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I- They understanded what the student said in class yesterday. II- The dog bit his finger. III- He throwed the ball at me. IV- The strong wind blew off her hat.
Check the correct alternative:
First column: verb pattern 1- Verb followed by a direct object 2- Verb followed by a direct object and an indirect object 3- Verb with no object
Second column: sentence ( ) I would never have had that coffee if I’d known it would stop me sleeping. ( ) Her eyes shone in the darkness, reflecting the light from the candle. ( ) Ben quietly handed her the letter, looking rather nervous.
Check the correct alternative:
I- Tell me, have you coming to the party? II- They will finished the job. III- What do she do every Sunday? IV- I would like to watch TV. There is a good film on. V- She did always wanted to meet him.
The correct alternative is:
Resumos relacionados
Advérbios e conjunções em inglês para concursos públicos
O estudo de advérbios e conjunções na língua inglesa é fundamental para quem deseja se destacar em provas de concursos públicos. Esses elementos desempenham papéis essenciais na construção de frases, influenciando diretamente o sentido e a coesão textual, habilidades bastante exigidas nas questões de interpretação e compreensão de textos em inglês.
Artigos (Articles) em inglês: uso em concursos públicos
Artigos (Articles) são palavras essenciais na gramática da língua inglesa, usadas para indicar se um substantivo está sendo mencionado de forma específica ou geral. Eles desempenham papel fundamental em provas de concursos, pois ajudam na compreensão e interpretação dos textos, além de serem frequentemente cobrados em questões envolvendo uso correto de estruturas gramaticais.
Look at the extract from a novel and answer the question below:

I- there is a compound noun in line 6. II- There is a noun suffix in line 12. III- in line 11 there is a word containing 3 morphemes. IV- in line 7 there is a word containing the genitive case.
I-
international – vegetarian
II-
extravagante – presentation
III-
apartamento block – public transportation
IV-
calculator – supermarket Check the correct alternative:
First column: function 1- Give a reason 2- Express condition 3- Show a result
Second column: sentence ( ) It was such an enjoyable party that I stayed longer than I’d planned. ( ) As it might rain at the weekend, I’ve rented a couple of DVDs. ( ) Provided you pay me back next week, I’ll lend you the money.
Check the correct alternative:
I- That could be Judith on the phone = to express present possibility II- I could hear a funny noise coming from somewhere in the engine = to express past ability III- It could snow! Look at the sky! = to express future possibility IV- you could try asking me before you use my comb, you know. = to give permission
Check the correct alternative:
( ) Benefiting thousands of students in classrooms around the world. For many students and teachers, this solution is not new, but its use has become increasingly creative and relevant in the school context. It allows us to explore additional resources within the courseware, as well as being another tool in the teacher's service to capture attention and promote student engagement. ( ) While teachers have to battle for the attention of students in the classroom, it is also well known that the long, expository lecture model is dated. The way we consume content has undergone a major transformation over the last few decades. For new generations, bombarded by different content and information all the time - and in different media - it has become challenging to focus on one task for long periods of time. The social networks themselves offer evidence of this change: Twitter, with its posts up to 280 characters; or Snapchat, with its short images and videos that expire in 24 hours. In this context came the expression microlearning. This technology is the fragmentation of educational content so that it is more easily assimilated by the student. It’s is ideal for digital format, whether it is for content exposure or for reviewing concepts explored during class, through videos, games, animations, etc. ( ) It is already possible to glimpse this technology, especially among children and adolescents. Whenever they are connected, young people are receiving or streaming this technology: Evidence of this reality is the phenomenon of YouTubers. In the educational context, it is possible to follow this trend seeking to offer hangouts (debates and live broadcasts), video lessons, animations and video calls that enable contact with people from different places, realities, etc. Also, encouraging students to produce content in this technological tool format can be a way to generate greater engagement. ( ) Many schools and many teachers find it difficult to handle with this technology in the classroom. When rules of use are not established early in the year, or when they are not clear to students, it is very easy for it to become a discipline issue. There are many applications for educational purposes, many offered by schools themselves and education systems. Digital books, augmented reality, educational games, animations, video lessons and problem solving are just some of the features that can be accessed through that. Generation Z students are immersed in technology 24 hours a day. Going forward, the trend is to find more teachers and students using this technology in the classroom, with educational goals.
Born in poverty, he moved with his family to Indiana and Illinois. Largely self-taught, he became a lawyer. He served in the state legislature (1834-41), moving to Springfield, during his tenure, and in the U.S House of Representatives (1847-49). A supporter of the new Republican Party in its antislavery stand in 1858 he ____ for U.S. Senate against the incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas though he was unsuccessful, their eloquent debates _______ Lincoln to national attention. In 1860 he won the Republican presidential nomination and was elected president. Though Lincoln ____ expressed a moderate view on slavery during the campaign, opposing only its extension into new states, the South seceded and the Civil War began in 1861. The war dominated Lincoln’s administration. To unite the North and influence foreign opinion, he issued the landmark Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. His extraordinary Gettysburg Address later that year further ennobled the war's purpose; it contains the most celebrated language ____ spoken by an American politician. He was re-elected in 1864, and in his eloquent Second Inaugural Address he ______ for moderation in reconstructing the South and in building a harmonious Union. Five days after the war's end, he was shot by the fanatic John Wilkes Booth. His reputation among U.S. presidents remains unsurpassed.
Check the alternative with the correct sequence:
Text
When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him.
“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she,
“sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such
happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good
breeding!”
“He is also handsome,” replied Elizabeth, “which a young
man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character
is thereby complete.”
“I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment.”
“Did not you? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”
“Dear Lizzy!”
“Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.”
“I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.”
“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design – to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad – belongs to you alone. And so you like this man’s sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.”
“Certainly not – at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.”
Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of making themselves agreeable when they chose it, but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank, and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, chapter 4. Available at:
<https://www.gutenberg.org>. Accessed on: October 29th, 2018.
Text
When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him.
“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she,
“sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such
happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good
breeding!”
“He is also handsome,” replied Elizabeth, “which a young
man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character
is thereby complete.”
“I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment.”
“Did not you? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”
“Dear Lizzy!”
“Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.”
“I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.”
“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design – to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad – belongs to you alone. And so you like this man’s sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.”
“Certainly not – at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.”
Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of making themselves agreeable when they chose it, but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank, and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, chapter 4. Available at:
<https://www.gutenberg.org>. Accessed on: October 29th, 2018.
Text
When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him.
“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she,
“sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such
happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good
breeding!”
“He is also handsome,” replied Elizabeth, “which a young
man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character
is thereby complete.”
“I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment.”
“Did not you? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”
“Dear Lizzy!”
“Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.”
“I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.”
“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design – to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad – belongs to you alone. And so you like this man’s sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.”
“Certainly not – at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.”
Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of making themselves agreeable when they chose it, but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank, and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, chapter 4. Available at:
<https://www.gutenberg.org>. Accessed on: October 29th, 2018.
Text
When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him.
“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she,
“sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such
happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good
breeding!”
“He is also handsome,” replied Elizabeth, “which a young
man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character
is thereby complete.”
“I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment.”
“Did not you? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”
“Dear Lizzy!”
“Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.”
“I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.”
“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design – to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad – belongs to you alone. And so you like this man’s sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.”
“Certainly not – at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.”
Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of making themselves agreeable when they chose it, but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank, and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, chapter 4. Available at:
<https://www.gutenberg.org>. Accessed on: October 29th, 2018.
Text
When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister just how very much she admired him.
“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she,
“sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such
happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good
breeding!”
“He is also handsome,” replied Elizabeth, “which a young
man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character
is thereby complete.”
“I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment.”
“Did not you? I did for you. But that is one great difference between us. Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never. What could be more natural than his asking you again? He could not help seeing that you were about five times as pretty as every other woman in the room. No thanks to his gallantry for that. Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”
“Dear Lizzy!”
“Oh! you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.”
“I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.”
“I know you do; and it is that which makes the wonder. With your good sense, to be so honestly blind to the follies and nonsense of others! Affectation of candour is common enough – one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design – to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad – belongs to you alone. And so you like this man’s sisters, too, do you? Their manners are not equal to his.”
“Certainly not – at first. But they are very pleasing women when you converse with them. Miss Bingley is to live with her brother, and keep his house; and I am much mistaken if we shall not find a very charming neighbour in her.”
Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced; their behaviour at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of making themselves agreeable when they chose it, but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank, and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade.
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice, chapter 4. Available at:
<https://www.gutenberg.org>. Accessed on: October 29th, 2018.
Text
What is applied linguistics?
Vivian Cook, Newcastle University
Polish Translation
If you tell someone you’re an applied linguist, they look at you with bafflement. If you amplify – it’s to do with linguistics – they still look baffled. You know, linguistics the science of language? Ah so you speak lots of languages? Well no, just English. So what do you actually do? Well I look at how people acquire languages and how we can teach them better. At last light begins to dawn and they tell you a story about how badly they were taught French at school.
The problem is that the applied linguists themselves don’t
have much clearer ideas about what the subject consists
of. They argue over whether it necessarily has anything to
do with language teaching or with linguistics and whether
it includes the actual description of language. All of these
views exist among applied linguists and are reflected in
the MA courses available at British universities under the
label of applied linguistics.
The language teaching view of applied linguistics parallels
TESOLorTEFL, by looking at ways of improving language
teaching, backed by a more rigorous study of language.
The motivation is that better teaching will be based on
a better understanding of language. However, in British
universities language teaching itself is not highly valued,
often carried out by ancillary staff, because it does not
lend itself easily to the kind of research publications that
university careers now depend upon.
The closeness of the link to linguistics is also crucial.
At one extreme you need the latest ideas hot from MIT
on the principle that information about linguistics must be
up-to-date – and linguistic theories change so fast that
undergraduates discover their first year courses are out
of date by their final year. It’s up to the end-users how
they make practical use of the ideas, not the applied
linguists.
This raises the issue whether other disciplines are as
important as linguistics for applied linguistics. Psychology
enters into many courses, as does education, particularly
ideas about testing and about language learning. To some
applied linguists the discipline draws on any subject with
anything to say about language teaching or language
learning. To others linguistics is the sole source of ideas.
Sometime this is referred to as the issue of ‘autonomous
applied linguistics’; is it a separate discipline or a poor
relative of linguistics?
To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical
linguistics to actual data. Hence the construction of
dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical
linguistics to actual data. Hence the construction of
dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions of words of English are applied linguistics, as are the
descriptions of social networks or of gender differences
(but not usually descriptions of grammar). Once
applied linguistics seemed boundless, including the
study of first language acquisition and computational
linguistics. To many, however, applied linguistics has
become synonymous with SLA (though never linked
to first language acquisition). SLA (Second Language
Acquisition) research has had an enormous growth over
the past decades. It enters into all of the above debates.
Some people are concerned with classroom language
acquisition because of its teaching implications, drawing
mostly on psychological models of language and
language processing and on social models of interaction
and identity; others are concerned with SLA in natural
settings. On another dimension, SLA can be seen as
providing data to test out linguistic theories rather than
to increase our knowledge of SLA itself; they are then
more like linguists who happen to use SLA data than
investigators of SLA in its own right. On a third dimension
the linguistic world is more or less divided between those
who see language as masses of things people have said
and those who see it as knowledge in people’s minds.
Some SLAresearchers analyse large corpora of learner’s
utterances or essays; others test their ideas against the
barest minimum of data; neither side really accept that
the other has a valid point of view.
Applied linguistics then means many things to many
people. Discovering what a book or a course in applied
linguistics is about involves reading the small print
to discover its orientation. Those with an interest in
linguistic theory are going to feel frustrated when
bombarded with classroom teaching techniques; those
who want to handle large amounts of spoken or written
data will be disappointed by single example sentences
or experiments. Of course many people discover
unexpected delights. One of my students who came to
an MA course as an EFL course-writer ended up doing
a Ph.D. thesis and book on learnability theory. This does
not mean that most prospective MA students should not
look very carefully, say checking the titles of the modules
that actually make up the degree scheme, before they
back a particular horse.
Available at: <http://www.viviancook.uk>.
Accessed on: November 2nd, 2018 (Adapted).
Text
What is applied linguistics?
Vivian Cook, Newcastle University
Polish Translation
If you tell someone you’re an applied linguist, they look at you with bafflement. If you amplify – it’s to do with linguistics – they still look baffled. You know, linguistics the science of language? Ah so you speak lots of languages? Well no, just English. So what do you actually do? Well I look at how people acquire languages and how we can teach them better. At last light begins to dawn and they tell you a story about how badly they were taught French at school.
The problem is that the applied linguists themselves don’t
have much clearer ideas about what the subject consists
of. They argue over whether it necessarily has anything to
do with language teaching or with linguistics and whether
it includes the actual description of language. All of these
views exist among applied linguists and are reflected in
the MA courses available at British universities under the
label of applied linguistics.
The language teaching view of applied linguistics parallels
TESOLorTEFL, by looking at ways of improving language
teaching, backed by a more rigorous study of language.
The motivation is that better teaching will be based on
a better understanding of language. However, in British
universities language teaching itself is not highly valued,
often carried out by ancillary staff, because it does not
lend itself easily to the kind of research publications that
university careers now depend upon.
The closeness of the link to linguistics is also crucial.
At one extreme you need the latest ideas hot from MIT
on the principle that information about linguistics must be
up-to-date – and linguistic theories change so fast that
undergraduates discover their first year courses are out
of date by their final year. It’s up to the end-users how
they make practical use of the ideas, not the applied
linguists.
This raises the issue whether other disciplines are as
important as linguistics for applied linguistics. Psychology
enters into many courses, as does education, particularly
ideas about testing and about language learning. To some
applied linguists the discipline draws on any subject with
anything to say about language teaching or language
learning. To others linguistics is the sole source of ideas.
Sometime this is referred to as the issue of ‘autonomous
applied linguistics’; is it a separate discipline or a poor
relative of linguistics?
To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical
linguistics to actual data. Hence the construction of
dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical
linguistics to actual data. Hence the construction of
dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions of words of English are applied linguistics, as are the
descriptions of social networks or of gender differences
(but not usually descriptions of grammar). Once
applied linguistics seemed boundless, including the
study of first language acquisition and computational
linguistics. To many, however, applied linguistics has
become synonymous with SLA (though never linked
to first language acquisition). SLA (Second Language
Acquisition) research has had an enormous growth over
the past decades. It enters into all of the above debates.
Some people are concerned with classroom language
acquisition because of its teaching implications, drawing
mostly on psychological models of language and
language processing and on social models of interaction
and identity; others are concerned with SLA in natural
settings. On another dimension, SLA can be seen as
providing data to test out linguistic theories rather than
to increase our knowledge of SLA itself; they are then
more like linguists who happen to use SLA data than
investigators of SLA in its own right. On a third dimension
the linguistic world is more or less divided between those
who see language as masses of things people have said
and those who see it as knowledge in people’s minds.
Some SLAresearchers analyse large corpora of learner’s
utterances or essays; others test their ideas against the
barest minimum of data; neither side really accept that
the other has a valid point of view.
Applied linguistics then means many things to many
people. Discovering what a book or a course in applied
linguistics is about involves reading the small print
to discover its orientation. Those with an interest in
linguistic theory are going to feel frustrated when
bombarded with classroom teaching techniques; those
who want to handle large amounts of spoken or written
data will be disappointed by single example sentences
or experiments. Of course many people discover
unexpected delights. One of my students who came to
an MA course as an EFL course-writer ended up doing
a Ph.D. thesis and book on learnability theory. This does
not mean that most prospective MA students should not
look very carefully, say checking the titles of the modules
that actually make up the degree scheme, before they
back a particular horse.
Available at: <http://www.viviancook.uk>.
Accessed on: November 2nd, 2018 (Adapted).
Text
What is applied linguistics?
Vivian Cook, Newcastle University
Polish Translation
If you tell someone you’re an applied linguist, they look at you with bafflement. If you amplify – it’s to do with linguistics – they still look baffled. You know, linguistics the science of language? Ah so you speak lots of languages? Well no, just English. So what do you actually do? Well I look at how people acquire languages and how we can teach them better. At last light begins to dawn and they tell you a story about how badly they were taught French at school.
The problem is that the applied linguists themselves don’t
have much clearer ideas about what the subject consists
of. They argue over whether it necessarily has anything to
do with language teaching or with linguistics and whether
it includes the actual description of language. All of these
views exist among applied linguists and are reflected in
the MA courses available at British universities under the
label of applied linguistics.
The language teaching view of applied linguistics parallels
TESOLorTEFL, by looking at ways of improving language
teaching, backed by a more rigorous study of language.
The motivation is that better teaching will be based on
a better understanding of language. However, in British
universities language teaching itself is not highly valued,
often carried out by ancillary staff, because it does not
lend itself easily to the kind of research publications that
university careers now depend upon.
The closeness of the link to linguistics is also crucial.
At one extreme you need the latest ideas hot from MIT
on the principle that information about linguistics must be
up-to-date – and linguistic theories change so fast that
undergraduates discover their first year courses are out
of date by their final year. It’s up to the end-users how
they make practical use of the ideas, not the applied
linguists.
This raises the issue whether other disciplines are as
important as linguistics for applied linguistics. Psychology
enters into many courses, as does education, particularly
ideas about testing and about language learning. To some
applied linguists the discipline draws on any subject with
anything to say about language teaching or language
learning. To others linguistics is the sole source of ideas.
Sometime this is referred to as the issue of ‘autonomous
applied linguistics’; is it a separate discipline or a poor
relative of linguistics?
To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical
linguistics to actual data. Hence the construction of
dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical
linguistics to actual data. Hence the construction of
dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions of words of English are applied linguistics, as are the
descriptions of social networks or of gender differences
(but not usually descriptions of grammar). Once
applied linguistics seemed boundless, including the
study of first language acquisition and computational
linguistics. To many, however, applied linguistics has
become synonymous with SLA (though never linked
to first language acquisition). SLA (Second Language
Acquisition) research has had an enormous growth over
the past decades. It enters into all of the above debates.
Some people are concerned with classroom language
acquisition because of its teaching implications, drawing
mostly on psychological models of language and
language processing and on social models of interaction
and identity; others are concerned with SLA in natural
settings. On another dimension, SLA can be seen as
providing data to test out linguistic theories rather than
to increase our knowledge of SLA itself; they are then
more like linguists who happen to use SLA data than
investigators of SLA in its own right. On a third dimension
the linguistic world is more or less divided between those
who see language as masses of things people have said
and those who see it as knowledge in people’s minds.
Some SLAresearchers analyse large corpora of learner’s
utterances or essays; others test their ideas against the
barest minimum of data; neither side really accept that
the other has a valid point of view.
Applied linguistics then means many things to many
people. Discovering what a book or a course in applied
linguistics is about involves reading the small print
to discover its orientation. Those with an interest in
linguistic theory are going to feel frustrated when
bombarded with classroom teaching techniques; those
who want to handle large amounts of spoken or written
data will be disappointed by single example sentences
or experiments. Of course many people discover
unexpected delights. One of my students who came to
an MA course as an EFL course-writer ended up doing
a Ph.D. thesis and book on learnability theory. This does
not mean that most prospective MA students should not
look very carefully, say checking the titles of the modules
that actually make up the degree scheme, before they
back a particular horse.
Available at: <http://www.viviancook.uk>.
Accessed on: November 2nd, 2018 (Adapted).