Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Definition of Applied Linguistics (AL)
Applied linguistics must be defined through demonstration i.e. by doing it rather than studying or reading about it. In brief, applied linguistics is an activity of experience, an example of its work.
The term applied linguistics is generally used to refer to the teaching and learning of foreign languages although this is only one of many sub-areas of applied linguistics (AL). It is however considered the most important area within the extensive field of AL. Despite its name, Applied Linguistics is not a matter of applying theoretical linguistics or taking developments from linguistics and looking for ways of applying them. Rather it is concerned with the study of language and linguistics in relation to practical problems. It uses information from sociology, psychology, anthropology and education as well as from linguistics in order to develop its own theoretical models of language and language use. It then uses this information to solve problems in such areas as language education, language planning, syllabus design, speech therapy, translation and lexicography. Hence the literal meaning of the term applied linguistics would appear to be obscure or misleading since:
(A) More than simply the application of linguistic theory is involved and
(B) Other disciplines than linguistics are involved.
Definitions of the term Applied Linguistics varies from one to other. Here is
one by S. Corder (1974):
'Applied Linguistics is the utilization of the knowledge about the nature of language achieved by linguistic research for the improvement of the efficiency of some practical task in which language is a central component.'
Here is another definition by R. Carter (1993) ‘, the application of linguistic theories, descriptions and methods to the solution of the language problems which have arisen in a range of human, cultural and social contexts.'
Although some definitions tend to limit the coverage of AL to foreign language teaching and learning, there is a range of language-related social problems which AL is also meant to address.
Examples of problems
The following questions represent the kinds of problems that AL is meant to address in language education in a society at large:
a) Language problems in education
· What language skills should children attain beyond basic literacy? (And what is basic literacy anyway? Reading and writing or something more?)
· Should children speaking a dialect be encouraged to maintain it or steered towards the standard form of a language? (And, if so, how is that standard form decided and by whom?)
· In communities with more than one language which ones should be used in schools? (And does every child have a right to be educated in the language they use at home?)
· Should deaf children learn a sign language, or a combination of lip reading and speaking? (And are sign languages as complex as spoken ones?)
· Should everyone learn foreign languages and, if so, which one or ones? (And what is the best way to learn and teach them?)
· Should every child study literature? (And, if so, should it be established works or more modern ones? And should they study just their own national literature or that of other countries?)
· Why do adult language learners take years to achieve only limited proficiency in the second language (L2)?
· Do adults learn a second language in the same way as children learning their first? (If so, what kinds of instruction and teaching contexts are most effective for adults?)
b) Social problems of language
· Languages change. Should this just be accepted as an inevitable fact or should change be controlled in some way?
· Some languages are dying out. Should that be prevented and, if so, how?
· Should the growth of English as the international lingua franca be welcomed or resisted?
· Is it better for people to learn each other's languages or use translations? (And what is accurate or 'good' translation? Could it ever be done by a computer?)
· Is language being used for political oppression and indoctrination? (And, if so, should something be done about it?
· Which languages should be used in law courts and official documents?
All of these questions and many others like them, demand answers. To answer them we need to investigate and understand the facts of language use. This is the focus of concern in AL. We can say then that AL sets out to investigate problems in the world in which language is involved-both educational and social problems like those listed above.
Some Terminology
Before proceeding further, it is necessary to establish some of the terms to be used in the book.
First, we should note that the term second language is generally used in two different senses. In its broad sense, it refers to any language learnt after the first language, no matter how many others have been learnt. In its narrower sense, it is used in contrast with foreign language. Second language learning refers to the process of acquiring a non-native language in a context where the language is widely spoken by the community where the learner is living (e.g. learning English in Nigeria). By contrast, foreign language learning refers to the process of acquiring a non-native language that is not spoken by the surrounding community (e.g. learning English in Sudan). The term second language is also, of course, used to describe a native language in a country as learnt by people living there who have another first language. Thus, Arabic in Sudan would be called the second language of many native speakers of other languages in the country.
These distinctions are obviously important and useful. However, many researchers and writers tend to use second language learning as an umbrella term covering all non-native language learning. In other words, no distinction is made between second and foreign language learning or between the different uses of the term ‘second language’. In this book, we shall follow the example of these researchers and use the term second language (L2) to mean any language acquired by a person in addition to the first language (L1). The learner's L2 will sometimes be referred to as the target language (TL), that is, the language the learner is heading towards.
Another distinction which is sometimes made is that between acquisition and learning. Some writers prefer to reserve the use of the term acquisition to the process which results in the knowledge of one's native language, and use the term learning for the attainment of a second language through conscious effort and formal classroom instruction. Because the mental processes involved in both learning and acquisition are rather similar, most researchers do not find it necessary to make this distinction, and the terms acquisition and learning are generally used interchangeably. However, there is a growing tendency to use the term second language acquisition (SLA) to the whole area concerned with both explaining and describing the process of acquiring a second language. This is now the standard term which we shall use in this book, in addition to the terms acquisition and learning.
AL is a practical discipline like medicine. While the purpose of medicine is to ameliorate health problems, the purpose of AL is to ameliorate language problems. Some of these problems include the following:
1. How to teach a foreign language syllabus.
2. How to discuss the language of a text.
3. How to analyse speech defects such as bad pronunciation.
4. How to compare two or more different languages.
5. How to improve the performance of translators and interpreters.
6. How to evaluate a school bilingual programme.
In the beginning, AP was defined simply as the application of linguistic theories in a number of areas of which foreign language was the most important.
Then the term developed to include language practitioners other than teachers. Brumfit (1997) has claimed that 'what holds applied linguistics together is such a definition as: ' the theoretical and empirical investigation of real world problems', in which language is the real issue. He holds the view that applied linguistics is a discipline which is the place of meeting of linguists, speech therapist, teachers, translators, cultural theorists, psychologists etc.
1.2 Historical Background
1.2.1 Applied Linguistics in USA
Applied linguistics derives from the involvement of linguists in America, particularly, Bloomfield and Fries who specialized in language teaching programmes during and after the Second World War.
Bloomfield was perhaps the most committed to the idea of applied linguistics. He wished that his book 'Language' of 1933 would play a useful role in the American society at the time. He himself was interested in the development of a more efficient approach to the teaching of 'reading' to young children.
Since the beginning of the last century, American have been motivated by the need to record indigenous Indian languages before they become extinct. As an extension of this work in the thirties of that century, The Linguistics Society of America sponsored a project called 'The 'Intensive Language Programme. Bloomfield who was an ex-president of the society has presented a paper under the title of 'An Outline Guide for the Practical Study of Foreign Language'.
Bloomfield paper, pamphlets and other publications as Bloch and Trager's "Outline of Linguistic Analysis' published simultaneously by the same society with Bloomfield's), were required to be consulted by the teaching staff as text books for the implementation of foreign languages' programme at that time.
It could be said that teaching English as a foreign language was a minor activity in 1940. It was Fries monograph 'Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign language' of 1945 which contributed materially to the field.
Other popular articles and papers and books all guided to applied studies in Michigan Institute in America. Among those efforts were:
- Pike's 'Intonation of American English' (1946).
- Phonemics (1947).
- Nida's 'Morphology' (1946).
- Lado's 'Linguistics Across Cultures' (1957).
The structural approach to teaching language and language learning attracted high level institutional support in America throughout the 40s and 50s of the last century. The Army, for example, developed a method at their language school in Monterey, and by 1960 employed over 450 teachers who were teaching nearly thirty languages.
The Foreign Service Institute of the United States sponsored training programmes for Foreign Service personnel where substantial numbers of young linguists had been employed.
Between 1953 and 1956, ten courses were designed for speakers of Burmese, Mandarin, Greek, Indonesian, Korean, Persian, Serbo-Croatian, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese (Howatt, 1984).
Furthermore, twelve summer institutes for foreign language teachers were founded in 1959 as a result of passing the national defence Act of 1958.These were followed by the establishment of the Modern Language association and the Centre for Applied Linguistics in Washington. The objectives were to prepare tests and produce contrastive studies of English and the main European Languages.
Before the Washington Conference, Bloomfield's and Fries tradition in descriptive linguistics had been mercilessly challenged by the publication of Noam Chomsky 'Syntactic Structures' in 1957.
Chomsky offered a radical different approach based on a theory of transformational generative grammar. He pursues theoretical implications of generative grammar into other areas of linguistics inquiry, notably the psychology of language, which was then dominated by the behaviousim of skinner. This is made clear in his book 'Aspects of Theory of Syntax (1965). The most far-reaching effect of Chomsky's work on the whole spectrum of language teaching derived indirectly from the Competence/ performance distinction in his book previously mentioned.
A group of linguists, anthropologists, sociologists and others held a seminar to formulate guide lines for the United States Office of Education for Research on the relationship between language teaching and learning success by children at schools.
As a consequence of the seminar, the linguists Dell Hymes has adopted Chomsky's notion of competence as his starting point and built on it a broader frame work for the description of language use to which he gave the name of communicative competence.
Community competence including:
a) Knowledge of grammar and the vocabulary of the language.
b) Knowledge of the rules of speaking e.g.:
- Knowing how to begin and end conversation.
- Knowing what topics may be talked about in different types of speech events.
- Knowing which address forms should be used with different persons one speaks to, and in different situations.
c) Knowing how to use and respond to different speech acts, such as request apologies, thanks and invitations.
d) Knowing how to use language appropriately.
1.3 Applied Linguistics in the United Kingdom
The work of Hymes and his colleagues in America was in agreement with many of the ideas and aims of contemporary British research in general applied linguistics, which stemmed from Firthian tradition.
John Firth (1890 -1960) began his career as a teacher with Indian Education services in various places. He was appointed professor of English at the University of Punjab in 1920. During his Indian service, he became one of the leading authorities in the Hindustani language.
When he returned to Britain, he became a part-time lecturer in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). In 1944, he was appointed to the first chair of General Linguistics in Britain. Firth proposed rather abstract formulations based upon three major categories in which language events could be described. Howatt (1984, 272) reported that the first category is the verbal and non verbal action of the participant in the event. The second category is relevant object while the third category is the one of observable action.
Michael West (1888-1973) is considered as one of the most outstanding figures of applied linguistics in Britain. He dealt mainly with the reading method. His Bengal Project Report contains a great deal of current interests in teaching of reading.
Generally speaking, it is said that Dr. Johnson fixed the English of eighteenth century. Hornby, fixed English as a foreign language and later works have built on the foundations he laid.
Hornby, the founder of ELT in Britain in has served the subject so the greatly. He brought the interwar years into fulfillment in four major publications.
Hornby's work became standard of reference not only in the traditional dictionary terms, but also in broader sense. In fact, he tried developing the principles that a work for learners of English should demonstrate how the language is to be used: In addition, these principles should also show the collocation context in which the words normally occur.
His main publication, 'The Guide to Patterns and Usage' (1954) shows the climax of Palmer's approach which is expressed in his analysis of 1917 'Grammar of Spoken English.' Hornby as well, published his model of 'Sentence-pattern Course' and his Oxford Progressive English for Adult Learners' in the same year of Guides publication.
Hornby called his method 'The Situation Approach'. Howatt (1984) states that Hornby meant by this term that each new pattern or lexical item should be introduced to the class in advance of work with text.
Alone, Hornby's work of 'Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English' (1978), had dominated the field of English learning and teaching for years. It won a definitive status informally bestowed by profession, before it its being rivaled by the The Advanced Dictionary of Current English.
Firth's principal work was in phonology and it was left to his student Halliday to elaborate on and extend it. Halliday first contributed with proposals for description of grammar and Lexis. He contributed with a paper called 'Categories of the Theory of grammar' in 1961. It was as nearly as the model which was known as 'Scale and Category Grammar'. It was extended into a sophisticated instrument for relating linguistics forms to language functions through a network of systems (choices) of various kinds.
Howatt (1984, 213) sees that the chief strength of Hallidayn approach in applied contexts is its consistent concern with preserving the unity of language and language use, no matter how complicated the analytical procedures required to relate them.
The Washington Conference (1959) on English Teaching Abroad, attracted the great and active interest in both governmental and professional circles Britain and USA.
The results of the conference concerning the Michigan Model and interpretation of applied language teaching can be summed up as follows:
a) Priority that is given to speech habits by American is not preferred by British interest in situational approaches supported by Firthian ideas.
b) The sound linguistics principles had more than one possible interpretation, that there was no mechanism in the Michigan Model for choosing them.
So the expertise of both countries agreed on that they could imply either neo-Bloomfieldian structuralism language teaching based on pattern practice or with equal logic, neo-Firthian situational methods based on asocial model of language use.
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