applied linguistics: Meaning and Definition of

applied' linguis'tics

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. linguistic theory as applied to such fields as lexicography, psychology, the teaching of reading, the creation of orthographies, and esp. language teaching.
  2. the study of practical applications of linguistics, as to telephone engineering, data processing, and data retrieval.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.