An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

a posteriori
artificial language; it was developed by
Giuseppe Peano in the early twentieth century.
Labov-type markers: distinguishing social class etc. features, for example the glottal
stop, prominent in the sociolinguistic methodology developed from the 1960s
onwards by the American linguist, William Labov.
language assessment: measuring or evaluating language ability.
language awareness: the ambition to develop explicit linguistic understanding in the
secondary school.
language death: the point at which there are no living speakers of a language.
language decay: the early stages of language death when speakers stop using the dying
language for certain functions, for example work.
language planning: the systematic approach to developing language as a national or
regional resource.
language-programme evaluation: the process of judging a language programme.
language shift: the process by which a community gives up a language completely in
favour of another one.
language treatment: the developing of a language for particular purposes, for example
for modernisation, also known as language engineering.
Leavis: F. R. Leavis (1895–1978), British literary critic.
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Glossary
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lexicogrammatical: the interconnection of vocabulary and grammar in systemic
linguistics.
lexicography: the art and craft of writing a dictionary.
lexicology: the study of the vocabulary items of a language.
linguicism: the destruction of a minority language by a more powerful one.
linguistic determinism: 
see
Whorf.
linguistic ecology: the study of the interaction of language with its environment.
LOTEs: languages other than English (Australian).
LSP: languages for specific purposes.
Malinowski: Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942), London-based anthropologist,
in ventor of ‘participant observation’ and originator of the notion of the context
of situation.
medium of instruction: the language used for teaching subjects other than the
language itself.
meta narratives: large-scale all-embracing explanatory theories associated with the
Enlightenment ‘project’, for example psychoanalysis, Marxism.
methodics: an attempt to develop a science of language-teaching methodology.
modernism: the whole era of grand meta narratives, that is the Enlightenment
‘project’.
module: a component of a course, degree or diploma.
morphology: the grammar of the word.
mother tongue: the language first learned (L1), the language of which one is a native
speaker.
MSc: Master of Science, first postgraduate degree.
multilingual: one who is proficient in several languages.
multiple literacies: literacies in different modalities, for example in books, television,
advertising, computing.
native speaker: 
see
mother tongue.
native user: a speaker of a World English, claimed to be a native speaker of English
in all but name.
nativist: the belief that normal development proceeds without external influence or
intervention.
neuroanatomy: the anatomy of the nervous system.
neuropediatrics: the clinical study of children’s nervous system.
neuropsychology: relating to the psychology of the nervous system.
nominalism: the view which regards universals or abstract concepts as mere names
without corresponding realities.
non-U: usages which are marks of social inferiority.
norms: standards governing the choice of language code, what to say and when to
say it.
notions: semantico-grammatical categories common across languages, for example
duration.
overview questions: questions which require the use of inferencing.
pedagogical grammar: a grammatical description of a language which is intended for
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166
Glossary
teaching purposes
personal chair: (in the United Kingdom) a professorship awarded to a university
scholar by his or her own institution on the basis of international reputation.
phenomenology: the philosophical study of abstract essences and their connections:
the inspiration for ethnomethodology.
phonic method: the method of teaching reading by sounding out each letter.
Plain English Movement: an organisation dedicated to making the public use of
English simpler.
politically correct: a label attached to language use which is consciously non-dis -
criminatory.
Popper: Karl Popper (1902–1994), London-based philosopher, best known for his
principle of scientific falsifiability.
positivism: a movement associated with August Comte in the mid-nineteenth cen -
tury, a development of the Enlightenment ‘project’, and linked to empiricism.
post-colonial: cultural developments following and influenced by the Western
powers’ colonial period in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
post-imperial: 
see
post-colonial.
postmodernism: an extended version of post-structuralism.
post-structuralism: cultural movement, largely in the humanities, doubting the
Enlighten ment ‘project’ and large explanatory meta narratives.
pragmatics: the study of language from the point of view of its users and of the
choices they make.
prescriptivism: an approach to language which lays down rules of correctness.
primary factor: the first and largest variable in a factor analysis, the dominating
underlying ability.
proficiency: ability to use a language.
proficiency test: instrument used to assess proficiency.
profile scores: a method of providing an assessment of proficiency in different areas.
proscriptive: the negative side of prescriptivism.
psycholinguistics: the study of the relation between linguistics and psychological
processes.
raising: in phonetics and phonology a process affecting tongue height.
realism: the philosophy that studies truth independent of the human mind and
therefore asserts that universals exist in the external world even when they are not
perceived.
register: a variety of language defined according to its social use.
reliability: consistency, often referring to test results,
restricted code: the term used by Basil Bernstein to refer to the language used in
closed settings, for example a prison, a code which is interpretable only in context
and therefore not understandable in public settings.
rhetoric: the study of effective and persuasive speaking and writing.
Richards: I. A. Richards (1893–1979), British literary critic and student of language.
Romance: the term for languages deriving from Latin, for example Italian and
French.
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Glossary 167
SAL: School of Applied Linguistics, University of Edinburgh.
school bilingual programme: a curriculum that permits students to study in more
than one language.
Schutz: Alfred Schutz (1899–1959), Austrian and American social philosopher,
major influence on ethnomethodology.
second language: any language which is learnt formally or informally after the first,
often synonymous with foreign language.
semantics: the branch of linguistics concerned with the study of meaning.
sensitive period: 
see
critical period.
sequencing: ordering a set of language teaching materials so that they follow some
logical order.
simplified reading materials: teaching materials such as books, papers, in which the
grammar and vocabulary have been deliberately made easier for the reader, much
used in second-language teaching.
SLA: second-language acquisition.
sociolinguistics: the study of the relation between linguistics and social processes.
speech pathology: the study of abnormalities in the development and use of language
in children and adults.
speech therapy: the profession concerned with remedying speech pathologies.
stakeholder: anyone who might be affected by an intervention such as a language
test.
standard language: the dialect selected and codified for official purposes, including
education.
stylistics: the study of varieties of language (for example register), including literary
varieties.
syllabus: the school curriculum for one subject, but 
see
curriculum.
symbolic policy: an official policy that is concerned with promoting favourable
attitudes rather than language use.
symptomatology: the study of symptoms.
synchronic: the study of a language at one point in time.
treatment: deliberate language development or invention, usually known by its
French name,