On the Scope of Applied Linguistics

Hossein Farhady

On the Scope of Applied Linguistics*

Hossein Farhady
Iran University of Science and Technology

Abstract
Applied Linguistics (AL), a field emerging as an interface of many disciplines, has
been growing in the last few decades. As an area emerged to deal with practical
applications of linguistics to foreign language teaching, AL has moved beyond this
simplistic perspective. AL began as a practical field, moved into a theoretical area,
and is ending up with a philosophical and epistemological framework to explore the
mysteries of human language and its multifaceted implications and applications to
human knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on ever-changing
treatment of the concept of AL from different perspectives and offer some guidelines
for language students and researchers.

Introduction
In recent decades, applied linguistics has been a polemic field. Many scholars have
helped clarify the issue. In some cases, clarifications have led to simplifications while
in some other cases intended clarifications have led to complications and sometimes
to confusions. For example, a group of scholars has advocated the idea that AL is
simply the application of the findings of linguistics to practical issues such as
language teaching. Although clear in explanation, this sort of treatment makes the
issue seem simple-minded. Another group, on the other hand, has tried to move well
beyond the simple application of the findings of linguists and to establish a theoretical
framework for the field of applied linguistics. While Corder might be considered the
pioneer for the first school of thinking, Widdowson can be taken as the leader of the
second movement. There is still the third group the followers of which believe that
AL has a philosophical as well as an epistemological underlying.
This paper is intended to address the issues related to all three perspectives, albeit
quite briefly. That is, it will hopefully clarify some of the vague impressions that the
students of language have about AL, and, at the same time, it will present some
unresolved issues in the field. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is twofold.
First, the concept of AL, its past, and its present status will be discussed, and second,
some theoretically farfetched but practically relevant areas of investigation in the field
of AL will be offered.

Historical Background
In order to understand the present status of a concept, a historical review is often
helpful and illuminating. The origin of AL, then, should logically be sought in the
origin of linguistics. Linguistics, as a scientific study of language, is claimed to be a
branch of science. Thus, the root of linguistics should be sought within the framework
of the general development of the science itself.

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What science is and how it started is an intriguing question. Probably, the point of
inception of knowledge and eventually science goes back to the very first problem
that man encountered and tried to solve, no matter how simple or trivial it might have
been. As the problems might have been simple, so might the solutions. However,
simple solutions were accumulated and gradually organized into the complex system
of present science.
But what is science? Of course, explaining the concept of science is not an easy task.
Nor is it necessary in the limited space here. Nevertheless, since an overview of the
history of science would encompass the history and the development of linguistics as
a branch of science, which in turn might lead to a clear picture of the developments in
the field of AL, a brief review seems warranted.
It is fairly certain that Eastern countries such as old China, Iran, and Egypt have made
significant contributions to the development of science at early ages (Foroughi, 1952).
Most of the branches of science today such as astronomy, mathematics, medicine,
architecture, engineering, and even metallurgy and mining are rooted in the scientific
thinking of the people in old Eastern countries. Technological developments such as
the emergence of the alphabet and the printing industry are also rooted in the Eastern
countries. In its broad sense, one could assume that the origin of civilization would go
back to China and the area of Upherats.
There are three distinguishable eras in the history of the development of science and
technology prior to the flourishing era of science in the western countries.
Documents are available from the first era of civilization in Babolonia. Around 2500
BC, people in Babolonia conducted the measures of physical concepts such as length,
time, etc. The conception of mathematics and engineering also goes back to
Babylonians and Summerians. Among different branches of science, geometry and
astronomy developed in that period of time, but due to the mystic nature of
astronomy, it progressed faster than the other branches of science.
The second era of civilization is attributed to Egypt. The discovery of wheels, boats,
and the calendar is also attributed to this era. The field of medicine progressed in
Egypt very fast around 2000 BC as the first recorded medical doctor in the world is
registered in this country.
The third era of civilization started in India. Since Buda and his thinking had
inclinations toward medical sciences, medicine, especially surgery and pathology had
considerable advancements in this era.
After a flourishing period of science in the early ages, there was a period of silence.
During this period, scientific thinking moved, quite secretively and collectively at the
same time, from the Eastern and the far Eastern countries to Greece. In other words,
all channels of civilization and scientific thinking, regardless of their origin, ended up
in Greece. Most of the thoughts, originated in the East, were revitalized in Greece and
this country became the center of the new era in sciences and arts. In fact, the Greek
thinkers inherited many branches of science, albeit in their primitive form. Some of
them were kept as they had been received, some others were improved, and still
others were modified.
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In Greece, most of the previously established areas of science flourished. However,

mythology became very popular which led to the emergence of two religions
orientations called Orphic and Ellusivian mysteries. The first signified the good will
and the second the ill will. From these two beliefs, two major philosophical thoughts
were later developed: the philosophy of naturalism and logicalism in Greece and
Fisagourian mystic philosophy in Italy.
It was around 50 BC that a group of the so-called scientists convened in the city of
MALTIEL and named themselves physiologues. They attempted to establish a kind
of scolastique with the intention of the then unknown principles of philosophy.
From among the participants, those who developed genuine interest in unfolding the
new facts and mysteries were called philosophers. Probably this was the first time
that the term philosophy was coined and philosophers found a disciplinary identity.
The most influential of all philosophers was TALES. Although, he is famous for his
theories in geometry, he did not have much interest in geometry. Rather, he was a
politician as well as a businessman. However, he made a great contribution to the
development of science by rejecting metaphysical beliefs in scientific endeavors.
Philosophers then were supposed to have a comprehensive knowledge of all the
sciences of their times. In fact some of them made significant contributions to the
development of scientific inquiry and gradually gained control over scientific
thinking. For instance, Desecrate started "observations" as a logical method for
science, and Bacon founded methodology. Others tried to establish some other
branches of science and science started to grow in its modern form. Other branches of
science including biology, botany, modern mathematics, and medicine developed very
fast. This rapid expansion of science made it impossible for a single philosopher to
obtain the knowledge about all branches of science in his lifetime. That is, science
was growing too fast for individuals to cope with. Therefore, the philosophers tried to
reduce the responsibility of the philosophy itself and to make philosophy manageable
for a single person by giving chances to other branches of science to grow
independently. Probably, this was the point of conception for different branches of
science at their present forms. One by one, sciences branched out from philosophy
and gradually established themselves as independent fields.
The emergence of different branches of sciences forced scientist to formulate a
framework in which they would follow common principles for the communication of
the ideas among themselves. In other words, the diversity of scientific branches
necessitated commonly accepted definitions for science and scientific concepts.
Among many definitions of science given by different scholars, and in spite of the
differences in opinions, there are some principles upon which most scientists agree.
Some of these principles include:
a) Science is the collection of systematic information.
b) Science is the way of knowing facts.
c) Science is about provable events.
d) Science talks about is not should be.

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These principles are incorporated into a working definition of science given by

August Conte who states that science is a systematic knowledge which is obtained
through a systematic approach about the stable laws.
In order to systematize the growing branches of science, many scholars have
attempted to classify scientific areas. For example, Bacon divided sciences into areas
dealing with memory, thinking and mind. August Conte, on the other hand, divided
sciences into mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and sociology.
Ampere divided sciences into two major areas. Mathematics area that included
mathematics, physics, natural sciences and life sciences, and spiritual area that dealt
with anthropology and politics. Later, Spencer divided sciences into (a) abstract
sciences including logic and mathematics, (b) semi-abstract sciences, including
mechanic, physics and chemistry, and(c) objective science including astronomy,
geology, biology, psychology and sociology.
However, it was not until Dewey's time around 1850 that the field of linguistics
manifested itself as an independent area of science along with nine other branches.
Regardless of the type of classification, different branches of science is, by nature,
additive. That is, when certain advancements are made in a particular area of science,
people want to benefit from such developments. Therefore, scholars tried to apply the
findings of different sciences to solving everyday problems. Just as sciences were
divers and the findings quite remarkable, so were their applications. After some time,
the applications multiplied and certain groups of scholars devoted their time to
investigate the optimal ways of applying scientific findings to real world activities.
This group of people was later called applied scientists.
Of course, some scholars believe that the applied form of sciences precedes their pure
forms and that science started in its applied form. When centuries Before Christ early
arithmetic was born by Sumerians, geometry and algebra by Babylonians and
Egyptians, medicine in its primitive form by Babylonians and Sumerians, they were
not concerned with the pure form of these sciences. Rather, these sciences were
utilized in the real life and applied for the practical purposes. They needed these
sciences to carry on their daily activities. That is science originated in its applied
form. Sarton (1966) contends that all branches of knowledge may be and are applied
to human needs of various kinds, and this introduces various applications such as
medicine, education, etc. It seems quite natural that in practice the applications have
often preceded their own principles. For instance, early people were obliged to
practice obstetrics and surgery before they paid attention to anatomy or embryology.
In the case of AL, it may also precede linguistics itself because many centuries before
the formulation of linguistics as a branch of scientific inquiry, language existed as a
means of communication among people. Transferring language knowledge from the
speakers of one language to those of another is probably as old as the language itself,
though only 25 centuries of such activities are documented systematically (Kelley,
1969). Back (1970) provides examples from the nineteenth and early twentieth
century which indicate that applications of linguistics were thought of before the term
AL came to be used. For it is a fairly recent term, and at first used specially in
connection with foreign language teaching, at least in the Western Europe and the US.

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Such a cyclic movement, i.e., from applied to pure and then from pure to applied,
exists for other scientific disciplines as well. That is, at first, the scientific principles
are applied to the real world activities intuitively without peoples having much
theoretical knowledge on the area. Then, the processes of application, observation of
the outcomes, and drawing the conclusions thereupon have led to the evolution of a
scientific area. When a discipline is established, the scientific application with
theoretical foundation has started under the name of the applied science of that
discipline.
The pioneer in applied sciences, which originated from the application of the findings
of certain branches of science to real world activities, was the emergence of
technology. Technology, defined as a systematic application of knowledge to practical
tasks in industry, dominated the 20th century. Further, with the expansion of the
domain of sciences, the application of various branches of knowledge to practical
problems gave birth to a new counterpart for almost every discipline, i.e., the applied
part of every science. So, applied mathematics, applied physics, applied chemistry,
etc. which shared a similar definition as a systematic application of knowledge in a
particular area to practical tasks in the real world were developed. And so it began.
Applied sciences developed along with the so-called pure sciences. AL was not an
exception. Basically, applied sciences aim at achieving objectives that are outside the
realm of sciences themselves. That is, an applied science is not the science itself.
Nor is it a subsection of that science.
The reason for this discrepancy lies in the fact that the concept of application has
different interpretations. In principle, three types of application can be imagined for
all applied sciences including AL (Back, 1970). The first reason is the application of
the methods, techniques, and results from one branch of science to another in order to
broaden the scope of the field. For example, the findings of linguistics can be used to
improve stylistics, which by itself is neither linguistics nor a branch of linguistics.
The second reason is the application of the findings in one area of science to another
in order to solve some of the practical problems in that field. As an example, the
application of the findings of second language acquisition research to language
teaching can be mentioned where neither one is linguistics nor branches of linguistics.
And the third reason is the mere application of the findings of a particular area of
science by itself and in itself. For instance, a teacher applies the findings of
linguistics about language to the teaching of language.

Applied Linguistics
As mentioned before, linguistics itself as a scientific area emerged in late 1800s.
Ignoring the unprincipled application of linguistics to real life problems, the
theoretically oriented AL should logically appear after the emergence of linguistics
itself. Unfortunately, from among the three types of applications mentioned above,
only the third type became known as applied linguistics. That is, the application of
the findings of linguistics to language teaching. As Corder (1973) claims,
Applied linguistics is the utilization of the knowledge about the nature of language achieved
by linguistic research for the improvement of the efficiency of some practical tasks in which
language is a central component (p. 4).

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One of the major applications of linguistics to the real world activities has been its
application to the teaching of languages. As with other applied sciences, the history of
language teaching clearly shows the precedence of AL to linguistics, because
linguistics is hardly one hundred years old. In the early days, language teaching was
considered the only area where linguistics could be applied. Of course, the most
salient, observable, and accessible situation in real life setting in which the findings of
linguistics could be readily applied was the teaching of languages in general, and the
teaching of foreign languages in particular. That is probably why Corder (1973)
stated some thirty years ago that AL is the relevance of those studies that are broadly
called linguistic to a number of practical tasks connected with language teaching. Of
course, this approach might have been well justified then. However, Corder himself
believed that while the relevance of linguistics to language teaching cannot be
disputed, the approach might be criticized in the grounds that linguistics cannot be
restricted to language teaching alone. However, due to some social and educational
factors, the term AL had been restricted to language teaching.
The idea that AL is, or almost is, interchangeable with language teaching misdirected
the field of AL for some years. The reason is that the scope of AL cannot be limited
to language teaching, because linguistics was one of the fields of which the findings
were applicable to language teaching. There were some other areas of science that
contributed to language teaching as well. Furthermore, there were other areas of
science, which had little or no connections to language teaching, to which linguistics
contributed.
That is why even Corder who used the two terms almost
interchangeably, later admitted that these two terms should not be taken as equal. He
stated that
theories about the human language are, of course, of use to other people besides the
language teacher. It would be a mistake to associate AL exclusively with language teaching.
There are other people who are engaged in practical activities which involve language in a
central role for whom a knowledge of its nature could be of use in dealing with problems
which arise in their work: the speech therapist, the literary critic, the communication engineer,
for example. We do not associate AL with any single of these activities. Whilst AL and
language teaching may be closely associated, they are not one and the same activity (p. 10).

Although this was a great contribution to the development and expansion of the scope
of AL, it was not comprehensive enough to elaborate on the yet to come multiple
aspects of AL. When AL established itself as an area of inquiry in relation to
linguistics on the one hand, and independent of linguistics, on the other, an interesting
issue evolved. To some scholars, AL was simply the application of linguistics to
practical issues. That is, AL is practical not theoretical. As Corder (1973) states:
The application of linguistic knowledge to some object, or applied linguistics, is an activity. It
is not a theoretical study. It makes use of the findings of theoretical studies. The applied
linguist is a consumer, or user, not a producer, of theories. If we use the term " theory " as is
used in science, then there is no "theory of language teaching" (p. 10).

This treatment of AL can be called the first generation, in which AL is considered a

practical field. In contrast to the followers of this approach to AL, some scholars led
by Widdowson believe that AL involves more than just mere application of the
findings of linguistics to practical issues. To this group of scholars, AL has its own
theoretical as well as practical principles.
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Buckinghum (1980) complains that AL in the sense of application of linguistics to

practical activities is misleading and inadequate, both too narrow and too broad. On
the one hand it is too narrow since it is limited to the applications of linguistics to
language teaching without regard to the multitude of other disciplines such as
sociology, psychology, speech therapy, speech communication, pedagogy, speech
pathology, and son. On the other hand, it is too broad if all related fields were
included in the term of AL because AL will then be everything and nothing at the
same time.
To bridge the gap between the too broad and the too narrow definitions of AL,
Campbell (1980) claims that the term applied suggests an activity rather than a state
or an attribute. The implied activity is usually a problem solving rather than one that
requires the practitioner to demonstrate some skill or some shared knowledge.
Campbell further argues that most of the problems applied linguists face center
around the definition of the relationships or the connections between theories and the
nature of language and the establishment of the optimal conditions for teaching or
learning languages. Thus, AL stands as a mediator between descriptions, grammars,
analyses, explications of linguistic phenomena on the one hand, and syllabuses,
textbooks, and curriculum, on the other. The following diagram shows this
relationship.

Linguistics
Theoretician

Applied Linguistics
Mediator

Pedagogy
Practitioner

Such shifts in the definition of AL led to the second generation of AL in which AL

was considered an area between theories and practices. This trend was strongly
supported in the 80s by many scholars. Most of them believed that AL acts as a
mediator between theory and practice. That is, AL is neither purely theoretical nor
purely practical. Buckingham and Eskey (1980) believe that AL performs a
mediatory function between theoretical disciplines and various kinds of practical
issues. Corder also claims that AL is a set of related activities or techniques mediating
between theoretical accounts for human language on the one hand and the practical
activities of language teaching on the other.
Oller (1980) improves the mediatory function of AL and suggests an interactional role
for it. He claims that AL needs theoretical linguistics, and conversely the theorists
need to test their theories by application. Both require empirical research techniques
in order to accomplish their objectives. He further argues that areas such as
information processing, artificial intelligence, computer simulation of linguistic
processes, voice typewriters, automatic readers, sophisticated editing and printing
devices as components of AL. That is AL cannot and should not be limited to only
linguistics.
Along the same lines, Strevens sets certain principles for AL. He claims that AL has
multiple bases in theory; it is not restricted to an interest in the teaching of languages;
and it redefines itself afresh for each task. He claims that AL is at present the only
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discipline that fulfills this multi-bases, interdisciplinary, language related function.

All and all, most scholars agree that AL is more than and beyond the simplistic view
of applying the findings of linguistics to practical issues. Such a view is stated by
Kaplan (1980, p. 5) who states, AL is the point at which all the branches of
linguistics come together. Further, AL is the point at which all the branches of
linguistics intersect with other disciplines. Such a perspective on AL is best
visualized through the following diagram.
It should be noted that as the scope of AL widens, so does the responsibilities of the
applied linguists. Applied linguists can no more rely on the mere application of the
findings of linguistics to solve language related problems. Nor can they depend on the
mere speculations and theoretical principles laid by linguists, or any other single field
of study for that matter. Of course, AL was never, is never, and will never be
independent of linguistics, just as it cannot be independent of many other fields. In
fact, an applied linguist acts as a refinery fed by raw materials obtained from
theoretical principles outlined by many disciplines. The applied linguist then
combines, analyzes, and refines all the pieces of information imparted from different
fields and provides the consumers of any discipline with applicable principles.
Through this process of receiving, refining, and providing modified and new
principles, applied linguists may develop their own principles to be utilized. That is
probably why Widdowson argues strongly and of course convincingly, that AL, As I
conceive of it, is a spectrum of inquiry which extends from theoretical studies of
language to classroom practice.
An Illustration of the Scope of Applied Linguistics
taken from Kaplan (1980)

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In this sense then, theories of first language acquisition including mechanistic,

mentalistic, nativistic, and cognitive, and theories of second language acquisition such
as the monitor, acculturation, discourse, neurofunctional, and interactional, which
cannot be accounted for by linguistics, would be considered as theoretical
advancements in AL. Furthermore, theories of language teaching from audio-lingual
to cognitive to communicative and strategic approaches cannot be classified under
linguistics but applied linguistics theories. To avoid numerous examples of theory
building capacity of AL, it would suffice to state that AL is a multidisciplinary as well
as a multifunctional field. The following table, taken from Brown (1987) clearly
depicts the multitude of factors and disciplines involved in AL. AL has been
considered a sub area of linguistics for several decades, and has generally been
interpreted to mean the application of linguistic principles or theories to certain more
or less practical matters. Second language teaching and the teaching of reading,
composition, and language arts in the native language are typical areas of practical
application. In the British tradition, AL is quite often even synonymous with language
teaching. However, the applications of linguistics certainly extend beyond such
pedagogical concerns. But the term remains disturbingly vague.
One of the difficulties in understanding the limits and scope of AL lies in the
deliberate distinction between theoretical or pure linguistics on the one hand, and
applied linguistics on the other. A consolidation of the definitions of language
yields the following composite definition taken form Brown (1987):
1. Language is systematic __
possibly a generative system.

2. Language is a set of arbitrary

symbols.

3. Those symbols are primarily

vocal, but may also be visual.

4. The symbols have conventionalized

to which they refer.
5. Language is use for communication

6. Language operates in speech

community or culture.
7. Language is essentially human,
although possibly not limited
to human
8. Language is acquired by all people
in much the same way language

1. Explicit and formal account

of the system of language on
several levels (phonological,
syntactic, and semantics)
2. The symbolic nature of language;
the relationship between
language and reality; the
philosophy of language; the history
of language.
3. Phonetics; phonology; writing
systems; kinetics; proxemics; and
other paralinguistic features of
language.
4. Semantics; language cognition;
Psycholinguistics.
5. Communication systems; speakerhearer interaction; sentenceprocessing.
6. Dialectology; sociolinguistics;
language and culture; bilingualism;
second language acquisition.
7. Human language; non-human
language; the physiology of
language.
8. Language universals; first
language acquisition.
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and language leaning both have

universal characteristics.
A glance at the characteristics of language thus suggests many issues and concerns
within linguistics, all of which relate directly to central goal of linguistic study, i.e.,
discussing what language is. However, among the concerns listed are a number of
issues that are typically grouped into applied rather than theoretical linguistics. Is it
possible to draw a line of demarcation which separates the applied from theoretical.
To elaborate on the above table, certain factors that are prominent in language
education need to be elaborated on. From among many questions, the following ones
may be more illuminating: What is taught? Who is taught? What is the purpose of the
learner? Under what conditions does teaching take place? Answers to these and
similar questions, sometimes referred to as the WH-questions of language education,
would demonstrate the scope of AL.
WH Questions of Language Education
The answer to the first question, i.e., what is taught, is simply language. In order to
teach language, one should know what language is. Describing language is the
responsibility of the linguists. And the outcome of linguistic description is commonly
called grammar. Linguistics, as the scientific study of language, lives, grows, and
advances independently of the language teaching profession. That is why there have
been a good number of theories, and thus grammars, to describe and explain what
language is. Some of these theories are Saussurian, structural, functional, daughter
dependency, case, transformational, and universal, to name a few. Although the
substance of investigation for all these theories is language, each and every theory has
looked at the phenomenon of language from a slightly different perspective. Thus,
the knowledge of the teachers on what to teach comes from linguistics.
The second question deals with who is taught. The answer to this question is more
complex than that of the first one because this question entails multidimensional
aspects of learning, teaching, learner and teacher. Learning is one of the important
issues the field of psychology which is an independent field with its own principles,
theories, and advancements. However, while linguistics deals with language itself,
psychologists concern many issues related to human mental activities. One of these
mental activities is human learning, a branch of which is learning a language. Thus,
psychology contributes to language learning not directly, but by proposing theories
for human learning. That is why there have been many theories of learning such as
behaviorism, cognitivism, functionalism, etc. So, the teachers understanding of how
language is learned comes from the developments in psychology. The connection
between how language is learned, investigated in psychology, and what language is,
studied in linguistics has even led to the development of a new area of inquiry called
psycholinguistics.
Furthermore, learning takes place in the mind and brain. The structure of brain is
studied within the field of neurology. Although much is not known about the
structure, physiology, and the functioning of the brain regarding language, the limited
amount of knowledge has given useful insights to those involved in the study of
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language. At present, studying the structure of brain, which is the main concern in
neurology in connection with the structure and functioning of language has brought
up a new field referred to as neurolinguistics that specifically addresses the issues
related to brain and language.
Another part of the questions deals with the leaner who is a human being. Human
beings are social beings. They learn language, no matter what it is and how it is
learned, in order to communicate with the members of a community. A community
lives under certain social rules and regulations that influence the use of language. The
field that inquires about such rules is sociology. Again, sociology is an independent
field of study. However, its findings are important regarding what Widdoson calls the
use of language. The interrelationship of language use and sociology has led to the
emergence of a new field called sociolinguistics. The group of scholars studying the
use of language has to get involved in discourse analysis, pragmatics, and stylistics.
The fourth point in the question relates to the person who is supposed to help the
learner learn the languages, i.e., the teacher. Teachers, too, live in societies with all
sorts of variables influencing their personal, social, psychological, and academic
lives. All these variables influence the teacher, and thus the teaching process. A
motivated, dedicated, knowledgeable, and creative teacher would definitely help
learners more than a teacher without such characteristics.
It should be noted that the factors mentioned under the question of who is taught, are
not, by any means, unrelated to each other. Nor do they operate independently of one
another. They all function interactively within a macro network of learner/teacher
variables. A motivated teacher will certainly be more successful with a motivated
learner than with an unmotivated one. Similarly, a motivated learner will benefit more
from a committed teacher than from an indifferent one. Thus, discussing these
variables in isolation is just for the sake of clarity and not for demonstrating their
independent functioning within the process of language learning and language
teaching.
The third question deals with the purpose of learning. Undoubtedly, within the era of
communicative teaching, one of the most important factors has been the significance
of the learner needs, along with the ways of identifying, determining, and categorizing
these needs. When learner needs are determined, implementing a program that would
fulfill the needs of the learners requires considerations of materials development,
syllabus design, and teacher education. In fact, needs analysis, materials development,
syllabus design, and teacher education, each of which has established itself as an
interesting and an almost independent field of inquiry, have collectively led to the
development of a new trend in language teaching called teaching English for specific
purposes (ESP). ESP has been the focus of research in many scientific and
technological disciplines within the last quarter of a century in order to meet, as much
as possible, the learners purpose for learning a language.
The fourth question addresses the issue of the conditions of teaching. Conditions
refer to so many variables including the physical environment of the class, the time of
the teaching, the facilities available for teaching, the country in which the language is
taught, to name a few. All these factors influence, directly or indirectly, the teacher,
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the learner, and the outcome of teaching learning process. For instance, the number of
students in a class is an important factor in most public educational systems. In
crowded classes, the teacher does not find ample time or an acceptable environment to
have students repeat or practice the materials. The number of students is related to
the space available in the classroom. In most classrooms students do not have enough
space to sit comfortably, let alone to get involved in some class activities. So,
conditions of teaching influence conditions of learning and thus the effectiveness of
instruction.
Technological and technical facilities available in class are also important. Computer
assisted language learning (CALL) has recently established itself as a major area of
interest for language educators. The utilization of electronic devices in translation, the
so-called machine translation, has also intrigued language educators for a long time
now.
Taking into account all the WH questions of language education, along with related
issues, indicate that AL cannot be equated with language teaching. AL involves so
many variables in so many seemingly unrelated areas. Therefore, the notion that AL
equals language teaching did not hold true for two reasons. On the one hand, theories
of language, language learning, language teaching, etc., formulated through different
disciplines, were not exclusively used in classroom situations. There were many other
occasions in which the findings of these fields played a central role. On the other
hand, none of the mentioned fields alone was capable of accounting for the multitude
of variables involved in the complex process of language related activities.
The extension of theoretical perspectives has recently led to a philosophical thinking
on AL. Rampton (1995) claims that research in AL has shifted from focusing on
products, linguistics, and psychology to focusing on processes, psycholinguistics,
sociology, anthropology, and media studies, respectively. He claims that the situation
in AL is moving from autonomous to ideological thinking. According to this new
trend, AL has a sociopolitical, cultural, and ecological interpretation. In this sense,
AL research can occupy a position that deals with political orders characterized by
cultural authoritarianism, service to the governments, competition on the market,
independent analysis and critique, and new social movements.
For instance, much AL research serves the principles and policies of the government.
Whether the language education curriculum should be centralized or localized is an
AL domain of research. Whether educational system is localized or centralized, each
entails many other areas such as materials development, teacher education, teaching
methodology and so forth. In addition, many research projects dealing with ESP,
lexicography, and communication skills training are sponsored by manufacturing and
educational organizations. This indicates that part of research in AL deals with
competition in the market. Only independent critical studies conducted by individual
academicians serve the liberal aspects of AL research. Last but not least is the direct
or indirect effect of the new social movements in different parts of the world on the
social systems and the way the members of the societies behave, which in turn
influences the educational policy and language education.

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Along the same lines, Corson (1997) claims that AL goes beyond ideal matters of
linguistic meaning and moves into the real world of human interaction. The influential
philosophy of human sciences, critical realism, begins with questions of being and
views the nonhuman properties of the social world as real entities especially the
reasons and accounts that people offer to interpret the material and immaterial aspects
of their world. He claims that if AL were to take these accounts more seriously, it
might contribute more directly to improving human condition.
Phillipson (1992) sees the following two rather incompatible epistemologies that now
underpin the work in AL,
In one, applied linguistics takes over theories and methods from other areas of scientific study,
which then have the status of feeder disciplines, in the other, it is an autonomous scientific
activity requiring the elaboration of its own theoretical base in relation to its intended
applications. When all these ambiguities in the term exist, it is not surprising that there is
uncertainty about what applied linguistics stands for (p. 167).

Clearly on logical grounds, the first of these theories of knowledge is more relevant
and appropriate for the academic study of language teaching. However, it is the
second epistemology that governs their work. For much of the work in AL does on
independent of other disciplinary influences. This recent generation of AL assumes
much more into AL. As Corson states,
The task of theorizing the point of intersection between applied linguistics and the real world
of human social interaction, is an ontological matter: what is the status of human reasons and
accounts, offered up in natural language exchanges, that in turn become the data and domain of
inquiry of applied linguistics, and provide the system of discourses that support that domain?
Are these reasons and accounts ontological elements? And if they are, what follows from this?
An answer to these questions can be found in the philosophy of human sciences, notably in the
critical realism recently advanced by Roy Bhasker, a British philosopher of science who
extends his ideas directly and compellingly from the sciences, so that they have comparable
impact in the human sciences as well (p. 168).

And so it grows. AL has moved from Corders conceptualization of apprenticeship to

Bhaskars critical realism in the philosophy of science covering the totality of human
interaction.

Conclusions
Certain conclusions can be drawn from the discussion presented in this paper. The
first set of conclusions as was hoped at the beginning, comprises the following
clarifications:
1. The idea that AL is a mere application of the findings of linguistics to practical
activities is clearly wrong.
2. The idea that AL can be used interchangeably with foreign language teaching is
clearly wrong.
3. The idea that AL is only a practical field and it does not deal with theoretical issues
is clearly wrong.
4. Applied linguistics is neither a subordinate nor a superordinate to linguistics. That
is, it is neither a subsection of linguistics nor linguistics itself.
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Hossein Farhady

5. AL is a multidimensional, multifaceted, and multidiciplinary field which utilizes

the findings of all theoretical and practical fields related to human life and
analyzes, modifies, and then creates new ways of approaching language related
topics.
The second set of conclusions relates to the unclear points in AL that requires more
research to be conducted by the students of language studies. These points can be
summarized as follows.
1. The extent to which AL can benefit from the other seemingly unrelated areas.
2. Techniques and procedures used in AL research should follow traditions in the
fields or should they develop its own research strategies.
3. Expansion of AL entails a systematic procedure to handle the interconnections and
interrelations of different fields with one another and all with AL. This is a major
problem with the organization and nature of a scientific area.
4. The domain of specialty for the students of AL is another problem because if an
applied linguist is supposed to study all related fields, they could not get deeply
into
the problems and prospects of these fields. Thus, it may be suggested that applied
linguists have a comprehensive knowledge of one of the areas related to AL and
develop an ability to utilize the findings of the other fields.

Summary
In this paper an attempt was made to clarify the scope of AL. Through a historical
review, the emergence of sciences and applied sciences was presented. Then the
concept of AL was discussed and its different meanings were explained. It was
mentioned that AL started as a mere application of the findings of linguistics to
practical problems of foreign language teaching, moved into a theory building area,
and eventually to a philosophical thinking. Finally certain clarifications and
suggestions were made for research in AL.
* Paper presented at the 4th international conference on Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (1998).
Allame Tabatabaee University, Tehran.

Bibliography
Wardaugh, R. & Brown, H. D. (eds.) (1977). A survey of applied linguistics. An
Arbor, The University of Michigan Press.

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