LANGUAGE studies are always related to the teaching practices. We learn languages in order to know how to teach them effectively. We learn languages (their structures and the social aspects) and always want to know how to teach them both in formal and informal instructions.
The statement above can be traced back to the human being’s interest in learning new languages, especially the foreign ones. In order to acquire new languages effectively, we have to know how human beings learn them. It is related to the fields of psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics which are important in our research.
We also want to make our acquisition of the new language sensitive to the social conditions. Then, we need the understanding of other fields such as discourse studies, semantics, pragmatics, semiotics, etc. The comprehensive understanding of the aforementioned fields will make the acquisition process effective and efficient. It will cope with certain problems that usually occur when one learns new languages.
To this point, it is important for all language teachers and researchers to understand certain aspects of linguistics in terms of building the sound theoretical and practical aspects of language teaching. We can get benefits from it so that our field of expertise will improve form time to time.
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For me, as an ELT teacher and researcher in the advanced level, understanding the linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of ELT is important. I should learn these aspects and relate them to the practices of ELT in its various uses. For instance, I learn the identity construction theories (sociolinguistics) and its pedagogical implications. This will help me – or other teachers to bring the ELT profession to the next level. []
syahruzzaky 