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Should everyone learn foreign languages? If so, which
languages?
How to decide which foreign languages should be taught in
schools? (for example, in Sumadija, which languages
should be taught in schools; take into account that the
factory of FIAT opened in Kragujevac; should we include
Italian into syllabus now?)
How can we prevent Serbian language from losing its own
identity? How can we fight against Anglicisms? Should we
do that?
Should we support English as lingua franca?
How can we prevent some languages from dying out?
Should we do that?

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The answers to these questions depend on our attitudes
and decisions.
In order to find solutions for these questions, we need
to use the knowledge about language and apply it to the
problems.
That is the job of applied linguistics.
Applied linguistics is the academic discipline
concerned with the relation of knowledge about
language to decision making in the real world.
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What is linguistics?
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Linguistics
By components of
language
Phonetics (sounds)
Syntax (grammar)
Lexis (words)
Semantics (meanings)
Pragmatics (uses)
Discourse (connected
texts)
By area studied
Comparative linguistics
Psycholinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Historical linguistics
Theoretical linguistics,
Etc.
Applied
linguistics
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Translation
Language
technology
Computer assisted
language learning
Rhetoric

Applied linguistics
Second language
acquisition

Language
policy
Critical discourse
Educational
linguistics
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The importance of AL lies in the significant role it has in solving
language-related problems.
Language is crucial to human lives. Without language, most
important activities will be inconceivable.
Throughout the history and across the world, people have been
using language to communicate.
In our world there are many rapid changes. These changes affect
how people use language.
Hence, people need to investigate and understand the facts of
language use, to organize and formalize what they know and to
subject their knowledge to rational consideration and critical
analysis.
Only by doing so will people be able to set out the options for
action and the reasoning behind them.

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Language and
education
First language
education
Additional-
language education
(foreign LE and
second LE)
Clinical linguistics
Language testing
Language, work and
law
Workplace
communication
Language planning
Forensic linguistics
Language,
information and
effect
Literary stylistics
Critical discourse
analysis
Translation and
interpretation
Information design
Lexicography
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Applied linguistics as a MEDIATOR between language
experience and abstract analyses of language

Very difficult to combine and reconcile these fields

That is the main task and challenge of applied
linguistics

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Applied linguistics does not only span the gap between
linguistic problems and linguistic theory, but it also
uses the theory to explore how we can change the
perception of problems.
The results we get, can be implemented into linguistic
theory, in turn.
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Detect a linguistic problem
Start from a theory of linguistics (choose the proper
one according to the problem)
Apply the knowledge of the chosen theory to the
problem
Possibly implement the results into linguistic theory, in
turn
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A speech therapist sets out to investigate why a four-year-old child has
failed to develop normal linguistic skills for a child of that age.
An EFL teacher wonders why a group of learners sharing the same first
language regularly makes a particular grammatical mistake that learners
from other language backgrounds do not.
An expert witness in a criminal case tries to solve the problem of who
exactly instigated a crime, working only with statements made to the
police.
An advertising copy writer searches for what would be the most efficient
language use to target a particular social group in order to sell a product.


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A mother tongue teacher needs to know what potential employers consider
important in terms of a school leavers ability to write reports or other
business documents.
A person constructing a language test for non-native speakers for entry
into further education needs what the key linguistic or psycholinguistic
indicators are of reading ability in a second or foreign language.
A dictionary writer ponders over possible alternatives to an alphabetically
organized dictionary.
The child has difficulties with expressing ideas clearly and learning new
vocabulary. The doctor claims that the child is dyslexic.

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Edward Said claims that the term The Other is used for non-western
countries to show the superiority of the western countries.
The paper is concerned with the contrastive analysis of terms for bodily
disorders in English and Serbian
A group of civil servants are tasked with standardizing language usage in
their country, or deciding major aspects of language planning policy that
will affect millions of people.
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All these problems have one thing in common:
the possibility of turning the discipline of
linguistics to seek solutions.
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Linguistics theory-driven
Applied linguistics problem-driven
Applied linguistics does not only test the applicability
of linguistic theories, but also challenges them where
they are found wanting.
they are more likely to be partners
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The responsibility of linguists to build theories of language that are
testable, which connect with perceived realities and which are not
contradicted or immediately refuted when they comfort those
realities.

The responsibility of linguists to offer models, descriptions and
explanations of language that satisfy not only intellectual rigour but
intuition, rationality and common sense.

The responsibility of applied linguists not to misrepresent theories,
descriptions and models.


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The responsibility of applied linguists not to apply theories,
descriptions and models to ill-suited purposes for which they were
never intended.

The responsibility of applied linguists to provide an interface between
linguists and practitioners where appropriate, and to be able to talk on
equal terms to both parties.


The responsibility of both communities to exchange experience with
front-end practitioners such as language teachers, psychologists or
social workers, who may not have a training in linguistics nor the time
or resources to do applied linguistics themselves, but who may be
eager to communicate with both groups.

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A teacher of English as a foreign language wonders
why groups of learners sharing the same first
language regularly make a particular grammatical
mistake that learners from other language
backgrounds do not.

A dictionary writer ponders over possible alternatives
to an alphabetically organized dictionary.

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Language Teachers Questions Lexicographic (dictionary-
making) questions
What is known about the learners first
language or any other language that
he/she knows that may interfere with
foreign language learning?
What is the internal structure of
language(s) I am dealing with?
What do grammarians say about this
structure?
What do we know about the mental
organisation of vocabulary in human
beings? Perhaps this can be used in
dictionary organisation?
What psychological barriers may be
preventing the learning of the
structure?
What problems might a non-native user
of the dictionary have with the
organising principle chosen?
Are some structures difficult to learn if
they are tackled too early on? Is there
an order in which structures are best
presented?
What place should information about
grammar have in such a dictionary? Is
a bilingual dictionary along non-
alphabetical lines possible?
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Some questions are common: Can linguistics offer
solution to the problems? If so, by which approach or
method? How reliable are linguists methods? How
willing are linguists to participate in practical
endeavours? If there are conflicting theories, which
approach should one resort to? Can a non-
linguistically-trained person undertake such a task or
is it a job for highly specialized experts?

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Identifying and defining problems.
Contextualizing those problems within linguistic study
and developing a theoretical stance.
The use of appropriate resources for the exploration of
possible solutions.
Evaluating the proposed solutions.

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THANK YOU
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