Critical Applied Linguistics

Critical applied linguistics is a field of inquiry and practice that can be understood in several ways. It brings critical focus—where the as social critique rather than thinking—to linguistic work. A central goal to connect questions domination (contingent contextual effects power), disparity (inequitable access material cultural goods), discrimination (ideological discursive frames exclusion), difference (constructions realities distinction), desire (operations ideology, agency, identity, transformation) concerns. key challenge for therefore find ways understanding relations between, on one hand, concepts critiques society, neoliberalism, colonialism, gender, racism, or sexuality and, other hand classroom utterances, translations, conversations, genres, second-language acquisition, media texts, common Whether it text analysis, an attempt understand implications global spread English, issue always how classroom, text, conversation related broader political relations. suggests certain domains inquiry—language migration, workplace discrimination, anti-racist education, language revival, example—but also insists all linguistics—classroom testing, sign interpreting, law—need take into account inequitable operations world, have theoretical practical tools do so effectively. seen intersection between different work—such pedagogy, literacies, discourse analysis—where these pertain concerns (critical pedagogies example). There are carry labels “critical”—such feminist queer theory—that equally part picture. As domain work, seeks not just describe but change inequality through forms research, activism.