Advanced English II (BFE19013)

Intro to Applied Linguistics

Instructor: Miao Zhang 張淼

Welcome to Applied Linguistics

Quick warm-up

What do you hope to learn from this course?

Take 1 minute to think, then share one idea with a classmate.

Why this course matters

Language is everywhere:

• in classrooms
• in media
• in social interaction
• in learning and teaching
• in communication and misunderstanding

We will study how language works in real life, not only in grammar books.

About me

Miao Zhang 張淼

• Speaks English, Japanese, in addition to Sichuanese, Changsha Xiang.
• PhD in Linguistics from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
• Interests in phonetics, prosody, and language variation.
• I like video games (Hollow Knight, Elden Ring, RDR2, and more), reading (especially Chinese history).
• I am happy to be here at MUST this semester.

How to address me

• You can call me “Miao” in English.
• Or “張老師” in Chinese.
• You do not need to call me “Dr. Zhang”.

Tell me about yourself

What do you think I should know about MUST and Macau?

• Your name (I probably won’t be able remember right away, but please let me know)
• your interests or hobbies
• something important about your background
• what you expect from this course

Pair activity

Which part of daily life is most closely connected to language?

Think about:

• study
• social media
• translation
• speaking
• teaching
• reading

What is applied linguistics?

Quick question

If linguistics asks, “What is language?”, what do you think applied linguistics asks?

Applied linguistics in one sentence

Linguistics studies language.

Applied linguistics studies how language is used, learned, taught, analyzed, and improved in real life.

Science vs. applied science

• Science: physics, chemistry, biology
• Applied science: medicine, engineering, computer science

Examples of applied linguistics

• language teaching
• translation
• corpus linguistics
• sentiment analysis
• forensic linguistics
• language acquisition

A more relatable example: language learning

• What is the most effective way to learn a second language?
• How do we assess language ability fairly?
• How do we explain why some learners struggle more than others?

Real-life examples

Forensic linguistics

An example of forensic linguistics

Bilingualism

Bilingualism

Sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis

What have you noticed in real life?

Quick discussion

Can you think of a time when language caused confusion, misunderstanding, or a communication problem?

Share one example with the class.

Our course

Preview task

Which topic seems most relevant to your future career or daily life?

• corpus linguistics
• media discourse analysis
• pragmatics
• conversation analysis
• multimodality

Choose one and explain why.

Course focus

This course introduces key theories and research methods in applied linguistics, with a focus on English.

We will work with:

• corpus analysis
• discourse analysis
• pragmatics
• conversation analysis
• multimodality

Intended learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. understand major theories and research methods in applied linguistics
2. critically review a topic from the course
3. apply theories to real-language data
4. improve academic reading, writing, discussion, and critical thinking

Weekly map

Weeks	Topic
1-2	Corpus Linguistics
3-5	Media Discourse Analysis
6	Pragmatics
7	Corpus Pragmatics
8-10	Conversation Analysis
11-13	Multimodality
14	Final presentations
15	Q&A

Assessment

Component	Weight
Attendance	5%
Assignment	10%
Participation	15%
Group Presentation	30%
Final Essay	40%

Course expectations

• come on time
• complete readings before class
• take notes and bring questions
• respect academic integrity
• participate actively in discussion

Questions?

Contact details

• Office: R741c
• Office hours: Tue, Wed, Thu by appointment
• Email: miaozhang@must.edu.mo

Final reflection

What do you hope to do better by the end of this course?

Write one goal for yourself.