Linguistics Applied - Applied Linguistics

There are some definitions of applied linguistics from the linguists, Cook (2003, p.05) told that Applied linguistics is the academic discipline focused on the relation of knowledge about language to decision making in the real world. It means that applied linguistics itself focused about language usage in the real world context. The other theory comes from Brumfit (1997, p.93) also told that Applied Linguistics is the theoretical and empirical investigation of real-world problems in which language is a central issue. This theory still have the same meaning with Cook’s that explained it as the study about language in the real-world problems that happened in daily life.



The other supported theory was proposed by Schmitt and Celce Murcia (2002, p.01) which told more detailed concept about applied linguistics. They explained that applied linguistics including the language itself, how it’s learned and how it’s used to solve all problems and achieve some purposes in the real world. So, talking about applied linguistics not just talk about what is language, but also how to solve all problems with language as their central issue. How about linguistics applied? Davies (2001, p.11) distinguishes linguistics applied and applied linguistics in terms of difference of orientation.

While linguistics applied is primarily focused on language itself and with language problems in so far as they provide evidence for better language description or for teaching a linguistic theory, whereas the applied linguistics interested in language problems for what they reveal about the role of language in people’s daily lives and whether intervention is either possible or desirable. He then stated that applied linguistics is as much concerned with context as with language and will therefore be likely to draw on disciplines other than linguistics, for example, anthropology, education, psychology. It also means that the language problems with which applied linguistics concerns itself are often concerned with institutions, for example the school, the work-place, the law-court, the clinic.