Language Education, Language Acquisition: Working Perspectives of Four Applied Linguists

Abstract

SPECIAL F E A T U R E ROUNDTABLE Language Education, Language Acquisition: Working Perspectives of Four Applied Linguists INTRODUCTION Language education and language acquisition have been among the core areas of applied linguistics in the brief history of our field. In this Special Feature, coordinated by David Leech, four applied linguistics practitioners who have participated in the community of UCLA's Department of T E S L & Applied Linguistics were invited to share their perspectives. Three of the four contributors, John Povey, Brian Lynch, and John Schumann, are presently faculty members in the department. The fourth, Leo van Lier, of the Monterey Institute for International Studies, recently visited U C L A as a guest speaker in the T E S L & Applied Linguistics Graduate Students' Spring 1991 Speaker Series. Each writer contributes an in-depth personal perspective on his particular work, discussing its relationship to applied linguistics and to contributing areas of inquiry. Van Lier, Povey, and Lynch have chosen to express their thoughts in essay form, while Schumann preferred to respond to David Leech's questions in an interview format. The first three contributions are from applied linguists in language education. Leo van Lier offers provocative insights into what an active applied linguistics might be and into what sort of relationship would result for theory, research, and practice. John Povey reviews the status of language education within applied linguistics, especially the recent re-emergence of literature as a culturally rich vehicle for English language teaching in a culturally diverse world. Brian Lynch argues that his context-adaptive model of program evaluation has much to offer not only to educational contexts in the widest sense, but also to improved measurement of language abilities. The interview with John Schumann follows these essays. Issues in Applied Linguistics © Regents of the University of California ISSN 1050-4273 V o l . 2 No. 1 1991 77-94