Applied linguistics and language learning/teaching
INVESTIGATING THE PROBLEMS: THE METHODOLOGY OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS
The teaching of language for specific purposes (LSP)
Richards et al. (1985) define LSP thus: second or foreign languages used for particular purposes and restricted types of communication (e.g. for medical reports, scientific writing, air-traffic control) and which contain lexical, grammatical and other linguistic features which are different from ordinary language … In language teaching decisions must be made as to whether a learner or groups of learners require a language for general purposes or for special purposes.
Such definitions are overbland. They take for granted the discreteness of LSPs and of registers. But except in the most restricted spheres (e.g. knitting patterns) where the LSP conforms to a kind of ritualized speech, there is no discreteness, there is always overlap. Here is an excerpt from an encyclopedic article on a branch of cognitive psychology:
Marr and Poggio (1979) implemented the same two constraints, of smoothness and uniqueness, in a quite different non-cooperative stereo algorithm that used multiple spatial frequency tuned channels and a coarse-to-fine matching strategy. The key idea here was to exploit the fact that only a few edge points, and hence only modest ambiguity problems, arise in very coarse channels. Matches obtained in these can then be used to guide matching in more finely tuned channels. Ambiguities in all channels are reduced almost to zero by suitable coupling of spatial frequency tuning to the disparity range allowed for matching. This requires that the high spatial frequency channels have very narrow disparity ranges, and that they therefore need to be ‘put in the right place to look’ if they are to find the correct matches. The algorithm does this by generating appropriate vergence eye movements driven by the coarser channels. (Frisby 1990: 251)
Now I am an educated native speaker of English. But, like most people, I tend to read material that is already somewhat familiar. The content of this Cognitive Psychology topic (the computational theory of perception) is quite new to me and I find the excerpt above hard to process. Of course, it will be said, this excerpt of some ten lines is part of a larger whole and if I were to read the whole article with care then I would be in a stronger position to understand the quoted section. While this is no doubt true, its very obviousness underlines the problem facing the second-language learner who wishes to access this article. To propose that he/she read the whole article is one version of the advice that in order to understand a text in a subject area you need to understand the subject first, or in order to understand this excerpt you need first to read not just the article it is taken from but also the whole of the encyclopedia the article is taken from. This is the submersion version of advice! For of course if you are not already familiar with cognitive psychology then reading the encyclopedia will probably also require the understanding you don’t yet have – remember you are a second-language learner of English. Catch 22 indeed!
In my case it is just possible that if I were to read the whole article and check the cross-references to other articles I might then be able to understand the quoted excerpt. And in practice when an excerpt of this kind is given to a second-language learner it will almost always be the case that the student in question will have already studied cognitive psychology, either in the L1 or in English and will therefore have the background knowledge in the subject needed to make sense of the explanation of the computational theory of perception, even if the actual information is entirely new. If all or most previous study of cognitive psychology has been in the L1 then there may be some language problems with the English of this entry that will need attention. But if the matching of the subject matter to the needs and interests of the learner has been done well then there will be an advantage in providing a text of this kind, either as part of the content of the psychology class or as an exercise in the English support class or possibly in both.
A more theoretical approach to LSP is advocated by Douglas (2000), quoting Chapelle: ‘What is required is a theory of how the context of a particular situation, within a broader context of culture, constrains the linguistic choice a user can make’ (Chapelle 1998: 15).
The basic assumption then behind programs dedicated to teaching languages for specific purposes (LSP) is that language function, purpose, area and so on require the use of a special variety of the language; this was the argument we referred to in the discussion on language and gender. Different domains of social life can be equated to different language varieties. The growth of LSP (ESP for English) over the last thirty years has been considerable but it is of course not new. German for Scientists/Chemists/Engineers was in vogue long before for non-German-speaking scientists who needed access to scientific materials written in German. What has changed is that English has taken over the former role of German in science and of just about every other language everywhere else. That is the first reason, the continuing of a tradition in a new medium. The second reason targets English: it represents a reaction against the literary materials widely used for the teaching of English as a foreign/second language.
The applied linguistics contribution to this activity has been two edged (Douglas 2004). On the one hand it provided the necessary skills in textual analysis, the writing or practice materials and of tests in LSP; it experimented with the evaluation of courses using LSP as against those which used non-specific language materials (e.g. general English). On the other hand, it offered a skeptical commentary, criticizing the lack of a clear model of variety which showed the differences between one variety and another. Furthermore, it showed that the differences between one variety and another are likely to be in terms of frequency of the use of different features rather than in completely differential use. Of course, there would always be certain vocabulary items that would be specific. But those who had background knowledge in the area would already be familiar with these terms or at least would acquire them very quickly.
A major contribution of applied linguistics to language learning and teaching studies has been to develop materials purposely written for the language teacher. This is the case of LSP, with pedagogical grammar. The role of applied linguistics is to mould a relevant content area for the needs of its target audience, in this case experienced language teachers (Howard and Brown 1997). It is a form of simplification, as all language-teaching materials are.
