applied linguistics

A branch of LINGUISTICS where the primary concern is the application of linguistic theories, methods and findings to the elucidation of LANGUAGE problems which have arisen in other areas of experience. The most well-developed branch of applied linguistics is the teaching and learning of foreign languages, and sometimes the term is used as if this were the only field involved. But several other fields of application have emerged, including the linguistic analysis of language disorders (CLINICAL LINGUISTICS), the use of language in mother-tongue education (EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS), and developments in LEXICOGRAPHY, translation and STYLISTICS. There is an uncertain boundary between applied linguistics and the various interdisciplinary branches of linguistics, such as SOCIOLINGUISTICS and PSYCHOLINGUISTICS, especially as several of the latter’s concerns involve practical outcomes of a plainly ‘applied’ kind (e.g. planning a national language policy). On the other hand, as these branches develop their own theoretical foundations, the distinction between ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ is becoming more apparent, and the characterization of research as being in ‘applied psycholinguistics’, etc., is now more regularly encountered. See also PRAGMATICS.