This paper argues that the most significant trend in applied linguistics is the emergence of the field as a generic discipline, involving several subareas, all characterised by the aim of developing theoretical and empirical studies of language as a key element in real world problems. Various subsidiary trends are apparent including numerous methodological and theoretical developments. The paper argues that so far these trends respond only inconsistently to two major challenges in the relationship between the academy and the lay community: (1) identifying and studying issues held to be problems by those outside the academy; and (2) clarifying the nature of the contributions of research to those real world problems. Three themes are considered: the relationship between surface data and theory development; the problem of the specific and the general; and the importance of problematicity. The paper concludes that applied linguistics needs to be accountable to two communities, the academy and the lay communities it aims to work with.
2005. Calm seas or troubled waters? Transitions, definitions and disagreements in applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 15:3 ► pp. 282 ff.
Ellis, Rod
2010. Second language acquisition, teacher education and language pedagogy. Language Teaching 43:2 ► pp. 182 ff.
Ensslin, Astrid & Sally Johnson
2006. Language in the news: investigating representations of ‘Englishness’ usingWordSmith Tools. Corpora 1:2 ► pp. 153 ff.
Grujicic-Alatriste, Lubie
2020. Knowledge Translation at the Sites of Practice: From Outreach and Dissemination to Reflexive Evaluation. In Language Research in Multilingual Settings, ► pp. 1 ff.
2020. Outreach and Collaboration with Au-Pair Girls in Home Employment Settings. In Language Research in Multilingual Settings, ► pp. 217 ff.
LAFFORD, BARBARA A.
2007. Second Language Acquisition Reconceptualized? The Impact of Firth and Wagner (1997). The Modern Language Journal 91:s1 ► pp. 735 ff.
LAFFORD, BARBARA A.
2007. Second Language Acquisition Reconceptualized? The Impact of Firth and Wagner (1997). The Modern Language Journal 91:s1 ► pp. 735 ff.
Mcnamara, Tim
2015. Applied Linguistics: The Challenge of Theory: Table 1:. Applied Linguistics 36:4 ► pp. 466 ff.
Rambiritch, Avasha & Albert Weideman
2016. Telling the Story of a Test: The Test of Academic Literacy for Postgraduate Students (TALPS). In Post-admission Language Assessment of University Students [English Language Education, 6], ► pp. 197 ff.
van der Slik, Frans & Albert Weideman
2009. Revisiting test stability: further evidence relating to the measurement of difference in performance on a test of academic literacy. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 27:3 ► pp. 253 ff.
Weideman, Albert
2017. The Foundations of a Discipline of Design. In Responsible Design in Applied Linguistics: Theory and Practice [Educational Linguistics, 28], ► pp. 1 ff.
[no author supplied]
2016. A Transdisciplinary Framework for SLA in a Multilingual World. The Modern Language Journal 100:S1 ► pp. 19 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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