【答案解析】There is a branch of linguistics called applied linguistics, which studies the application of linguistics in the reality, such as in language teaching and learning. Applied Linguistics serves as a mediating area which interprets the results of linguistic theories and makes them user-friendly to the language teacher and learner. It is conductive to foreign language teaching in two major aspects:
Firstly, applied linguistics extends theoretical linguistics in the direction of language learning and teaching, so that the teacher is enabled to make better decisions on the goal and content of the teaching. Applied linguistics provides the teacher with a formal knowledge of the nature of language and language system, and thus increases his understanding of the nature of language teaching. As a result, the teacher can make more informed decisions on what approach to take, hence what to teach.
Secondly, applied linguistics states the insights and implications that linguistic theories have on the language teaching methodology. Once the goal and content of the teaching are settled, the teacher has to consider questions of how to teach. Should the teaching learning process be teacher-centered, textbook-centered, or learner-centered? How should the learner"s errors be treated? What techniques should be adopted in the classroom? Since applied linguistics defines the nature of language learning in connection with various linguistic theories, it helps the teacher to choose teaching methods and techniques.