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Applied Linguistics: A 21st century discipline, Ricardo Alejandro Salinas…
Applied Linguistics: A 21st century discipline
Over the years, the term has been defined and interpreted in different ways
1950
It reflected the insight of structural or functional linguists that could be applied to SLT and sometimes to first language literacy and language arts
1960
Still associated to the application of linguistics to LT and related practical language issues, also AL became involved in matters of language assessment, policies and the new field of SLA
by late 60s one saw both a reinforcement of the centrality of the SLT as AL, and an expansion into other realms of language use.
1970
Broadening of the field of AL continued, with overt specification of its role as a discipline that addresses real world language based problems.
There's a notion that AL is driven by RWLP rather than by theoretical explorations of internalized language knowledge
FL development is largely what set the field apart from both formal linguistics and from sociolinguistics
This separation had four major consequences
The need to see language as functional and discourse based, thus the reemergence of systemic and descriptive linguistics as resources for problem solving, particularly in NA Context
Recognition that no single discipline can provide all the tools and resources to address language-based real-world problems
The recognition of social situated context for inquiry and exploration, increasing the importance of needs analysis and variable solutions in differing local contexts
The need to recognize and apply a wide range of research tools and methodologies to address locally situated language problems.
1980
The previous decade trends took hold and evolved, also emphasized both the range of issues addressed and the types of disciplinary resources used in order to work on language problems
The central issue remained the need to address language issues and problems as they occur in the real world
The emerging field has not simply been reactive, but rather; has been and still is, fluid and dynamic in its evolution.
1990
A common trend was emerging to view AL as incorporating many subfields and drawing on many supporting disciplines in adition to linguistics
it has evolved further during the 90s and the 2000s, breaking away from the common framing mechanisms of the 80s
From the 60s to early 90s, generative linguistics dominated the linguistics landscape
Chomskean linguistics and its offshoots, almost defines linguistics in NA. situation especially true for many practicing AL during that time.
Linguistics is still central to the overwhelming majority of AL areas of inquiry that are generally recognized as falling under the umbrella discipline of AL
For AL research, the shift to discourse analysis, descriptive data analysis and interpretation of language indicate a shift in valuing observable data over theoretical assumptions
One of the most useful perspectives has been the development of register analysis, genre analysis and the resource of corpus linguistics as they apply to a wide range of language learning and language use situations.
Trends and perspectives in the 90s and 2000s
Research in language teaching, language learning, and teacher education now has emphasis on notions of language awareness, attention and learning.
Several emphasis has been taken into consideration
Widdowson has argued that certain communicative orientations with emphasis on natural language input and authenticity, may be misinterpreting the real purpose of the language classroom context and ignoring effective frameworks for language teaching
A further emphasis for LT education has been the move to engaging teachers in the practice of action research
The role for critical studies; this term covers critical awareness, discourse, analysis, pedagogy, student rights, assessment practices and ethics in language assessment.
Language uses in academic, disciplinary, and professional settings, this research examines ways in which language is used by participants and in texts in various academic, professional and occupational settings, also on how language can act as a gatekeeping mechanism
Descriptive analyses of language in real setting and the possible application of analyses in corpus linguistics, register variation, and genre variation.
Multilingualism and bilingual interaction in school, community, and work and in a professional settings or policy issues at regional and national levels.
Changing discussion in language testing and assessment
Resources and perspectives provided by neurolinguistics and brain studies associated with language learning and language use
Problem-Based nature of AL
In the discussions of tends, disciplines, subfields and theorizing, the idea is sometimes lost that the focus of AL is on trying to resolve language-based problems that people encounter in the real world.
A list of major language-based problems that AL typically addresses is the following
Language policy and planning problems (status planning, corpus planning, acquisition planning, ecology of language, multilingualism, political factors)
Language teaching problems (resources, training, practice, interaction, understanding, use, contexts, inequalities, motivations, outcomes)
Language pathology problems (aphasias, dyslexias, physical disabilities)
Language and technology problems (learning, assessment, access, use)
Language learning problems (emergence of skills, awareness, rules, use, context, automaticity, attitudes, expertise)
Language translation problems (access, effectiveness, technologies)
Language inequality problems (ethnicity, class, region, gender, and age)
Language use problems (dialects, registers, discourse communities, gatekeeping situations, limited access to services and resources)
Language contact problems (bilingualism, shift, spread, loss, maintenance, social and cultural interactions)
Literacy problems (orthography development, new scripts, resource development, learning issues)
Language assessment problems (validity, reliability, usability, responsibility, fairness)
Defining AL
The author defines AL as a practice-driven discipline that addresses language-based problems in real-world contexts
AL, like many disciplines, has a core and a periphery, and that periphery blurs into other disciplines that may or may not want to be allied.
Accepting the messiness of a newer discipline and the controversies that are inevitable in describing an intellectual territory, AL exhibits many defining disciplinary characteristics, which are:
AL typically incorporates other disciplinary knowledge beyond linguistics
AL is an interdisciplinary field, because few practical language issues can be addressed through the knowledge resources of any single discipline, including linguistics
AL is grounded in real-world language-driven problems and issues
AL commonly includes a core set of issues and practices that are readily identifiable as work carried out by many applied linguists
AL recognizes that linguistics must be included as a core knowledge base in the training and work of AL, although the purpose of most AL work is not simply to apply linguistics to achieve a solution.
AL generally incorporates or includes several identifiable subfields (corpus linguistics, forensic linguistics, language testing, policy and planning, lexicography, second language acquisition...)
AL has conferences with well-articulated subareas for conference-abstract submissions
AL has many of the markings of an academic discipline (journals, associations, international recognition, funding for research...)
Ricardo Alejandro Salinas Moya
1839661
Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras
Mtro. Dan Isai Serrato Salazar
8/30/2021