Science, technology, and
values in applied linguistics.
Guy Cook
Applied Linguistics is a
technology
Applied Linguistics is a
technology which makes abstract
ideas and research findings
accessible and relevant to the
real world; it mediates between
theory and practice.
Kaplan and Widdowson 1992.
Structure of this talk
• technology in general.
• development and scope of applied
linguistics
• an example from applied linguistics and
language teaching
Technology:
the application of scientific knowledge
for practical purposes
Technology:
the application of scientific knowledge
for practical purposes especially for
industry
ESRC
• Economic Performance and Sustainable
Growth
• Influencing Behaviour and Informing
Interventions
• Vibrant and Fair Society
The application of linguistic knowledge to some
object – or applied linguistics, as its name
implies – 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.
Corder 1973:10
Of all the areas of applied linguistics, none has
shown the effects of linguistic findings, principles
and techniques more than foreign-language teaching
– so much so that the term ‘applied linguistics’ is
often taken as being synonymous with that task.
Corder 1973: cover notes, emphasis added
linguistics applied
v.
applied linguistics
(Widdowson 1984)
The theoretical and empirical investigation of
real-world problems in which language is
a central issue.
(Brumfit 1995:27)
It is hard to think of any ‘real-world’ problems –
from global warming, to refugees to genetic
counselling to outsourced call centres to
AIDS/HIV to military intelligence – that do not
have a crucial component of language use
Myers 2005
Applied Linguistics
AIMS (current 2014)
the study of language related
problems in specific situations
in which people use and learn
languages....
..... within this framework the
journal welcomes contributions
from .....
• bilingualism and multilingualism
• computer mediated communication
• conversation analysis
• corpus linguistics
• critical discourse analysis
• deaf linguistics
• discourse analysis and pragmatics
• first and additional language learning,
teaching and use
• forensic linguistics
• language assessment and testing
• language planning and policy
• language for specific purposes
• lexicography
• literacies
• multimodal communication
• rhetoric and stylistics
• translation and interpreting.
• applied
linguistics is a
technology
• decisions
about
technologies involve
evaluation
• contemporary
applied
linguistics technology is
both dynamic and broad in
scope.
An example
The monolingual assumption
The best way to teach and learn
a language is through the medium
of that language itself.
Criteria for teaching and learning
• Historical
• ‘Scientific’
• Pedagogic
• Educational
A Tale of Two Extremes
“I will say that I have taken a strong stand
against any use of the L1 in an L2 classroom,
and all my TESL students know that if they ever
utter a word of Bahasa Malaysia in the
classroom I will burst into their classroom and
strangle them in front of their students.”
(Interview data, Marcia Fisk-Ong 2003)
Grammar Translation
•
•
•
•
•
•
dry
dull
all writing, no speaking
all accuracy, no fluency
all form, no communication
easily mocked
• The cat of my aunt is more treacherous
than the dog of your uncle
• My sons have bought the mirrors of the
duke.
• Horses are taller than tigers.
• The philosopher pulled the lower jaw of
the hen.
An alternative to extremism
• ‘judicious’ or ‘optimal’ own-language use
Macaro (1997)
• ‘appropriate’ combination Stern (1992).
• a structured and principled deployment of
the own language, Butzkamm & Caldwell
(2009: 150)
not
•
•
•
•
overuse, or even major use
unplanned incidental occurrence
resorting to own-language use when tired
or short of time.
Justifications of a technology
• Historical
The businessman
Henry Sweet
1845-1912
The academic
Expediency, commerce and
politics
•
•
•
•
•
immigration/ travel/ business
multilingual classes
monolingual teachers
single print runs
national interests
We have room for but one
language in this country,
and that is the English
language, for we intend to
see that the crucible turns
our people out as
Americans, of American
nationality, and not as
dwellers in a polyglot
boarding house.
(President T Roosevelt
1926: 554)
Justifications of a technology
• Historical
• ‘Scientific’
English Language Teaching
1882
Cross lingual Teaching
(translation, L1 explanations)
1900
Intralingual Teaching
(aka The Direct Method)
Form Focus
1970
2014
(L2 explanation
synthetic syllabus)
Meaning focus
(analytic syllabuses
natural approach,,CLT
task based teaching)
How well do these
analyses succeed in
generating precise
predictions for patterns in
language learning? Can
we use these predictions
to improve language
learning?”
(MacWhinney 2006: 734)
Problem One: What is ‘success’?
•
•
•
•
•
Native-like form
Native-like use
Subconscious automated knowledge
Monolingual use
Cultural conformity
Authentic contemporary code switching
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
mixed language partnerships
migrant families
schools
workforces
international businesses
multilingual notices and announcements
internet multiple language use
films, news
“SLA researchers seem to have
neglected the fact that the goal of
SLA is bilingualism”
Sridhar and Sridhar (1986:5)
Problem Two: no research!!
“Unfortunately, empirical work on the
effect of translation exercises on L2
learners morphosyntax is scant.”
Källkvist (2008)
“To our knowledge, no research has
examined the value of contrastive FFI [Form
Focused Instruction] of vocabulary, such as
interlingual comparisons with learner’s L1, or
translation.” Laufer and Girsai (2008)
“You are right - translation is given little attention
by SLA researchers. The only exception is that
translation is sometimes used as an elicitation tool
to obtain L2 data. As such it is viewed sceptically
because it is likely to encourage L1 transfer and
thus to overstate the role this plays in L2
acquisition..”
Rod Ellis (personal communication))
Criteria for teaching and learning
• Historical
• ‘Scientific’
• Pedagogic
“Psychology and linguistics have caused a good
deal of harm by pretending to have answers to
those questions and telling teachers (...) how
they should behave. Often the ideas presented
by the scientists are totally crazy and they may
cause trouble. (...) The truth of the matter is
that about 99 percent of teaching is making the
students feel interested in the material”.
(Chomsky 1988:180-182)
www.nndb.com
“I haven't heard of any data-based L2
motivation studies that used L1 use in the
classroom as a motivational variable.”
(Zoltan Dornyei, personal communication)
NATURAL, INEVITABLE
“while in the classroom the teachers try to keep
the two languages separate, the learners in their
own minds keep the two in contact.”
(Widdowson 2003:150)
REDUCING STRESS
“….putting students at ease, conveying
teacher's empathy and, in general,
creating a less threatening atmosphere.”
(Canagarajah 1999 : 132).
PROMOTING TEACHER STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
“At this point I was truly concerned about his
feelings and unconsciously switched to English,
the language that, quite frankly, was the most
‘real’ for all of us (.....) The point is that my
concern about my students as individuals, as
human beings, at times transcends my concern
for with L2 acquisition process.”
Edstrom (2006)
COMMUNICATIVE
“The research evolved from the personal experience of my
return to the foreign language classroom as an adult. (….)
This began the very first day of class when the teacher
spoke only Spanish. I felt I had walked into the second act
of a three act play, or that I had gotten into the wrong
classroom. I had enrolled in a beginning class because I
wanted to learn the language, so of course I could not
understand anything the teacher was saying, and wondering
why she acted as if I should was worrisome, making an
already stressful situation even more so. (....)
(Brooks-Lewis 2009)
PROMOTING LEARNING
•
•
•
•
•
•
confidence and organization
explicit knowledge
avoidance avoidance
not falling for faux amis
acknowledging student expertise
linking new to existing knowledge
Claimed disadvantages
• Interference/ transfer
• Lack of automaticity
• Word-for-wordism
Justifications of a technology
• Historical
• ‘Scientific’
• Pedagogic
• Educational
Educational criteria
• Personal fulfilment and development
• Social change
• Social usefulness
A different world
•
•
•
•
•
•
globalisation
complex identity
mobile migrant populations
multiple language use
digital communication
English as a lingua franca
www.thosebastards.com
www.vec.ca
“However, speaking English enables parents
to converse with their children in English, as
well as in their historic mother tongue, at
home and to participate in wider modern
culture. It helps overcome the schizophrenia
which bedevils generational relationships. In
as many as 30% of Asian British
households, according to the recent
citizenship survey, English is not spoken at
home. But let us be clear that lack of English
fluency did not cause the riots.”
(David Blunkett What does citizenship mean today?
The Observer September 15, 2002)
“the whole earth was of
one language, and of
one speech”
“confound their
language, that
they may not
understand one
another's speech”
“One nation,
one people,
one language”
“One classroom,
one learner,
one language”
You’re in Britain
1) You’re visiting the house of a British
friend. It’s very beautiful. Do you:
• a) tell him how beautiful it is?
• b) ask how much it cost?
• c) ask if he’ll take you round every room?
(....)
Morrow and Johnson 1979
You’re in Britain
2) You meet a British friend in the street.
You last saw him two days ago. Do you
• a) just say hello?
• b) say hello and shake his hand?
• c) put your arm around his shoulder and
slap him on the back?
Morrow and Johnson 1979
You’re in Britain
3) You’re at a party and have just been
introduced to someone. While you are
talking he mentions that his wife is not at
the party. Do you:
• a) ask where his wife is?
• b) change the subject?
• c) ask if he gets on well with his wife?
Morrow and Johnson 1979
The monolingual assumption
•
•
•
•
•
•
dissociates new from existing knowledge
develops only monolingual skills
hinders confidence and explicit knowledge
denies the inevitable
hinders teacher student rapport
fails to redress language imbalance
• promoted monolingual native speaker
rather than bilingual international models
of English
• demoted non native speaker teachers to
second class status
• saw language learning as unrelated to the
learner's own language and identity: a
substitution rather than an addition.
Own language use
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
has no sound scientific evidence against it
makes pedagogic sense
is relevant and useful
maintains diversity and identity
builds upon student knowledge
promotes awareness
acknowledges that languages have an
untranslatable spirit
Aspects of expertise
• Ability to move, mediate, and translate
between languages
• Metalinguistic knowledge
• International comprehensibility
• Individual and cultural identity
• Literacy, computer multimodal literacy,
• Transactional, social and creative
functions
English Language Teaching
1882
Cross lingual Teaching
(translation, L1 explanations)
1900
Intralingual Teaching
(aka The Direct Method)
Form Focus
1970
2014
(L2 explanation
synthetic syllabus)
Meaning focus
(analytic syllabuses
natural approach,,CLT
task based teaching)
Own Language Movement
Butzkamm, W. and J. A. W. Caldwell. 2009. The Bilingual
Reform: A Paradigm Shift in Foreign Language Teaching. Narr
Studienbücher.
Cook, Guy. 2010. Translation in Language Teaching. Oxford
University Press
Forman, R. 2010. 'Ten principles of bilingual pedagogy in EFL'
in A. Mahboob (ed.): The NNEST lens: Non-native English
speakers in TESOL. Cambridge Scholars Press.
Hall, Graham and Guy Cook. 2012 Own-language use in
language teaching and learning: the state of the art. Language
Teaching. 45/3: 271-308
Stern, H.H. 1992. Issues and Options in Language Teaching.
Chapter 10. Oxford University Press.
Widdowson, H. G. 2003. Chapter on 'Bilingualization' in
Defining Issues in English Language Teaching. Oxford
University Press.
Deller, S. and Rinvolucri, M. 2002. Using the Mother Tongue.
London: English Teaching Professional/ Delta
Duff, Alan 1989. Translation. (Resource Books for Teachers)
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
González Davies, M. 2004. Multiple Voices in the Translation
Classroom: Activities, tasks and projects. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Kerr, Philip 2013 Translation and Own-language Activities
(Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers) Cambridge
University Press
• yes applied linguistics is a technology and one
which is broadening in scope
• in practice it is driven by history and, expediency,
• it is only informed by research
• but ultimately driven by values
Other references.
Block, D., John Gray and M. Holborow 2012 Neoliberalism and Applied Linguistics. Routledge.
Birch, Barbara 2009. The English Language Teacher in Global Civil Society. Routledge
Brooks-Lewis, K. A. 2009. ‘Adult Learners’ Perceptions of the Incorporation of their L1 in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning.’
Applied Linguistics 30.2: 216-235.
Brumfit, C. J. 1995. Teacher professionalism and research. In Guy Cook and Barbara Seidlhofer (eds.). Principle and practice in
applied linguistics. Oxford University Press: 27-42.
Canagarajah, A. Suresh. 1999. Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. New York: Oxford University Press.
Chomsky, Noam 1988. Language and the Problems of Knowledge: The Managua Lectures. Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Cook, Guy 2003. Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Cook, Guy 2004. Genetically Modified Language. Routledge.
Corder, S. Pit. 1973. Introducing applied linguistics. Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Edstrom, A. 2006. ‘L1 use in the L2 classroom: One teacher’s self-evaluation.’ The Canadian Modern Language Review 63(2): 275292.
Fisk Ong, Marcia 2002 Unpublished conference paper, APAC Barcelona
Hall, Graham and Guy Cook (2012) ‘Own-language use in ELT: exploring global practices and attitudes’ British Council ELT
Research Papers. London, British Council.
Howatt, A.P.R. , with H.G.Widdowson. 2002. A History of English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Källkvist, M. 2008. ‘L1-L2 translation versus no translation: A longitudinal study of focus-on-formS within a meaning-focused
curriculum’ in L. Ortega and H.Byrnes (eds.). The Longitudinal Study of Advanced L2 Capacities. London: Routledge.
Kramsch, Claire. 2010. The Multilingual Subject. Oxford University Press.
Laufer, B. and Girsai, N. 2008. Form-focused Instruction in Second Language Vocabulary Learning: A Case for Contrastive Analysis
and Translation.
Applied Linguistics. 29(4): 694-716
Macaro, E. 1997. Target language, collaborative learning and autonomy. Multilingual Matters.
Macaro, E. 2009. 'Teacher Use of Codeswitching in the Second Language Classroom: Exploring ‘Optimal’ Use' in M. Turnbull and J.
Dailey-O’Cain (eds.): First language use in second and foreign language learning. Multilingual Matters, 35–49.
MacWhinney, Brian 2006 ‘Emergentism - use often and with care’ discussion paper Applied Linguistics Special Issue: language
Emergence 27/4 729-740
Morrow, Keith and Johnson, Keith. 1979. Communicate. Cambridge University Press.
Myers, Greg 2005. Applied Linguistics and Institutions of Opinion. Applied Linguistics 26/4: 527-544
Seidlhofer, Barbara 2011. Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Stern, H.H. 1992. Issues and options in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Turnbull, M. and J. Dailey-O’Cain (eds.) 2009. First language use in second and foreign language learning. Multilingual Matters.
Widdowson, H. G. 2003 The Theory of Practice in Defining Issues in Language Teaching. Oxford University Press.