APPLIED LINGUISTICS

TASK # 1
Submitted by: Urooj Yahya

LINGUISTICS
1. Chomskyan linguistics is defined by a fundamental commitment to universalism
and to the existence of a shared species-wide knowledge grounded in human
biology."Chomskyan linguistics defines the object of study as the knowledge of
language a speaker has. This knowledge is called the linguistic competence or
internalized language (I-language). It is not open to conscious, direct introspection,
but a wide range of its manifestations can be observed and used as data for the
study of language.

2. Linguistics is the science of language. It is the subject whose practitioners devote

their energy to understanding why human language is the way it is. They study the
history, acquisition, structure, and use of as many languages as possible.

Professor David Crystal

3. Linguistics is the study of language. Knowledge of linguistics, however, is different

from knowledge of a language. Just as a person is able to drive a car without
understanding the inner workings of the engine, so, too, can a speaker use a
language without any conscious knowledge of its internal structure. Conversely, a
linguist can know and understand the internal structure of a language without
actually speaking it.

What is linguistics? ERIC Digest (Revised)

4. Linguistic is the scientific study of language whose goal is to describe and explain
the unconscious knowledge the speakers have of their language.

5. Linguistics is the study of human language in all its aspects. It provides a

methodology for exploring the structure of particular languages; it investigates
what is universal to all human languages: how language varies over time and
between different societies, how language is learnt, and how language is used for
human communication.
INTERPRETATION:

Linguistics is the study of language and human speech. It is different

from language as it involves systematic study of knowledge of the
principles and practices of speakers of a language in various situations
through observation and experiments. It concerns itself with
competence as well as performance of speakers in a language. Unlike
language that serves just as the method of human communication in a
particular community, linguistics goes deep down into the intricacies of
a language and explores what constitutes a language and how its users
exploit it in different contexts. It involves the study of phonetics,
phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. It also investigates and
affirms the influence of other disciplines on a language and draws on
subjects like sociology and psychology.

APPLIED LINGUISTICS
1. “The academic discipline concerned with relation of knowledge about language to
decision making in the real world” (Guy Cook, 2003 :5)

2. A working definition of applied linguistics will then be the theoretical and

empirical investigation of real-world problems in which language is a central issue.
(Brumfit 1997b: 93)

3. The study of language and linguistics in relation to practical problems, such

as Lexicography, Translation, Speech Pathology, etc.

(Jack C. Richard & Richard Schmidt (2002) Longman Dictionary of Language

Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited, p: 28)

4. ‘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 world” (Schmitt & Celce-Murcia, 2002, p. 1)

5. Applied Linguistics is concerned with practical issues involving language in the

life of the community. The most important of these is the learning of second or
foreign languages. Others include language policy, multilingualism, language
education, the preservation and revival of endangered languages, and the
assessment and treatment of language difficulties.
Other areas of interest include professional communication, for example, between
doctors and their patients, between lawyers and their clients and in courtrooms, as
well as other areas of institutional and cross-cultural communication ranging from
the boardroom to the routines on an answer phone.

INTERPRETATION:

Applied Linguistics can be taken as advancement in the field of

linguistics that incorporates a number of other fields depending on their
nature and requirements. The term has broadened the field as well as
areas that it covers. Previously, Linguistics was considered to be a
matter of concern for teachers and learners only. But with the advent of
Applied Linguistics, all the other fields where language applies have
become an area of concern for linguists. The term concerns with surface
as well as deep meaning of language in different contexts and
investigates real-world problems popping up as a result.

CRITICAL APPLIED LINGUISTICS

1. “CAL is a way of exploring language in social contexts that goes beyond mere
correlation between language and society and instead raises more critical questions
to do with access, power, disparity, desire, difference and resistance.”

(A.Pennycook)

2. Critical applied linguistics deals with the critical study of the aspects of applied
linguistics. It is not a mere addition of criticality to applied linguistics but
continuous and sustainable, uninterrupted, skeptics and critical investigation in to
the diverse fields of applied linguistics. Critical applied linguistics actually takes the
strong version of the new definition of applied linguistics, the application of linguist
theory in applied contexts like translation, speech disorder, critical pedagogy and
others. Critical applied linguistics counts the following basic concerns: praxis,
criticality, and critical social study, and critical school theory, self-reflectivity,
problematizing the givens, preferred future, micro-macro relation and hetrosis.

Ebissa Bekele (Research Scholar)

3. Davies (1999) is prepared to accord a broader role to critical applied linguistics

as both a mode of critique, and, in critical pedagogy, as a mode of practice. From this
point of view it “offers an alternative applied linguistics, known as critical applied
linguistics (CAL). It does this in two ways, first by offering a critique of traditional
applied linguistics . . . and second, by exemplifying one way of doing CAL, namely
critical pedagogy” (p. 20).

INTERPRETATION:

Critical applied linguistics is a critical approach towards Applied

Linguistics, which encompasses the analysis of language in different
contexts and its impact on various dimensions of human life. It is also a
critical investigation into the aspects of applied linguistics that goes
beyond theories and incorporates areas that require critical analysis of
language applied in diverse fields like politics, economy, law, pedagogy
and discourse analysis. Major concerns of CAL are Praxis, Criticality,
Critical Social Study and Critical School theory.

Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Critical Applied Linguistics

Summed up

Linguistics is the study of language and human speech. Applied

Linguistics is using linguistic knowledge to solve real-world problems
involving language. Critical Applied Linguistics is a critical study of
various aspects of Applied Linguistics.
Linguistics is when you are investigating into five areas of a language
(Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax and Semantics). Applied
Linguistics is when you apply your knowledge of a particular language
to improve how language is taught or exploited. Critical Applied
Linguistics is when you critically evaluate how language does or should
function in different fields like politics, economy, law, discourse etc.

 https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-chomskyan-linguistics-1689750

 https://abujimoh.wordpress.com/tag/linguistics-scientific-study-of-language-chomsky-
ferdinand-de-saussure-language-science-phonetics-phonology-syntax/

 https://www.ericdigests.org/1992-1/what.htm

 https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/soll/study/applied-linguistics

 https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/soll/study/applied-linguistics

 https://studylib.net/doc/6898597/definition-and-scope-of-applied-linguistics