Applied subjects in higher education can be divided into two contrasting types. The first type of applied subject focuses very clearly on the practical applications of a single branch of academic knowledge. Applied mathematics, for example, studies how mathematical theories, concepts and processes can be used to solve practical problem in fields as diverse as engineering, computer science and economics. Similarly, applied geology investigates how academic knowledge produced in the 'pure' scientific field of geology can be exploited in practical areas such as mineral exploration, natural resource management and the construction industry.
The second type of applied subjects have 'pure' or 'theoretical' equivalents, and focus instead on a single (although often very broad) practical domain. Civil engineering, for example, focuses on problems, question and issues related to the built environment, while education focuses on problem, question and issues related to teaching and learning. There is no 'pure civil engineering' or 'theoretical education ' against which civil engineering or education as applied subject can be contrasted. On the contrary, subject such as these are not branches of any single academic discipline at all, but are entirely interdisciplinary in nature. Civil engineering draws on mathematics, physics, materials science, geography, geology, ecology and business management , among many other fields, without being reducible to any one of them. Likewise, education draws on research in disciplines as diverse as psychology, sociology, philosophy, economics and politics, but still maintains its own distinct identity as an academic subject area, and its own distinctive set of goals.
So, what kind of applied subject is applied linguistics? Although the name 'applied linguistics' suggests that it is an applied subject in the same way that applied mathematics and applied geology are applied subject, applied linguistics is in reality closer in spirit(if not necessarily in content!) to applied subject like civil engineering or education. While it is certainly true that many if not most applied linguists see the academic discipline of linguistics as their nearest neighbour and most important source of intellectual inspiration, it is also the case that many applied linguists look to other field for relevant insights into real-world language problems as well-to biology , cultural studies, economics, education, philosophy, politics, phychology and sociology, among others. There are even applied linguists who do not draw on linguistics at all. Researchers working in 'critical' applied linguistics, for instance , base their work almost entirely on theoretical concepts and frameworks derived from postmodernist critical theory, and regard academic knowledge in linguistics as'fairly irrelevant' to their concerns.
In summary, although applied linguistics enjoys a strong and productive working relationship with linguistics (as we hope to demonstrate throughout this book) ,our answer to the question what is the difference between linguistics and applied linguistics?' is this applied linguistics is not a branch of linguistics , or of any other academic discipline , for that matter. It is an academic subject area in its own right, with its own set of concerns, its own academic journals, its own professional associations, its own academic qualifications, and its own professional pathway.