APPLIED LINGUISTICS for BA Students in English
A complete survey with a detailed discussion of all the areas of Applied Linguistics is impossible to achieve here in the present volume. According to Péter Medgyes (1997) the discipline Applied Linguistics has got several interpretations. Some specialists mean Language Pedagogy by Applied Linguistics, while others integrate all new linguistic disciplines such as Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, Computer Assisted Linguistics into the term. We confine ourselves to certain areas of Language Pedagogy so as to give a taste of language teaching process to BA students so that they can get some motivation and encouragement for teaching English as a foreign language and majoring as language teachers on MA level. The aim mentioned above could be achieved in two volumes. The first part of which contains the basic terms and definitions of Language Teaching Methodology. The second volume will deal with concepts such as language learning strategies, learning styles, the media and drama techniques, etc.
The structure of the present first volume of Applied Linguistics for BA students follows the traditional model of a book on methodology. Having given the historical background of language teaching methods, the authors follow the general model of a book on Language Pedagogy taken all the principles of Communicative Approach into consideration. According to Jen Bárdos (2000) the basic model of language teaching methodologies consists of the following five parts: WHO teaches WHOM, WHAT and HOW, THROUGH WHAT TEACHING AIDS. Readers can learn about various teacher’s roles and teaching styles and It answers the question WHO. Its second part treats different learner types and learning styles to reflect on question WHOM. Having treated classroom management problems we inform our students about the nature of language teaching by presenting a language teaching model consisting of input and output stages. According to the model mentioned above developing students’ receptive and productive skills are in focus. Still remaining with the question WHAT the book gives useful pieces of information about the problems of presenting and practicing vocabulary, grammatical structures and developing students’ pronunciation. So as to follow the model of communicative language teaching we want to arouse students’ cultural awareness as well. To achieve our aims we include culture into this part. Following Professor Bárdos’s model the question HOW is to be answered in topics on planning, giving feedback and evaluation. The fifth element of the model – ‘THROUGH WHICH’ – is in focus in topics on visual, audio-visual and digital aids, and in the one focusing on course-book evaluation.
Our aim with the present work is to arouse BA students’ interest in Language Pedagogy and motivate them to become English teachers. At MA courses they will have plenty of chances to gain deeper knowledge in each area of Applied Linguistics.
