An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

2.5 Conclusions
Since the 1950s applied linguistics has spread widely. There are now some thirty-five
national affiliates of AILA, and applied linguistics is taught as an academic discipline
throughout the world. As Brumfit remarks it is now very varied, ranging from an
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engagement with the isms of critical analysis and postmodernisms (gender, develop -
ment, multiculturalism, poverty and racism), to a general deconstruction of existing
paternalist universalisms, to the focusing on one linguistic theory and, its opposite,
to the emphasis on contrastive analysis and a concern with teaching methodology.
The professionalising of applied linguistics in this period has inevitably raised the
issue of coherence. Should we expect graduates in applied linguistics from different
universities to have followed the same courses? The answer is surely no for content
but yes for concept. The three basic concepts are: language use, language learning
and investigating (or researching) the using and the learning. These concepts are
where coherence lies (see Chapter 1).
Successful development of the profession of applied linguistics is closely linked to
its insistence on maintaining a balance between source and target. Given the absence
in applied linguistics of sanctions (nobody can be prevented from claiming to be
an applied linguist, however unqualified and unprincipled), applied linguists offer
one another the support and the scrutiny of an ‘ethical milieu’ (Homan 1991). The
tension between theory and practice in applied linguistics, between complexifying
and simplifying has always existed. Tensions, of course, suggest that balance is to be
found somewhere between. The attraction of applied linguistics is precisely that it is
a theorising activity, moving from practice to theory, janus-like, offering a framework
for explanation and a blueprint for action.