In this work, the author aims to show that applied linguistics is better understood by doing it than studying or reading about it. Beginning with the history and definitions of applied linguistics, he then looks at the full spectrum of "institutional" and "non-institutional" uses of language, spanning not only language learning and teaching but also language as a socio-psychological phenomenon.
Alan Davies is a long-term member of staff of the Department of Applied Linguistics in the University of Edinburgh. Now Emeritus Professor and Honorary Fellow, he is a former editor of the two journals Applied Linguistics and Language Testing and was for five years Director of the Language Testing Research Centre, University of Melbourne.