Directions in Applied Linguistics (review)
Directions in Applied Linguistics
In the introduction to this collection of articles, Bruthiaux underscores the fact that the volume is more than a fragmented picture of the field of applied linguistics. In addition, while he indicates that the book may be 'limited in scope' (p. 4) by its commitment to Robert B. Kaplan's work, he also emphasizes that it can act as a guide to 'past developments, current debates, and future trends' in the field. Further, he provides a helpful framework for each of the sections into which the 17 essays are grouped. Although the primary audience of some of the contributions is ESL educators in the United States, most sections are applicable to all language educators in the Canadian context.
Part One, 'Perspectives on Applied Linguistics,' features two chapters that examine current definitions of the field of applied linguistics. While [End Page 437] both Widdowson (chapter 1) and Spolsky (chapter 2) seem to share the belief that applied linguistics is far from an 'in-group name for foreign language teaching' (p. 36), they diverge on the idea that applied linguistics is essentially an interdisciplinary mode of inquiry.
Part Two, 'Language Education,' is dedicated to the theme of educational change. In chapter 3, Clyne examines impediments to sharing community languages in Australia. She also raises questions about the paradoxical tradition of discouraging one group of people from maintaining their bilingualism while spending large sums of money on making others bilingual. Dominguez, Danto, and Tucker, in chapter 4, show how curriculum reform is affected by a multiplicity of factors such as socio-political conditions, and institutional support. In chapter 5, Kamhi-Stein suggests that research on issues related to non-/native ESL (N/NES) educators and their professionalism has moved from a focus on credibility and N/NES educators' self-perceptions toward the NNES label and others' perceptions of NNES educators. By reflecting on critical issues such as the ways in which program administrators and language learners perceive NNES teachers, she highlights the importance of voicing the uniqueness of individual NES and NNES educators.
Part Three is devoted to the complexities of English for academic purposes (EAP) as a field. Ferris interestingly describes the ways in which she has managed to move beyond the philosopher/problem solver binary by deconstructing the qualitative versus quantitative dichotomy in the field of applied linguistics. Next, Johns provides a through analysis of the current discussions and research on the teaching of academic literacies to US undergraduates. Reid, in chapter 8, engages us on unique characteristics pertaining to language problems of US-born ('generation 1.5') writers of academic English. The next contributor to this section, Zimmerman, adds a new dimension to research on EAP by examining experienced ESL teachers' perceptions of lexical anomalies.
In Part Four, 'Contrastive Discourse Analysis,' the four contributions expand the scope of research on the notion of contrastive rhetoric. Connor and Moreno propose a new framework for rigorous corpus building, necessary for 'good baseline descriptions of rhetorics and genres within cultures and languages' (p. 154). In chapter 11, Daubney-Davis and Pathey-Chavez argue for a social-affective rather than cognitive view of adolescent narrative writing. In doing so, they compare multiple elements in narratives of Mexican-American Grade 7 students with those of their African-American classmates. Hinkel, in chapter 12, analyzes contextual uses of exemplification in academic essays by native and non-native speakers of English. Poole, in the next [End Page 438] chapter, extends the notion of contrastive rhetoric by exploring patterns of spoken turn taking in various classroom settings. However, much of what is most interesting in Poole's study comes in the details (e.g., differences in patterns of turn taking in different age groups).
Part Five, 'Language Policy and Planning,' focuses on the theoretical constructs that form the foundation of language planning practice. Baldauf calls for a wider consideration of micro language planning by engaging the ways in which micro developments relate to macro models of language planning. Baumgardner, in chapter 15, explores...
