2015_SEP Flashcards
up-and-coming
Up-and-coming people are likely to be successful in the future.
…his readiness to share the limelight with young, up-and-coming stars…
elucidate
If you elucidate something, you make it clear and easy to understand.
Haig went on to elucidate his personal principle of war…
There was no need for him to elucidate.
umbrella term
An umbrella term, or a hypernym, is a word or phrase used to generally, rather than specifically, describe a group of varying but identifiably related subjects.
For example, the word “psychosis” is an umbrella term that covers various abnormal mind conditions that cause patients to lose contact with reality on some level.
Similarly, “intellectual property” is an umbrella term used to describe an assortment of intangible properties, such as music, writing, and art.
layman
A layman is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity.
These technical terms are difficult for the layman to understand.
assortment
An assortment is a group of similar things that are of different sizes or colours or have different qualities.
…an assortment of cheese.
intangible
Something that is intangible is abstract or is hard to define or measure.
There are intangible benefits beyond a rise in the share price.
The old building had an intangible air of sadness about it.
pathology
Pathology is the study of the way diseases and illnesses develop.
The eighteenth century saw the development of modern pathology and experimental surgery.
pedagogical
[ˌpɛdəˈɡɑdʒɪkl]
Pedagogical means concerning the methods and theory of teaching.
…the pedagogical methods used in the classroom.
reflective
If you are reflective, you are thinking deeply about something.
I walked on in a reflective mood to the car…
lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language or way of communicating which is used between people who do not speak one another’s native language.
any language that is widely used as a means of communication among speakers of other languages.
English is rapidly becoming the lingua franca of Asia.
There the lingua franca is Cajun French, and folks love to fiddle, dance and most of all, eat.
akin
If one thing is akin to another, it is similar to it in some way.
Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.
What he felt was more akin to pity than love.
This process is akin to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.
crucifixtion
[ˌkrusəˈfɪkʃən]
Crucifixion is a way of killing people which was common in the Roman Empire, in which they were tied or nailed to a cross and left to die.
…her historical novel about the crucifixion of Christians in Rome.
He was executed by crucifixion.
rustic
[ˈrʌstɪk]
You can refer to someone who comes from the countryside as a rustic if you find their behavior amusing or very different from that of people who live in towns and cities.
rebubattal
[rɪˈbʌtl:]
If you make a rebuttal of a charge or accusation that has been made against you, you make a statement which gives reasons why the accusation is untrue.
Pakistan has still not issued an official rebuttal to the latest Indian statements.
encompass
[ɛnˈkʌmpəs]
If something encompasses particular things, it includes them.
His repertoire encompassed everything from Bach to Schoenberg.
The book is intended for a diverse audience, but is firmly oriented towards newcomers: you, the reader,might be a researcher, a graduate student, an academic wanting to familiarize yourself with the field, or a indeed a language
professional looking for a ‘way in’ to one of the many topics encompassed by applied linguistics.
underpin
If one thing underpins another, it helps the other thing to continue or succeed by supporting and strengthening it.
…the economic underpinning of ancient Mexican society.
The origins of applied linguistics lie in the mid-twentieth century effort to give an academic underpinning to the study of language teaching and learning.
enquiry
[ˈɪnkwəri,]
=inquiry
An inquiry is an official investigation.
This focus is still prominent for many: it remains the most active area of applied linguistic enquiry, though the time is past when it could be considered the sole motivation for the field.
disparate
[‘dɪspərət]
Disparate things are clearly different from each other in quality or type.
Scientists are trying to pull together disparate ideas in astronomy…
As chapters in this volume demonstrate, applied linguistics concerns range from the well-established ones of language learning, teaching, testing and teacher education, to matters as disparate as language and the law, the language of institutions, medical communication, media discourse, translation and interpreting, and language planning.
ethnicity
[ɛθˈnɪsɪti]
Ethnicity is the state or fact of belonging to a particular ethnic group.
He said his ethnicity had not been important to him.
Applied linguistics engages with contemporary social questions of culture, ethnicity, gender, identity, ageing, and migration.
span
If something spans a range of things, all those things are included in it.
Bernstein’s compositions spanned all aspects of music, from symphonies to musicals.
Applied linguists adopt perspectives on language in use spanning critical discourse analysis, linguistic ethnography, sociocultural theories, literacy, stylistics
and sociolinguistics.
ethnography
[eθˈnɑ:grəfi]
Ethnography is the branch of anthropology in which different cultures are studied and described.
draw on
If you draw on or draw upon something such as your skill or experience, you make use of it in order to do something.
He drew on his experience as a yachtsman to make a documentary program.
And applied linguistics draws upon descriptions of language from traditions such as cognitive linguistics, corpus linguistics, generative linguistics and systemic functional linguistics, among others.
corpus
A corpus is a large collection of written or spoken texts that is used for language research.
a corpus of 100 million words of spoken English
generative
In linguistics, generative is used to describe linguistic theories or models which are based on the idea that a single set of rules can explain how all the possible sentences of a language are formed.
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinary means involving more than one academic subject.
..interdisciplinary courses combining psychology, philosophy and linguistics.
Though this is an applied field and an interdisciplinary one, it is not fragmented.
fragment
If something fragments or is fragmented, it breaks or separates into small pieces or parts.
Europe had become infinitely more unstable and fragmented.
tentative
1) Tentative agreements, plans, or arrangements are not definite or certain, but have been made as a first step.
Such theories are still very tentative.
2) If someone is tentative, they are cautious and not very confident because they are uncertain or afraid.
My first attempts at complaining were rather tentative.
delimit
If you delimit something, you fix or establish its limits.
This is not meant to delimit what approaches social researchers can adopt.
While language is, of course, fundamental to human life, and surrounds us, the problem orientation helps to delimit the field.
autonomous
[ɔ:ˈtɑ:nəməs]
An autonomous country, organization, or group governs or controls itself rather than being controlled by anyone else.
An autonomous person makes their own decisions rather than being influenced by someone else.
That is, the motivation for applied linguistics lies not with an interest in autonomous or idealized language, as with understandings of linguistics which deal in linguistic universals: applied linguistics data is typically collected empirically in contexts of use.
empirical
empirically
[ɪm’pɪrɪklɪ]
Empirical evidence or study relies on practical experience rather than theories.
There is no empirical evidence to support his thesis.
…empirically based research.
applied linguistics data is typically collected empirically in contexts of use.
in context of
The context of an idea or event is the general situation that relates to it, and which helps it to be understood.
We are doing this work in the context of reforms in the economic, social and cultural spheres.
applied linguistics data is typically collected empirically in contexts of use.
demarcate
[ˈdi:mɑ:rkeɪt]
If you demarcate something, you establish its boundaries or limits.
A special UN commission was formed to demarcate the border.
It is demarcated by its interest in how language is
implicated in real-world decision-making.
implicate
To implicate someone means to show or claim that they were involved in something wrong or criminal.
He was obliged to resign when one of his own aides was implicated in a financial scandal…
It is demarcated by its interest in how language is
implicated in real-world decision-making.
ramification
[ˌræməfɪˈkeʃən]
The ramifications of a decision, plan, or event are all its consequences and effects, especially ones which are not obvious at first.
The book analyses the social and political ramifications of AIDS for the gay community.
The
main ramification is that practically everything in life poses a problem in which language is central: ‘It is hard to think of any “real-world” problems’, says Greg Myers (2005: 527), ‘that do not have a crucial component of language use’, for language is a central issue in most human endeavour.
trajectory
[trəˈdʒɛktəri]
The trajectory of something such as a person’s career is the course that it follows over time.
…a relentlessly upward career trajectory.
The chapters share broadly the same format, covering a history of the area, a critical discussion of its main current issues, and an indication of its emergent debates and future trajectory.
bibliography
[ˌbɪbliˈɑ:grəfi]
A bibliography is a list of the books and articles that are referred to in a particular book.
A scholastic work is to have a useful bibliography at the end of each chapter or the whole book.
Finally, bibliographical references appear at the end of each chapter
tempt
Something that tempts you attracts you and makes you want it, even though it may be wrong or harmful.
Can I tempt you with a little puff pastry?…
‘One is tempted to wonder’,‘what is so special about studying language within real-world problems if the only purpose is to use it as a stimulus for academic reflection.’
stimulus
A stimulus is something that encourages activity in people or things.
Interest rates could fall soon and be a stimulus to the US economy…
‘what is so special about studying language within real-world problems if the only purpose is to use it as a stimulus for academic reflection.’
engage
If something engages you or your attention or interest, it keeps you interested in it and thinking about it.
They never learned skills to engage the attention of the others.
the practical general relevance of applied linguistics is apparent, the issues with which it engages are to the fore, and the breadth of contemporary applied linguistics
is reflected.
to the fore
If someone or something comes to the fore in a particular situation or group, they become important or popular.
A number of low-budget independent films brought new directors and actors to the fore.
the practical general relevance of applied linguistics is apparent, the issues with which it engages are to the fore
breadth
The breadth of something is its quality of consisting of or involving many different things.
His breadth of knowledge filled me with admiration.
hitherto
[ˌhɪðərˈtu:]
You use hitherto to indicate that something was true up until the time you are talking about, although it may no longer be the case.
Hitherto, the main emphasis has been on the need to resist aggression…
Of the areas chosen, some are well-established sub-fields of applied linguistic study, while others have hitherto been considered independent or peripheral
peripheral
[pəˈrɪfərəl]
A peripheral activity or issue is one which is not very important compared with other activities or issues.
Companies are increasingly keen to contract out peripheral activities like training…
Of the areas chosen, some are well-established sub-fields of applied linguistic study, while others have hitherto been considered independent or peripheral
proliferate
[prəˈlɪfəˌret]
If things proliferate, they increase in number very quickly.
In recent years commercial, cultural, travel and other contacts have proliferated between Europe and China.
Readers will realize that in this section, chapters would surely have proliferated, had space allowed.
invoke
If you invoke something such as a principle, a saying, or a famous person, you refer to them in order to support your argument.
In political matters George Washington went out of his way to avoid invoking the authority of Christ.
A number of the chapters invoke globalization.
in terms of
He referred to your work in terms of high praise.
He thought of everything in terms of money.
How do the two techniques compare in terms of application?
Opening the book, Language Policy and Planning has a long history in terms of interventions into language practices, as Lionel Wee says, but a short one as an area of academic study.
delve into
If you delve into something, you try to discover new information about it.
Tormented by her ignorance, Jenny delves into her mother’s past…
If you’re interested in a subject, use the Internet to delve deeper.
Thierry Fontenelle’s chapter on Lexicography delves into the fascinating history of the subject.
lexicography
[ˌleksɪˈkɑ:grəfi]
lexicography is the activity or profession of writing dictionaries.
I heard the professor’s discourse on English lexicography.
Thierry Fontenelle’s chapter on Lexicography delves into the fascinating history of the subject.
reflection
Reflection is careful thought about a particular subject. Your reflections are your thoughts about a particular subject.
After days of reflection she decided to write back.