Process and Plan: The Five Phases of Applied Linguistic Design

The design of applied linguistic interventions to deal with large-scale language problems involves processes that are both intentional and deliberate. Though they range from the highly innovative to the conventional, applied linguistic designs are not necessarily disruptive. The design process is characterized by five phases, with possible iteration among them. Contrary to some idealized notions of how these designs come into being, design does not start by taking a cue from ‘science’. The technical imagination of the designer overrides the rational support for the design, though in one phase in particular the detour into theory and analysis is prominent.