Introduction: applied linguistics and TEFL

Language teaching came into existence as a profession in the twentieth century; it was
characterized by frequent changes, innovations and development of language teaching
ideologies. Since language phenomenon is complex, educational field faced different
problems. However, Cook and Wei mentioned that applied linguistics is a field of research
and practice dealing with practical problems in many fields, one of them is education,
educational problem can be identified, analyzed or solved by applying variables theories,
methods of linguistics or by developing new theoretical and methodological frameworks in
linguistics to work on these problems .Today, the English language as a global/international
language or a lingua franca is widely used in communication between people and countries.
The aim of this presentation is to give special emphasis to the importance of applied
linguistics on TEFL.

Applied linguistics:
Applied Linguistics is the study of language and linguistics in relation to practical
problems, such as: Lexicography, Translation and Speech Pathology. This branch uses
information from Psychology, Anthropology and also information from theory as well as from
linguistics to develop its own theoretical models of language and language use. The next step
is to use all this information and theory in practical areas like: Syllabus design, Speech
therapy, Language planning and Stylistics ….etc. Like any branch of linguistics, Applied
Linguistics has some features such as:

 It is interdisciplinary in nature: it pays attention to a broad range of disciplines for

example: Psychology, Sociology and Pedagogy as well as theoretical linguistics.
 It is not limited to language teaching; however, it involves some fields including:
Lexicography, Stylistics, Speech pathology, Translation, Language policy and
Planning; means that it works with everything has a relationship with language.
 It performs the function between theory and practice.

The main goal of Applied Linguistics is to diagnose the problem in real-world language
and suggest solutions

Teaching English as foreign language

Teaching English as foreign language is teaching the language for non native speaker,
whose first language is not English. Teaching EFL can work in different setting and age
ranges for example in business or commercial also in schools and institutions. The teachers
use course books, materials and variety of audiovisual aids to make learning easy. They
emphasis on dialogue and role-playing but formal exercises, language game and literature are
used too. The content of lessons may vary depending on the reason why the students are
learning English: whether it is for business, school, work, traveling …ect. The aim of each
lesson is to encourage the student to communicate and interact with each other using the

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structures and the vocabulary that they have learned and to improve the four basic skills:
listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, teaching English as foreign language is not
so simple and easy. There are some problems that face teaching; societies are not the same
and learners too. There is different culture and different learning style for each individual this
is why there have been researches on this field of education so that they can treat these
varieties and find solutions to those problems.

The importance of applied linguistics and TEFL:

Applied linguistics is very important for teaching English language and the relationship
between them is not only interesting but decisive. English language is taught around the world
as second or as foreign language so , English language has a special place in educational
system of foreign countries that is why teaching English requires a competent teacher who
masters English language skills from this point of view, the knowledge of applied linguistics
is essential for English teaching in general and for English teachers in particular because the
aim of applied linguistics is to identify, investigate and offer some solutions to language
related problem, for example teacher may face many problems in classroom like aphasia,
learners find difficulties to distinguish letters shapes ; agrammatism, difficulty in using
grammatical words like articles prepositions or dyslexia, difficulties in learning to read and
write…. Applied linguistics studied all these problems and suggested some solutions like to
provide laboratories for learners with learning disabilities, trying to reduce anxiety, provide a
positive learning environment... In other words, in the modern educational setting, the
English teacher is supposed to know linguistics or applied English linguistics in order to
prove himself as an effective teacher .Throughout the history of English language teaching
there has always been an honorable picture of applied linguistics, as it is used to the study
English second and foreign language teaching and learning. The formats of the English
language curriculums, English language materials, English courses, are influenced by applied
linguistics. Therefore, the relation between Linguistics and the Language teaching is
necessary, from this point of view,” Halliday motioned that the principle contribution of
linguistics to language teaching is to provide a revealing description of the language being
taught (linguistics Theories and their Applications, 1967)

Conclusion:
To sum up, we can say that applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field concerned with
practical issues involving language learning in the real world community. Applied linguistics
uses theories and frameworks from almost all disciplines it has as major interests the covering
of all branches of second/foreign language learning, in an attempt to solve problems related to
the learning teaching process, creating, innovating and developing syllabi and curricula. In
this context applied linguists may work as academic researchers, teacher trainers, test
developers, language policy consultants, translators and language teachers. TEFL applied
linguists, in this specific context, have their own methodology and approaches; they have
extensively deepened researches and solved problems and have, unlike other languages,
intensively developed this framework. Mon site: chanou.e-monsite.com