INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC LINGUISTICS (A COURSEBOOK FOR BS ENGLISH LINGUISTICS)

Abstract

Applied linguistics is a branch of linguistics that concerns with the practical application of language in real life cases. It is interested in the way language operates within various social, professional, and institutional contexts and how linguistic knowledge may be used to assist in resolving linguistic related issues. Previously, the field of applied linguistics was largely identified with language teaching, however, now its application is much broader. It encompasses language acquisition (second language acquisition, bilingualism and multilingualism), language policy and planning, discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, translation studies, language assessment, computer mediated communication and ecolinguistics. These spheres demonstrate that applied linguistics is not one discipline but a series of domains, linked with each other, and that study language in application (Simpson, 2011).

One of the main areas of applied linguistics is the second language acquisition. It examines the way individuals acquire a foreign language and what determines this. Some concepts that are significant in this area include; input, interaction, interlanguage, fossilization, communicative competence, task based language teaching and learner autonomy. Individual researchers also dwell on motivation, identity and culture in the language learning process. The concepts assist teachers to come up with effective teaching methods and materials (Ellis, 1997).