Widdowson H.G. Explorations in Applied Linguistics

Oxford University Press, 1979. — x, 137 pages. — ISBN10: 0194370801.From IntroductionThis book is a selection of papers that I have written over the past eight years for presentation at courses and seminars in various parts of the world. I am prompted to bring them together in one volume because the reactions they have provoked suggest that they touch on issues of interest to many people concerned with applied linguistics and language teaching pedagogy and although most of the papers have appeared in print before they have done so in publications which are not always very easily accessible. So they are presented here in the hope that they will stimulate wider interest and debate.Applied linguistics, as I conceive of it, is a spectrum of inquiry which extends from theoretical studies of language to classroom practice. The papers appearing here explore issues that can be located at different points on this spectrum: some with a focus on matters of a predominantly theoretical kind, others with a primary focus on matters of practical pedagogy.Prelude
The teaching of rhetoric to students of science and technology
English for Science and Technology
An approach to the teaching of scientific English discourse
EST in theory and practice
The description of scientific language
Exercise types
Two types of communication exercise
Gradual approximation
Discourse
Directions in the teaching of discourse
The deep structure of discourse and the use of translation
Approaches to discourse
Rules and procedures in discourse analysis
Procedures of interpretation
Interpretative procedures and the importance of poetry
The authenticity of language data
The process and purpose of reading
Simplification
The simplification of use
The significance of simplification
Pidgin and babu
Descriptions and applications
Linguistic insights and language teaching principles
The partiality and relevance of linguistic descriptions
Reprise
Notional syllabuses
The communicative approach and its application