Advanced English II (BFE19013)

Intro to Applied Linguistics

Instructor: Miao Zhang 張淼

About me: Miao Zhang 張淼

• Speak English, Japanese, along with 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), and reading (especially Chinese history).
• I’m new to MUST in this September.

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
• your interests or hobbies
• something important about your background

Welcome to Applied Linguistics

Why this course?

Language is everywhere. We not only need to know what they are, but also need to now how it is used, and how we can analyze its use.

This course is about analyzing real language use.

What is applied linguistics?

Quick question

You have learned linguistics.

What could applied linguistics possibly be about?

Applied linguistics in one sentence

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

Linguistics studies the structure of language per se, while applied linguistics focuses on its practical applications.

A parellel metaphor: Science vs. Applied Science

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

Examples of applied linguistics

• language teaching/learning
• translation
• corpus linguistics
• sentiment analysis
• forensic linguistics

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

1. Forensic linguistics
2. Bilingualism
3. Cultural study

Quick discussion

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

Share one example with the class, and discuss how it could have been avoided.

Our course

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
6-7	(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 (from week 2)
• Bring questions and participate in discussions
• Respect academic integrity

Contact details

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

Questions?