Chapter 5. La linguistique appliquée

Abstract

At the creation of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (AILA) in 1964, the new field of applied linguistics was marked by international collaboration on second and foreign language teaching among linguists in the US, the UK, and France. Over six decades later, while applied linguistics is a well-established discipline around the world, la linguistique appliquée is a much less common term in France. Research on FL teaching is called la didactique des langues [language didactics] and involves language teaching theories drawing more on education theory than applied linguistics. This paper explores the reasons for this French exception, focusing on its theoretical underpinnings, institutional foundations and acceptance by teachers and teacher educators in mid 20th-century France as compared to other founding countries of AILA.