An Overview of Applied Linguistics

Transcription

1 An Overview of Applied Linguistics Edited by: Norbert Schmitt Abeer Alharbi

2 What is Linguistics? It is a scientific study of a language It s goal is To describe the varieties of languages and explain the unconscious knowledge all speakers have of their language

3 What is Linguistics? Linguistics- The study of language in general or of some particular language or languages. It is the science of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics It is the study of the structure, development changes, etc, of a particular language and its relationship to other languages

4 Linguistics is subdivided into:? Applied Geographical

5 What is Applied Linguistics Applied Linguistics is using what we know about (a) language, (b) how it is learned and (C) how it is used, in order to achieve some purpose or solve some problem in the real life. Norbert Schmitt, P. 1

6 What is Applied Linguistics? It is a field of study that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language related problems. Applied linguistics describes the language and teaches how it is learned and used. It can be applied to all aspects of language use. It deals with mother, foreign, and second language acquisition.

7 What is Applied Linguistics? Wilkins definition (1999): In a board sense, applied linguistics is concerned with increasing understanding of the role of language in human affairs and thereby with providing the knowledge necessary for those who are responsible for taking language-related decisions whether the need for these arises in the classroom, the workplace, the law court, or the laboratory.

8 Applied Linguistics extends into such practical application fields like: Discourse analysis Assessment & Evaluation. Bilingualism. Language and Ideology. Language and Learner characteristics. Language and Technology (Computational linguistics). Language cognition and brain research(psycholinguistics). Language, culture, and pragmatics Reading, writing and literacy.

9 Topic areas in Applied Linguistics? Second and foreign language pedagogy. Second language acquisition Sociolinguistics. Text Analyses (Written Discourse). Translation and Interpretation. Corpus Linguistics. Forensic Linguistics.

10 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 1- Early history ( Ancient Greek): They design a curriculum beginning with a good writing (Grammar). 2- the 2 nd half of the 18 th century: There were many attempts and works began to occur about language description. For Example: - Samuel Johnson : Dictionary of the English Language How English words were actually used. - Robert Lowth: Short Introduction to English Grammar. What correct grammar should be.

11 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 3- The late 18 th century: Second languages were usually taught by the Grammar-translation method -What do a lesson explained by Grammar-translation method typically have? Norbert Schmitt, P. 4 - What were its disadvantages? Norbert Schmitt, P. 4

12 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 4- The beginning of 20 th century: A new method appeared which is Direct Method. -Describe this method? Emphasized oral language. It imitated how a mother tongue is learnt naturally. Norbert Schmitt, P. 4 -What were its disadvantages? Norbert Schmitt, P. 4

13 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 5- In UK, Michael West develop Reading Method. -Describe this method? It aimed at increasing learners exposure to the target language through reading. It based on promoting reading through vocabulary management -What is the meaning of vocabulary management? Reducing the lexical load for readers. So, to improve learner s readability, we substituted low-frequency words (such as acceleration) with more frequent items (such as fast). Norbert Schmitt, P. 4 The last 3 methods continued until World War II.

14 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 6- Behaviorists developed structural linguistics which is called Audiolingualism -It derived from the Direct method. -It included activities which were believed to reinforce good language habits, such as close attention to pronunciation, intensive oral drills, and memorization - It is also called Army methods Why? - Norbert Schmitt, P. 4

15 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 7- Chomsky (1959) attacked the audiolingualism -Chomsky said the children are born with an understanding of the way languages work Universal Grammar 8- In 1972, Hymes added the concept of communicative competence -It focued on (appropriacy) how suitable any use of language was for a particular context rather than (correctness). What does CC mean? Language competence consists of more than just being able to form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom - Norbert Schmitt, P. 5

16 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 9- Halliday (1973) introduced systemic-functional grammar In this approach, the language was seen not as something exclusively internal to a learner, but rather as a means of functioning in society. Norbert Schmitt, P Krashen s Monitor theory (1982); Krashen focused his attention on the role of input. Monitor theory indicated that a language was mainly unconsciously acquired through exposure to comprehensible input rather than being learnt through explicit exercises, -Norbert Schmitt, P. 6

17 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 11- The development of language assessment Tests were evaluated according to three principles criteria: -Validity: did the test really measure what it was supposed to measure. - reliability: reliability of a test refers to stability of measurement over time. - Practicality: was the test practical to give and mark in a practical setting? 12- Computer-assisted language learning CALL: Language learners could work on individual computers truly at their own pace. - Norbert Schmitt, P. 7

18 The Development of Applied Linguistics? 13- Corpus linguistics: Computing technology also made it possible to analyse large databases of language, called corpora - Norbert Schmitt, P. 7

19 Assignment What is the difference between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics? Search the web to find more about one of the stages in the development of Applied linguistics?

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