The relationship of psycholinguistics and linguistics

In addition to psychology, psycholinguistics (and within it - the theory of speech activities) closely connected with the second generator of science - linguistics.

Linguistics has traditionally been understood as the science of language - main means of communication, social interaction. Moreover, its subject, as a rule, is not clearly defined. It is obvious that the object of linguistics is speech activity (speech acts, speech reaction). But the linguist distinguishes in it a common thing, which is in organization of speech of any person in any situation, that is, those funds without which one cannot imagine the internal structure of the speech act. The subject of linguistics is the system of linguistic means used in speech communication. In general linguistic focuses on the systematic characteristics of these funds, characterizing the structure of any language, as in applied linguistics - on an individual specificity of a particular language (Russian, German, Chinese, etc.). 

The main tendencies in modern linguistics are as follows.

First of all, interpretation of the concept "language" has changed. If previously at the center of linguist’s interest were linguistic resources (i.e., sound, grammar, vocabulary), now it appeard that all these linguistic resources are "formal statements" by which a person carries out the communication process, attaching them to the sign meaning system of language and receiving a meaningful and coherent text (message). But this concept of meaning is beyond the verbal communication: it acts as a major cognitive unit, forming the perception of the world shaped by man and in this capacity is a member of various cognitive schemes, reference images, typical cognitive situations.

Thus, being before one of the many concepts of linguistics, has become a major, a key concept of it.

Another important object of study of modern linguistics is the "nature" of the text - the basic and universal unit of speech communication. Psycholinguistics is increasingly interested in particular texts, their specific structure, variability, functional specialization.

As pointed out by A.A. Leontiev, psycholinguistics has the closest relationship with general linguistics. More over, it constantly interacts with sociolinguistics, ethnolinguistics and applied linguistics, especially with the part which deals with issues of computational linguistics.

Thus, psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge about the laws of formation in ontogenesis and formed processes of speech activity in the different types of human activity.

Psycholinguistics is a relatively young science, most recently (in 2003), it was fifty years since it become independent. For science, it is almost "childish" age, the initial period of formation and development. However, despite such a "young age" and the inevitable for this period of development of any science "growing diseases", psycholinguistics at the beginning of the new millennium is already fairly complex area of scientific knowledge. This is determined by two main factors.

First, the foundation of this new science was two ancient field of scientific knowledge, sending it their achievements on the most important sections of the study. So, from psychology to psycholinguistics (of course, in a transformed form) goes in such sections of human psychology as the psychology of speech, communication psychology, partly - developmental, educational and social psychology, as well as fundamental theoretical concepts: the theory of activity, the theory of signs and symbolic activity, communication theory, and others. From linguistics in psycholinguistics used "arsenal" of scientific knowledge of structural linguistics, general linguistics, practical linguistics (theory and methods of teaching native and foreign languages), semiotics and (almost full) text linguistics.

Secondly, psycholinguistics, before its inception and approval as an independent field of scientific knowledge, has a fairly long and eventful history.

The term "psycholinguistics" was first proposed by American psychologist N. Pronk in 1946. As an independent science of psycholinguistics formed in 1953 as a result of inter-university seminar organized by the Committee on Linguistics and Psychology Research Council of Social Science at Indiana University (USA, Bloomington). The organizers of this seminar were the two most famous American psychologist - Charles Osgood, and John Carroll and linguist, ethnographer and literary critic Thomas Sibeok. As published in 1954 book "Psycholinguistics" were compiled basic theoretical positions taken during the workshop and the main directions of experimental research based on these provisions (322). The appearance of the book "Psycholinguistics" played the role of a stimulus to the deployment of numerous interdisciplinary psycholinguistic research.

Summing up all information and points mentioned above, we can say that, psychology of teaching foreign languages is comparatively young scientific branch which was organized at the junction of such science as psychology, pedagogy, psycholinguistics and methods of teaching foreign languages.