APPLIED LINGUISTICSTS FOR THE FUTURE EXPERTS IN THE FIELD: SUBJECT DEFINITION AND COURSE SELECTION

Abstract

Applied linguistics is one of the most relevant branches of modern science as well as a practical discipline with an enormous potential. It is its multifaceted nature that accounts for both a large number of academic training areas of future specialists in the field and the difficulties associated with defining the goals of such training, which, in its turn, implies the selection and narrowing of a number of academic subjects necessary for a future professional, who should be able to apply the acquired knowledge in practice and to be sought-after and competitive in the labor market. The first important step towards the effective professional training of specialists in applied linguistics should be the definition of the concept of «applied linguistics», as well as the concepts closely related to it both semantically and in terms of their subject matter, but fundamentally different from the point of view of the choice of teaching methodology and selection of educational disciplines. These are concepts such as «computational linguistics» and «computer linguistics» as well as «mathematical linguistics», which denote fields that combine the subjects of study of different disciplines, for example, computer science, mathematics and statistics, and accordingly change the trajectory of knowledge and skills acquisition necessary to work in the spheres. Another important aspect of the problem of teaching professional subjects for the future applied linguists is that the number of academic hours or credits is certainly insufficient to ensure thorough teaching of all necessary disciplines, even of a particular direction of applied linguistics. On the other hand, such an approach does not seem rational, because at the current stage of development of applied linguistic disciplines, it is specialization and profiling that can provide a specialist with a successful career in a chosen field of activity. Therefore, a careful choice of areas of specialization, a selective approach to the subjects that should be included in the educational and professional program, as well as constant optimization and updating of professional educational disciplines and their content are the key aspects to the successful training of modern specialists in the field of applied linguistics.