Die behoefte aan navorsing op die gebied van toegepaste taalwetenskap in Suid-Afrika

Inaugural lecture--Department of Linguistics, Rand Afrikaans University, 25 October 1978@@The term "Applied Linguistics" is not only relatively new in South Africa, but the boundaries for both the discipline and its application are not well defined. One may state, however, that the approach of Applied Linguistics is interdisciplinary, and that the insights and research data gained from various disciplines are applied mainly to language teaching. In South Africa, with its heterogeneous population and many languages, it is particularly in these difficult times of the greatest importance that communication across language barriers should lead to better understanding and co-operation. It is especially for this reason that research which may contribute to more efficient language teaching and to better relations among population groups, is of the utmost importance. Co-ordination of available manpower and funds is required to make such research possible.