Research on the Frontiers of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

Juan Jin

College of Foreign Languages,Xinjiang University,Urumqi,China

Email:595706764@qq.com

Musajiang Yunus

College of Foreign Languages,Xinjiang Vocational University,Urumqi,China

Email:47212602@qq.com

[Abstract] This paper makes a survey on the frontiers of linguistics and applied linguistics,including an overview of linguistics and applied linguistics,the development of linguistics and applied linguistics in contemporary China,and the development trend of research methods.It aims to analyze the current development and provide insights and directions for future research in linguistics and applied linguistics in foreign languages in China.

[Keywords] linguistics;applied linguistics;research frontier;survey

An Overview of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

In a broad sense,linguistics refers to the application of the theories and research results of general linguistics in language teaching,literary criticism,character reform,machine translation,automatic information retrieval,speech pathology,psychiatric diagnosis and treatment,etc.In a narrow sense,it refers to language teaching,especially the teaching of a second or foreign language.

In the early 19th century,the study of language theory and application began to differentiate,and language teaching was differentiated from theoretical linguistics.The term applied linguistics was first put forward by the Pol⁃ish linguist Baudun de Kurdene in 1870.He distinguished the boundary between pure linguistics and applied lin⁃guistics,and clearly pointed out that the task of applied linguistics is to use the knowledge of pure linguistics to solve various problems in other scientific fields.At the end of the 19th century,the concept of applied linguistics was put forward by Baudouin de Kurdene,but it did not receive widespread attention.After the 20th century,linguis⁃tics has been further developed,the scope of application has been expanded unprecedentedly,the study of language application and theoretical research clearly distinguish,the term applied linguistics began to be widely used.Ap⁃plied linguistics involves a wide range of fields,which usually can be divided into general applied linguistics and ma⁃chine applied linguistics.

Scholars often have different understandings about the scope of applied linguistics.Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Characterspointed out in the "applied linguistics" entry volume,applied linguistics is the study of lan⁃guage in actual use in all fields","application is divided into general linguistics and applied linguistics machine",the former including"language teaching,the establishment of standard and standardization,the initiative and reform of the text,dictionary,translation",which includes"experimental phonetics,machine translation,information retriev⁃al,Chinese character information processing,natural language understanding,speech statistics,minority language in⁃formation processing".Generalized applied linguistics is a broad understanding of applied linguistics,which refers to all fields and aspects applied by linguistic knowledge and research results,namely,all marginal disciplines gener⁃ated by the interpenetration of linguistics and other disciplines.At present,applied linguistics is generally under⁃stood in a broad sense in our country,but some people understand it in a narrow sense.For example,the textbooks and courses of applied linguistics compiled by some foreign language colleges and universities are all about the ap⁃plication of linguistic knowledge to foreign language teaching (mainly English teaching),while the works of applied linguistics written by some computer scholars are mainly about machine translation and information retrieval.

Applied linguistics covers a wide range of topics.It can be said that all the problems related to language and the application of linguistics can be included in the scope of applied linguistics.In this sense,applied linguistics has the nature of crossing over multiple disciplines.

Research Status of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

It was not until the late 1940s that the discipline began to be established.As a branch of linguistics,applied lin⁃guistics has been developed in recent thirty years.It is a general term for the application of linguistics and phonetics in various aspects and the knowledge related to various practical fields.At present,applied linguistics mainly refers to language teaching.Its task is to study the reality in teaching,organize and design syllabus,evaluate and test the practical effect of language application in teaching activities,etc.

The International Association of Applied Linguistics (IAAL) was founded at the first conference of applied lin⁃guistics held in 1964 in Nancy,France.IAAL holds the World Congress on Applied Linguistics every three years.It is typically a five-day conference consisting of keynote speakers,small workshops,panel presentations,and paper presentations to discuss current and important topics in the field.The universities of various countries have also opened the courses of applied linguistics,and many scholars have published a large number of articles,books and monographs on the application of language.

The study of applied language in China has a long history,but as an independent discipline,it is new.Chinese scholars put forward that applied linguistics is a discipline that studies the practical application of language in vari⁃ous fields.Its task is to study and explore the general principles,methods and laws of language application,to estab⁃lish and improve the theoretical system of the discipline,which can be used to guide the practice of language applica⁃tion and meet the needs of social development.Since the 1980s,language studies in China have entered the period of contemporary linguistics and started to establish their own independent theoretical system and methodologies of linguistic research.After entering the 21st century,with the progress of language research and with the combination of emerging marginal subjects and language theory,applied linguists have broadened their horizons to adapt to the development of society.And the space for the development of applied linguistics is becoming wider and wider.Some newly emerging fields,such as experimental phonetics,statistical linguistics,investigative linguistics,psycholinguis⁃tics,geographic linguistics,lexicography,etc.

Nowadays,the research of methods and methodology of linguistics and applied linguistics has set off a new up⁃surge,and the research methods are gradually becoming comprehensive and scientific.The development of applied linguistics is vigorous.Linguists not only pay attention to drawing lessons from advanced western theories and meth⁃ods,but also pay attention to learning from Chinese traditions.It not only pays attention to the ontological research of language,but also puts the application research on the agenda again.We should not only pay attention to the study of language refinement,but also pay attention to the recombination with philosophy,which indicates that the study of language in China is gradually becoming mature.No matter in China or in the world,the number of people engaged in the study of applied linguistics is increasing,and the relevant scientific research achievements are emerging one after another.

The Development Trend of Research Methods

According to the statistical analysis of empirical research papers in ten international well-known journals of ap⁃plied linguistics from 1986 to 2015 by Khany,and Xu Jinfen's understanding of relevant literature in recent five years,non-empirical research is becoming less and less,while quantitative research is still the mainstream method though it is also becoming less than before.The proportion of qualitative research is increasing gradually.(Khany&Tazik,2019;Xu,2021).Utilizing and integrating the advantages of both quantitative and qualitative methods are beneficial to make more rigorous inferences about research problems,hybrid studies thus are increasingly favored.In terms of data processing,most studies adopted descriptive data analysis,followed by one-way ANOVA,T-test,Pearson correlation test and the chi-square test.

More complex statistical techniques,such as multiple regression and One-way ANCOVA began to be favored,but the frequency of use is generally low.(Xu,2021)In addition,with the development of technology and interdisci⁃plinary,researchers began to use some new methods,who also pay more and more attention to the rationality of re⁃search methods.

Linguistics and the Application of Applied Linguistics in Teaching

Language teaching has always been regarded as the main content of applied linguistics research.This kind of re⁃search tries to bring language teaching combined with critical analysis of a wide range of social relations in order to reveal factors,such as class,race,gender and identity and their existence in language teaching.The language teach⁃ing methods have been studied,and its research has profoundly revealed how teachers react to the dominant position of the English language and teaching.

The application of linguistics and applied linguistics in teaching activities can be divided into three stages:the first stage is the language description stage,which describes the form and content of the language to determine the nature of the language.The second part is the comparative application stage.It compares the different aspects and variations of the language being taught and the mother tongue.It also compares the language mistakes easily pro⁃duced in the learning process.The application of the third stage is to lay out the syllabus.In the process of formulat⁃ing the syllabus,the principles on which the teaching materials are organized can be deductive,ranging from general content to specific content,from grammatical principles to syntactic rules.

Conclusion

The use of applied linguistics in people's real life has been shown to great effect.It has a very broad research field,and its importance is being valued by various disciplines.The research of applied linguistics is developing to a new depth and breadth,and its research results will help people to further understand the nature of language and to serve the study of language more effectively.

Acknowledgements

This paper is a phased research result of the teaching reform project Application and Research of College Eng⁃lish Teaching Model based on Rain Classroom and MOOC of College of Foreign Languages,Xinjiang University,2019.

This paper is a phased research result of MOOCs construction project College Basic English of Xinjiang Univer⁃sity,2019.No.XJU2018JGM15.