Reading 1 Applied Linguistics, Apuntes de Lingüística

¡Descarga Reading 1 Applied Linguistics y más Apuntes en PDF de Lingüística solo en Docsity! CHAPTER 1 APPLIED LINGUISTICS: AN EMERGING DISCIPLINE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WILLIAM GRABE A realistic history of the field of applied linguistics would place its origins at around the year 1948 with the publication of the first issue of the journal Language Learning: A Journal of Applied Linguistics. While there are certainly other possible starting points, particularly from a British perspective, this time still accords roughly with any discussion of the beginning of applied linguistics. Over the years, the term applied linguistics has been defined and interpreted in a number of different ways, and 1 continue that exploration in this overview. In the 19505, the term was commonly meant to reflect the insights of structural and functional linguists that could be applied directly to second language teaching, and also, in some cases, to first language (L1) literacy and language arts issues as well. In the 19605, the term continued to be associated with the application of linguistics-to-language teaching and related practical language issues (Corder 1973; Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens 1964; Rivers 1968). At the same time, applied linguists became involved in matters of language assessment, language policies, and a new field of second language acquisition (SLA), focusing on learning, rather than on teaching. So, by the late 19605, one saw both a reinforcement of the centrality of second language teaching as applied linguistics, and also an expansion 4 INTRODUCTION into other realms of language use. In this respect, applied linguistics began to emerge as a genuine problem-solving enterprise. In the 1970s, the broadening of the field of applied linguistics continued, accompanied by a more overt specification of its role as a discipline that addresses real-world language-based problems. While the focus on language teaching re- mains central to the discipline, it takes into its domain the growing subfields of language assessment, SLA, literacy, multilingualism, language-minority rights, lan- guage planning and policy, and teacher training (Kaplan 1980; Kaplan et al. 1981, Widdowson, 1979/1984). The notion that applied linguistics is driven first by real- world problems rather than theoretical explorations, has had four major conse- quences: + The recognition of locally situated contexts for inquiry and exploration, and thus the importance of needs analyses and variable solutions in dif- fering local contexts. The need to see language as functional and discourse based, thus the re- emergence of systemic and descriptive linguistics as resources for problem- solving, particularly in North American contexts. The recognition that no one discipline can provide all the tools and re- sources needed to address real-world problems. The need to recognize and apply a wide array of research tools and meth- odologies to address locally situated language problems. These trends took hold and evolved in the 1980s as major points of departure from an earlier, no longer appropriate, “linguistics applied” perspective. The cen- tral issue remained the need to address language issues and problems as they occur in the real world. Of course, since language is central to all communication, and since many language issues in the real world are particularly complex and long- standing, the emerging field has not simply been reactive, but rather, has been, and still is, fluid and dynamic in its evolution. Thus, definitions of applied lin- guistics in the 19808 emphasized both the range of issues addressed and the types of disciplinary resources used in order to work on language problems (Grabe and Kaplan 1992; Kaplan 1980). In the 1980s, applied linguistics truly extended in a systematic way beyond language teaching and language learning issues to encom- pass language assessment, language policy and planning, language use in profes- sional settings, translation, lexicography, multilingualism, language and technol- ogy, and corpus linguistics (which has continuously held a far greater attraction for applied linguistics than for theoretical linguists). These extensions are well documented in the first ten years of the journal Applied Linguistics and in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL). By the close of the 19805, a common trend was to view applied linguistics as incorporating many subfields (as indicated earlier) and as drawing on many sup- porting disciplines in addition to linguistics (e.g., psychology, education, anthro- AN EMERGING DISCIPLINE 7 TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES IN THE 19908 In this section, 1 only note various developments that emerged in the 1990s and that will continue to define applied linguistics through this decade. The present volume provides the details to much of the brief sign-posting that this section provides, For much the same reason, 1 refrain from a long catalog of appropriate references on the assumption that these ideas will be well-referenced elsewhere. Under the umbrella of applied linguistics, research in language teaching, lan- guage learning, and teacher education is now placing considerable emphasis on notions of language awareness, attention and learning, “focus on forms” for lan- guage learning, learning from dialogic interactions, patterns of teacher-student interaction, task-based learning, content-based learning, and teacher as researcher through action research. Research in language learning has shifted in recent years toward a focus on information processing, the emergence of language ability from extended meaningful exposures and relevant practice, and awareness of how lan- guage is used and the functions that it serves (see Doughty and Williams 1998b; N, Ellis 1999; Gass 1997; MacWhinney 1999; McCarthy and Carter, 1994; Robinson 2001; Schmidt 1995; Van Lier 1995, 1996; Van Lier and Corson, 1997). Instructional research and curricular issues have centered on task-based learning, content-based learning, dialogic inquiry, and a return to learning centered on specific language skills (Grabe et al. 1998; Skehan 1998b; Snow and Brinton 1997; Swain 2000; Wells 1999). Language teacher development has also moved in new directions, Widdowson (19982) has argued forcefully that certain communicative orientations, with a per- vasive emphasis on natural language input and authenticity, may be misinter- preting the real purpose of the language classroom context and ignoring effective frameworks for language teaching. He has also persuasively argued that applied linguists must support teachers through their mediation with all aspects of Hymes's notion of communicative competence, balancing language understanding so that it combines grammaticality, appropriateness, feasibility, and examples from the attested (Widdowson, 20004). A further emphasis for language teacher edu- cation has been the move to engaging teachers in the practice of action research. The trend to train teachers as reflective practitioners, inquiring into the effective- ness of teaching and learning in local classroom settings, will increase in the new decade. A second major emphasis that has taken hold in discussions among applied linguists themselves is the role for critical studies; this term covers critical aware- ness, critical discourse analysis, critical pedagogy, student rights, critical assessment practices, and ethics in language assessment (and language teaching) (Davies 8 INTRODUCTION 1999b; Fairclough 1995; McNamara 1998; Pennycook 1997b; Rampton 1997b; Van Lier 1995, 1997). At the same time, there are a number of criticisms of this general approach and its impact on more mainstream applied linguistics that highlight weaknesses in much of the critical studies theorizing (Widdowson 1998b, 1998). At present, critical studies is also an emphasis that has not demonstrated strong applications in support of those who are experiencing “language problems” of various types. The coming decade will continue this debate. A third emphasis is on language uses in academic, disciplinary, and profes- sional settings. This research examines the ways in which language is used by participants and in texts in various academic, professional, and occupational set- tings. It also emphasizes how language can act as a gatekeeping mechanism or create unfair obstacles to those who are not aware of appropriate discourse rules and expectations. In academic settings, the key issue is understanding how genres and register expectations form the basis for successfully negotiating academic work (Hyland 1999; Johns 1997, 2001; Swales 2000). Analyses of language uses in various professional settings are described in Atkinson (19993), Gibbons (1999), Hyden and Mishler (1999), and Swales (2000). More specific to English for Special Pur- poses (ESP), Swales (2000) and Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) provide strong overviews, A fourth emphasis centers on descriptive (usually discourse) analyses of lan- guage in real settings and the possible applications of analyses in corpus linguistics, register variation, and genre variation. A breakthrough application of corpus lin- guistics is the recent Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (Biber et al. 1999): It is based entirely on attested occurrences of language use in a very large English corpus. The key, though, is not the corpus data themselves but the innovative analyses and displays that define the uniqueness of the grammar. Other important applications of corpus linguistics include the teacher-friendly introduc- tion to discourse analysis by McCarthy and Carter (1994) and their more recent description and resource materials for the study of spoken English (Carter and McCarthy 1997; McCarthy 1998). A fifth emphasis in applied linguistics research addresses multilingualism and bilingual interactions in school, community, and work and professional settings, or in policy issues at regional and national levels. Since the majority of people in the world are bilingual to some extent, and this bilingualism is associated with the need to negotiate life situations with other cultures and language groups, this area of research is fundamental to applied linguistics concerns. Multilingualism covers issues in bilingual education, migrations of groups of people to new lan- guage settings, equity and fairness in social services, and language policies related to multiple language use (or the restriction thereof). Key issues are addressed in Baker and Jones (1998), Grabe et al. (1997), and Rampton (1995b). A sixth emphasis focuses on the changing discussion in language testing and assessment. In the past ten years, the field of language assessment has taken on a AN EMERGING DISCIPLINE 9 number of important issues and topics that have ramifications for applied lin- guistics more generally. Validity is now powerfully reinterpreted and, in its new interpretation, has strong implications for all areas of applied linguistics research and data collection (Bachman and Palmer 1996; Chapelle 19993). Similarly, em- phases on technology applications, ethics in assessment, innovative research meth- odologies, the roles of standardized testing and alternative assessment, standards for professionalism, and critical language testing are all reshaping language as- sessment and, by extension, applied linguistics (Clapham 2000; Clapham and Cor- son 1997; McNamara 1998). A seventh and final emphasis addresses the role of applied linguistics as a mediating discipline and applied linguists as mediators. Over the past decade, discussions about the role of applied linguists, as a bridge between research and practice, have been raised by Widdowson and a number of other scholars (Beau- grande 1997; Widdowson 2000b). At issue is not only the work of applied linguists but also the status of applied linguistics as an academic enterprise (Rampton 1997b; Tucker 2000; Van Lier 1997; Widdowson 1998c; Wilkins 1999). In some of these debates, there are still discussions of the applied linguist as an “MA gen- eralist” or “language teacher.” It should be clear from this review that applied linguists in the modern world require training and expertise far beyond such outmoded designations. (And, for this reason, master's degree programs, in and of themselves, are not the appropriate locus of training for applied linguists [Grabe and Kaplan 1992].) The PrROBLEM-BASED NATURE OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS: THE PROBLEMS, NoT THE DISCIPLINES In the many discussions of trends, and disciplines, and subfields, and theorizing, the idea is sometimes lost that the focus of applied linguistics is on trying to resolve language-based problems that people encounter in the real world, whether they be learners, teachers, supervisors, academics, lawyers, service providers, those who need social services, test takers, policy developers, dictionary makers, trans- lators, or a whole range of business clients. A list of major language-based prob- lems that applied linguistics typically addresses across a wide range of settings follows. The list is necessarily partial, but it should indicate what it is that applied linguists try to do, if not how they go about their work. Applied linguists address subsets of the following problems: