The Foundations of a Discipline of Design

Abstract

Reflection on the nature of a discipline minimizes the risk for those who practise it. Applied linguistics is a design discipline that helps us devise plans to overcome language problems. How to design responsibly should therefore be uppermost in the minds of those who devise the solutions. The intuitive, currently fashionable or ‘scientific’ solution is seldom the best design. Applied linguistics is faced with a choice between a technocratic and a revolutionary direction in its design of language interventions. That choice matters, both for historical and for professional reasons.