book awards.
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