Applied linguistics in the course of language teaching process

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Khmelnytskyi National University

Applied linguistics in the course of language teaching process

УДК 8. 81'33

Mahdyuk O. V.

Summary

The article deals with the usage of applied linguistics in the process of language studying. Applied linguistics and the process of language teaching were investigated in the article. Definitions of applied linguistics by famous domestic and foreign scholars were given. It was stated in the article, that many recent researches concerned with applied linguistics have led to a phenomenon to resolve language problems. Special emphasis on the influence of applied linguistics on language teaching process was presented in the article. The relation between applied linguistics and language teaching process was discussed.

Key words: linguistics, applied linguistics, language, language teaching process, students, teacher.

Анотація

Магдюк О. В.

Хмельницький національний університет

Стаття присвячена дослідженню процесу використання прикладної лінгвістики в процесі вивчення мови. У статті досліджено прикладну лінгвістику та процес викладання мови. Дано визначення прикладної лінгвістики відомими вітчизняними та зарубіжними вченими. У статті було зазначено, що чимало досліджень, що стосуються прикладної лінгвістики, дали пояснення багатьом мовним проблемам. У статті висвітлено особливості впливу прикладної лінгвістики на процес навчання мови; обговорено зв'язок між прикладною лінгвістикою та процесом навчання мови.

Ключові слова: лінгвістика, прикладна лінгвістика, мова, процес навчання мовою, студент, викладач.

The philosopher Franz Fanon once wrote that “to speak a language is to take on a world, a culture”. Likely, Fanon was referring to the fact that language learning encompasses so much more than mere memorization and pronunciation. As a language instructor, teaching will be much more meaningful to students if the teacher knows the ins and outs of the different branches of linguistics. The reason is that every language teacher must use applied linguistics in his/her language teaching process. This branch of linguistics is the practical side of language. As its name suggests, it applies knowledge about language to real-world issues. While it can encompass language teaching overall, it also encourages teachers to ask questions such as “How can I best connect this language lesson with my students' everyday needs?” and “What are some of the social issues my students face that could affect their learning?”

Different aspects of linguistics, and applied linguistics as well, were researched by domestic and foreign scholars, such as: M. Berns, G. Cook, A. Davies, C. Hall, N. Klymenko, A. Serednyt- ska, and others.

The purpose of the article is to define the place of applied linguistics in the process of language teaching. linguistics language teaching

The history of English language teaching is linked with developments in many fields and especially with linguistics, applied linguistics, the psychology of learning and education. Titone emphasized that there have been two basic positions held in English language teaching:

a. form-focused teaching which emphasizes the teaching of the rules of grammar, structures, the development of vocabulary and the sounds of language;

b. meaning-focused teaching which emphasizes language use, communication or fluency and appropriacy of expression in different situations.

Language teaching came into existence as a profession in the XX century. Its foundation was developed during the early part of the XX century, as applied linguists focus on the fields of linguistics and psychology to support what was thought to be a more effective teaching methodology. Language teaching in the XX century was characterized by frequent changes, innovations and development of language teaching ideologies. Corder argued that applied linguistics was a collection of applications of linguistics at various levels to language teaching operation, albeit of linguistics in a broad sense. Cook and Wei mentioned that applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field of research and practice dealing with practical problems of language and by applying available theories, methods or results of Linguistics or by developing new theoretical and methodological frameworks in linguistics to work on these problems' [2]. Varshney defined applied linguistics as the collective term for the various applications of linguistic (and phonetic) scholarship to related practical fields-foreign language teaching, lexicography, translation, speech pathology and therapy, error analysis, etc (Ali Akbar Khansir). Applied linguistics in the widest sense, therefore, borders on other disciplines, for example, sociology, anthropology, psychology, biology, computational linguistics, stylistics, etc. The speech therapist, the literary critic, the translator, the communication engineer, the language teacher, the syllabus framer, the educational planner, the text book writer, the dictionary maker have found linguistics useful for their work. “Applied linguistics is a consumer, or user, not a producer of theories”.

As a field of study applied linguistics is about more than 60 years old. It is an interdisciplinary field of linguistics. 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 [2].

Although the field of applied linguistics started from 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 [7].

The term applied linguistics refers to the use of language-related research in a wide variety of fields, among which include language acquisition, language teaching, literacy, literary studies, gender studies, speech therapy, discourse analysis, censorship, professional communication, media studies, translation studies, lexicography, and forensic linguistics.

In contrast with general linguistics or theoretical linguistics, applied linguistics tackle “real- world problems in which language is a central issue”, according to Christopher Brumfit's article “Teacher Professionalism and Research” in the 1995 book “Principles and Practice in Applied Linguistics” [1].

Similarly, in a book titled “Applied Linguistics” from 2003, Guy Cook declared applied linguistics to mean “the academic discipline concerned with the relation of knowledge about language to decision making in the real world” [4].

Applied linguistics seeks to understand how to practically apply linguistic theories to the modern vernacular. In general, then, it is used to draw insights from language studies relevant to such decision making.

The field of study itself gained popular relevance in the 1950s, according to “An Introduction to Applied Linguistics: From Practice to Theory”, the author Alan Davies. Beginning as a postgraduate qualification, the initial target was “largely language teaching" and "has always been practical, policy-oriented” [3].

Davies cautions, though, that for applied linguistics, “there is no finality: the problems such as how to assess language proficiency, what is the optimum age to begin a second language”, and the like “may find local and temporary solutions but the problems recur” [3].

As a result, applied linguistics is a constantly evolving study that changes just as frequently as modern usage of any given language, adapting and presenting new solutions to the ever-evolving problems of linguistic discourse.

From difficulties learning a new language to assessing the validity and reliability of language, applied linguistics covers an interdisciplinary domain of problems.

According to “The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics” by Robert B. Kaplan, “The key point is to recognize that it is the language-based problems in the world that drive applied linguistics” [8]. One such example comes in the form of language teaching problems wherein scholars try to determine which resources, training, practice, and interaction techniques best solve the difficulties of teaching a person a new language. Using their research in the fields of teaching and English grammar, linguistic experts attempt to create a temporary-to-permanent solution to this issue.

Even small variations like dialects and registers of modern vernaculars present problems that can only be solved through applied linguistics, affecting translation and interpretations as well as language usage and style (Nordquist).

Applied linguistics is important for language teaching because linguistics and language teaching can be likened to the relationship of knowledge about engine and the skill in driving a car. It will be better for the driver to support with some knowledge about the car or the engine so that he can drive it well and know how to overcome some engine trouble in case he has to face it. In the same way it will be better if a language teacher has some knowledge about, for instance, the characteristics of language in general and the specific language he is teaching in particular. In this relation, he should know how language works and expresses meaning, and what structures are used in the particular language he is teaching. He should get familiar, for instance, with the theory about the general mechanism of producing speech sounds, so that he will be able to tackle any pronunciation problem his students may encounter.

By studying applied linguistics he will have deeper insights into the nature of language, and act accordingly in teaching the language. For instance, when he agrees that the use of language is a matter of habits and practice; in teaching it to his students he must implant the habit of using it for communication until it becomes deeply established [5].

Language is an inherently complex system. It presents some contradictions and oppositions. Both linguistics and language teaching must consider these contradictions; otherwise they cannot provide a satisfactory solution to the problems of language. Since language is complex by nature, what linguistics has to do is to identify the elements or aspects in order to analyze it. For example, when we talk about a language we try to analyze it from four aspects: sound system, grammatical system, lexical system and discourse system. We may ask which aspect does our language teaching practice or teaching theory include or exclude. Theoretically speaking, all these four aspects should be involved in our teaching theory, because they constitute a whole picture of language. When we analyze each aspect, we will use linguistic theory to describe it that means we have to consider how it works linguistically; what does it mean semantically and how is it used socio-linguistically. Only when a language is analyzed systematically can it be learnt practically. However, language teachers wish to teach language as a whole, that means language should be regarded as a synthesis in our teaching practice. So a satisfactory language teaching theory should consider the language both as isolated features and as a synthesis.

There is another opposition in language, that is, language is both rule-governed and creative. It involves order and regularity, but it also provides opportunity to be creative. Upon this fact, the language teaching practice or teaching theory as well as the linguistic theory must take into account the regularities and the possibility of making use of the regularities in varied ways. In our teaching practice, we should teach the students the grammar or the rules of a language; while on the other hand, we may let the students use language innovatively based on these rules. In my opinion, the teaching of the rules should be put at the highest position, because without a solid foundation of the English language it is hard to imagine how students will effectively communicate at high levels. Because of the intricacies a language possesses, we cannot ask a language teaching theory to cover all the aspects of a language. Since it is impossible for a theory of language to do justices to the whole of a language, all language teaching theories have to sacrifice some aspects of language in order to highlight others. Though linguistics cannot present us a definite interpretation of language, it can help us to think critically and constructively about language, which makes possible the design of the most feasible and practical language teaching pedagogy [6].

Thus, the research reviewed in this article shows knowledge of applied linguistics can have a positive impact on language teachers and has potential for a much greater impact if problems of transfer can be addressed. Therefore, when designing applied linguistics courses for language teacher education programs, it is not enough to simply provide a short apprenticeship in applied linguistics and hope for the best because the knowledge that teachers use in their practice is more complicated that just knowing facts and general conceptions of language and language learning. In order to produce better learning experiences for novice teachers we need to move more away from folk psychology conceptions of the mind to a more sophisticated and complex view of language teachers' knowledge, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge use which takes into account the insights from research in these areas. We need to take into account what kind of knowledge language teachers need (as opposed to using what knowledge we can offer as a starting point) and what kinds of learning experiences will help them acquire such knowledge. We also need to have a deeper, more sophisticated understanding of how our course designs, materials and activities effect teachers' knowledge growth, which provides a whole series of research questions which need to be investigated in the coming decade.

References

1. Berns M. Applied linguistics: Overview and history / M. Berns, P. Matsuda. - Oxford, UK : Elsevier, 2006. - P. 394-405.

2. Cook G. Applied Linguistics (in the series Oxford Introduction to Language Study) / G. Cook. - Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2003.

3. Davies A. Handbook of Applied Linguistics / A. Davies, C. Elder. - Oxford/Malden, MA : Blackwell, 2004.

4. Hall C. Mapping Applied Linguistics. A Guide for Students and Practitioners / C. Hall, P. Smith, R. Wicaksono. - London : Routledge, 2011.

5. Johnson K. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics / K. Johnson, H. Johnson. - Oxford ; Malden, MA : Blackwell, 1999.

6. Pennycook A. Critical Applied Linguistics: A Critical Introduction / A. Pennycook. - London : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001.

7. Schmitt N. An Introduction to Applied Linguistics / N. Schmitt. - London : Arnold, 2002.

8. Spolsky B. Handbook of Educational Linguistics / B. Spolsky, F. Hult. - Malden, MA : Blackwell, 2008.

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