Applied linguistics is the branch of linguistics concerned with using linguistic theory to address real-world problems. It has been traditionally dominated by the fields of language education and second language acquisition (SLA). There is a recurrent tension between those who regard the field as limited to the study of language learning, and those who see it as encompassing all applications of linguistic theory. Both definitions are widely used. The current field is a cross-disciplinary mix of departments primarily from linguistics, anthropology, psychology, and education.

The field of applied linguistics first concerned itself with second language acquisition, in particular errors and contrastive analysis, in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, with the failure of contrastive analysis as a theory to predict errors, applied linguists began to adopt Noam Chomsky's theory of universal grammar to explain second language (L2) learning phenomena. In the 1990s, more and more researchers began to employ research methods from cognitive psychology.

One focus today shifts the domain of inquiry from the system of language itself - the classic object of SLA research - to the learner and their environment. The applied linguist Vivian Cook has, for example, introduced the term L2 user as distinct from L2 learner.<ref name=l2user>Cook, V. Background to the L2 User Perspective. Retrieved on October 20, 2006.</ref> The former are active users of the language; the latter those who learn for later use. Cook's view also severs a link to SLA, in that a user's language ability is seen not as an approximation towards native speakers' competence, but as a system in its own right.

Sociolinguistics and discourse analysis have played an increasingly important roles within the field, and sociocultural theory has emerged as a competitor to traditional cognitive psychological models of language acquisition. Further controversy over the connection between society, language & mind orients to whether applied linguistics should concern itself with the political ramifications of linguistics. One outcome of this debate has resulted in the formation of Critical Applied Linguistics, which is considered either a separate discipline or an offshoot of applied linguistics proper.

The American Association for Applied Linguistics formed in the 1970s when it began holding separate conferences from the Linguistic Society of America. Britain and Canada have similar associations while the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée serves a more international forum.

Major journals include Applied Linguistics, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, The Journal of Applied Linguistics,Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Modern Language Review, Language Learning, , AILA Journal, and the TESOL Quarterly.

[edit] Further reading

Cook, Guy (2003) 'Applied Linguistics' (in the series Oxford Introduction to Language Study) Oxford: Oxford University Press
Cook, V. (2001). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London: Hodder Arnold.
Cook, V. (ed.) (2002). Portraits of the L2 User. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. (2006). How Languages are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2nd edition.
Mitchell, R. and Myles, F. (2006). Second Language Learning Theories. London: Hodder Arnold. 2nd edition.
Elis, Rod (1997) "Second Language Acquisition". Oxford University Press