1

ALDS Synthesis

Synthesized Report for Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies

Jordan Khan
101104879
ALDS 1001 B
 2
ALDS Synthesis

I found learning formulaic languages very interesting because it explains and categorizes

many different interconnected words (Smith, 2019). This was never something I really thought

about much in English because I have just picked it naturally from wherever I may have first

heard or phrases these various phrases. For the most part, there are not really any rules that we

were taught about the various types of formulaic language, but just learned each of them one by

one from our experiences (Smith, 2019). When I start meeting new people from different cultural

backgrounds or learning a language, I tend to be introduced to new phrases, idioms, metaphors,

proverbs, collocations, and whatever formulaic sequence it may be (Smith, 2019). I find these

sequences tend to sound weird compared to what I already know because I tend to overanalyze it

due to its unfamiliarity. As for the formulaic language I previously learned as a child, I normally

just accept it and not question its meaning or why it means what it does because it feels so

natural to use. Lexicography was also a very interesting topic to me for similar reasons. It is

amazing to think about how much freedom we may have with words. It seems we very regularly

create new words without even realizing it. This topic has made me realize that language is far

grander in scale than I thought and exists beyond its official capacities found in the various

dictionaries that have been created (McKean, 2007). It is amazing to think about neologisms and

how we can naturally create and understand new words in a particular language (Hall, 2017).

Understanding this makes me realize how we use the natural patterns that exist in our language

to learn new words easier and create new words that match with our language’s morphology

(Hall, 2017). Thinking about neologisms has got me thinking about how so many new words

created, especially through the introduction of the internet, have been widespread across the

globe and across languages despite being so-called “English” words. A lot of these words tend to
 3
ALDS Synthesis

be tied to a lot of American brands and technology as well as various trends on the internet. This

directly ties with the globalization of English, another topic that really helped me understand the

influence of my native language and its history. I never previously understood how English was

able to become so widespread and the different views about it. It makes a lot of sense when you

look at how its spread aligns with the colonialism of European powers and Christianity and how

they took over and assimilated so much of the native population which can also be seen with the

spread of other major languages like Spanish and French as well (Hall, 2017). I think it is so

important to understand the influence of English because of the threat it poses to so many other

languages just like it has throughout its history.

While I found some aspects from every topic important and thought-provoking, there were

some that did not pique my interest as much. Discourse Analysis was one of these topics. I

understand its importance, and that it is another one of those natural processes that we do in

communication but just did not make me curious about language compared to the other topics

and it did not really have any striking elements to it that made me gravitate towards it (Hall,

2017). I also found its applications almost too broad to interest me. I am not fond of the political

elements to it as well as it involves observing the opinions and bias of others. I think there is a

problem in today’s society of everything being overanalyzed, or not being analyzed enough at

all. The things people say are often taken out of context or criticized far too harshly just creating

further problems. I think it is great that critical discourse analysis can help remedy these social

issues of bias and discrimination, but I personally do not find it is something I would enjoy being

directly involved in doing (Hall, 2017). Genre studies was another topic I was not as intrigued

by for similar reasons. Once again, I did not like the idea of overanalyzing discourse so much

and I do not think I was really able to grasp the importance of this topic and I lost interest in it. I
 4
ALDS Synthesis

felt like I already knew what the ideas genres are, and I do not have much further curiosity about

them.

These topics that I have learned have made me interested how English and other languages

continue develop through people and the world. Formulaic languages makes me really interested

in looking the origins of the different phrases and sequences across languages and looking for

patterns between them. I am curious about how the spread of English affects this. There are

many formulaic sequences taken from other languages. I know that we take a lot of these from

French like “Bon Appetit”. Those words might mean individual things in French but when we

say it English it is just one meaning and it does not really make sense to us if we try to break it

down. I think it would be very interesting and beneficial to the field of language learning to

further explore formulaic language between other languages. I was surprised by how interested I

found the use of lexicography to be because of the different areas it can be applied to. The

analysis of words and the creation of dictionaries and lexical databases is very beneficial for

language learners, translation purposes, and speech pathology (Hall, 2017). It is also very

important for language maintenance and revitalization (Hall, 2017). There are so many languages

that will be lost with the few people that speak, but if they are properly recorded then they could

be saved (Hall, 2017). This once again ties into my interest of language globalization. I am really

interested in the preservation of languages but also the spread of English. I do think that having a

widespread language like English is extremely beneficial, but it should not be at the cost of other

languages. In the future I would be interested in spreading English in an additive way that does

not disrupt the existence of other languages.

 5
ALDS Synthesis

References

Hall, C. J., Wicaksono, R., & Smith, P. H. (2017). Mapping applied linguistics: A guide for students and

practitioners. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Taylor & Fracis Group.

McKean, E. (2007, March). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from

https://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_the_dictionary?language=en#t-409726

Smith, C. A. (2019). Formulaic Language. Lecture presented in Carleton University, Ottawa.