research topics linguistics

• How It Works
• PhD thesis writing
• Master thesis writing
• Bachelor thesis writing
• Dissertation writing service
• Dissertation abstract writing
• Thesis proposal writing
• Thesis editing service
• Thesis proofreading service
• Thesis formatting service
• Coursework writing service
• Research paper writing service
• Architecture thesis writing
• Computer science thesis writing
• Engineering thesis writing
• History thesis writing
• MBA thesis writing
• Nursing dissertation writing
• Psychology dissertation writing
• Sociology thesis writing
• Statistics dissertation writing
• Buy dissertation online
• Write my dissertation
• Cheap thesis
• Cheap dissertation
• Custom dissertation
• Dissertation help
• Pay for thesis
• Pay for dissertation
• Senior thesis
• Write my thesis

211 Research Topics in Linguistics To Get Top Grades

Many people find it hard to decide on their linguistics research topics because of the assumed complexities involved. They struggle to choose easy research paper topics for English language too because they think it could be too simple for a university or college level certificate.

All that you need to learn about Linguistics and English is sprawled across syntax, phonetics, morphology, phonology, semantics, grammar, vocabulary, and a few others. To easily create a top-notch essay or conduct a research study, you can consider this list of research topics in English language below for your university or college use. Note that you can fine-tune these to suit your interests.

Linguistics Research Paper Topics

If you want to study how language is applied and its importance in the world, you can consider these Linguistics topics for your research paper. They are:

• An analysis of romantic ideas and their expression amongst French people
• An overview of the hate language in the course against religion
• Identify the determinants of hate language and the means of propagation
• Evaluate a literature and examine how Linguistics is applied to the understanding of minor languages
• Consider the impact of social media in the development of slangs
• An overview of political slang and its use amongst New York teenagers
• Examine the relevance of Linguistics in a digitalized world
• Analyze foul language and how it’s used to oppress minors
• Identify the role of language in the national identity of a socially dynamic society
• Attempt an explanation to how the language barrier could affect the social life of an individual in a new society
• Discuss the means through which language can enrich cultural identities
• Examine the concept of bilingualism and how it applies in the real world
• Analyze the possible strategies for teaching a foreign language
• Discuss the priority of teachers in the teaching of grammar to non-native speakers
• Choose a school of your choice and observe the slang used by its students: analyze how it affects their social lives
• Attempt a critical overview of racist languages
• What does endangered language means and how does it apply in the real world?
• A critical overview of your second language and why it is a second language
• What are the motivators of speech and why are they relevant?
• Analyze the difference between the different types of communications and their significance to specially-abled persons
• Give a critical overview of five literature on sign language
• Evaluate the distinction between the means of language comprehension between an adult and a teenager
• Consider a native American group and evaluate how cultural diversity has influenced their language
• Analyze the complexities involved in code-switching and code-mixing
• Give a critical overview of the importance of language to a teenager
• Attempt a forensic overview of language accessibility and what it means
• What do you believe are the means of communications and what are their uniqueness?
• Attempt a study of Islamic poetry and its role in language development
• Attempt a study on the role of Literature in language development
• Evaluate the Influence of metaphors and other literary devices in the depth of each sentence
• Identify the role of literary devices in the development of proverbs in any African country
• Cognitive Linguistics: analyze two pieces of Literature that offers a critical view of perception
• Identify and analyze the complexities in unspoken words
• Expression is another kind of language: discuss
• Identify the significance of symbols in the evolution of language
• Discuss how learning more than a single language promote cross-cultural developments
• Analyze how the loss of a mother tongue affect the language Efficiency of a community
• Critically examine how sign language works
• Using literature from the medieval era, attempt a study of the evolution of language
• Identify how wars have led to the reduction in the popularity of a language of your choice across any country of the world
• Critically examine five Literature on why accent changes based on environment
• What are the forces that compel the comprehension of language in a child
• Identify and explain the difference between the listening and speaking skills and their significance in the understanding of language
• Give a critical overview of how natural language is processed
• Examine the influence of language on culture and vice versa
• It is possible to understand a language even without living in that society: discuss
• Identify the arguments regarding speech defects
• Discuss how the familiarity of language informs the creation of slangs
• Explain the significance of religious phrases and sacred languages
• Explore the roots and evolution of incantations in Africa

Sociolinguistic Research Topics

You may as well need interesting Linguistics topics based on sociolinguistic purposes for your research. Sociolinguistics is the study and recording of natural speech. It’s primarily the casual status of most informal conversations. You can consider the following Sociolinguistic research topics for your research:

• What makes language exceptional to a particular person?
• How does language form a unique means of expression to writers?
• Examine the kind of speech used in health and emergencies
• Analyze the language theory explored by family members during dinner
• Evaluate the possible variation of language based on class
• Evaluate the language of racism, social tension, and sexism
• Discuss how Language promotes social and cultural familiarities
• Give an overview of identity and language
• Examine why some language speakers enjoy listening to foreigners who speak their native language
• Give a forensic analysis of his the language of entertainment is different to the language in professional settings
• Give an understanding of how Language changes
• Examine the Sociolinguistics of the Caribbeans
• Consider an overview of metaphor in France
• Explain why the direct translation of written words is incomprehensible in Linguistics
• Discuss the use of language in marginalizing a community
• Analyze the history of Arabic and the culture that enhanced it
• Discuss the growth of French and the influences of other languages
• Examine how the English language developed and its interdependence on other languages
• Give an overview of cultural diversity and Linguistics in teaching
• Challenge the attachment of speech defect with disability of language listening and speaking abilities
• Explore the uniqueness of language between siblings
• Explore the means of making requests between a teenager and his parents
• Observe and comment on how students relate with their teachers through language
• Observe and comment on the communication of strategy of parents and teachers
• Examine the connection of understanding first language with academic excellence

Language Research Topics

Numerous languages exist in different societies. This is why you may seek to understand the motivations behind language through these Linguistics project ideas. You can consider the following interesting Linguistics topics and their application to language:

• What does language shift mean?
• Discuss the stages of English language development?
• Examine the position of ambiguity in a romantic Language of your choice
• Why are some languages called romantic languages?
• Observe the strategies of persuasion through Language
• Discuss the connection between symbols and words
• Identify the language of political speeches
• Discuss the effectiveness of language in an indigenous cultural revolution
• Trace the motivators for spoken language
• What does language acquisition mean to you?
• Examine three pieces of literature on language translation and its role in multilingual accessibility
• Identify the science involved in language reception
• Interrogate with the context of language disorders
• Examine how psychotherapy applies to victims of language disorders
• Study the growth of Hindi despite colonialism
• Critically appraise the term, language erasure
• Examine how colonialism and war is responsible for the loss of language
• Give an overview of the difference between sounds and letters and how they apply to the German language
• Explain why the placement of verb and preposition is different in German and English languages
• Choose two languages of your choice and examine their historical relationship
• Discuss the strategies employed by people while learning new languages
• Discuss the role of all the figures of speech in the advancement of language
• Analyze the complexities of autism and its victims
• Offer a linguist approach to language uniqueness between a Down Syndrome child and an autist
• Express dance as a language
• Express music as a language
• Express language as a form of language
• Evaluate the role of cultural diversity in the decline of languages in South Africa
• Discuss the development of the Greek language
• Critically review two literary texts, one from the medieval era and another published a decade ago, and examine the language shifts

Linguistics Essay Topics

You may also need Linguistics research topics for your Linguistics essays. As a linguist in the making, these can help you consider controversies in Linguistics as a discipline and address them through your study. You can consider:

• The connection of sociolinguistics in comprehending interests in multilingualism
• Write on your belief of how language encourages sexism
• What do you understand about the differences between British and American English?
• Discuss how slangs grew and how they started
• Consider how age leads to loss of language
• Review how language is used in formal and informal conversation
• Discuss what you understand by polite language
• Discuss what you know by hate language
• Evaluate how language has remained flexible throughout history
• Mimicking a teacher is a form of exercising hate Language: discuss
• Body Language and verbal speech are different things: discuss
• Language can be exploitative: discuss
• Do you think language is responsible for inciting aggression against the state?
• Can you justify the structural representation of any symbol of your choice?
• Religious symbols are not ordinary Language: what are your perspective on day-to-day languages and sacred ones?
• Consider the usage of language by an English man and someone of another culture
• Discuss the essence of code-mixing and code-switching
• Attempt a psychological assessment on the role of language in academic development
• How does language pose a challenge to studying?
• Choose a multicultural society of your choice and explain the problem they face
• What forms does Language use in expression?
• Identify the reasons behind unspoken words and actions
• Why do universal languages exist as a means of easy communication?
• Examine the role of the English language in the world
• Examine the role of Arabic in the world
• Examine the role of romantic languages in the world
• Evaluate the significance of each teaching Resources in a language classroom
• Consider an assessment of language analysis
• Why do people comprehend beyond what is written or expressed?
• What is the impact of hate speech on a woman?
• Do you believe that grammatical errors are how everyone’s comprehension of language is determined?
• Observe the Influence of technology in language learning and development
• Which parts of the body are responsible for understanding new languages
• How has language informed development?
• Would you say language has improved human relations or worsened it considering it as a tool for violence?
• Would you say language in a black populous state is different from its social culture in white populous states?
• Give an overview of the English language in Nigeria
• Give an overview of the English language in Uganda
• Give an overview of the English language in India
• Give an overview of Russian in Europe
• Give a conceptual analysis on stress and how it works
• Consider the means of vocabulary development and its role in cultural relationships
• Examine the effects of Linguistics in language
• Present your understanding of sign language
• What do you understand about descriptive language and prescriptive Language?

List of Research Topics in English Language

You may need English research topics for your next research. These are topics that are socially crafted for you as a student of language in any institution. You can consider the following for in-depth analysis:

• Examine the travail of women in any feminist text of your choice
• Examine the movement of feminist literature in the Industrial period
• Give an overview of five Gothic literature and what you understand from them
• Examine rock music and how it emerged as a genre
• Evaluate the cultural association with Nina Simone’s music
• What is the relevance of Shakespeare in English literature?
• How has literature promoted the English language?
• Identify the effect of spelling errors in the academic performance of students in an institution of your choice
• Critically survey a university and give rationalize the literary texts offered as Significant
• Examine the use of feminist literature in advancing the course against patriarchy
• Give an overview of the themes in William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”
• Express the significance of Ernest Hemingway’s diction in contemporary literature
• Examine the predominant devices in the works of William Shakespeare
• Explain the predominant devices in the works of Christopher Marlowe
• Charles Dickens and his works: express the dominating themes in his Literature
• Why is Literature described as the mirror of society?
• Examine the issues of feminism in Sefi Atta’s “Everything Good Will Come” and Bernadine Evaristos’s “Girl, Woman, Other”
• Give an overview of the stylistics employed in the writing of “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernadine Evaristo
• Describe the language of advertisement in social media and newspapers
• Describe what poetic Language means
• Examine the use of code-switching and code-mixing on Mexican Americans
• Examine the use of code-switching and code-mixing in Indian Americans
• Discuss the influence of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” on satirical literature
• Examine the Linguistics features of “Native Son” by Richard Wright
• What is the role of indigenous literature in promoting cultural identities
• How has literature informed cultural consciousness?
• Analyze five literature on semantics and their Influence on the study
• Assess the role of grammar in day to day communications
• Observe the role of multidisciplinary approaches in understanding the English language
• What does stylistics mean while analyzing medieval literary texts?
• Analyze the views of philosophers on language, society, and culture

English Research Paper Topics for College Students

For your college work, you may need to undergo a study of any phenomenon in the world. Note that they could be Linguistics essay topics or mainly a research study of an idea of your choice. Thus, you can choose your research ideas from any of the following:

• The concept of fairness in a democratic Government
• The capacity of a leader isn’t in his or her academic degrees
• The concept of discrimination in education
• The theory of discrimination in Islamic states
• The idea of school policing
• A study on grade inflation and its consequences
• A study of taxation and Its importance to the economy from a citizen’s perspectives
• A study on how eloquence lead to discrimination amongst high school students
• A study of the influence of the music industry in teens
• An Evaluation of pornography and its impacts on College students
• A descriptive study of how the FBI works according to Hollywood
• A critical consideration of the cons and pros of vaccination
• The health effect of sleep disorders
• An overview of three literary texts across three genres of Literature and how they connect to you
• A critical overview of “King Oedipus”: the role of the supernatural in day to day life
• Examine the novel “12 Years a Slave” as a reflection of servitude and brutality exerted by white slave owners
• Rationalize the emergence of racist Literature with concrete examples
• A study of the limits of literature in accessing rural readers
• Analyze the perspectives of modern authors on the Influence of medieval Literature on their craft
• What do you understand by the mortality of a literary text?
• A study of controversial Literature and its role in shaping the discussion
• A critical overview of three literary texts that dealt with domestic abuse and their role in changing the narratives about domestic violence
• Choose three contemporary poets and analyze the themes of their works
• Do you believe that contemporary American literature is the repetition of unnecessary themes already treated in the past?
• A study of the evolution of Literature and its styles
• The use of sexual innuendos in literature
• The use of sexist languages in literature and its effect on the public
• The disaster associated with media reports of fake news
• Conduct a study on how language is used as a tool for manipulation
• Attempt a criticism of a controversial Literary text and why it shouldn’t be studied or sold in the first place

Finding Linguistics Hard To Write About?

With these topics, you can commence your research with ease. However, if you need professional writing help for any part of the research, you can scout here online for the best research paper writing service.

There are several expert writers on ENL hosted on our website that you can consider for a fast response on your research study at a cheap price.

As students, you may be unable to cover every part of your research on your own. This inability is the reason you should consider expert writers for custom research topics in Linguistics approved by your professor for high grades.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment * Error message

Name * Error message

Email * Error message

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

As Putin continues killing civilians, bombing kindergartens, and threatening WWIII, Ukraine fights for the world's peaceful future.

Ukraine Live Updates

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals

Language and linguistics articles from across Nature Portfolio

Language evolution in China

The impetus behind the development of various Chinese dialects is as yet unknown. In a comprehensive quantitative coanalysis of linguistic and genetic data across China, Yang et al. find evidence to suggest that demographic diffusion, cultural diffusion and linguistic assimilation all contributed to the expansive diversity of Chinese dialects.

• Chuan-Chao Wang

Latest Research and Reviews

Analyzing “Jayu” in South Korean presidential rhetoric: a comprehensive study from 1948–2023 with a focus on the Yoon Suk Yeol administration

• Seungwoo Han

A gothic Taoism and its dual facets: possible worlds in The Haunted Monastery

Excavating sexual difference in language and thinking.

Syntactic bootstrapping as a mechanism for language learning

Young children learn the meanings of the words from limited information. In this Review, Babineau and colleagues synthesize the word-learning research landscape and detail the role of syntactic bootstrapping and related learning mechanisms.

• Mireille Babineau
• Monica Barbir
• Anne Christophe

Applying large language models for automated essay scoring for non-native Japanese

Studying and improving reasoning in humans and machines

Some large language models show reasoning errors akin to humans in cognitive bias tasks. However, humans and models respond differently to prompting strategies, highlighting differences in cognitive processing.

• Nicolas Yax
• Hernán Anlló
• Stefano Palminteri

News and Comment

Time to revise the terminology we use to regulate water management practices.

• Paul Jeffrey
• Heather Smith
• Francis Hassard

Is boredom a source of noise and/or a confound in behavioral science research?

Behavioral researchers tend to study behavior in highly controlled laboratory settings to minimize the effects of potential confounders. Yet, while doing so, the artificial setup itself might unintentionally introduce noise or confounders, such as boredom. In this perspective, we draw upon theoretical and empirical evidence to make the case that (a) some experimental setups are likely to induce boredom in participants, (b) the degree of boredom induced might differ between individuals as a function of differences in trait boredom, (c) boredom can impair participants’ attention, can make study participation more effortful, and can increase the urge to do something else (i.e., to disengage from the study). Most importantly, we argue that some participants might adjust their behavior because they are bored. Considering boredom’s potential for adding noise to data, or for being an unwanted confound, we discuss a set of recommendations on how to control for and deal with the occurrence and effects of boredom in behavioral science research.

• Maria Meier
• Corinna S. Martarelli
• Wanja Wolff

Exploration of the social and philosophical underpinning of ‘the patient’—what this means for people with a long-term condition

Should healthcare professionals use the term ‘patient’? A patient is a social construct, in a biomedical model, in which each actor has their role to play. This model has been criticised as belonging to an era of medical hegemony and (mis)represents an individual seeking healthcare as one who is simply a passive participant and recipient of care. The ‘Language Matters’ campaign, for people living with diabetes, has sought to address the role of language in interactions between healthcare providers. A key point raised in the campaign is whether someone who feels well, but has ongoing healthcare input, should be referred to as a patient? In this article, we address the concept of a patient and how its use can belie a particular mindset (or ‘discourse’) in which power is established in a relationship and can lead to individuals being defined by their condition. However, for some linguistic communities (such as nurses and doctors), a patient may be considered less as one over whom they have dominion, but rather someone for whom they have specific responsibilities and duty of care. Drawing upon the philosophical theories of language—that the meaning and inference of a word is dependent on its use—we argue that the context in which use of the term patient occurs is crucial. Without more fundamental cultural disruption of the biomedical model, word substitution, in itself, will not change perception.

• M. B. Whyte

Approaching the neuroscience of language

• Marika Gobbo

Neural evidence of word prediction

• Jane Aristia

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Front Psychol

Trends and hot topics in linguistics studies from 2011 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers

Associated data.

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/ supplementary material .

High citations most often characterize quality research that reflects the foci of the discipline. This study aims to spotlight the most recent hot topics and the trends looming from the highly cited papers (HCPs) in Web of Science category of linguistics and language & linguistics with bibliometric analysis. The bibliometric information of the 143 HCPs based on Essential Citation Indicators was retrieved and used to identify and analyze influential contributors at the levels of journals, authors, and countries. The most frequently explored topics were identified by corpus analysis and manual checking. The retrieved topics can be grouped into five general categories: multilingual-related , language teaching , and learning related , psycho/pathological/cognitive linguistics-related , methods and tools-related , and others . Topics such as bi/multilingual(ism) , translanguaging , language/writing development , models , emotions , foreign language enjoyment (FLE) , cognition , anxiety are among the most frequently explored. Multilingual and positive trends are discerned from the investigated HCPs. The findings inform linguistic researchers of the publication characteristics of the HCPs in the linguistics field and help them pinpoint the research trends and directions to exert their efforts in future studies.

1. Introduction

Citations, as a rule, exhibit a skewed distributional pattern over the academic publications: a few papers accumulate an overwhelming large citations while the majority are rarely, if ever, cited. Correspondingly, the highly cited papers (HCPs) receive the greatest amount of attention in the academia as citations are commonly regarded as a strong indicator of research excellence. For academic professionals, following HCPs is an efficient way to stay current with the developments in a field and to make better informed decisions regarding potential research topics and directions to exert their efforts. For academic institutions, government and private agencies, and generally the science policy makers, they keep a close eye on and take advantage of this visible indicator, citations, to make more informed decisions on research funding allocation and science policy formulation. Under the backdrop of ever-growing academic outputs, there is noticeable attention shift from publication quantity to publication quality. Many countries are developing research policies to identify “excellent” universities, research groups, and researchers ( Danell, 2011 ). In a word, HCPs showcase high-quality research, encompass significant themes, and constitute a critical reference point in a research field as they are “gold bullion of science” ( Smith, 2007 ).

2. Literature review

Bibliometrics, a term coined by Pritchard (1969) , refers to the application of mathematical methods to the analysis of academic publications. Essentially this is a quantitative method to depict publication patterns within a given field based on a body of literature. There are many bibliometric studies on natural and social sciences in general ( Hsu and Ho, 2014 ; Zhu and Lei, 2022 ) and on various specific disciplines such as management sciences ( Liao et al., 2018 ), biomass research ( Chen and Ho, 2015 ), computer sciences ( Xie and Willett, 2013 ), and sport sciences ( Mancebo et al., 2013 ; Ríos et al., 2013 ), etc. In these studies, researchers tracked developments, weighed research impacts, and highlighted emerging scientific fronts with bibliometric methods. In the field of linguistics, bibliometric studies all occurred in the past few years ( van Doorslaer and Gambier, 2015 ; Lei and Liao, 2017 ; Gong et al., 2018 ; Lei and Liu, 2018 , 2019 ). These bibliometric studies mostly examined a sub-area of linguistics, such as corpus linguistics ( Liao and Lei, 2017 ), translation studies ( van Doorslaer and Gambier, 2015 ), the teaching of Chinese as a second/foreign language ( Gong et al., 2018 ), academic journals like System ( Lei and Liu, 2018 ) or Porta Linguarum ( Sabiote and Rodríguez, 2015 ), etc. Although Lei and Liu (2019) took the entire discipline of linguistics under investigation, their research is exclusively focused on applied linguistics and restricted in a limited number of journals (42 journals in total), leaving publications in other linguistics disciplines and qualified journals unexamined.

Over the recent years, a number of studies have been concerned with “excellent” papers or HCPs. For example, Small (2004) surveyed the HCPs authors’ opinions on why their papers are highly cited. The strong interest, the novelty, the utility, and the high importance of the work were among the most frequently mentioned. Most authors also considered that their selected HCPs are indeed based on their most important work in their academic career. Aksnes (2003) investigated the characteristics of HCPs and found that they were generally authored by a large number of scientists, often involving international collaboration. Some researchers even attempted to predict the HCPs by building mathematical models, implying “the first mover advantage in scientific publication” ( Newman, 2008 , 2014 ). In other words, papers published earlier in a field generally are more likely to accumulate more citations than those published later. Although many papers addressed HCPs from different perspectives, they held a common belief that HCPs are very different from less or zero cited papers and thus deserve utmost attention in academic research ( Aksnes, 2003 ; Blessinger and Hrycaj, 2010 ; Yan et al., 2022 ).

Although an increased focus on research quality can be observed in different fields, opinions diverge on the range and the inclusion criterion of excellent papers. Are they ‘highly cited’, ‘top cited’, or ‘most frequently cited’ papers? Aksnes (2003) noted two different approaches to define a highly cited article, involving absolute or relative thresholds, respectively. An absolute threshold stipulates a minimum number of citations for identifying excellent papers while a relative threshold employs the percentile rank classes, for example, the top 10% most highly cited papers in a discipline or in a publication year or in a publication set. It is important to note that citations differ significantly in different fields and disciplines. A HCP in natural sciences generally accumulates more citations than its counterpart in social sciences. Thus, it is necessary to investigate HCPs from different fields separately or adopt different inclusion criterion to ensure a valid comparison.

The present study has been motivated by two considerations. First, the sizable number of publications of varied qualities in a scientific field makes it difficult or even impossible to conduct any reliable and effective literature research. Focusing on the quality publications, the HCPs in particular, might lend more credibility to the findings on trends. Second, HCPs can serve as a great platform to discover potentially important information for the development of a discipline and understand the past, present, and future of the scientific structure. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the hot topics and publication trends in the Web of Science category of linguistics or language & linguistics (shortened as linguistics in later references) with bibliometric methods. The study aims to answer the following three questions:

• Who are the most productive and impactful contributors of the HCPs in WoS category of linguistics or language & linguistics in terms of publication venues, authors, and countries?
• What are the most frequently explored topics in HCPs?
• What are the general research trends revealed from the HCPs?

3. Materials and methods

Different from previous studies which used an arbitrary inclusion threshold (e.g., Blessinger and Hrycaj, 2010 ; Hsu and Ho, 2014 ), we rely on Essential Science Indicator (ESI) to identify the HCPs. Developed by Clarivate, a leading company in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics, ESI reveals emerging science trends as well as influential individuals, institutions, papers, journals, and countries in any scientific fields of inquiry by drawing on the complete WoS databases. ESI has been chosen for the following three reasons. First, ESI adopts a stricter inclusion criterion for HCPs identification. That is, a paper is selected as a HCP only when its citations exceed the top 1% citation threshold in each of the 22 ESI subject categories. Second, ESI is widely used and recognized for its reliability and authority in identifying the top-charting work, generating “excellent” metrics including hot and highly cited papers. Third, ESI automatically updates its database to generate the most recent HCPs, especially suitable for trend studies for a specified timeframe.

3.1. Data source

The data retrieval was completed at the portal of our university library on June 20, 2022. The methods to retrieve the data are described in Table 1 . The bibliometric indicators regarding the important contributors at journal/author/country levels were obtained. Specifically, after the research was completed, we clicked the “Analyze Results” bar on the result page for the detailed descriptive analysis of the retrieved bibliometric data.

Retrieval strategies.

Several points should be noted about the search strategies. First, we searched the bibliometric data from two sub-databases of WoS core collection: Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI). There is no need to include the sub-database of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) because publications in the linguistics field are almost exclusively indexed in SSCI and A&HCI journals. WoS core collection was chosen as the data source because it boasts one of the most comprehensive and authoritative databases of bibliometric information in the world. Many previous studies utilized WoS to retrieve bibliometric data. van Oorschot et al. (2018) and Ruggeri et al. (2019) even indicated that WoS meets the highest standards in terms of impact factor and citation counts and hence guarantees the validity of any bibliometric analysis. Second, we do not restrict the document types as HCPs selection informed by ESI only considers articles and reviews. Third, we do not set the date range as the dataset of ESI-HCPs is automatically updated regularly to include the most recent 10 years of publications.

The aforementioned query obtained a total of 143 HCPs published in 48 journals contributed by 352 authors of 226 institutions. We then downloaded the raw bibliometric parameters of the 143 HCPs for follow-up analysis including publication years, authors, publication titles, countries, affiliations, abstracts, citation reports, etc. A complete list of the 143 HCPs can be found in the Supplementary Material . We collected the most recent impact factor (IF) of each journal from the 2022 Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

3.2. Data analysis

3.2.1. citation analysis.

A citation threshold is the minimum number of citations obtained by ranking papers in a research field in descending order by citation counts and then selecting the top fraction or percentage of papers. In ESI, the highly cited threshold reveals the minimum number of citations received by the top 1% of papers from each of the 10 database years. In other words, a paper has to meet the minimum citation threshold that varies by research fields and by years to enter the HCP list. Of the 22 research fields in ESI, Social Science, General is a broad field covering a number of WoS categories including linguistics and language & linguistics . We checked the ESI official website to obtain the yearly highly cited thresholds in the research field of Social Science , General as shown in Figure 1 ( https://esi.clarivate.com/ThresholdsAction.action ). As we can see, the longer a paper has been published, the more citations it has to receive to meet the threshold. We then divided the raw citation numbers of HCPs with the Highly Cited Thresholds in the corresponding year to obtain the normalized citations for each HCP.

Highly cited thresholds in the research field of Social Sciences, General.

3.2.2. Corpus analysis and manual checking

To determine the most frequently explored topics in these HCPs, we used both corpus-based analysis of word frequency and manual checking. Specifically, the more frequently a word or phrase occurs in a specifically designed corpus, the more likely it constitutes a research topic. In this study, we built an Abstract corpus with all the abstracts of the 143 HCPs, totaling 24,800 tokens. The procedures to retrieve the research topics in the Abstract corpus were as follows. First, the 143 pieces of abstracts were saved as separate .txt files in one folder. Second, AntConc ( Anthony, 2022 ), a corpus analysis tool for concordancing and text analysis, was employed to extract lists of n-grams (2–4) in decreasing order of frequency. We also generated a list of individual nouns because sometimes individual nouns can also constitute research topics. Considering our small corpus data, we adopted both frequency (3) and range criteria (3) for topic candidacy. That is, a candidate n-gram must occur at least 3 times and in at least 3 different abstract files. The frequency threshold guarantees the importance of the candidate topics while the range threshold guarantees that the topics are not overly crowded in a few number of publications. In this process, we actually tested the frequency and range thresholds several rounds for the inclusion of all the potential topics. In total, we obtained 531 nouns, 1,330 2-grams, 331 3-grams, and 81 4-grams. Third, because most of the retrieved n-grams cannot function as meaningful research topics, we manually checked all the candidate items and discussed extensively to decide their roles as potential research topics until full agreements were reached. Finally, we read all the abstracts of the 143 HCPs to further validate their roles as research topics. In the end, we got 118 topic items in total.

4.1. Main publication venues of HCPs

Of the 48 journals which published the 143 HCPs, 17 journals have contributed at least 3 HCPs ( Table 2 ), around 71.33% of the total examined HCPs (102/143), indicating that HCPs tend to be highly concentrated in a limited number of journals. The three largest publication outlets of HCPs are Bilingualism Language and Cognition (16), International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (11), and Modern Language Journal (10). Because each journal varies greatly in the number of papers published per year and the number of HCPs is associated with journal circulations, we divided the total number of papers (TP) in the examined years (2011–2021) with the number of the HCPs to acquire the HCP percentage for each journal (HCPs/TP). The three journals with the highest HCPs/TP percentage are Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2.26), Modern Language Journal (2.08), and Bilingualism Language and Cognition (1.74), indicating that papers published in these journals have a higher probability to enter the HCPs list.

Top 17 publication venues of HCPs.

N: the number of HCPs in each journal; N%: the percentage of HCPs in each journal in the total of 143 HCPs; TP: the total number of papers in the examined timespan (2011–2021); N/TP %: the percentage of HCPs in the total journal publications in the examined time span; TC/HCP: average citations of each HCP; R: journal ranking for the designated indicator; IF: Impact Factor in the year of 2022.

In terms of the general impact of the HCPs from each journal, we divided the number of HCPs with their total citations (TC) to obtain the average citations for each HCP (TC/HCP). The three journals with the highest TC/HCP are Journal of Memory and Language (837.86), Computational Linguistics (533.75), and Journal of Pragmatics (303.75). It indicates that even in the same WoS category, HCPs in different journals have strikingly different capability to accumulate citations. For example, the TC/HCP in System is as low as 31.73, which is even less than 4% of the highest TC/HCP in Journal of Memory and Language .

In regards to the latest journal impact factor (IF) in 2022, the top four journals with the highest IF are Computational Linguistics (7.778) , Modern Language Journal (7.5), Computer Assisted Language Learning (5.964), and Language Learning (5.24). According to the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) quantile rankings in WoS category of linguistics , all the journals on the list belong to the Q 1 (the top 25%), indicating that contributors are more likely to be attracted to contribute and cite papers in these prestigious high impact journals.

4.2. Authors of HCPs

A total of 352 authors had their names listed in the 143 HCPs, of whom 33 authors appeared in at least 2 HCPs as shown in Table 3 . We also provided in Table 3 other indicators to evaluate the authors’ productivity and impact including the total number of citations (TC), the number of citations per HCP, and the number of First author or Corresponding author HCPs (FA/CA). The reason we include the FA/CA indicator is that first authors and corresponding authors are usually considered to contribute the most and should receive greater proportion of credit in academic publications ( Marui et al., 2004 ; Dance, 2012 ).

Authors with at least 2 HCPs.

N: number of HCPs from each author; FA/CA: first author or corresponding author HCPs; TC: total citations of the HCPs from each author; C/HCP: average citations per HCP for each author.

In terms of the number of HCPs, Dewaele JM from Birkbeck Univ London tops the list with 7 HCPs with total citations of 492 (TC = 492), followed by Li C from Huazhong Univ Sci & Technol (#HCPs = 5; TC = 215) and Saito K from UCL (#HCPs = 5; TC = 576). It is to be noted that both Li C and Saito K have close academic collaborations with Dewaele JM . For example, 3 of the 5 HCPs by Li C are co-authored with Dewaele JM . The topics in their co-authored HCPs are mostly about foreign language learning emotions such as boredom , anxiety , enjoyment , the measurement , and positive psychology .

In regards to TC, Li, W . from UCL stands out as the most influential scholar among all the listed authors with total citations of 956 from 2 HCPs, followed by Norton B from Univ British Columbia (TC = 915) and Vasishth S from Univ Potsdam (TC = 694). The average citations per HCP from them are also the highest among the listed authors (478, 305, 347, respectively). It is important to note that Li, W.’ s 2 HCPs are his groundbreaking works on translanguaging which almost become must-reads for anyone who engages in translanguaging research ( Li, 2011 , 2018 ). Besides, Li, W. single authors his 2 HCPs, which is extremely rare as HCPs are often the results from multiple researchers. Norton B ’s HCPs are exploring some core issues in applied linguistics such as identity and investment , language learning , and social change that are considered the foundational work in its field ( Norton and Toohey, 2011 ; Darvin and Norton, 2015 ).

From the perspective of FA/CA papers, Li C from Huazhong Univ Sci and Technol is prominent because she is the first author of all her 5 HCPs. Her research on language learning emotions in the Chinese context is gaining widespread recognition ( Li et al., 2018 , 2019 , 2021 ; Li, 2019 , 2021 ). However, as a newly emerging researcher, most of her HCPs are published in the very recent years and hence accumulate relatively fewer citations (TC = 215). Mondada L from Univ Basel follows closely and single authors her 3 HCPs. Her work is mostly devoted to conversation analysis , multimodality , and social interaction ( Mondada, 2016 , 2018 , 2019 ).

We need to mention the following points regarding the productive authors of HCPs. First, when we calculated the number of HCPs from each author, only the papers published in the journals indexed in the investigated WoS categories were taken in account ( linguistics; language & linguistics ), which came as a compromise to protect the linguistics oriented nature of the HCPs. For example, Brysbaert M from Ghent University claimed a total of 8 HCPs at the time of the data retrieval, of which 6 HCPs were published in WoS category of psychology and more psychologically oriented, hence not included in our study. Besides, all the authors on the author list were treated equally when we calculated the number of HCPs, disregarding the author ordering. That implies that some influential authors may not be able to enter the list as their publications are comparatively fewer. Second, as some authors reported different affiliations at their different career stages, we only provide their most recent affiliation for convenience. Third, it is highly competitive to have one’s work selected as HCPs. The fact that a majority of the HCPs authors do not appear in our productive author list does not diminish their great contributions to this field. The rankings in Table 3 does not necessarily reflect the recognition authors have earned in academia at large.

4.3. Productive countries of HCPs

In total, the 143 HCPs originated from 33 countries. The most productive countries that contributed at least three HCPs are listed in Table 4 . The USA took an overwhelming lead with 59 HCPs, followed distantly by England with 31 HCPs. They also boasted the highest total citations (TC = 15,770; TC = 9,840), manifesting their high productivity and strong influence as traditional powerhouses in linguistics research. In regards to the average citations per HCP, Germany , England and the USA were the top three countries (TC/HCP = 281.67, 281.14, and 267.29, respectively). Although China held the third position with 19 HCPs published, its TC/HCP is the third from the bottom (TC/HCP = 66.84). One of the important reasons is that 13 out of the 19 HCPs contributed by scholars in China are published in the year of 2020 or 2021. The newly published HCPs may need more time to accumulate citations. Besides, 18 out of the 19 HCPs in China are first author and/or corresponding authors, indicating that scholars in China are becoming more independent and gaining more voice in English linguistics research.

Top 18 countries with at least 3 HCPs.

Two points should be noted here as to the productive countries. First, we calculated the HCP contributions from the country level instead of the region level. In other words, HCP contributions from different regions of the same country will be combined in the calculation. For example, HCPs from Scotland were added to the HCPs from England . HCPs from Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan are put together with the HCPs from Mainland China . In this way, a clear picture of the HCPs on the country level can be painted. Second, we manually checked the address information of the first author and corresponding author for each HCP. There are some cases where the first author or the corresponding author may report affiliations from more than one country. In this case, every country in their address list will be treated equally in the FA/CA calculation. In other word, a HCP may be classified into more than one country because of the different country backgrounds of the first and/or the corresponding author.

4.4. Top 20 HCPs

The top 20 HCPs with the highest normed citations are listed in decreasing order in Table 5 . The top cited publications can guide us to better understand the development and research topics in recent years.

Top 20 HCPs.

To save space, not full information about the HCPs is given. Some article titles have been abbreviated if they are too lengthy; for the authors, we report the first two authors and use “et al” if there are three authors or more; RC: raw citations; NC: normalized citations

By reading the titles and the abstracts of these top HCPs, we categorized the topics of the 20 HCPs into the following five groups: (i) statistical and analytical methods in (psycho)linguistics such as sentimental analysis, sentence simplification techniques, effect sizes, linear mixed models (#1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 14), (ii) language learning/teaching emotions such enjoyment, anxiety, boredom, stress (#11, 15, 16, 18, 19), (iii) translanguaging or multilinguilism (#5, 13, 20, 17), (iv) language perception (#2, 7, 10), (v) medium of instruction (#8, 12). It is no surprise that 6 out of the top 20 HCPs are about statistical methods in linguistics because language researchers aspire to employ statistics to make their research more scientific. Besides, we noticed that the papers on language teaching/learning emotions on the list are all published in the year of 2020 and 2021, indicating that these emerging topics may deserve more attention in future research. We also noticed two Covid-19 related articles (#16, 19) explored the emotions teachers and students experience during the pandemic, a timely response to the urgent need of the language learning and teaching community.

It is of special interest to note that papers from the journals indexed in multiple JCR categories seem to accumulate more citations. For example, Journal of Memory and Language , American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology , and Computational Linguistics are indexed both in SSCI and SCIE and contribute the top 4 HCPs, manifesting the advantage of these hybrid journals in amassing citations compared to the conventional language journals. Besides, different to findings from Yan et al. (2022) that most of the top HCPs in the field of radiology are reviews in document types, 19 out of the top 20 HCPs are research articles instead of reviews except Macaro et al. (2018) .

4.5. Most frequently explored topics of HCPs

After obtaining the corpus based topic items, we read all the titles and abstracts of the 143 HCPs to further validate their roles as research topics. Table 6 presents the top research topics with the observed frequency of 5 or above. We grouped these topics into five broad categories: bilingual-related, language learning/teaching-related, psycho/pathological/cognitive linguistics-related, methods and tools-related, and others . The observed frequency count for each topic in the abstract corpus were included in the brackets. We found that about 34 of the 143 HCPs are exploring bilingual related issues, the largest share among all the categorized topics, testifying its academic popularity in the examined timespan. Besides, 30 of the 143 HCPs are investigating language learning/teaching-related issues, with topics ranging from learners (e.g., EFL learners, individual difference) to multiple learning variables (e.g., learning strategy, motivation, agency). The findings here will be validated by the analysis of the keywords.

Categorization of the most explored research topics.

N: the number of the HCPs in each topic category; ELF: English as a lingua franca; CLIL: content and language integrated learning; FLE: foreign language enjoyment; FLCA: foreign language classroom anxiety

Several points should be mentioned regarding the topic candidacy. First, for similar topic expressions, we used a cover term and added the frequency counts. For example, multilingualism is a cover term for bilinguals, bilingualism, plurilingualism, and multilingualism . Second, for nouns of singular and plural forms (e.g., emotion and emotions ) or for items with different spellings (e.g., meta analysis and meta analyses ), we combined the frequency counts. Third, we found that some longer items (3 grams and 4 grams) could be subsumed to short ones (2 grams or monogram) without loss of essential meaning (e.g., working memory from working memory capacity ). In this case, the shorter ones were kept for their higher frequency. Fourth, some highly frequent terms were discarded because they were too general to be valuable topics in language research, for example, applied linguistics , language use , second language .

5. Discussion and implications

Based on 143 highly cited papers collected from the WoS categories of linguistics , the present study attempts to present a bird’s eye view of the publication landscape and the most updated research themes reflected from the HCPs in the linguistics field. Specifically, we investigated the important contributors of HCPs in terms of journals, authors and countries. Besides, we spotlighted the research topics by corpus-based analysis of the abstracts and a detailed analysis of the top HCPs. The study has produced several findings that bear important implications.

The first finding is that the HCPs are highly concentrated in a limited journals and countries. In regards to journals, those in the spheres of bilingualism and applied linguistics (e.g., language teaching and learning) are likely to accumulate more citations and hence to produce more HCPs. Journals that focus on bilingualism from a linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neuroscientific perspective are the most frequent outlets of HCPs as evidenced by the top two productive journals of HCPs, Bilingualism Language and Cognition and International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism . This can be explained by the multidisciplinary nature of bilingual-related research and the development of cognitive measurement techniques. The merits of analyzing publication venues of HCPs are two folds. One the one hand, it can point out which sources of high-quality publications in this field can be inquired for readers as most of the significant and cutting-edge achievements are concentrated in these prestigious journals. On the other hand, it also provides essential guidance or channels for authors or contributors to submit their works for higher visibility.

In terms of country distributions, the traditional powerhouses in linguistics research such as the USA and England are undoubtedly leading the HCP publications in both the number and the citations of the HCPs. However, developing countries are also becoming increasing prominent such as China and Iran , which could be traceable in the funding and support of national language policies and development policies as reported in recent studies ( Ping et al., 2009 ; Lei and Liu, 2019 ). Take China as an example. Along with economic development, China has given more impetus to academic outputs with increased investment in scientific research ( Lei and Liao, 2017 ). Therefore, researchers in China are highly motivated to publish papers in high-quality journals to win recognition in international academia and to deal with the publish or perish pressure ( Lee, 2014 ). These factors may explain the rise of China as a new emerging research powerhouse in both natural and social sciences, including English linguistics research.

The second finding is the multilingual trend in linguistics research. The dominant clustering of topics regarding multilingualism can be understood as a timely response to the multilingual research fever ( May, 2014 ). 34 out of the 143 HCPs have such words as bilingualism, bilingual, multilingualism , translanguaging , etc., in their titles, reflecting a strong multilingual tendency of the HCPs. Multilingual-related HCPs mainly involve three aspects: multilingualism from the perspectives of psycholinguistics and cognition (e.g., Luk et al., 2011 ; Leivada et al., 2020 ); multilingual teaching (e.g., Schissel et al., 2018 ; Ortega, 2019 ; Archila et al., 2021 ); language policies related to multilingualism (e.g., Shen and Gao, 2018 ). As a pedagogical process initially used to describe the bilingual classroom practice and also a frequently explored topic in HCPs, translanguaging is developed into an applied linguistics theory since Li’s Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language ( Li, 2018 ). The most common collocates of translanguaging in the Abstract corpus are pedagogy/pedagogies, practices, space/spaces . There are two main reasons for this multilingual turn. First, the rapid development of globalization, immigration, and overseas study programs greatly stimulate the use and research of multiple languages in different linguistic contexts. Second, in many non-English countries, courses are delivered through languages (mostly English) besides their mother tongue ( Clark, 2017 ). Students are required to use multiple languages as resources to learn and understand subjects and ideas. The burgeoning body of English Medium Instruction literature in higher education is in line with the rising interest in multilingualism. Due to the innate multidisciplinary nature, it is to be expected that, multilingualism, the topic du jour, is bound to attract more attention in the future.

The third finding is the application of Positive Psychology (PP) in second language acquisition (SLA), that is, the positive trend in linguistic research. In our analysis, 20 out of 143 HCPs have words or phrases such as emotions, enjoyment, boredom, anxiety , and positive psychology in their titles, which might signal a shift of interest in the psychology of language learners and teachers in different linguistic environments. Our study shows Foreign language enjoyment (FLE) is the most frequently explored emotion, followed by foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), the learners’ metaphorical left and right feet on their journey to acquiring the foreign language ( Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2016 ). In fact, the topics of PP are not entirely new to SLA. For example, studies of language motivations, affections, and good language learners all provide roots for the emergence of PP in SLA ( Naiman, 1978 ; Gardner, 2010 ). In recent years, both research and teaching applications of PP in SLA are building rapidly, with a diversity of topics already being explored such as positive education and PP interventions. It is to be noted that SLA also feeds back on PP theories and concepts besides drawing inspirations from it, which makes it “an area rich for interdisciplinary cross-fertilization of ideas” ( Macintyre et al., 2019 ).

It should be noted that subjectivity is involved when we decide and categorize the candidate topic items based on the Abstract corpus. However, the frequency and range criteria guarantee that these items are actually more explored in multiple HCPs, thus indicating topic values for further investigation. Some high frequent n-grams are abandoned because they are too general or not meaningful topics. For example, applied linguistics is too broad to be included as most of the HCPs concern issues in this research line instead of theoretical linguistics. By meaningful topics, we mean that the topics can help journal editors and readers quickly locate their interested fields ( Lei and Liu, 2019 ), as the author keywords such as bilingualism , emotions , and individual differences . The examination of the few 3/4-grams and monograms (mostly nouns) revealed that most of them were either not meaningful topics or they could be subsumed in the 2-grams. Besides, there is inevitably some overlapping in the topic categorizations. For example, some topics in the language teaching and learning category are situated and discussed within the context of multilingualism. The merits of topic categorizations are two folds: to better monitor the overlapping between the Abstract corpus-based topic items and the keywords; to roughly delineate the research strands in the HCPs for future research.

It should also be noted that all the results were based on the retrieved HCPs only. The study did not aim to paint a comprehensive and full picture of the whole landscape of linguistic research. Rather, it specifically focused on the most popular literature in a specified timeframe, thus generating the snapshots or trends in linguistic research. One of the important merits of this methodology is that some newly emerging but highly cited researchers can be spotlighted and gain more academic attention because only the metrics of HCPs are considered in calculation. On the contrary, the exclusion of some other highly cited researchers in general such as Rod Ellis and Ken Hyland just indicates that their highly cited publications are not within our investigated timeframe and cannot be interpreted as their diminishing academic influence in the field. Besides, the study does not consider the issue of collaborators or collaborations in calculating the number of HCPs for two reasons. First, although some researchers are regular collaborators such as Li CC and Dewaele JM, their individual contribution can never be undermined. Second, the study also provides additional information about the number of the FA/CA HCPs from each listed author, which may aid readers in locating their interested research.

We acknowledge that our study has some limitations that should be addressed in future research. First, our study focuses on the HCPs extracted from WoS SSCI and A&HCI journals, the alleged most celebrated papers in this field. Future studies may consider including data from other databases such as Scopus to verify the findings of the present study. Second, our Abstract corpus-based method for topic extraction involved human judgement. Although the final list was the result of several rounds of discussions among the authors, it is difficult or even impossible to avoid subjectivity and some worthy topics may be unconsciously missed. Therefore, future research may consider employing automatic algorithms to extract topics. For example, a dependency-based machine learning approach can be used to identify research topics ( Zhu and Lei, 2021 ).

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

SY: conceptualization and methodology. SY and LZ: writing-review and editing and writing-original draft. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This work was supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Fund of China MOE under the grant 20YJC740076 and 18YJC740141.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1052586/full#supplementary-material

• Aksnes D. W. (2003). Characteristics of highly cited papers . Res. Eval. 12 , 159–170. doi: 10.3152/147154403781776645 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Anthony L. (2022). AntConc (version 4.0.5) Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available at: https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software (Accessed June 20, 2022).
• Archila P. A., Molina J., Truscott de Mejía A.-M. (2021). Fostering bilingual scientific writing through a systematic and purposeful code-switching pedagogical strategy . Int. J. Biling. Educ. Biling. 24 , 785–803. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1516189 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Blessinger K., Hrycaj P. (2010). Highly cited articles in library and information science: an analysis of content and authorship trends . Libr. Inf. Sci. Res. 32 , 156–162. doi: 10.1016/j.lisr.2009.12.007 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Chen H., Ho Y. S. (2015). Highly cited articles in biomass research: a bibliometric analysis . Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 49 , 12–20. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.04.060 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Clark S. (2017). Translanguaging in higher education: beyond monolingual ideologies . Int. J. Biling. Educ. Biling. 22 , 1048–1051. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1322568 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dance A. (2012). Authorship: Who’s on first? Nature 489 , 591–593. doi: 10.1038/nj7417-591a, PMID: [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Danell R. (2011). Can the quality of scientific work be predicted using information on the author’s track record? J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 62 , 50–60. doi: 10.1002/asi.21454 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Darvin R., Norton B. (2015). Identity and a model of Investment in Applied Linguistics . Annu. Rev. Appl. Linguist. 35 , 36–56. doi: 10.1017/S0267190514000191 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Dewaele J.-M., MacIntyre P. D. (2016). “ Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: the right and left feet of the language learner ” in Positive psychology in SLA . eds. Peter D. M., Tammy G., Sarah M. (Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters; ), 215–236. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gardner R. (2010). Motivation and second language acquisition: The socio-educational model . New York: Peter Lang. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gong Y., Lyu B., Gao X. (2018). Research on teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language in and outside mainland China: a bibliometric analysis . Asia Pac. Educ. Res. 27 , 277–289. doi: 10.1007/s40299-018-0385-2 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hsu Y., Ho Y. S. (2014). Highly cited articles in health care sciences and services field in science citation index Expanded . Methods Inf. Med. 53 , 446–458. doi: 10.3414/ME14-01-0022, PMID: [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lee I. (2014). Publish or perish: the myth and reality of academic publishing . Lang. Teach. 47 , 250–261. doi: 10.1017/S0261444811000504 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lei L., Liao S. (2017). Publications in linguistics journals from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau (2003–2012): a bibliometric analysis . J. Quant. Ling. 24 , 54–64. doi: 10.1080/09296174.2016.1260274 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lei L., Liu D. (2018). The research trends and contributions of System’s publications over the past four decades (1973–2017): a bibliometric analysis . System 80 , 1–13. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2018.10.003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Lei L., Liu D. (2019). Research trends in applied linguistics from 2005 to 2016: a bibliometric analysis and its implications . Appl. Linguis. 40 , 540–561. doi: 10.1093/applin/amy003 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Leivada E., Westergaard M., Duabeitia J. A., Rothman J. (2020). On the phantom-like appearance of bilingualism effects on neurocognition: (how) should we proceed? Biling. Lang. Congn. 24 , 197–210. doi: 10.1017/S1366728920000358 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li W. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain . Energy Fuel 43 , 1222–1235. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.035 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li W. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language . Appl. Linguis. 39 , 9–30. doi: 10.1093/applin/amx039 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li C. (2019). A positive psychology perspective on Chinese EFL students’ trait emotional intelligence, foreign language enjoyment and EFL learning achievement . J. Multiling. Multicult. Dev. 41 , 246–263. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2019.1614187 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li C. (2021). A control-value theory approach to boredom in English classes among university students in China . Mod. Lang. J. 105 , 317–334. doi: 10.1111/modl.12693 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li C., Dewaele J. M., Hu Y. (2021). Foreign language learning boredom: conceptualization and measurement . Appl. Ling. Rev. doi: 10.1515/applirev-2020-0124 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li C., Dewaele J. M., Jiang G. (2019). The complex relationship between classroom emotions and EFL achievement in China . Appl. Ling. Rev. 11 , 485–510. doi: 10.1515/applirev-2018-0043 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li C., Jiang G., Jean-Marc D. (2018). Understanding Chinese high school students’ foreign language enjoyment: validation of the Chinese version of the foreign language enjoyment scale . System 76 , 183–196. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2018.06.004 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Liao S., Lei L. (2017). What we talk about when we talk about corpus: a bibliometric analysis of corpus-related research in linguistics (2000-2015) . Glottometrics 38 , 1–20. [ Google Scholar ]
• Liao H., Tang M., Li Z., Lev B. (2018). Bibliometric analysis for highly cited papers in operations research and management science from 2008 to 2017 based on essential science indicators . Omega 88 , 223–236. doi: 10.1016/j.omega.2018.11.005 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Luk G., Sa E. D., Bialystok E. (2011). Is there a relation between onset age of bilingualism and enhancement of cognitive control? Biling. Lang. Cogn. 14 , 588–595. doi: 10.1017/S1366728911000010 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Macaro E., Curle S., Pun J., Dearden J. (2018). A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education . Lang. Teach. 51 , 36–76. doi: 10.1017/S0261444817000350 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Macintyre P., Gregersen T., Mercer S. (2019). Setting an agenda for positive psychology in SLA: theory, practice, and research . Mod. Lang. J. 103 , 262–274. doi: 10.1111/modl.12544 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mancebo F. P., Sapena A. F., Herrera M. V., González L., Toca H., Benavent R. A. (2013). Scientific literature analysis of judo in web of science . Arch. Budo 9 , 81–91. doi: 10.12659/AOB.883883 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Marui M., Bozikov J., Katavi V., Hren D., Kljakovi-Gapi M., Marui A. (2004). Authorship in a small medical journal: a study of contributorship statements by corresponding authors . Sci. Eng. Ethics 10 , 493–502. doi: 10.1007/s11948-004-0007-7, PMID: [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• May S. (2014). The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education . New York: Routledge. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mondada L. (2016). Challenges of multimodality: language and the body in social interaction . J. Socioling. 20 , 336–366. doi: 10.1111/josl.1_12177 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mondada L. (2018). Multiple temporalities of language and body in interaction: challenges for transcribing multimodality . Res. Lang. Soc. Interact. 51 , 85–106. doi: 10.1080/08351813.2018.1413878 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mondada L. (2019). Contemporary issues in conversation analysis: embodiment and materiality, multimodality and multisensoriality in social interaction . J. Pragmat. 145 , 47–62. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2019.01.016 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Naiman N. (1978). The good language learner . Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. [ Google Scholar ]
• Newman M. (2008). The first-mover advantage in scientific publication . Eplasty 86 , 68001–68006. doi: 10.1209/0295-5075/86/68001 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Newman M. (2014). Prediction of highly cited papers . Eplasty 105 :28002. doi: 10.1209/0295-5075/105/28002 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Norton B., Toohey K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change . Lang. Teach. 44 , 412–446. doi: 10.1017/S0261444811000309 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ortega L. (2019). SLA and the study of equitable multilingualism . Mod. Lang. J. 103 , 23–38. doi: 10.1111/modl.12525 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ping Z., Thijs B., Glnzel W. (2009). Is China also becoming a giant in social sciences? Scientometrics 79 , 593–621. doi: 10.1007/s11192-007-2068-x [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pritchard A. (1969). Statistical bibliography or bibliometrics . J. Doc. 25 , 348–349. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ríos L. J. C., Tamao I. M., Olmos J. (2013). Bibliometric study (1922-2009) on rugby articles in research journals . South Afr. J. Res. Sport Phys. Educ. Rec. 17 , 313–109. doi: 10.3176/tr.2013.3.06 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Ruggeri G., Orsi L., Corsi S. (2019). A bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on Fairtrade labelling . Int. IJC 43 , 134–152. doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12492 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Sabiote C. R., Rodríguez J. A. (2015). Bibliometric study and methodological quality indicators of the journal porta Linguarum during six year period 2008-2013 . Porta Ling. 24 , 135–150. doi: 10.30827/Digibug.53866 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Schissel J. L., De Korne H., López-Gopar M. E. (2018). Grappling with translanguaging for teaching and assessment in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts: teacher perspectives from Oaxaca, Mexico . Int. J. Biling. Educ. Biling. 24 , 340–356. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1463965 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shen Q., Gao X. (2018). Multilingualism and policy making in greater China: ideological and implementational spaces . Lang. Policy 18 , 1–16. doi: 10.1007/s10993-018-9473-7 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Small H. (2004). Why authors think their papers are highly cited . Scientometrics 60 , 305–316. doi: 10.1023/B:SCIE.0000034376.55800.18 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Smith D. R. (2007). The New Zealand timber economy, 1840–1935 . N. Z. Med. J. 120 , U2871–U2313. doi: 10.1016/0305-7488(90)90044-C, PMID: [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• van Doorslaer L., Gambier Y. (2015). Measuring relationships in translation studies. On affiliations and keyword frequencies in the translation studies bibliography . Perspectives 23 , 305–319. doi: 10.1080/0907676X.2015.1026360 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• van Oorschot J. A. W. H., Hofman E., Halman J. (2018). A bibliometric review of the innovation adoption literature . Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 134 , 1–21. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.04.032 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Xie Z., Willett P. (2013). The development of computer science research in the People’s republic of China 2000–2009: a bibliometric study . Inf. Dev. 29 , 251–264. doi: 10.1177/0266666912458515 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Yan S., Zhang H., Wang J. (2022). Trends and hot topics in radiology, nuclear medicine and medical imaging from 2011–2021: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers . Jpn. J. Radiol. 40 , 847–856. doi: 10.1007/s11604-022-01268-z, PMID: [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhu H., Lei L. (2021). A dependency-based machine learning approach to the identification of research topics: a case in COVID-19 studies . Lib. Hi Tech 40 , 495–515. doi: 10.1108/LHT-01-2021-0051 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhu H., Lei L. (2022). The research trends of text classification studies (2000–2020): a bibliometric analysis . SAGE Open 12 , 215824402210899–215824402210816. doi: 10.1177%2F21582440221089963 [ Google Scholar ]

Online ordering is currently unavailable due to technical issues. We apologise for any delays responding to customers while we resolve this. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident Due to planned maintenance there will be periods of time where the website may be unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience.

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings .

Login Alert

• < Back to search results

Key Topics in Applied Linguistics

• Download list of titles

Books in this series provide critical accounts of the most important topics in applied linguistics, conceptualised as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice dealing with practical problems of language and communication. Some topics have been the subject of applied linguistics for many years and will be re-examined in the light of new developments in the field; others are issues of growing importance that have not so far been given a sustained treatment. The topics of the series are nuanced and specialised, providing an opportunity for further reading around a particular concept. The concept examined may be theoretical or practice-oriented. Written by leading experts, the books in the series can be used on courses and in seminars, or as succinct guides to a particular topic for individual students and researchers.

• General Editors: Zhu Hua , UCL Institute of Education, University College London , Claire Kramsch , University of California, Berkeley

Refine search

Actions for selected content:.

• View selected items
• Save to my bookmarks
• Export citations
• Download PDF (zip)
• Save to Kindle
• Save to Dropbox
• Save to Google Drive

Save content to

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to .

To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle .

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service .

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

5 results in Key Topics in Applied Linguistics

Language Assemblages

• Alastair Pennycook
• Coming soon
• Expected online publication date: June 2024 Print publication: 27 June 2024
• Export citation
• View description What are languages? An assemblage approach to language gives us ways of thinking about language as dynamic, constructed, open-ended, and in and of the world. This book unsettles regular accounts of knowledge about language in several ways, presenting an innovative and provocative framework for a new understanding of language from within applied linguistics. The idea of assemblages allows for a flexibility about what languages are, not just in terms of having fuzzy linguistic boundaries but in terms of what constitutes language more generally. Languages are assembled from different elements, both linguistic elements as traditionally understood, as well as items less commonly included. Language from this point of view is embedded in diverse social and physical environments, distributed across the material world and part of our embodied existence. This book looks at what language is and what languages are with a view to understanding applied linguistics itself as a practical assemblage.

Locating Translingualism

• Jerry Won Lee
• Published online: 31 March 2022 Print publication: 28 April 2022
• Get access Buy a print copy Check if you have access via personal or institutional login Log in Register
• View description Encounters involving different cultures and languages are increasingly the norm in the era of globalization. While considerable attention has been paid to how languages and cultures transform in the era of globalization, their characteristic features prior to transformation are frequently taken for granted. This pioneering book argues that globalization offers an unprecedented opportunity to revisit fundamental assumptions about what distinguishes languages and cultures from each other in the first place. It takes the case of global Korea, showing how the notion of 'culture' is both represented but also reinvented in public space, with examples from numerous sites across Korea and Koreatowns around the world. It is not merely about locating spaces where translingualism happens but also about exploring the various ways in which linguistic and cultural difference come to be located via translingualism. It will appeal to anyone interested in the globalization of language and culture.

The Invention of Multilingualism

• David Gramling
• Published online: 04 June 2021 Print publication: 17 June 2021
• View description Multilingualism is a meaningful and capacious idea about human meaning-making practice, one with a promising, tumultuous, and flawed present - and a future worth caring for in research and public life. In this book, David Gramling presents original new insights into the topical subject of multilingualism, describing its powerful social, economic and political discourses. On one hand, it is under acute pressure to bear the demands of new global supply-chains, profit margins, and supranational unions, and on the other it is under pressure to make way for what some consider to be better descriptors of linguistic practice, such as translanguaging. The book shows how multilingualism is usefully able to encompass complex, divergent, and sometimes opposing experiences and ideas, in a wide array of planetary contexts - fictitious and real, political and social, North and South, colonial and decolonial, individual and collective, oppressive and liberatory, embodied and prosthetic, present and past.

Language as Symbolic Power

• Claire Kramsch
• Published online: 15 October 2020 Print publication: 29 October 2020
• View description Language is not simply a tool for communication - symbolic power struggles underlie any speech act, discourse move, or verbal interaction, be it in face-to-face conversations, online tweets or political debates. This book provides a clear and accessible introduction to the topic of language and power from an applied linguistics perspective. It is clearly split into three sections: the power of symbolic representation, the power of symbolic action and the power to create symbolic reality. It draws upon a wide range of existing work by philosophers, sociolinguists, sociologists and applied linguists, and includes current real-world examples, to provide a fresh insight into a topic that is of particular significance and interest in the current political climate and in our increasingly digital age. The book shows the workings of language as symbolic power in educational, social, cultural and political settings and discusses ways to respond to and even resist symbolic violence.

Language and Subjectivity

• Tim McNamara
• Published online: 20 February 2019 Print publication: 28 February 2019
• View description Understanding the role of language within the formation of a sense of self has been revolutionised by developments in social theory, particularly poststructuralism. There is now a new emphasis on the way in which subjects are vulnerable in the face of powerful discourses such as nation, gender, race and sexuality. This book is a clear and engaging introduction to these developments and their relevance to students of language. Using lively and often personal examples throughout, Tim McNamara explores the role of language within processes of subjectivity using the insights of conversation analysis (CA), creating an original conceptual and methodological bridge between the macro- and micro-dimensions of social discourse and everyday conversational interaction.

Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this to your organisation's collection.

Topics in Linguistics

• Newest Articles
• Most Downloaded
• Volumes & Issues
• Volumes & Issues

The semantic complexity of Hausa kinship terms

Austin in the lab: empirically reconsidering the constative-performative distinction, the morphological and syntactic functions of dagbani nominal suffixes, the adv speaking-construction in american english: a quantitative corpus-based investigation, the mental consideration of resilience as a relevant social concept (a corpus-based research of american english), the directorate-general for translation’s gender-neutral english guidelines (1998-2022).

• Aim & Scope
• Editorial Board
• How to Submit

100+ Compelling Linguistics Research Topics for University Students

Confused while selecting the interesting linguistics research topics to pen down your thoughts on a piece of paper? So, bounce back to this article and pick the best linguistics research paper topics and boost your grades.

Un-layering the essence of teaching-learning methodology demonstrates the development of linguistic theories. Linguistics is a science of language in which fact-finding is done through some rational and systematic study. While digging into the information about the history of linguistics, two perspectives on languages are unveiled: prescriptive and descriptive views.

The linguistic analysis uncovers the following areas: phonetics, phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics. Furthermore, the scrutinization of linguistics helps you to know about every aspect of languages as well as methods for studying them.

Table of Contents

How To Choose the Right Linguistics Research Topics?

Stress work is the indication of degraded academic performance and lower grades even if we talk about a linguistics research paper. Make your every endeavor effective and energetic by applying the right strategy. Therefore, make the right selection for your academic writing that starts from the interesting topic selection in linguistics.

Moreover, take advantage of research paper help and discuss your concerns with professional writers. As a suggestion, you can choose the right linguistics research topics by keeping the following points in your mind:

Find your interest: Linguistics uncover various aspects of language learning and allow you to expand your mind capabilities. So, try to explore the depth of the subject and find your area of interest. It will make your academic writing more interesting and enthralling.

Brainstorm the ideas: Picking the interesting linguistics topics demands your knowledge and expertise. Therefore, you need to take the advantage of brainstorming and collect various ideas to explore the concept of linguistics.

Perform pensive research : When you are keen to score high marks, you need to have sufficient knowledge. Conduct insightful research and uncover the pensive ideas for your research paper topics in linguistics.

Interesting Topics in Linguistics

Linguistics is the foundation of language knowledge. Linguistics theories indeed are interrelated to learning the English language. When you have to boost your grades, your selection for linguistics research paper topics makes a huge difference.  Some of the interesting linguistics research topics are:

• Explain the significance of music in the evolution of language.
• Does age really impact English pronunciation?
• What is the role of sociolinguistics education in creating discipline?
• What is the significance of language in creating teaching methodology?
• Analysis of verbal and written communication based on language usage.
• Is it important to have expertise in several languages?
• Explain the issues related to receptive language disorder and its impact on brain development.
• How do you correlate sentence-making and word flow in linguistics?
• Discuss the comparability between English and French languages.
• Factors responsible for different spoken languages.
• The impact of slang in the development of languages.
• Is text messaging creating a revolutionary subculture in the new linguistic scenario?
• How are linguistic patterns helpful in locating migration roadways?
• What are factors affecting the capability of learning a language?
• Explain the role of language in building a national identity for developing a multicultural society.
• Digital Revolution: impact of computers in modern language
• A systematic review on vowel pronunciation in the American Schools.
• Significance of language in creating cross-cultural communities: A comprehensive review
• Elucidate the impact of language on one’s perception.
• Textual and Linguistic analysis for housing studies.

Stimulating Research Paper Topics In Sociolinguistics

While seeking linguistics research topics for your assignments or research paper, you may find sociolinguistics interesting to explore. Sociolinguistics demonstrates the impact of language on our society. When you are keen to explore the effect of language in different aspects of society (including cultural values and expectations), you need to do an in-depth analysis of sociolinguistics.

For building a good foundation on sociolinguistics, you can select the following linguistics paper topics:

• How would you define linguistic practices in specific communities?
• An elaborative approach for code-switching and code-mixing
• Explain the impact of dialect on gender.
• A correlational study to share the relationship between language, social class, and cognition.
• In-depth study of interactional sociolinguistics in the 21st Century.
• A comprehensive analysis on accountability and aptness of dialect.
• Evaluate the education of language in the U.S.
• The role of languages in controlling emotions.
• Effectiveness of verbal communication in expressing one’s feelings: A competitive analysis.
• A literature review on communication with a precise comparison of verbal and non-verbal communication
• Difference between advanced placement (AP) English literature and language.
• What is the relationship between language and one’s personality?
• A critical analysis on the relation of language and ethnicity.
• Describe the attitudes to various languages among societies.
• A comprehensive approach on dialect variations in American English-speaking people.
• Scrutinize linguistic variation on language loyalty.
• Develop a good understanding of sociological variations to languages.
• Impact of the generation gap on language usage.
• Examine the impact of various factors (social tension, media, racism, and entertainment) on the utilization of languages.
• Is there a difference between linguistic practices among men and women?

Also, Read: 150+ Business Research Topics

Interesting Research Topics in Applied Linguistics

Are you looking for linguistics research topics to advance your learning abilities? In such a case, you have to learn about “Applied Linguistics.” It is the branch of linguistics in which one can understand the practical applications of language studies such as speech therapy, language teaching, and more.

In other words, applied linguistics offers solutions to deal with language-related real-life problems. Imperative academic areas where you can find the applications of applied linguistics are psychology, education, sociology, communication research, and anthropology. Some applied linguistics research paper topics:

• Discuss the expansion of learning a second language through reading.
• Share your learning on the critical period hypothesis for the acquisition of the second language.
• Impact of bilingualism on an individual’s personality.
• Linguistics evaluation on the difference between written and spoken language.
• Describe language cognition and perceptions in a learning process.
• Impact of language barriers on healthcare delivery.
• Detailed analysis on various methodologies to learn applied linguistics.
• Discuss the relationship between empathy and language proficiency in learners of adult language.
• Detailed analysis on multilingualism and multiculturalism.
• Impact of extended instructions on the use of passive voices, modals, and relative clauses: A critical analysis.
• Explain digitally-mediated collaborative writing for ESL students.
• How do we evaluate self-efficacy in students who speak low-level English language?
• Elucidate the significance of phrasal verbs in creating technical documents.
• Expectations of American Students while taking Japanese language classes.
• A detailed study on American deaf students in English as a Non-Native Language (ENNL) classes.
• How do you understand by modeling music with Grammars?
• The cognitive development of expertise as an ESL teacher: An insightful analysis.
• Sound Effects: Gender, Age, and Sound symbolism in American English.
• Importance of applied linguistics in today’s digital world.

Also, Read: Modern Literature

Interesting Research Topics in Semantics

The study of reference, meaning, and the truth is covered under semantics or semiotics, or semasiology. A comprehensive analysis of semantics reflects the essence of compositional semantics and lexical semantics.  The combination of words and their interaction to form larger experiences like sentences comes under compositional semantics. Whereas, the notion of words is shared under lexical semantics.

Some academic disciplines in linguistic semantics are conceptual semantics, cognitive semantics, formal semantics, computational semantics, and more. Linguistic research paper topics on Semantics are as follows:

• Examine meaning work in language interpretation and scrutinization
• A critical evaluation of language acquisition and language use.
• Challenges in the study of semantic and pragmatic theory.
• Discuss semantics lessons and paragraph structure in written language.
• How do you explain the semantic richness effects in the recognition of visual words?
• How richness of semantics affects the processing of a language.
• Semantic generation to action-related stimuli: A neuroanatomical evaluation of embodied cognition.
• Examine the understanding of blind children for reading phonological and tactual coding in Braille.
• Explain a semantic typology of gradable predicates.
• A comparison of between blind and sighted children’s memory performance: the reverse-generation effect.
• Clinical research for designing medical decision support systems.
• Discuss word recognition processes in blind and sighted children.
• A corpus-based study on argumentative indicators.
• The typology of modality in modern West Iranian languages.
• A critical analysis on changes in naming and semantic abilities in different age groups.
• Explain the multidimensional semantics of evaluative adverbs.
• A comprehensive analysis on procedural meaning: problems and perspectives.
• Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives on figurative language.
• Elucidate semantic and pragmatic problems in discourse and dialogue.

Topics For Linguistics Essays

A curiosity of exploring the various concepts in linguistics leads you to work on essays. Projecting your thoughts in writing linguistics essays makes you understand the structure and changes in human languages. In a case, if you are searching for the best topics in linguistics, go through the following list of linguistics essays:

• Difference between human language and artificial language.
• Classification of writing systems based on various stages of development.
• The laws of language development
• Culture and language: impact on reflections.
• Methodology of reading and writing for children by Albert James.
• Significance of phoneme and phonological matters
• The complexity of human language: the specific cases of the apes
• Explain the development of languages and derivational morphology.
• Detailed analysis on language extinction.
• Investigate the peculiarities of English-Chinese and Chinese-English translations.
• A comprehensive overview on the acquisition of English as a second language by Mid-Eastern students.
• Discuss semiology in language analysis.
• Impact of blogging on learning languages.
• Linguistics: grammar and language teaching.
• English Language: Explain its standard and non-standard types.
• Discuss speech community as linguistic anthropology.
• A systematic review on linguistic diversity in modern culture.
• Similarities and differences between language and logic.
• What is the impact of language on digital communication?
• Listening comprehension: a comparative analysis of the articles.

Computational Linguistics Research Topics

Analysis and synthesis of language and speech using the techniques of computer science share the significance of computational linguistics. This branch of linguistics reflects the study of computational modeling of natural language. It also describes the computational approaches to answering the linguistic questions.

Under computational linguistics, you can explore different concepts such as artificial intelligence, mathematics, computer science, cognitive science, neuroscience, anthropology. More interesting computational linguistics research topics are:

• Explain the factors measuring the performance of speech recognition.
• Discuss word sense disambiguation.
• Detailed analysis on dependency parsing based on graphs and transitions.
• A multidimensional analysis on linguistic dimensions
• Analyze Medieval German poetry through supervised learning.
• Extraction of Danish verbs.
• Analysis of Schizophrenia text dataset.
• An intra-lingual contrastive corpus analysis based on computational linguistics.
• Discuss various methods to introduce, create, and conclude a text.

Still, Confused? Select The Compelling Linguistics Research Topics With Our Writers!

Are you still stressed about picking the right linguistics research paper topic? Without striking the right ideas to your mind, you find it hard to initiate your research work. But, don’t take tension anymore. Our professional and Ph.D. writers will help you to make the appropriate selection for linguistics assignments. Grab our online paper help and receive customized solutions for your research papers.

By Alex Brown

I'm an ambitious, seasoned, and versatile author. I am experienced in proposing, outlining, and writing engaging assignments. Developing contagious academic work is always my top priority. I have a keen eye for detail and diligence in producing exceptional academic writing work. I work hard daily to help students with their assignments and projects. Experimenting with creative writing styles while maintaining a solid and informative voice is what I enjoy the most.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Trends and hot topics in linguistics studies from 2011 to 2021: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers.

• School of Foreign Languages, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China

High citations most often characterize quality research that reflects the foci of the discipline. This study aims to spotlight the most recent hot topics and the trends looming from the highly cited papers (HCPs) in Web of Science category of linguistics and language & linguistics with bibliometric analysis. The bibliometric information of the 143 HCPs based on Essential Citation Indicators was retrieved and used to identify and analyze influential contributors at the levels of journals, authors, and countries. The most frequently explored topics were identified by corpus analysis and manual checking. The retrieved topics can be grouped into five general categories: multilingual-related , language teaching , and learning related , psycho/pathological/cognitive linguistics-related , methods and tools-related , and others . Topics such as bi/multilingual(ism) , translanguaging , language/writing development , models , emotions , foreign language enjoyment (FLE) , cognition , anxiety are among the most frequently explored. Multilingual and positive trends are discerned from the investigated HCPs. The findings inform linguistic researchers of the publication characteristics of the HCPs in the linguistics field and help them pinpoint the research trends and directions to exert their efforts in future studies.

1. Introduction

Citations, as a rule, exhibit a skewed distributional pattern over the academic publications: a few papers accumulate an overwhelming large citations while the majority are rarely, if ever, cited. Correspondingly, the highly cited papers (HCPs) receive the greatest amount of attention in the academia as citations are commonly regarded as a strong indicator of research excellence. For academic professionals, following HCPs is an efficient way to stay current with the developments in a field and to make better informed decisions regarding potential research topics and directions to exert their efforts. For academic institutions, government and private agencies, and generally the science policy makers, they keep a close eye on and take advantage of this visible indicator, citations, to make more informed decisions on research funding allocation and science policy formulation. Under the backdrop of ever-growing academic outputs, there is noticeable attention shift from publication quantity to publication quality. Many countries are developing research policies to identify “excellent” universities, research groups, and researchers ( Danell, 2011 ). In a word, HCPs showcase high-quality research, encompass significant themes, and constitute a critical reference point in a research field as they are “gold bullion of science” ( Smith, 2007 ).

2. Literature review

Bibliometrics, a term coined by Pritchard (1969) , refers to the application of mathematical methods to the analysis of academic publications. Essentially this is a quantitative method to depict publication patterns within a given field based on a body of literature. There are many bibliometric studies on natural and social sciences in general ( Hsu and Ho, 2014 ; Zhu and Lei, 2022 ) and on various specific disciplines such as management sciences ( Liao et al., 2018 ), biomass research ( Chen and Ho, 2015 ), computer sciences ( Xie and Willett, 2013 ), and sport sciences ( Mancebo et al., 2013 ; Ríos et al., 2013 ), etc. In these studies, researchers tracked developments, weighed research impacts, and highlighted emerging scientific fronts with bibliometric methods. In the field of linguistics, bibliometric studies all occurred in the past few years ( van Doorslaer and Gambier, 2015 ; Lei and Liao, 2017 ; Gong et al., 2018 ; Lei and Liu, 2018 , 2019 ). These bibliometric studies mostly examined a sub-area of linguistics, such as corpus linguistics ( Liao and Lei, 2017 ), translation studies ( van Doorslaer and Gambier, 2015 ), the teaching of Chinese as a second/foreign language ( Gong et al., 2018 ), academic journals like System ( Lei and Liu, 2018 ) or Porta Linguarum ( Sabiote and Rodríguez, 2015 ), etc. Although Lei and Liu (2019) took the entire discipline of linguistics under investigation, their research is exclusively focused on applied linguistics and restricted in a limited number of journals (42 journals in total), leaving publications in other linguistics disciplines and qualified journals unexamined.

Over the recent years, a number of studies have been concerned with “excellent” papers or HCPs. For example, Small (2004) surveyed the HCPs authors’ opinions on why their papers are highly cited. The strong interest, the novelty, the utility, and the high importance of the work were among the most frequently mentioned. Most authors also considered that their selected HCPs are indeed based on their most important work in their academic career. Aksnes (2003) investigated the characteristics of HCPs and found that they were generally authored by a large number of scientists, often involving international collaboration. Some researchers even attempted to predict the HCPs by building mathematical models, implying “the first mover advantage in scientific publication” ( Newman, 2008 , 2014 ). In other words, papers published earlier in a field generally are more likely to accumulate more citations than those published later. Although many papers addressed HCPs from different perspectives, they held a common belief that HCPs are very different from less or zero cited papers and thus deserve utmost attention in academic research ( Aksnes, 2003 ; Blessinger and Hrycaj, 2010 ; Yan et al., 2022 ).

Although an increased focus on research quality can be observed in different fields, opinions diverge on the range and the inclusion criterion of excellent papers. Are they ‘highly cited’, ‘top cited’, or ‘most frequently cited’ papers? Aksnes (2003) noted two different approaches to define a highly cited article, involving absolute or relative thresholds, respectively. An absolute threshold stipulates a minimum number of citations for identifying excellent papers while a relative threshold employs the percentile rank classes, for example, the top 10% most highly cited papers in a discipline or in a publication year or in a publication set. It is important to note that citations differ significantly in different fields and disciplines. A HCP in natural sciences generally accumulates more citations than its counterpart in social sciences. Thus, it is necessary to investigate HCPs from different fields separately or adopt different inclusion criterion to ensure a valid comparison.

The present study has been motivated by two considerations. First, the sizable number of publications of varied qualities in a scientific field makes it difficult or even impossible to conduct any reliable and effective literature research. Focusing on the quality publications, the HCPs in particular, might lend more credibility to the findings on trends. Second, HCPs can serve as a great platform to discover potentially important information for the development of a discipline and understand the past, present, and future of the scientific structure. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the hot topics and publication trends in the Web of Science category of linguistics or language & linguistics (shortened as linguistics in later references) with bibliometric methods. The study aims to answer the following three questions:

1. Who are the most productive and impactful contributors of the HCPs in WoS category of linguistics or language & linguistics in terms of publication venues, authors, and countries?

2. What are the most frequently explored topics in HCPs?

3. What are the general research trends revealed from the HCPs?

3. Materials and methods

Different from previous studies which used an arbitrary inclusion threshold (e.g., Blessinger and Hrycaj, 2010 ; Hsu and Ho, 2014 ), we rely on Essential Science Indicator (ESI) to identify the HCPs. Developed by Clarivate, a leading company in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics, ESI reveals emerging science trends as well as influential individuals, institutions, papers, journals, and countries in any scientific fields of inquiry by drawing on the complete WoS databases. ESI has been chosen for the following three reasons. First, ESI adopts a stricter inclusion criterion for HCPs identification. That is, a paper is selected as a HCP only when its citations exceed the top 1% citation threshold in each of the 22 ESI subject categories. Second, ESI is widely used and recognized for its reliability and authority in identifying the top-charting work, generating “excellent” metrics including hot and highly cited papers. Third, ESI automatically updates its database to generate the most recent HCPs, especially suitable for trend studies for a specified timeframe.

3.1. Data source

The data retrieval was completed at the portal of our university library on June 20, 2022. The methods to retrieve the data are described in Table 1 . The bibliometric indicators regarding the important contributors at journal/author/country levels were obtained. Specifically, after the research was completed, we clicked the “Analyze Results” bar on the result page for the detailed descriptive analysis of the retrieved bibliometric data.

Table 1 . Retrieval strategies.

Several points should be noted about the search strategies. First, we searched the bibliometric data from two sub-databases of WoS core collection: Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI). There is no need to include the sub-database of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) because publications in the linguistics field are almost exclusively indexed in SSCI and A&HCI journals. WoS core collection was chosen as the data source because it boasts one of the most comprehensive and authoritative databases of bibliometric information in the world. Many previous studies utilized WoS to retrieve bibliometric data. van Oorschot et al. (2018) and Ruggeri et al. (2019) even indicated that WoS meets the highest standards in terms of impact factor and citation counts and hence guarantees the validity of any bibliometric analysis. Second, we do not restrict the document types as HCPs selection informed by ESI only considers articles and reviews. Third, we do not set the date range as the dataset of ESI-HCPs is automatically updated regularly to include the most recent 10 years of publications.

The aforementioned query obtained a total of 143 HCPs published in 48 journals contributed by 352 authors of 226 institutions. We then downloaded the raw bibliometric parameters of the 143 HCPs for follow-up analysis including publication years, authors, publication titles, countries, affiliations, abstracts, citation reports, etc. A complete list of the 143 HCPs can be found in the Supplementary Material . We collected the most recent impact factor (IF) of each journal from the 2022 Journal Citation Reports (JCR).

3.2. Data analysis

3.2.1. citation analysis.

A citation threshold is the minimum number of citations obtained by ranking papers in a research field in descending order by citation counts and then selecting the top fraction or percentage of papers. In ESI, the highly cited threshold reveals the minimum number of citations received by the top 1% of papers from each of the 10 database years. In other words, a paper has to meet the minimum citation threshold that varies by research fields and by years to enter the HCP list. Of the 22 research fields in ESI, Social Science, General is a broad field covering a number of WoS categories including linguistics and language & linguistics . We checked the ESI official website to obtain the yearly highly cited thresholds in the research field of Social Science , General as shown in Figure 1 ( https://esi.clarivate.com/ThresholdsAction.action ). As we can see, the longer a paper has been published, the more citations it has to receive to meet the threshold. We then divided the raw citation numbers of HCPs with the Highly Cited Thresholds in the corresponding year to obtain the normalized citations for each HCP.

Figure 1 . Highly cited thresholds in the research field of Social Sciences, General.

3.2.2. Corpus analysis and manual checking

To determine the most frequently explored topics in these HCPs, we used both corpus-based analysis of word frequency and manual checking. Specifically, the more frequently a word or phrase occurs in a specifically designed corpus, the more likely it constitutes a research topic. In this study, we built an Abstract corpus with all the abstracts of the 143 HCPs, totaling 24,800 tokens. The procedures to retrieve the research topics in the Abstract corpus were as follows. First, the 143 pieces of abstracts were saved as separate.txt files in one folder. Second, AntConc ( Anthony, 2022 ), a corpus analysis tool for concordancing and text analysis, was employed to extract lists of n-grams (2–4) in decreasing order of frequency. We also generated a list of individual nouns because sometimes individual nouns can also constitute research topics. Considering our small corpus data, we adopted both frequency (3) and range criteria (3) for topic candidacy. That is, a candidate n-gram must occur at least 3 times and in at least 3 different abstract files. The frequency threshold guarantees the importance of the candidate topics while the range threshold guarantees that the topics are not overly crowded in a few number of publications. In this process, we actually tested the frequency and range thresholds several rounds for the inclusion of all the potential topics. In total, we obtained 531 nouns, 1,330 2-grams, 331 3-grams, and 81 4-grams. Third, because most of the retrieved n-grams cannot function as meaningful research topics, we manually checked all the candidate items and discussed extensively to decide their roles as potential research topics until full agreements were reached. Finally, we read all the abstracts of the 143 HCPs to further validate their roles as research topics. In the end, we got 118 topic items in total.

4.1. Main publication venues of HCPs

Of the 48 journals which published the 143 HCPs, 17 journals have contributed at least 3 HCPs ( Table 2 ), around 71.33% of the total examined HCPs (102/143), indicating that HCPs tend to be highly concentrated in a limited number of journals. The three largest publication outlets of HCPs are Bilingualism Language and Cognition (16), International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (11), and Modern Language Journal (10). Because each journal varies greatly in the number of papers published per year and the number of HCPs is associated with journal circulations, we divided the total number of papers (TP) in the examined years (2011–2021) with the number of the HCPs to acquire the HCP percentage for each journal (HCPs/TP). The three journals with the highest HCPs/TP percentage are Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (2.26), Modern Language Journal (2.08), and Bilingualism Language and Cognition (1.74), indicating that papers published in these journals have a higher probability to enter the HCPs list.

Table 2 . Top 17 publication venues of HCPs.

In terms of the general impact of the HCPs from each journal, we divided the number of HCPs with their total citations (TC) to obtain the average citations for each HCP (TC/HCP). The three journals with the highest TC/HCP are Journal of Memory and Language (837.86), Computational Linguistics (533.75), and Journal of Pragmatics (303.75). It indicates that even in the same WoS category, HCPs in different journals have strikingly different capability to accumulate citations. For example, the TC/HCP in System is as low as 31.73, which is even less than 4% of the highest TC/HCP in Journal of Memory and Language .

In regards to the latest journal impact factor (IF) in 2022, the top four journals with the highest IF are Computational Linguistics (7.778) , Modern Language Journal (7.5), Computer Assisted Language Learning (5.964), and Language Learning (5.24). According to the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) quantile rankings in WoS category of linguistics , all the journals on the list belong to the Q 1 (the top 25%), indicating that contributors are more likely to be attracted to contribute and cite papers in these prestigious high impact journals.

4.2. Authors of HCPs

A total of 352 authors had their names listed in the 143 HCPs, of whom 33 authors appeared in at least 2 HCPs as shown in Table 3 . We also provided in Table 3 other indicators to evaluate the authors’ productivity and impact including the total number of citations (TC), the number of citations per HCP, and the number of First author or Corresponding author HCPs (FA/CA). The reason we include the FA/CA indicator is that first authors and corresponding authors are usually considered to contribute the most and should receive greater proportion of credit in academic publications ( Marui et al., 2004 ; Dance, 2012 ).

Table 3 . Authors with at least 2 HCPs.

In terms of the number of HCPs, Dewaele JM from Birkbeck Univ London tops the list with 7 HCPs with total citations of 492 (TC = 492), followed by Li C from Huazhong Univ Sci & Technol (#HCPs = 5; TC = 215) and Saito K from UCL (#HCPs = 5; TC = 576). It is to be noted that both Li C and Saito K have close academic collaborations with Dewaele JM . For example, 3 of the 5 HCPs by Li C are co-authored with Dewaele JM . The topics in their co-authored HCPs are mostly about foreign language learning emotions such as boredom , anxiety , enjoyment , the measurement , and positive psychology .

In regards to TC, Li, W . from UCL stands out as the most influential scholar among all the listed authors with total citations of 956 from 2 HCPs, followed by Norton B from Univ British Columbia (TC = 915) and Vasishth S from Univ Potsdam (TC = 694). The average citations per HCP from them are also the highest among the listed authors (478, 305, 347, respectively). It is important to note that Li, W.’ s 2 HCPs are his groundbreaking works on translanguaging which almost become must-reads for anyone who engages in translanguaging research ( Li, 2011 , 2018 ). Besides, Li, W. single authors his 2 HCPs, which is extremely rare as HCPs are often the results from multiple researchers. Norton B ’s HCPs are exploring some core issues in applied linguistics such as identity and investment , language learning , and social change that are considered the foundational work in its field ( Norton and Toohey, 2011 ; Darvin and Norton, 2015 ).

From the perspective of FA/CA papers, Li C from Huazhong Univ Sci and Technol is prominent because she is the first author of all her 5 HCPs. Her research on language learning emotions in the Chinese context is gaining widespread recognition ( Li et al., 2018 , 2019 , 2021 ; Li, 2019 , 2021 ). However, as a newly emerging researcher, most of her HCPs are published in the very recent years and hence accumulate relatively fewer citations (TC = 215). Mondada L from Univ Basel follows closely and single authors her 3 HCPs. Her work is mostly devoted to conversation analysis , multimodality , and social interaction ( Mondada, 2016 , 2018 , 2019 ).

We need to mention the following points regarding the productive authors of HCPs. First, when we calculated the number of HCPs from each author, only the papers published in the journals indexed in the investigated WoS categories were taken in account ( linguistics; language & linguistics ), which came as a compromise to protect the linguistics oriented nature of the HCPs. For example, Brysbaert M from Ghent University claimed a total of 8 HCPs at the time of the data retrieval, of which 6 HCPs were published in WoS category of psychology and more psychologically oriented, hence not included in our study. Besides, all the authors on the author list were treated equally when we calculated the number of HCPs, disregarding the author ordering. That implies that some influential authors may not be able to enter the list as their publications are comparatively fewer. Second, as some authors reported different affiliations at their different career stages, we only provide their most recent affiliation for convenience. Third, it is highly competitive to have one’s work selected as HCPs. The fact that a majority of the HCPs authors do not appear in our productive author list does not diminish their great contributions to this field. The rankings in Table 3 does not necessarily reflect the recognition authors have earned in academia at large.

4.3. Productive countries of HCPs

In total, the 143 HCPs originated from 33 countries. The most productive countries that contributed at least three HCPs are listed in Table 4 . The USA took an overwhelming lead with 59 HCPs, followed distantly by England with 31 HCPs. They also boasted the highest total citations (TC = 15,770; TC = 9,840), manifesting their high productivity and strong influence as traditional powerhouses in linguistics research. In regards to the average citations per HCP, Germany , England and the USA were the top three countries (TC/HCP = 281.67, 281.14, and 267.29, respectively). Although China held the third position with 19 HCPs published, its TC/HCP is the third from the bottom (TC/HCP = 66.84). One of the important reasons is that 13 out of the 19 HCPs contributed by scholars in China are published in the year of 2020 or 2021. The newly published HCPs may need more time to accumulate citations. Besides, 18 out of the 19 HCPs in China are first author and/or corresponding authors, indicating that scholars in China are becoming more independent and gaining more voice in English linguistics research.

Table 4 . Top 18 countries with at least 3 HCPs.

Two points should be noted here as to the productive countries. First, we calculated the HCP contributions from the country level instead of the region level. In other words, HCP contributions from different regions of the same country will be combined in the calculation. For example, HCPs from Scotland were added to the HCPs from England . HCPs from Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan are put together with the HCPs from Mainland China . In this way, a clear picture of the HCPs on the country level can be painted. Second, we manually checked the address information of the first author and corresponding author for each HCP. There are some cases where the first author or the corresponding author may report affiliations from more than one country. In this case, every country in their address list will be treated equally in the FA/CA calculation. In other word, a HCP may be classified into more than one country because of the different country backgrounds of the first and/or the corresponding author.

4.4. Top 20 HCPs

The top 20 HCPs with the highest normed citations are listed in decreasing order in Table 5 . The top cited publications can guide us to better understand the development and research topics in recent years.

Table 5 . Top 20 HCPs.

By reading the titles and the abstracts of these top HCPs, we categorized the topics of the 20 HCPs into the following five groups: (i) statistical and analytical methods in (psycho)linguistics such as sentimental analysis, sentence simplification techniques, effect sizes, linear mixed models (#1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 14), (ii) language learning/teaching emotions such enjoyment, anxiety, boredom, stress (#11, 15, 16, 18, 19), (iii) translanguaging or multilinguilism (#5, 13, 20, 17), (iv) language perception (#2, 7, 10), (v) medium of instruction (#8, 12). It is no surprise that 6 out of the top 20 HCPs are about statistical methods in linguistics because language researchers aspire to employ statistics to make their research more scientific. Besides, we noticed that the papers on language teaching/learning emotions on the list are all published in the year of 2020 and 2021, indicating that these emerging topics may deserve more attention in future research. We also noticed two Covid-19 related articles (#16, 19) explored the emotions teachers and students experience during the pandemic, a timely response to the urgent need of the language learning and teaching community.

It is of special interest to note that papers from the journals indexed in multiple JCR categories seem to accumulate more citations. For example, Journal of Memory and Language , American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology , and Computational Linguistics are indexed both in SSCI and SCIE and contribute the top 4 HCPs, manifesting the advantage of these hybrid journals in amassing citations compared to the conventional language journals. Besides, different to findings from Yan et al. (2022) that most of the top HCPs in the field of radiology are reviews in document types, 19 out of the top 20 HCPs are research articles instead of reviews except Macaro et al. (2018) .

4.5. Most frequently explored topics of HCPs

After obtaining the corpus based topic items, we read all the titles and abstracts of the 143 HCPs to further validate their roles as research topics. Table 6 presents the top research topics with the observed frequency of 5 or above. We grouped these topics into five broad categories: bilingual-related, language learning/teaching-related, psycho/pathological/cognitive linguistics-related, methods and tools-related, and others . The observed frequency count for each topic in the abstract corpus were included in the brackets. We found that about 34 of the 143 HCPs are exploring bilingual related issues, the largest share among all the categorized topics, testifying its academic popularity in the examined timespan. Besides, 30 of the 143 HCPs are investigating language learning/teaching-related issues, with topics ranging from learners (e.g., EFL learners, individual difference) to multiple learning variables (e.g., learning strategy, motivation, agency). The findings here will be validated by the analysis of the keywords.

Table 6 . Categorization of the most explored research topics.

Several points should be mentioned regarding the topic candidacy. First, for similar topic expressions, we used a cover term and added the frequency counts. For example, multilingualism is a cover term for bilinguals, bilingualism, plurilingualism, and multilingualism . Second, for nouns of singular and plural forms (e.g., emotion and emotions ) or for items with different spellings (e.g., meta analysis and meta analyses ), we combined the frequency counts. Third, we found that some longer items (3 grams and 4 grams) could be subsumed to short ones (2 grams or monogram) without loss of essential meaning (e.g., working memory from working memory capacity ). In this case, the shorter ones were kept for their higher frequency. Fourth, some highly frequent terms were discarded because they were too general to be valuable topics in language research, for example, applied linguistics , language use , second language .

5. Discussion and implications

Based on 143 highly cited papers collected from the WoS categories of linguistics , the present study attempts to present a bird’s eye view of the publication landscape and the most updated research themes reflected from the HCPs in the linguistics field. Specifically, we investigated the important contributors of HCPs in terms of journals, authors and countries. Besides, we spotlighted the research topics by corpus-based analysis of the abstracts and a detailed analysis of the top HCPs. The study has produced several findings that bear important implications.

The first finding is that the HCPs are highly concentrated in a limited journals and countries. In regards to journals, those in the spheres of bilingualism and applied linguistics (e.g., language teaching and learning) are likely to accumulate more citations and hence to produce more HCPs. Journals that focus on bilingualism from a linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neuroscientific perspective are the most frequent outlets of HCPs as evidenced by the top two productive journals of HCPs, Bilingualism Language and Cognition and International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism . This can be explained by the multidisciplinary nature of bilingual-related research and the development of cognitive measurement techniques. The merits of analyzing publication venues of HCPs are two folds. One the one hand, it can point out which sources of high-quality publications in this field can be inquired for readers as most of the significant and cutting-edge achievements are concentrated in these prestigious journals. On the other hand, it also provides essential guidance or channels for authors or contributors to submit their works for higher visibility.

In terms of country distributions, the traditional powerhouses in linguistics research such as the USA and England are undoubtedly leading the HCP publications in both the number and the citations of the HCPs. However, developing countries are also becoming increasing prominent such as China and Iran , which could be traceable in the funding and support of national language policies and development policies as reported in recent studies ( Ping et al., 2009 ; Lei and Liu, 2019 ). Take China as an example. Along with economic development, China has given more impetus to academic outputs with increased investment in scientific research ( Lei and Liao, 2017 ). Therefore, researchers in China are highly motivated to publish papers in high-quality journals to win recognition in international academia and to deal with the publish or perish pressure ( Lee, 2014 ). These factors may explain the rise of China as a new emerging research powerhouse in both natural and social sciences, including English linguistics research.

The second finding is the multilingual trend in linguistics research. The dominant clustering of topics regarding multilingualism can be understood as a timely response to the multilingual research fever ( May, 2014 ). 34 out of the 143 HCPs have such words as bilingualism, bilingual, multilingualism , translanguaging , etc., in their titles, reflecting a strong multilingual tendency of the HCPs. Multilingual-related HCPs mainly involve three aspects: multilingualism from the perspectives of psycholinguistics and cognition (e.g., Luk et al., 2011 ; Leivada et al., 2020 ); multilingual teaching (e.g., Schissel et al., 2018 ; Ortega, 2019 ; Archila et al., 2021 ); language policies related to multilingualism (e.g., Shen and Gao, 2018 ). As a pedagogical process initially used to describe the bilingual classroom practice and also a frequently explored topic in HCPs, translanguaging is developed into an applied linguistics theory since Li’s Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language ( Li, 2018 ). The most common collocates of translanguaging in the Abstract corpus are pedagogy/pedagogies, practices, space/spaces . There are two main reasons for this multilingual turn. First, the rapid development of globalization, immigration, and overseas study programs greatly stimulate the use and research of multiple languages in different linguistic contexts. Second, in many non-English countries, courses are delivered through languages (mostly English) besides their mother tongue ( Clark, 2017 ). Students are required to use multiple languages as resources to learn and understand subjects and ideas. The burgeoning body of English Medium Instruction literature in higher education is in line with the rising interest in multilingualism. Due to the innate multidisciplinary nature, it is to be expected that, multilingualism, the topic du jour, is bound to attract more attention in the future.

The third finding is the application of Positive Psychology (PP) in second language acquisition (SLA), that is, the positive trend in linguistic research. In our analysis, 20 out of 143 HCPs have words or phrases such as emotions, enjoyment, boredom, anxiety , and positive psychology in their titles, which might signal a shift of interest in the psychology of language learners and teachers in different linguistic environments. Our study shows Foreign language enjoyment (FLE) is the most frequently explored emotion, followed by foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), the learners’ metaphorical left and right feet on their journey to acquiring the foreign language ( Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2016 ). In fact, the topics of PP are not entirely new to SLA. For example, studies of language motivations, affections, and good language learners all provide roots for the emergence of PP in SLA ( Naiman, 1978 ; Gardner, 2010 ). In recent years, both research and teaching applications of PP in SLA are building rapidly, with a diversity of topics already being explored such as positive education and PP interventions. It is to be noted that SLA also feeds back on PP theories and concepts besides drawing inspirations from it, which makes it “an area rich for interdisciplinary cross-fertilization of ideas” ( Macintyre et al., 2019 ).

It should be noted that subjectivity is involved when we decide and categorize the candidate topic items based on the Abstract corpus. However, the frequency and range criteria guarantee that these items are actually more explored in multiple HCPs, thus indicating topic values for further investigation. Some high frequent n-grams are abandoned because they are too general or not meaningful topics. For example, applied linguistics is too broad to be included as most of the HCPs concern issues in this research line instead of theoretical linguistics. By meaningful topics, we mean that the topics can help journal editors and readers quickly locate their interested fields ( Lei and Liu, 2019 ), as the author keywords such as bilingualism , emotions , and individual differences . The examination of the few 3/4-grams and monograms (mostly nouns) revealed that most of them were either not meaningful topics or they could be subsumed in the 2-grams. Besides, there is inevitably some overlapping in the topic categorizations. For example, some topics in the language teaching and learning category are situated and discussed within the context of multilingualism. The merits of topic categorizations are two folds: to better monitor the overlapping between the Abstract corpus-based topic items and the keywords; to roughly delineate the research strands in the HCPs for future research.

It should also be noted that all the results were based on the retrieved HCPs only. The study did not aim to paint a comprehensive and full picture of the whole landscape of linguistic research. Rather, it specifically focused on the most popular literature in a specified timeframe, thus generating the snapshots or trends in linguistic research. One of the important merits of this methodology is that some newly emerging but highly cited researchers can be spotlighted and gain more academic attention because only the metrics of HCPs are considered in calculation. On the contrary, the exclusion of some other highly cited researchers in general such as Rod Ellis and Ken Hyland just indicates that their highly cited publications are not within our investigated timeframe and cannot be interpreted as their diminishing academic influence in the field. Besides, the study does not consider the issue of collaborators or collaborations in calculating the number of HCPs for two reasons. First, although some researchers are regular collaborators such as Li CC and Dewaele JM, their individual contribution can never be undermined. Second, the study also provides additional information about the number of the FA/CA HCPs from each listed author, which may aid readers in locating their interested research.

We acknowledge that our study has some limitations that should be addressed in future research. First, our study focuses on the HCPs extracted from WoS SSCI and A&HCI journals, the alleged most celebrated papers in this field. Future studies may consider including data from other databases such as Scopus to verify the findings of the present study. Second, our Abstract corpus-based method for topic extraction involved human judgement. Although the final list was the result of several rounds of discussions among the authors, it is difficult or even impossible to avoid subjectivity and some worthy topics may be unconsciously missed. Therefore, future research may consider employing automatic algorithms to extract topics. For example, a dependency-based machine learning approach can be used to identify research topics ( Zhu and Lei, 2021 ).

Data availability statement

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/ supplementary material .

Author contributions

SY: conceptualization and methodology. SY and LZ: writing-review and editing and writing-original draft. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This work was supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Fund of China MOE under the grant 20YJC740076 and 18YJC740141.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1052586/full#supplementary-material

Aksnes, D. W. (2003). Characteristics of highly cited papers. Res. Eval. 12, 159–170. doi: 10.3152/147154403781776645

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Anthony, L. (2022). AntConc (version 4.0.5) Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available at: https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software (Accessed June 20, 2022).

Google Scholar

Archila, P. A., Molina, J., and Truscott de Mejía, A.-M. (2021). Fostering bilingual scientific writing through a systematic and purposeful code-switching pedagogical strategy. Int. J. Biling. Educ. Biling. 24, 785–803. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1516189

Blessinger, K., and Hrycaj, P. (2010). Highly cited articles in library and information science: an analysis of content and authorship trends. Libr. Inf. Sci. Res. 32, 156–162. doi: 10.1016/j.lisr.2009.12.007

Chen, H., and Ho, Y. S. (2015). Highly cited articles in biomass research: a bibliometric analysis. Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 49, 12–20. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.04.060

Clark, S. (2017). Translanguaging in higher education: beyond monolingual ideologies. Int. J. Biling. Educ. Biling. 22, 1048–1051. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1322568

Dance, A. (2012). Authorship: Who’s on first? Nature 489, 591–593. doi: 10.1038/nj7417-591a

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Danell, R. (2011). Can the quality of scientific work be predicted using information on the author’s track record? J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 62, 50–60. doi: 10.1002/asi.21454

Darvin, R., and Norton, B. (2015). Identity and a model of Investment in Applied Linguistics. Annu. Rev. Appl. Linguist. 35, 36–56. doi: 10.1017/S0267190514000191

Dewaele, J.-M., and MacIntyre, P. D. (2016). “Foreign language enjoyment and foreign language classroom anxiety: the right and left feet of the language learner” in Positive psychology in SLA . eds. D. M. Peter, G. Tammy, and M. Sarah (Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters), 215–236.

Gardner, R. (2010). Motivation and second language acquisition: The socio-educational model . New York: Peter Lang.

Gong, Y., Lyu, B., and Gao, X. (2018). Research on teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language in and outside mainland China: a bibliometric analysis. Asia Pac. Educ. Res. 27, 277–289. doi: 10.1007/s40299-018-0385-2

Hsu, Y., and Ho, Y. S. (2014). Highly cited articles in health care sciences and services field in science citation index Expanded. Methods Inf. Med. 53, 446–458. doi: 10.3414/ME14-01-0022

Lee, I. (2014). Publish or perish: the myth and reality of academic publishing. Lang. Teach. 47, 250–261. doi: 10.1017/S0261444811000504

Lei, L., and Liao, S. (2017). Publications in linguistics journals from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau (2003–2012): a bibliometric analysis. J. Quant. Ling. 24, 54–64. doi: 10.1080/09296174.2016.1260274

Lei, L., and Liu, D. (2018). The research trends and contributions of System’s publications over the past four decades (1973–2017): a bibliometric analysis. System 80, 1–13. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2018.10.003

Lei, L., and Liu, D. (2019). Research trends in applied linguistics from 2005 to 2016: a bibliometric analysis and its implications. Appl. Linguis. 40, 540–561. doi: 10.1093/applin/amy003

Leivada, E., Westergaard, M., Duabeitia, J. A., and Rothman, J. (2020). On the phantom-like appearance of bilingualism effects on neurocognition: (how) should we proceed? Biling. Lang. Congn. 24, 197–210. doi: 10.1017/S1366728920000358

Li, W. (2011). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Energy Fuel 43, 1222–1235. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.035

Li, W. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Appl. Linguis. 39, 9–30. doi: 10.1093/applin/amx039

Li, C. (2019). A positive psychology perspective on Chinese EFL students’ trait emotional intelligence, foreign language enjoyment and EFL learning achievement. J. Multiling. Multicult. Dev. 41, 246–263. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2019.1614187

Li, C. (2021). A control-value theory approach to boredom in English classes among university students in China. Mod. Lang. J. 105, 317–334. doi: 10.1111/modl.12693

Li, C., Dewaele, J. M., and Hu, Y. (2021). Foreign language learning boredom: conceptualization and measurement. Appl. Ling. Rev. doi: 10.1515/applirev-2020-0124

Li, C., Dewaele, J. M., and Jiang, G. (2019). The complex relationship between classroom emotions and EFL achievement in China. Appl. Ling. Rev. 11, 485–510. doi: 10.1515/applirev-2018-0043

Li, C., Jiang, G., and Jean-Marc, D. (2018). Understanding Chinese high school students’ foreign language enjoyment: validation of the Chinese version of the foreign language enjoyment scale. System 76, 183–196. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2018.06.004

Liao, S., and Lei, L. (2017). What we talk about when we talk about corpus: a bibliometric analysis of corpus-related research in linguistics (2000-2015). Glottometrics 38, 1–20.

Liao, H., Tang, M., Li, Z., and Lev, B. (2018). Bibliometric analysis for highly cited papers in operations research and management science from 2008 to 2017 based on essential science indicators. Omega 88, 223–236. doi: 10.1016/j.omega.2018.11.005

Luk, G., Sa, E. D., and Bialystok, E. (2011). Is there a relation between onset age of bilingualism and enhancement of cognitive control? Biling. Lang. Cogn. 14, 588–595. doi: 10.1017/S1366728911000010

Macaro, E., Curle, S., Pun, J., and Dearden, J. (2018). A systematic review of English medium instruction in higher education. Lang. Teach. 51, 36–76. doi: 10.1017/S0261444817000350

Macintyre, P., Gregersen, T., and Mercer, S. (2019). Setting an agenda for positive psychology in SLA: theory, practice, and research. Mod. Lang. J. 103, 262–274. doi: 10.1111/modl.12544

Mancebo, F. P., Sapena, A. F., Herrera, M. V., González, L., Toca, H., and Benavent, R. A. (2013). Scientific literature analysis of judo in web of science. Arch. Budo 9, 81–91. doi: 10.12659/AOB.883883

Marui, M., Bozikov, J., Katavi, V., Hren, D., Kljakovi-Gapi, M., and Marui, A. (2004). Authorship in a small medical journal: a study of contributorship statements by corresponding authors. Sci. Eng. Ethics 10, 493–502. doi: 10.1007/s11948-004-0007-7

May, S. (2014). The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education . New York: Routledge.

Mondada, L. (2016). Challenges of multimodality: language and the body in social interaction. J. Socioling. 20, 336–366. doi: 10.1111/josl.1_12177

Mondada, L. (2018). Multiple temporalities of language and body in interaction: challenges for transcribing multimodality. Res. Lang. Soc. Interact. 51, 85–106. doi: 10.1080/08351813.2018.1413878

Mondada, L. (2019). Contemporary issues in conversation analysis: embodiment and materiality, multimodality and multisensoriality in social interaction. J. Pragmat. 145, 47–62. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2019.01.016

Naiman, N. (1978). The good language learner . Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Newman, M. (2008). The first-mover advantage in scientific publication. Eplasty 86, 68001–68006. doi: 10.1209/0295-5075/86/68001

Newman, M. (2014). Prediction of highly cited papers. Eplasty 105:28002. doi: 10.1209/0295-5075/105/28002

Norton, B., and Toohey, K. (2011). Identity, language learning, and social change. Lang. Teach. 44, 412–446. doi: 10.1017/S0261444811000309

Ortega, L. (2019). SLA and the study of equitable multilingualism. Mod. Lang. J. 103, 23–38. doi: 10.1111/modl.12525

Ping, Z., Thijs, B., and Glnzel, W. (2009). Is China also becoming a giant in social sciences? Scientometrics 79, 593–621. doi: 10.1007/s11192-007-2068-x

Pritchard, A. (1969). Statistical bibliography or bibliometrics. J. Doc. 25, 348–349.

Ríos, L. J. C., Tamao, I. M., and Olmos, J. (2013). Bibliometric study (1922-2009) on rugby articles in research journals. South Afr. J. Res. Sport Phys. Educ. Rec. 17, 313–109. doi: 10.3176/tr.2013.3.06

Ruggeri, G., Orsi, L., and Corsi, S. (2019). A bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on Fairtrade labelling. Int. IJC 43, 134–152. doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12492

Sabiote, C. R., and Rodríguez, J. A. (2015). Bibliometric study and methodological quality indicators of the journal porta Linguarum during six year period 2008-2013. Porta Ling. 24, 135–150. doi: 10.30827/Digibug.53866

Schissel, J. L., De Korne, H., and López-Gopar, M. E. (2018). Grappling with translanguaging for teaching and assessment in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts: teacher perspectives from Oaxaca, Mexico. Int. J. Biling. Educ. Biling. 24, 340–356. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2018.1463965

Shen, Q., and Gao, X. (2018). Multilingualism and policy making in greater China: ideological and implementational spaces. Lang. Policy 18, 1–16. doi: 10.1007/s10993-018-9473-7

Small, H. (2004). Why authors think their papers are highly cited. Scientometrics 60, 305–316. doi: 10.1023/B:SCIE.0000034376.55800.18

Smith, D. R. (2007). The New Zealand timber economy, 1840–1935. N. Z. Med. J. 120, U2871–U2313. doi: 10.1016/0305-7488(90)90044-C

van Doorslaer, L., and Gambier, Y. (2015). Measuring relationships in translation studies. On affiliations and keyword frequencies in the translation studies bibliography. Perspectives 23, 305–319. doi: 10.1080/0907676X.2015.1026360

van Oorschot, J. A. W. H., Hofman, E., and Halman, J. (2018). A bibliometric review of the innovation adoption literature. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 134, 1–21. doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.04.032

Xie, Z., and Willett, P. (2013). The development of computer science research in the People’s republic of China 2000–2009: a bibliometric study. Inf. Dev. 29, 251–264. doi: 10.1177/0266666912458515

Yan, S., Zhang, H., and Wang, J. (2022). Trends and hot topics in radiology, nuclear medicine and medical imaging from 2011–2021: a bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers. Jpn. J. Radiol. 40, 847–856. doi: 10.1007/s11604-022-01268-z

Zhu, H., and Lei, L. (2021). A dependency-based machine learning approach to the identification of research topics: a case in COVID-19 studies. Lib. Hi Tech 40, 495–515. doi: 10.1108/LHT-01-2021-0051

Zhu, H., and Lei, L. (2022). The research trends of text classification studies (2000–2020): a bibliometric analysis. SAGE Open 12, 215824402210899–215824402210816. doi: 10.1177%2F21582440221089963

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, linguistics, highly cited papers, corpus analysis, research trends

Citation: Yan S and Zhang L (2023) Trends and hot topics in linguistics studies from 2011 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis of highly cited papers. Front. Psychol . 13:1052586. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1052586

Received: 24 September 2022; Accepted: 23 December 2022; Published: 11 January 2023.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2023 Yan and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Le Zhang, ✉ [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Linguistics

• Find Background Information
• Search@UW Search Bar
• Linguistics Databases

Linguistics Journals

• Linguistics Books from the UWM Libraries' Collection
• Search for non-English Sources
• How to find books in Search@UW

Using Library Databases (video)

• Find Videos
• Find Corpora & Digital Resources
• Cite Sources
• UWM Libraries Accessible Services and Resources This link opens in a new window
• Researcher Orientation to UWM Libraries This link opens in a new window

Request Materials from Other Institutions

The UWM Libraries provide access to information resources from their own collection, from the collections of the other institutions within the University of Wisconsin Library System, and to other resources outside of those collections through InterLibrary Loan (ILL).

• Request Items from UW System
• Request Items through ILL

Search in Search@UW

Find articles, uw books, digital collections & media.

[ Advanced Search ]

Databases for Linguistics Research

• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts This database abstracts and indexes the international literature in linguistics and related disciplines in the language sciences. The database covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Documents indexed include journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations and working papers.
• MLA International Bibliography MLA International Bibliography indexes international scholarly materials, including over 4,400 journals, books, working papers, and conference proceedings on language, literature, linguistics, and folklore. It is updated 10 times a year.
• Web of Science Web of Science includes three databases: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. It indexes over 12,000 journals and 120,000 conference proceedings with the strongest coverage in the sciences (over 8,500 journals), followed by social sciences (over 3,000 journals), and arts and humanities (over 1,700 fully indexed journals). Our Web of Science subscription includes articles published from 1987 to the present; updated weekly. For impact factor information about specific journals use Journal Citation Reports.

Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 7,000 full-text periodicals, including nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 11,000 journals and a total of more than 11,600 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 journals.

Anthropological Literature is the most comprehensive international resource for the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and related interdisciplinary research. Produced by one of the world's foremost anthropology libraries, Anthropological Literature indexes entries at least two pages long in nearly 900 journals and monographic series held in Harvard University's Tozzer Library. These include articles, reports, commentaries and obituaries. Anthropological Literature online now covers articles published from the late 19th century to the present, including the complete contents of Anthropological Literature: An Index to Periodical Articles and Essays (published quarterly since 1979). PLEASE NOTE: The UWM Libraries has 3 simultaneous users for this service. If you can not access the service please try again later.

• Communication & Mass Media Complete Communication & Mass Media Complete is an index of articles in communication and mass media, communication sciences and disorders. It does include some full text.

• ACL Anthology The ACL Anthology currently hosts 76357 papers on the study of computational linguistics and natural language processing.
• SocArXiv Open archive of the social sciences that provides a free, non-profit, open access platform for social scientists to upload working papers, preprints, and published papers, with the option to link data and code. SocArXiv papers are moderated before appearing.
• BrowZine The BrowZine portal can be used to find, read, and monitor periodical publications. You can browse by subject or view tables of contents for specific titles.
• Glossa The journal is dedicated to general linguistics. It publishes contributions from all areas of linguistics, provided they contain theoretical implications that shed light on the nature of language and the language faculty. Contributions should be of interest to all linguists, independently of their own specialisation.
• International Journal of Bilingualism The International Journal of Bilingualism (IJB) is an international, peer-reviewed, forum for the dissemination of original research on the linguistic, psychological, neurological, and social issues which emerge from language contact. While stressing interdisciplinary links, the focus of the Journal is on the language behavior of the bi- and multilingual individual.
• Journal of Linguistics Journal of Linguistics has as its goal to publish articles that make a clear contribution to current debate in all branches of theoretical linguistics. The journal also provides a survey of recent linguistics publications, with book reviews in each volume and review articles on major works marking important theoretical advances. The journal includes a Notes and Discussion section for briefer contributions to current debate.
• Journal of Memory and Language Articles in the Journal of Memory and Language contribute to the formulation of scientific issues and theories in the areas of memory, language comprehension and production, and cognitive processes. Special emphasis is given to research articles that provide new theoretical insights based on a carefully laid empirical foundation. The journal generally favors articles that provide multiple experiments. In addition, significant theoretical papers without new experimental findings may be published. The Journal of Memory and Language is a valuable tool for cognitive scientists, including psychologists, linguists, and others interested in memory and learning, language, reading, and speech.
• Journal of Phonetics The Journal of Phonetics publishes papers of an experimental or theoretical nature that deal with phonetic aspects of language and linguistic communication processes. Papers dealing with technological and/or pathological topics, or papers of an interdisciplinary nature are also suitable, provided that linguistic-phonetic principles underlie the work reported.
• Journal of Pragmatics The Journal of Pragmatics brings together a wide range of research in pragmatics, including cognitive pragmatics, corpus pragmatics, experimental pragmatics, historical pragmatics, interpersonal pragmatics, multimodal pragmatics, sociopragmatics, theoretical pragmatics and related fields. The Journal of Pragmatics also encourages work that uses attested language data to explore the relationship between pragmatics and neighbouring research areas such as semantics, discourse analysis, conversation analysis and ethnomethodology, interactional linguistics, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, media studies, psychology, sociology, and the philosophy of language.
• Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research JSLHR publishes peer-reviewed research and other scholarly articles on the normal and disordered processes in speech, language, hearing, and related areas such as cognition, oral-motor function, and swallowing. The journal is an international outlet for both basic research on communication processes and clinical research pertaining to screening, diagnosis, and management of communication disorders as well as the etiologies and characteristics of these disorders. JSLHR seeks to advance evidence-based practice by disseminating the results of new studies as well as providing a forum for critical reviews and meta-analyses of previously published work.
• Language Language, the flagship journal of the Linguistic Society of America, publishes peer-reviewed articles dealing with issues in linguistic theory and a wide range of subfields of linguistics and related disciplines, as well as book reviews, notes of interest to the academic and professional linguistics community, and commentary of various kinds.
• Language Acquisition Language Acquisition is an interdisciplinary journal serving the fields of first and second language acquisition. Research published in the journal addresses theoretical questions about language acquisition and language development from a variety of perspectives and a variety of methodological approaches.
• Language and Education Research on theory, practice, curricula, pedagogy and evaluation to improve learning and literacy outcomes in mother tongue and second-language education.
• Language in Society Language in Society is an international journal of sociolinguistics concerned with language and discourse as aspects of social life. The journal publishes empirical articles of general theoretical, comparative or methodological interest to students and scholars in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, and related fields. Language in Society aims to strengthen international scholarship and interdisciplinary conversation and cooperation among researchers interested in language and society by publishing work of high quality which speaks to a wide audience.
• Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism LAB is an international peer-reviewed journal which provides an outlet for cutting-edge studies on linguistic aspects of bilingualism. LAB assumes a broad definition of bilingualism, including work on: adult L2 acquisition/processing, simultaneous child bilingualism, child L2 acquisition/processing, adult and child heritage language bilingualism, L1 attrition in L2/Ln environments, and adult/child L3/Ln acquisition/processing. LAB publishes original research with a linguistic focus on the understanding of bilingual language acquisition and processing and the effects bilingualism has on cognition and the brain.
• Linguistic Inquiry Linguistic Inquiry leads the field in research on current topics in linguistics. This key resource explores new theoretical developments based on the latest international scholarship, capturing the excitement of contemporary debate in full-scale articles as well as shorter contributions (Squibs and Discussion) and more extensive commentary (Remarks and Replies).
• The Modern Language Journal The editorial mission of The Modern Language Journal is to publish “research and discussion about the learning and teaching of foreign and second languages.” The MLJ is an international refereed journal that is dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among researchers and teachers of all modern foreign languages and English as a second language. The journal is particularly committed to publishing high quality work in non-English languages. Its publication focus is further defined by linking the findings of research to teaching and learning in a variety of settings and on all educational levels.
• Phonology Phonology is the only journal devoted to all aspects of the discipline, and provides a unique forum for the productive interchange of ideas among phonologists and those working in related disciplines.
• Syntax Syntax publishes a wide range of articles on the syntax of natural languages and closely related fields. The journal promotes work on formal syntactic theory and theoretically-oriented descriptive work on particular languages and comparative grammar. Syntax also publishes research on the interfaces between syntax and related fields such as semantics, morphology, and phonology, as well as theoretical and experimental studies in sentence processing, language acquisition, and other areas of psycholinguistics that bear on syntactic theories.
• TESOL Quarterly TESOL Quarterly, a professional, refereed journal. The Quarterly publishes articles on topics of signficance to individuals concerned with English language teaching and learning and standard English as a second dialect.
• Theoretical Linguistics Theoretical Linguistics is an open peer review journal. Each issue contains one long target article about a topic of general linguistic interest, together with several shorter reactions, comments and reflections on it. With this format, the journal aims to stimulate discussion in linguistics and adjacent fields of study, in particular across schools of different theoretical orientations.

Featured Linguistics Books from the Collection

Search for Sources in Languages other than English

For example: You'd like to find books in Spanish about Pablo Picasso to check out from the UWM Libraries and request from other UW-System Libraries. 

• Start with an Advanced Search in Search@UW
• Enter your search terms or keywords in the "Any Field" box (in this case: Pablo Picasso)
• Use the "Language" drop down menu to select your language

This first results list includes:

• Translations of books that were originally written in Spanish and are now translated into English or another foreign language
• Books with Spanish and (usually) English side-by-side translations
• Books written in Spanish​

To further refine your search to include  only  untranslated books (i.e., books in Spanish):

• You must "Exclude" other languages
• The final results list includes only books written in Spanish that are available at the UWM Libraries and other UW-System Libraries

How to Search@UW

• << Previous: Find Background Information
• Next: Find Videos >>
• Last Updated: May 2, 2024 1:42 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.uwm.edu/linguistics

• Architecture and Design
• Asian and Pacific Studies
• Business and Economics
• Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Computer Sciences
• Cultural Studies
• Engineering
• General Interest
• Geosciences
• Industrial Chemistry
• Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Library and Information Science, Book Studies
• Life Sciences
• Linguistics and Semiotics
• Literary Studies
• Materials Sciences
• Mathematics
• Social Sciences
• Sports and Recreation
• Theology and Religion
• Publish your article
• The role of authors
• Promoting your article
• Abstracting & indexing
• Publishing Ethics
• Why publish with De Gruyter
• How to publish with De Gruyter
• Our book series
• Our subject areas
• Your digital product at De Gruyter
• Contribute to our reference works
• Product information
• Tools & resources
• Product Information
• Promotional Materials
• Orders and Inquiries
• FAQ for Library Suppliers and Book Sellers
• Repository Policy
• Free access policy
• Open Access agreements
• Database portals
• For Authors
• Customer service
• People + Culture
• Journal Management
• How to join us
• Working at De Gruyter
• Mission & Vision
• De Gruyter Foundation
• De Gruyter Ebound
• Our Responsibility
• Partner publishers

Your purchase has been completed. Your documents are now available to view.

Cognitive Linguistics - Key Topics

• Edited by: Ewa Dąbrowska and Dagmar Divjak
• X / Twitter

Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product.

• Language: English
• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Copyright year: 2019
• Audience: Students, Researchers, Practitioners, General Readers
• Front matter: 6
• Main content: 314
• Keywords: Cognitive Linguistics ; Usage-based Linguistics ; Language ; Mind and Culture
• Published: July 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9783110626438
• ISBN: 9783110622997

Summer II 2024 Application Deadline is June 26, 2024.  

Click here to apply.

Featured Posts

7 Reasons Why You Should Apply to the U.S. Pathways Internship as a High Schooler

10 Internships for High School Students in Illinois

10 Media Internships for High School Students

Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy - Is It Worth It?

25+ Research Ideas in Linguistics You Can Explore as a High Schooler

Research is an invaluable asset in shaping your academic journey, especially for high school students aiming to stand out in college applications. You’ll demonstrate your expertise in an advanced academic topic and ability to create a self-driven project with meaningful analytical methods and findings.

If you have an inclination towards language and communication, exploring the diverse realm of linguistics through research offers a unique path to show interdisciplinary skill across STEM, social sciences, and the humanities. Linguistics extends into disciplines such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and computer science, opening doors to multifaceted research not restricted to a single field . Though university-level linguistics research in linguistics can require a high level of expertise, there are many approachable research topics to demonstrate your passion for the field. 

Let's explore what makes a compelling research topic in linguistics and present 25 intriguing research ideas that might captivate and inspire your linguistic journey.

Historical Linguistics

Fascinated by the evolution of languages through time? Historical linguistics explores the changes languages undergo over centuries. It delves into reconstructing ancient languages, tracking phonological shifts, and uncovering how vocabularies transform. Here are potential research topics in historical linguistics to explore the intricate journeys languages take across history.

Language Shift and Endangerment in Indigenous Communities:  Studying the factors leading to language shift and endangerment in indigenous communities, exploring sociocultural, political, and historical reasons behind language decline.

Proto-Language Reconstruction of a Language Family:  Investigating the common linguistic features among related languages to reconstruct their hypothetical ancestral language, exploring the phonological, morphological, and syntactic traits.

Diachronic Analysis of Sound Changes in a Language:  Tracking the evolution of phonological features across different historical stages of a language family, identifying systematic sound changes.

Morphosyntactic Changes in Historical Texts: Investigating the evolution of grammatical structures and syntactic patterns in historical texts, tracing changes in sentence construction and morphological rules over time.

Linguistic Evolution in Colonized Regions:  Studying the linguistic impact of colonization on indigenous languages, examining how contact with colonial languages has influenced vocabulary, grammar, and language structure over time.

Ever wondered how words are formed and structured? Morphology is the study of word formation and structure within languages.  It dissects how affixes, roots, and compounds create meaning. Exploring topics in morphology unveils the intricate construction of words and their variation between communities, age groups, and languages.

6. Reduplication Patterns in Child Language Development:  Investigating the role and prevalence of reduplication (repeating a word or part of a word) in early language acquisition among toddlers.

7. Compounding in Technical Jargon:  Analyzing how technical fields create new compound words to convey complex concepts and whether these compounds follow specific morphological rules.

8. Derivational Morphology in Slang:  Exploring how slang evolves through the addition of affixes and changes in word forms to convey nuanced meanings in digital communication.

9. Morphological Adaptation in Loanword Integration:  Studying how borrowed words from one language adapt morphologically in another language, especially in terms of affixation and derivation.

10. Diminutives in Children's Speech Development:  Investigating the role and frequency of diminutive forms (such as "-ie" or "-y" endings) in early language acquisition and their impact on language development.

Phonetics and Phonology

Intrigued by the sounds and rhythms of speech? Phonetics studies the physical aspects of speech sounds, while phonology examines how these sounds function within a language's structure. Delving into these areas opens doors to understanding accent variations, sound symbolism, and the intricate rules governing speech patterns.

11. Mimicry and Accent Acquisition:  Investigating how people acquire new accents, examining the effects of exposure duration and social context.

12. Regional dialectal variation: Analyzing pronunciation differences and their development across dialects and the phonological patterns they demonstrate. 

13. Speech Therapy Techniques: Studying effective methods to improve speech impediments, such as articulation exercises or technology-assisted interventions

14. Tonal Patterns in Song Lyrics: Analyzing the use of tone and intonation in lyrics across different music genres to understand how tonal patterns contribute to artistic expression and emotional conveyance.

15. Vowel Reduction in Rapid Speech:  Investigating how vowel reduction occurs in fast-paced speech, particularly in conversational settings, and its impact on overall speech intelligibility.

Psycholinguistics

Interested in how the mind processes language? Psycholinguistics delves into the cognitive mechanisms behind language acquisition, comprehension, and production. It explores how memory, emotions, and perception influence language , offering insights into bilingualism, language development, and more.

16. Language Processing in Bilingual Individuals:  Studying cognitive disparities and variations in speech production and comprehension between the languages of bilingual individuals.

17. Syntactic Error Analysis in Second Language Acquisition:  Examining common mistakes in word ordering and/or sentence formation while learning a new language.

18 . Language and Emotion : Identifying specific linguistic elements, such as tone, lexical choice, or syntactic structures, that influence how emotions are understood and/or expressed in communication. 

19. Speech Perception and Cognitive Load:  Analyzing how external distractions affect the ability to comprehend and/or retain speech information.

20 . Language Development in Children: Studying the milestones and patterns in children’s language acquisition during early developmental stages.

Sociolinguistics

Curious about how language shapes and reflects society? Sociolinguistics explores the interplay between language and social dynamics. It uncovers how language choices signify social identities and how linguistic variations emerge  within communities.

21. Code-Switching Among Peers:  Analyzing why and how individuals switch between languages in conversation, and the contexts in which code-switching occurs most frequently.

22. Perception of Languages and Their Speakers:  Investigating how language biases and stereotypes influence perceptions of different languages and their speakers.

23. Internet Language and Communication: Examining the usage and familiarity of linguistic elements in online communication among different age groups.

24. Linguistic Markers of Identity and Community Membership:  Analyzing how linguistic features and vocabulary are utilized to signify identity traits such as race, class, gender, or sexuality within communities.

25. Language and Workplace Dynamics: Investigating how linguistic choices and communication styles influence workplace interactions and professional relationships, hierarchies, and collaboration among employees.

Suggested by Lumiere member from Princeton University.

One other option – Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you are interested in doing university-level research in linguistics, then you could also consider applying to the   Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online high school program for students that I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the   application form   here.

Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation , a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.

Image Source: Unsplash

• research ideas

Quick links

• Directories
• Make a Gift

Course Catalog and Topics

Uw course catalog.

The UW Course Catalog , part of the Student Guide , lists all courses potentially taught by the department. Not every course in the catalog is available every quarter. To see scheduled courses, see Current & Upcoming .

The Department of Linguistics teaches courses in these three curricula:

• Linguistics (LING)
• Spanish Linguistics (SPLING)
• American Sign Language (ASL)

Undergraduate Courses in Linguistics and Related Fields Course Topics

Introductory Linguistics

The Linguistics department offers several survey courses that provide a broad introduction to the field of linguistics. For more information on choosing an introductory linguistics course, see the Introductory Classes page .

• LING 200 Introduction to Linguistic Thought (5) I&S/VLPA, QSR
• LING 203/ANTH 203 Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics (5) I&S/VLPA
• LING 400 Survey of Linguistic Method and Theory (5) I&S/VLPA, QSR

The Linguistics department also offers introductory-level courses in specific areas of linguistics. Note that these courses may not count towards the linguistics majors or minor; see the Elective Requirement page .

• LING 100 Fundamentals of Grammar (5) VLPA
• LING 101 Fundamentals of Pronunciation for Language Learners (5) VLPA
• LING/GERMAN 220 Origins of the Germanic Languages (5) VLPA
• LING/ANTH/COM 233 Introduction to Language and Society (5) VLPA
• LING 234 Language and Diversity (5) I&S

In addition, introductory linguistics courses are offered by a number of other departments. Prerequisites may apply, and some departments normally restrict courses to majors; contact department advisors for information.

• ASIAN 401 Introduction to Asian Linguistics (5) VLPA
• ENGL 370 English Language Study (5) VLPA
• GERMAN 451 Linguistic Analysis of German (5) VLPA
• JAPAN 440 Introduction to Japanese Linguistics (5) VLPA
• SPAN 323 Introduction to Spanish Linguistics (5) VLPA
• SPHSC 303 Language Science (3) VLPA

Animal Communication

Check the Psychology department listings in the Course Catalog for a variety of courses on animal communication and animal behavior. Prerequisites may apply, and some PSYCH courses are normally open only to PSYCH majors; contact PSYCH advising for information. Of particular interest:

• PSYCH 416 Animal Communication (5) NW

Anthropological Linguistics

LING/ANTH 203 Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics (5) I&S/VLPA Linguistic methods, theories used within anthropology. Basic structural features of language; human language and animal communication compared; evidence for the innate nature of language. Language and culture: linguistic relativism, ethnography of communication, sociolinguistics. Language and nationalism, language politics in the U.S. and elsewhere.

LING/ANTH/COM 233 Introduction to Language and Society (5) VLPA Provides an introduction to the study of language through culture and society, and raises and awareness of the role that society and the individual play in shaping language via the systematic observation and critical discussion of linguistic phenomena.

Check the Anthropology and Communication department listings in the Course Catalog for a variety of courses on language and communication in social and anthropological context. Prerequisites may apply, and some ANTH and COM courses are normally open only to ANTH or COM majors; contact ANTH or COM advising for information. Of particular interest:

ANTH 358 Culture and Cognition (5) I&S/NW Surveys anthropological theories and research on the relationship between language, thought, and behavior. Examines the influence of cultural inheritance on perception, classification, inference, and choice. Describes relevant cross-cultural research methods and evaluates theoretical models used by cognitive anthropologists. Prerequisite: either ANTH 203, LING 203, or PSYCH 355.

ANTH 359 Linguistic Ethnography (5) I&S Language use in cultural contexts. How language reflects world view. Language use in culturally significant settings. Analyzes sets of culturally specific terms in semantic domains. Includes projects demonstrating application of theory and method to data addressing specific problems.

COM 478 Intercultural Communication (5) I&S Investigates intercultural communication theory and its application for varying levels of human interaction: interpersonal, intergroup, and international.

COM 484 Cultural Codes in Communication (5) I&S/VLPA Social and cultural codes in interpersonal communication, with special reference to contemporary American subcultural groups and their communication patterns.

LING/ANTH 464 Language Politics and Cultural Identity (3) I&S/VLPA Theories and case studies of the power of language and how it is manipulated. Multilingualism, diglossia. Role of language and linguistics in nationalism. Standardization, educational policy, language and ethnicity. World languages, language death and revival. Prerequisite: either LING 200, LING 201, ANTH/LING 203, or LING 400.

Other courses which might be of related interest are:

• AES 151 Introduction to the Cultures of American Ethnic Groups (5) I&S
• AIS 201 Introduction: Ethnohistory of Native North America (5) I&S
• AIS 270 Native Peoples of the Pacific Northwest (5) I&S
• AIS 317 North American Indians: The Southwest (5) I&S
• COM 321 Communications in International Relations (5) I&S
• COM 425 European Media Systems (5) I&S
• COM 426 International Media Images (5) I&S
• SLAV 425 Ways of Meaning: Universal and Culture Specific Aspects of Language (5) I&S/VLPA
• SLAV 426 Ways of Feeling: Expressions of Emotions Across Languages and Cultures (5) I&S/VLPA

Applied Linguistics: Language Teaching

EDC&I 453 Teaching the Bilingual-Bicultural Student (3) I&S Educational needs of bilingual students: research findings, special programs, materials, and methodologies that bilingual-bicultural education can provide to meet those needs. Cultural combinations of bilingual populations in American culture; historical, social, and linguistic factors affecting their K-12 education.

SPLING/SPAN 406 Advanced Spanish Grammar (5) VLPA Problems of Spanish grammar. Differences from English grammar. Techniques for the effective teaching of Spanish. Prerequisites: either SPAN 303, SPAN 316 or 330; SPAN 323.

Applied Linguistics: Translation

SPAN 408 Spanish Translation Workshop (5) VLPA Intensive practice in translation to and from Spanish. Texts include literary prose, poetry, expository writing, newspaper and magazine articles. Problems of standard versus colloquial language, transposition of cultural references, concept of fidelity in translation. Prerequisites: either SPAN 303, SPAN 316, or SPAN 330; SPAN 323; recommended: SPAN 406.  

FRENCH 472 French-English/English-French Translation (5) VLPA Intense practice of translation from English into French and from French into English. Translation issues specific to French and English syntactic, semantic, and grammatical differences with emphasis on the naturalness of the target language and the accuracy of the translation of the source language. Conducted in French. Prerequisite: FRENCH 303; either FRENCH 304, FRENCH 305, FRENCH 306, or FRENCH 307.

Computational Linguistics

In addition to the undergraduate-level courses in computational linguistics listed below, the linguistics department's graduate-level courses are open to qualified undergraduates with permission of the instructor.

LING 471 Computational Methods for Linguists (5) QSR Overview of methods for working with linguistic data in electronic form: electronic corpora, linguistic software tools, textual data formats, operating system fundamentals, and basic programming. Prerequisite: either LING 450 or LING 461.

LING/CSE 472 Introduction to Computational Linguistics (5) NW/VLPA Introduction to computational approaches to modeling language, for linguistic research and practical applications, including analyses at different levels of linguistic structure and symbolic as well as statistical approaches. Prerequisites: either LING 200 or LING 400; either LING 461 or CSE 321. Offered: jointly with CSE 472.

LING 473 Basics for Computational Linguistics (3) Examines computer applications involving automatic processing of natural language speech or text by machines. Intended as preparation for CLMA core courses. Includes concepts form probability and statistics; formal grammars and languages; finite-state automata and transducers; review of algorithms and data structures; and software for using parallel server cluster. Prerequisites: CSE 326; STAT 391; programming in Perl, C, C++, Java, or Python. Offered: S.

Check the Computer Science and Engineering listings in the Course Catalog for other relevant courses. Prerequisites may apply, and some CSE courses are normally open only to CSE majors; contact CSE advising for information. Of particular interest:

• CSE 142 Computer Programming for Engineers and Scientists I (4) NW, QSR
• CSE 143 Computer Programming for Engineers and Scientists II (5) NW, QSR
• CSE 373 Data Structures and Algorithms (3)
• CSE 415 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (3) NW

LING 100 Fundamentals of Grammar (5) VLPA Introduction to basic grammatical concepts and terminology. Specifically intended for students planning to take a foreign language or linguistics. Does not count toward the linguistics major or minor.

Historical Linguistics

General historical linguistics.

LING 454 Methods in Comparative Linguistics (5) VLPA Aldridge, Handel Method and theory of historical and comparative linguistics. Problems of phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic change and reconstruction. Prerequisite: either LING 200, LING 201, ANTH/LING 203, or LING 400.

Language Family-Specific Historical Linguistics

ROLING 402 Historical Romance Linguistics (5) VLPA Klausenburger Comparative historical survey of the development of the principal Romance tongues. Prerequisite: LING 400. (UW also offers Latin.)

Scandinavian

SCAND 460 History of the Scandinavian Languages (5) VLPA Development of languages from common Scandinavian to contemporary Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Faroese, and Icelandic. Recommended: DANISH 203, FINN 203, NORW 203, or SWED 203.

SLAV 351 History of the Slavic Languages (5) VLPA External and internal history of Slavic literary languages from the beginnings to the present time, including the development of writing systems, external attempts at reform, and the development of vocabulary. Prerequisite: LING 200.

Language-Specific Historical Linguistics

ENGL 373 History of the English Language (5) VLPA Evolution of English sounds, forms, structures, and word meanings from Anglo-Saxon times to the present. Prerequisite: either ENGL 370 or LING 200.

FRENCH 404 Old French (5) VLPA Designed for acquisition of reading facility in Old French through intensive study of selected texts. (UW also offers Latin.)

(UW offers Classical Greek.)

(UW offers Sanskrit.)

Italian and other Romance Languages

(UW offers Latin.)

LING 415/GERMAN 452 History of the German Language (5) VLPA Traces the history of the German language from early Germanic to the present. Recommended: LING 200 and GERMAN 203. Offered: jointly with LING 415.

JAPAN 405 History of the Japanese Language (5) VLPA Introduction to the history of the Japanese language, including phonology, morphology, syntax, and the writing system. Prerequisite: JAPAN 313. Recommended: JAPAN 440, JAPAN 471.

JAPAN 471 Introduction to Classical Japanese (5) VLPA Introduction to classical Japanese writing system, grammar, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: minimum grade of 2.5 in either JAPAN 313 or JAPAN 334; may not be repeated. Offered: A.

SPLING/SPAN 403 The Evolution of the Spanish Language (5) VLPA Historical survey of Spanish phonology, morphology, and syntax, from Latin origins to the modern language. Prerequisites: either SPAN 301 or SPAN 314; either ANTH 203, LING 200, LING 201, LING 203, LING 400, or SPAN 323. Offered: jointly with SPAN 403. (UW also offers Latin.)

History of Linguistics

LING 402 Survey of the History of Linguistics (3) VLPA/I&S Main trends in linguistic theory and philosophy of linguistics from ancient times through advent of transformational-generative grammar. Includes nineteenth-century comparative and historical grammar, Prague school grammar, American structuralist grammar, major concerns of linguistics today. Prerequisite: LING 451.

Language Contact

LING 430/ANTH 439 Pidgin and Creole Languages (5) VLPA/I&S Explores aspects of the linguistic structure, history, and social context of pidgin and creole languages. Creolization as one possible outcome of language contact. Examines theories of creole genesis, similarities and differences between creole and non-creole languages. Prerequisite: either ANTH 203, LING 200, LING 201, LING 203, or LING 400. Offered: jointly with ANTH 439.

Language Policy

ENGL 478 Language and Social Policy (5) I&S/VLPA Examines the relationship between language policy and social organization; the impact of language policy on immigration, education, and access to resources and political institutions; language policy and revolutionary change; language rights.

ENGL 479 Language Variation and Language Policy in North America (5) I&S/VLPA Surveys basic issues of language variation: phonological, syntactic, semantic, and narrative/discourse differences among speech communities of North American English; examines how language policy can affect access to education, the labor force, and political institutions.

Language Variation

LING/ANTH 432 Sociolinguistics I (5) I&S/VLPA Social variation in the phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon of languages and dialects. Nonstandard language, diglossia, pidgins and creoles, gender differences, bi- and multilingualism, ethnography of speaking, pragmatics, and language attitudes. Prerequisite: either LING 200 or LING 400; recommended: prior or concurrent registration in LING 450. Offered: jointly with ANTH 432.

LING/ANTH 433 Sociolinguistics II (5) I&S/VLPA Examines field methods linguists use in socially oriented studies of language variation and change. Includes language attitudes, study of urban dialects, syntactic variation, sampling and interview design. Discussion of issues related to recording, ethics, and analysis of large bodies of data. Prerequisite: LING 432. Offered: jointly with ANTH 433.

Language-Specific Variation

ENGL 372 World Englishes (5) VLPA Examines emerging World/New Englishes, and variants of English employed as a second language in former colonies of the United Kingdom and United States. Explores issues of standardization and the standard in a global perspective. Prerequisite: ENGL 370, LING 200, or LING 400.

Topics in Japanese Sociolinguistics (5) I&S/VLPA Methodology and theory of sociolinguistic analysis. Reading of research literature and training in analysis of Japanese language data. Prerequisites: JAPAN 312; either JAPAN 343 or JAPAN 440, either of which may be taken concurrently.

General Morphology

LING 481 Introduction to Morphology (5) VLPA Structure of words and the processes by which they are formed. Morphological processes in a wide variety of languages.

Prerequisites: LING 451.

Language-Specific Morphology

HINDI 404 Derivational Morphology of Hindi/Urdu (3) VLPA Shapiro A systematic introduction to the derivational morphology of Hindi/Urdu. Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and English elements in Hindi/Urdu. Treatment of derivational prefixes and suffixes, stem alternations, and methods of compound formation. Prerequisite: HINDI 323.

Philosophical Aspects of Linguistics

PHIL 464 Philosophical Issues in the Cognitive Sciences (5) I&S/NW Philosophical problems connected with research in psychology, artificial intelligence, and other cognitive sciences. Topics vary. Readings from both philosophical and scientific literature. Accessible to nonphilosophers with suitable interests and backgrounds.

General Phonetics

LING 450 Introduction to Linguistic Phonetics (5) VLPA/NW Introduction to the articulatory and acoustic correlates of phonological features. Issues covered include the mapping of dynamic events to static representations, phonetic evidence for phonological description, universal constraints on phonological structure, and implications of psychological speech-sound categorization for phonological theory. Prerequisite: either LING 200 or 400.

LING 453 Experimental Phonetics (5) I&S/NW/VLPA Examines phonetic and phonological aspects of spoken language using experimental methods. Focuses on acoustic phonetics and speech perception. Significant time devoted to experimental design and hands-on data analysis techniques. Prerequisite: LING 451.

SPHSC 302 Phonetics (3) VLPA Introduction to the description and classification of speech sounds with a focus on American English. Phonetic analysis of segmental and suprasegmental properties of speech. Practice using the International Phonetic Alphabet to transcribe normal and disordered speech patterns. Prerequisite: either SPHSC 303, LING 200, or LING 400. Offered: W.

Articulatory Phonetics

SPHSC 320 Anatomy and Physiology of Speech (5) NW Anatomy and physiology of the speech and swallowing mechanism, including the respiratory, phonatory, and resonatory systems and the neural control. Examples and laboratory work are directed toward clinical issues in speech-language pathology.

Offered: Sp.

Acoustic Phonetics

SPHSC 261 The Nature of Sound (4) NW Fundamental principles of sound and vibration with emphasis on examples relevant to the speech and hearing systems. Recommended: MATH 120; PHYS 114. Offered: W,S.

PHYS 116 General Physics (4) NW, QSR Basic principles of physics presented without use of calculus. Suitable for students majoring in technically oriented fields other than engineering or the physical sciences. Sound, light, and modern physics. Credit is not given for both PHYS 116 and PHYS 123. Prerequisite: PHYS 115 or PHYS 122. Recommended: concurrent registration in PHYS 119. Offered: AWSpS.

Auditory Phonetics

SPHSC 461 Introduction to Hearing Science (5) NW Basic aspects of hearing and the ear and auditory nervous system. How the auditory system constructs an image of the acoustic environment. How attention and memory influence hearing. Effects of damage to the auditory system. Prerequisite: either SPHSC 261 or PSYCH 333. Offered: Sp.

SPHSC 462 Hearing Development (3) NW Description of the changes that occur in human hearing during development. Consideration of the possible explanations for early immaturity. Prerequisite: SPHSC 461. Offered: A, even years.

General Phonology

LING 451, 452 Phonology I, II (5, 5) VLPA/I&S Hargus, Kaisse Speech sounds, mechanism of their production, and structuring of sounds in languages; generative view of phonology; autosegmental and metrical phonology. LING 451 Prerequisite: LING 450. LING 452 Prerequisite: LING 451.

Language-Specific Phonology

LING 446 English Phonology(3) VLPA Hargus Descriptively oriented approach to of English phonology and phonetics; dialect differences. Prerequisite: LING 450.

SPHSC 308 Social-Cultural Aspects of Communication (3) I&S Introduction to human communication in context. Exploration of ways communication is influenced by context, including situational, social/interpersonal, and cultural variables. Studies systems and cultural practices as they influence communication. Offered: WS.

Psycholinguistics

General psycholinguistics.

LING/PSYCH 447 Psychology of Language (4) VLPA/I&S Osterhout Introduction to the study of language, including language structure, speech perception, language acquisition, psychological processes underlying comprehension and production of language, the relation between brain and language, and the question of the species-specificity of human language. Prerequisite: 2.0 in either PSYCH 209 or either LING 200 or LING 201. Offered: jointly with PSYCH 447.

SPHSC 425 Speech, Language, Hearing, and the Brain (4) NW Addresses the neural bases of topics in speech, language, and hearing with an emphasis on the normal aspects of central nervous system anatomy, physiology, and function. Gives attention to issues relevant to understanding disordered systems and to points of contemporary debate among neuroscientists. Offered: W.

Check the Psychology listings in the Course Catalog for other relevant courses. Prerequisites may apply, and some PSYCH courses are normally open only to PSYCH majors; contact PSYCH advising for information. Of particular interest:

• PSYCH 355 Cognitive Psychology (5) I&S
• PSYCH 460 Cognitive Neuroscience (4) NW

Language Acquisition

JAPAN 441 The Acquisition of Japanese as a Second or Foreign Language (5) Ohta Focuses on how Japanese is acquired or learned by non-native speakers in North America and Japan. Includes study of how Japanese is learned in both naturalistic settings such as study abroad and in foreign language classrooms. Prerequisite: either JAPAN 312, which may be taken concurrently, or JAPAN 334.

LING 449 Second-Language Learning (5) VLPA Herschensohn Issues related to the linguistic aspects of second-language learning. Prerequisite: either LING 200, LING 201, ANTH/LING 203, or LING 400.

PSYCH 414 Cognitive Development (5) I&S Key theoretical and research approaches to cognitive development from infancy through adolescence. Sensorimotor development, language development, imitation, number concepts, logical reasoning, memory, cognition in adolescents, intelligence, and the role of biology, environment, and experience. Prerequisite: Prerequisite: either 2.0 in PSYCH 306, or 2.0 in both PSYCH 206 and PSYCH 209.

SPHSC 304 Developmental Aspects of Communication (5) I&S Patterns of communicative development in English speaking children and adolescents. Introduction to the study of language and communication from a developmental perspective. Application to children with various types of communication impairments. Prerequisites: either SPHSC 303, ANTH 203, LING 200, or LING 400. Offered: Sp.

COM 480 Communication in Adolescent Environments (5) VLPA/I&S Study of the communication process in youth environments with a primary focus on formal and informal learning. Includes critical analysis of communication in contemporary instructional settings and the development of communication strategies for teaching and learning. Also of related interest to those studying language acquisition:

• PSYCH 306 Developmental Psychology (5) I&S

Language Processing

LING 441 Language Processing and Development 1 (5) I&S/NW A. OMAKI This course explores current research on language processing and development in adult native speakers and children, with a focus on sound and world-level representations. Topics include speech perception, word recognition, acquisition of phonology and word meanings, as well as a variety of methodologies that are used to study these mechanisms. Prerequisite: LING 200 or LING 400. Offered: A.

LING 442 Language Processing and Development 2 (5) I&S Overview of research on language processing and development in adult native speakers and children, with a focus on the sentence-level representations. Topics include processing of syntactic/semantic representations, development of morpho-syntax, semantics and pragmatics, as well as variety of methodologies for studying these mechanisms.  

SPHSC 445 Models of Speech Processing (3) NW Examines models and basic issues concerning how spoken language is processed. Presents current issues, theories, and research relative to the levels of processing entailed in producing and comprehending speech. Prerequisites: SPHSC 302, 303, 320, and 425. Offered: SpS.

LING 442 Semantics I (5) VLPA/NW Ogihara Introduction to the study of meaning as part of linguistic theory. Relation of semantics to syntax. Emphasis on formal semantics and pragmatics. Discussion of various semantic phenomena in natural language that are theoretically relevant. Prerequisite: LING 461.

LING/PHIL 479 Semantics II (3) VLPA/I&S/NW Ogihara Formal characterization of linguistic meaning. Emphasis on nature and purpose of formal semantics and on its relation to formal syntax. Prerequisite: LING 442. Offered: jointly with PHIL 479.

PHIL 120 Introduction to Logic (5) I&S/NW, QSR Elementary symbolic logic. The development, application, and theoretical properties of an artificial symbolic language designed to provide a clear representation of the logical structure of deductive arguments. Offered: AWSpS.

LING 476 Philosophy of Language (5) VLPA/I&S Current theories of meaning, reference, predication, and related concepts. Recommended: PHIL 120. Offered: jointly with PHIL 453.

Also of related interest to those studying semantics (or pragmatics):

• PHIL 363 Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind (5) I&S
• PHIL 463 Philosophy of Mind (5) I&S
• PHIL 470 Intermediate Logic (5) I&S/NW, QSR
• PHIL 471 Advanced Logic (5) I&S/NW
• PHIL 472 Axiomatic Set Theory (5) I&S/NW
• PHIL 474 Modal Logic (5) I&S/NW

Speech Disorders

SPHSC 250 Human Communication and Its Disorders (5) I&S/NW Overview of normal and impaired human communication, including speech, language, and hearing disorders. Offered: WS.

SPHSC 305 Speech and Language Disorders (5) NW Etiology and nature of developmental and acquired communication disorders across the lifespan. Behavioral characteristics of language delay and disorders, developmental apraxia of speech, phonological disorders, stuttering, acquired aphasia, apraxia of speech and dysarthria, craniofacial anomalies, and voice disorders. Prerequisite: SPHSC 302; SPHSC 304; SPHSC 320. Offered: A.

SPHSC 405 Diagnosis of Speech and Language Disorders (3) NW Principles and procedures for the diagnosis of speech and language disorders. Prerequisite: SPHSC 305. Offered: W.

SPHSC 406 Treatment of Speech and Language Disorders (4) NW Principles and procedures for planning, implementing, and evaluating treatment for speech and language disorders. Prerequisite: SPHSC 405. Offered: SpS.

General Syntax

LING 461, 462 Syntax I, II (5, 5) VLPA/I&S Zagona, Citko, Aldridge Study of the structural properties of language; introduction to generative transformational syntax. LING 461 Prerequisite: either LING 200 or LING 400. LING 462 Prerequisite: either LING 461.

Language-Specific Syntax

CHIN 443 Structure of Chinese (5) VLPA Outline of the major grammatical structures of Chinese. Focus on learning and teaching problems. Prerequisite: CHIN 413.

ENGL 371 English Syntax (5) VLPA Description of sentence, phrase, and word structures in present-day English. Prerequisite: ENGL 370, LING 200 or LING 400.

Visual Languages

American sign language.

ASL 305 Deaf Studies (3) I&S Introduces the language, culture, and community of Deaf people. Covers topics in Deaf history, education, sociology, language, legal issues, art and literature, organizations and services for the Deaf, technological devices, and the nature of Deafhood. Analyzes issues such as methods of Deaf education, biomedical ethics, and the social movements in Deaf community.

LING 403 Structure of American Sign Language (5) VLPA Introduction to the phonological, morphological, and syntactic structure of American Sign Language. Topics include acquisition, sociolinguisitics, neurolinguisitics, lexicography, history, and culture. Knowledge of American Sign Language is not required. Prerequisite: LING 200, 201, 203, or 400.

Of possible interest to students of a visual language is:

COM 376 Nonverbal Communication (5) VLPA/I&S Reviews the nature of nonverbal communication as part of the human message system. Discusses research on the types of cues that are part of the nonverbal system, reviews some communicative functions allowed by nonverbal cues (e.g., emotional expressions, relational messages, deception, coordination, or interaction), and ties nonverbal communication to language.

In addition, UW offers: SPHSC 481 Management of Hearing Loss (4) NW Introduction to methods of communicative rehabilitation of person with hearing loss. Remediation principles of auditory and visual perception, amplification, communication strategies, and information counseling. Prerequisite: SPHSC 471; may not be repeated. Offered: WSp.

Writing Systems

Language family-specific writing systems.

ASIAN 404 Writing Systems (3) VLPA Origin, nature, and development of writing systems. Alphabets, syllabaries, and logographic systems; relation of writing systems to spoken languages; decipherment of previously undeciphered scripts.

Other Courses with Linguistic Content or Content Related to Linguistics

LING 480 Topics in Linguistics (3, max. 12) VLPA Introduction to an area of linguistic study not covered by the regular departmental course offerings.

LING/COM 470 Discourse: Analyzing Talk and Texts (5) I&S/VLPA A critical and practical introduction to contemporary theories/methods in discourse analysis: how verbal communication (together with visual communication) is used in conversational talk and mediztized texts to construct identities and relationships; and how power and ideology are reproduced through these everyday social interactions. Offered: jointly with COM 470.

SLAV 210 Introduction to Bilingualism (5) VLPA/I&S Provides a multidisciplinary examination of bilingualism as a societal and individual phenomenon. Considers language versus dialect, diglossia, state language policies, language rights, indigenous languages, and linguistic minorities. Explores bilingualism and biculturalism as human experience and as indexes of identity. Includes a fieldwork project focused on linguistic diversity in the Pacific Northwest. Offered: W.

Language Family-Specific

ASIAN 405 Advanced Problems in Asian Linguistics (3) VLPA Advanced problems in the analysis of the languages of east, southeast, south, and central Asia. Includes phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicography, historical reconstruction, linguistic typology, and comparative grammar. Prerequisite: ASIAN 401.

ASIAN 498 Special Topics (1-5, max. 15) VLPA Offered occasionally by permanent or visiting faculty members. Topics vary, but may include topics of linguistic interest. Offered: AWSp.

SLAV 470 Special Topics in Slavic Linguistics (3-5, max. 15) VLPA Special topics in Slavic linguistics. Course offerings based on instructor's specialty and student demand.

Language-Specific

ARAB 457 Arabic Grammatical Texts (3) VLPA Introduction to concepts and terminology of Arabic grammar and lexicography through readings from scholars such as Sibawayh, Ibn Aqil, and Ibn Manzur. Prerequisites: ARAB 423.

CHIN 342 The Chinese Language (5) VLPA Nature and structure of the Chinese language, covering structural characteristics, genetic and typological affiliation, standard Mandarin and Chinese dialects, Chinese writing system, history of the Chinese language, and cultural aspects. Prerequisite: either CHIN 103, CHIN 113, or CHIN 134; recommended: either CHIN 201, CHIN 211, or CHIN 234.

GERMAN 496 History of Germanic Philology (5) VLPA Introduction to the works of outstanding scholars in the field of Germanics.

GERMAN 498 Studies in the German Language (1-6, max. 15)

JAPAN 342 The Japanese Language (5) VLPA Survey of the nature and structure of the Japanese language, covering genetic and typological affiliations, writing systems, lexicon, and features of Japanese sentence structures. Prerequisite: either JAPAN 311 or JAPAN 334, which may be taken concurrently.

JAPAN 343 Japanese Language in Society (5) VLPA/I&S Survey of issues in Japanese language use. Areas covered include dialectical variation, language attitudes, gender differences, and pragmatics. Prerequisite: either JAPAN 311 or JAPAN 334, which may be taken concurrently.

Latin & Greek

CLAS 101 Latin and Greek in Current Use (2) VLPA Designed to improve and increase English vocabulary through a study of the Latin and Greek elements in English, with emphasis on words in current literary and scientific use. No auditors. Knowledge of Latin or Greek is not required. Credit/no credit only. Offered: AWSpS.

RUSS 451 Structure of Russian (5) VLPA Descriptive analysis of contemporary standard Russian. Detailed phonetic transcription, discussion of major Great Russian dialects as well as variations in popular speech, examination of common roots and productive derivational elements in Russian words, and elementary principles of syntax. Prerequisites: either RUSS 303 or RUSS 350; LING 200. Offered: W.

SPLING/SPAN 404 Dialects of World Spanish (5) Introduction to dialectical variants of Spanish. Considers standardization and the real academia; variation and change; pragmatics and politeness; Spanish in contact; sound, word formation, and grammar variation. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisites: either SPAN 301 or SPAN 314; either SPAN 323, LING 200, or LING 400. Offered: jointly with SPAN 404.

SPLING/SPAN 406 Advanced Spanish Grammar (5) VLPA Problems of Spanish grammar. Differences from English grammar. Techniques for the effective teaching of Spanish. Prerequisites: either SPAN 303, SPAN 316 or 330; SPAN 323. Offered: jointly with SPAN 406.

•   Facebook
•   Twitter
•   Newsletter

Essential Topics in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism

Studies in Honor of David Singleton

• © 2014
• Mirosław Pawlak 0 ,
• Larissa Aronin 1

Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts Dept. of English Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland

You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Graduate Studies Faculty, Oranim Academic College of Education, Tivon, Israel

• The papers included in the collection offer state-of-the-art perspectives on a number of key issues in applied linguistics and multilingualism
• Many of the contributions report on the findings of original research that enhance our knowledge concerning the acquisition of additional languages and the variables affecting this process
• Some of the papers pave the way for new lines of inquiry or advance our knowledge in areas that have only recently have become the focus of attention for theorists and researchers, as the case may be with the role of affordances or the contribution of material culture
• Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Second Language Learning and Teaching (SLLT)

43k Accesses

152 Citations

2 Altmetric

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

About this book

Similar content being viewed by others, direct and indirect effects of multilingualism on novel language learning: an integrative review.

Michael Zock: A Life of Interdisciplinary Research and International Engagement

Lines of Thought

• Applied Linguistics
• Language Use
• Multilingualism
• Second Language Acquisition

Table of contents (17 chapters)

Front matter, essential topics in applied linguistics, can you learn to love grammar and so make it grow on the role of affect in l2 development.

• Michael Sharwood Smith

It’s All in the Eyes: How Language Dominance, Salience, and Context Affect Eye Movements During Idiomatic Language Processing

• Anna B. Cieślicka, Roberto R. Heredia, Marc Olivares

The Critical Period Hypothesis for Second Language Acquisition: Tailoring the Coat of Many Colors

• David Birdsong

The Association Between Aptitude Components and Language Skills in Young Learners

• Carmen Muñoz

Cross-Linguistic Influence in L2 Writing: The Role of Short-Term Memory

• Agni Skrzypek

Another Look at Temporal Variation in Language Learning Motivation: Results of a Study

• Mirosław Pawlak, Anna Mystkowska-Wiertelak, Jakub Bielak

Testing Linguistic Awareness Among Learners of Hungarian

• Judit Navracsics, Gyula Sáry, Szilvia Bátyi, Csilla Varga

Dyslexia in the European EFL Teacher Training Context

• Joanna Nijakowska

Essential Topics in Multilingualism

The concept of affordances in applied linguistics and multilingualism.

Larissa Aronin

On Multilingual Awareness or Why the Multilingual Learner is a Specific Language Learner

• Ulrike Jessner

Face to Face with One’s Thoughts: On Thinking Multilingually

• Danuta Gabryś-Barker

Crosslinguistic Influence in Instructed L3 Child Phonological Acquisition

• Romana Kopečková

Crosslinguistic Influence and Bilingual Children’s Weaker Language

• Justyna Leśniewska, Ewa Witalisz

Learners’ Reflections on Their Narratives on L2 and L3 Learning

• Muiris Ó. Laoire

Exploring the Impact of the Proficiency and Typology Factors: Two Cases of Multilingual Learners’ L3 Learning

• Christina Lindqvist, Camilla Bardel

Standard Punctuation and the Punctuation of the Street

• Vivian Cook

The Homunculus in the Multilingual Brain

• Kees de Bot

Editors and Affiliations

Mirosław Pawlak

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Essential Topics in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism

Book Subtitle : Studies in Honor of David Singleton

Editors : Mirosław Pawlak, Larissa Aronin

Series Title : Second Language Learning and Teaching

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01414-2

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Humanities, Social Sciences and Law , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

Hardcover ISBN : 978-3-319-01413-5 Published: 30 September 2013

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-319-34659-5 Published: 23 August 2016

eBook ISBN : 978-3-319-01414-2 Published: 18 September 2013

Series ISSN : 2193-7648

Series E-ISSN : 2193-7656

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : VIII, 305

Number of Illustrations : 19 b/w illustrations, 19 illustrations in colour

Topics : Applied Linguistics , Language Education

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Custom Essay, Term Paper & Research paper writing services

• testimonials

Toll Free: +1 (888) 354-4744

Email: [email protected]

Writing custom essays & research papers since 2008

Top 50+ linguistics research topics for your paper.

Are you a student or a graduate of linguistics? If yes, there is no doubting the fact that research topics in linguistics are your bread and butter. You can escape them in school. Write within the confines of the topics in linguistics and get your grade without stress. However, linguistics is a wide field and it can be hard to pick one of the many linguistic topics for your research. Sometimes, the problem is not in picking a topic. The problem is that despite the wide scope of linguistics, you don’t know how to form linguistics research topics.

We noticed these problems with students and decided to help. Our solution is to compile a list of 50 linguistic research topics for linguistics students. These topics could form the basis of your linguistics research paper topics. You don’t have to worry anymore about topics for master thesis in linguistics. We have you covered for all English linguistics research topics. Let’s dive in!

Check Our 50 Linguistics Research Topics

There are linguistics research topics in abundance. If you search online, you would find more than a few examples. However, you need to know the aspect of linguistics you want to use for your linguistics paper topics. It would make no sense to have a list of thesis topics in applied linguistics and want to write on topics in cognitive linguistics. While they are all under the broad body of linguistics, they are quite different from each other.

So, the first step in finding the perfect linguistics essay topics is to choose the aspect of linguistics you want. After you have made a choice you can now look into linguistics topics in that aspect. We have made finding interesting linguistics topics in any aspect you chose easier by grouping our 50 linguistics research topics. All you have to do is search under the aspect of your choice.

Interesting Linguistics Research Topics

If you don’t only want to write a research paper but you want to find every minute of it intriguing, these interesting topics in linguistics are the ones for you.

• What makes written communication more precise compared to spoken communication?
• How to spot language disorders and deal with them
• What contributes to the prevalent language shift and death in our society today?
• The language of feminism: How formalized is it and how does it affect society?
• Why is it impossible to claim to know a language entirely?
• What salient factors cause ambiguity in language translation?
• An in-depth analysis of feminism in Africa
• Language vs Society: Which one influences the other? How does it affect the members?
• How effective are subject teaching and language support?
• What factors affect language choice in multilingual societies? (Study of selected communities)
• The real functions of language

Linguistics Topics on Translation

If you want the latest research topics in applied linguistics, the topics under the following subheadings would help you. You just have to look for the aspect that you have an interest in and look at linguistics in that light.

• How has technology affected translation at this age and time?
• Is translation the cause of misunderstandings between speakers of different languages?
• How effective is an audiovisual translation in revolutionizing the translation industry?
• Does literal translation do more harm than good?
• How has the translator training and pedagogy faired in the production of efficient translators?
• How does translation relate to popular culture?

Translation is essential in this century with people of different languages communicating and coming together in a global economy. These topics look into the issues that translation encounter at this time.

Linguistics Topics on Politics

Politics is an ever-present phenomenon in any society. These dissertation topics in linguistics examine the issues surrounding language in the field of politics. We have explained samples of Ph.D. thesis topics in linguistics in this field.

• The reality of hate speech in selected communities
• The use of persuasive language strategies and tools in political speech
• How colonial rule affected African politics and language
• Why do politicians use indigenous languages to address communities?
• A critical analysis of the changing political communication landscape
• Effective political communication: A case study of selected politicians
• How tag lines and buzz words are used to enhance political speeches

Sociolinguistics Research Topics

This aspect of linguistics examines how issues surrounding how language works in society. These research topics for English linguistics focus on how people in society use language and its effects on society.

• What are the social factors that necessitate language varieties?
• How does language affect identity?
• An in-depth analysis of language attrition common to most English speakers
• A critical evaluation of the difference in attitudes towards language in different societies
• The differences in language functions in selected communities
• How ethnicity affect language and vice versa

Argumentative Linguistics Research Topics

These topics in linguistics for research papers argue on issues surrounding language. You can use these topics if you want to show different sides of an argument in your research.

• Is language the best way to communicate?
• Can we say that language is merely a system of symbols
• Do language disorders cause difficulties in the study of language?
• Does brain injury lead to issues in language capacities?
• Do mother tongue inflection and accent impact efficient communication?
• Is it advisable to learn more than one language?

Linguistics Research Topics on History

Language was not a concept that started a few years ago. People have been communicating for centuries and centuries. These topics look at the history of language, sometimes about this age.

• How Greek philosophy contributes to language
• What are the early speculations scientists had about the origin of language?
• Analysis of the history of language as explained in mythology
• How do the 3,000 preserved cuneiform writings affect language?
• A critical evaluation of different theories on the origin and development of language
• Why has the question of language origin remained unanswerable?

Linguistics Research Topics on Semantics

Language is nothing without meaning. These interesting linguistic topics show how meaning and language mix and relate. You can research any one of these topics to understand how this field.

• How does meaning affect language analysis and interpretation?
• What is the major cause of language ambiguity?
• How do sentences relate to one another?
• How do speakers of different languages acquire a sense of meaning in conversation?
• How can the meaning of words relate?
• An in-depth analysis into how language is used and acquired in different communities

Tough Linguistics Research Topics

Do all the topics above seem too easy for you? Do you want something more challenging? We have a few topics for you. These topics would give you that challenge you want. Ensure that you do enough research on topics before you embark on them.

• Why do people speak different languages?
• What makes language translation possible?
• What makes some languages harder to learn than others?
• Why are English and French words similar?
• Why does the mother tongue always affect pronunciation?
• Does sign language only involve the hands?

How to Choose A Perfect Linguistics Topic for You

There are different aspects of linguistics. If you check online, you would find linguistic anthropology research topics, computational linguistics research topics, and much more. However, not all these aspects of linguistics would be perfect for your dissertation or thesis.

In selecting or creating the perfect linguistic topic for you, here are some of the tips from our experts in paper writing you should take into consideration.

• Pick an aspect that interest you . Linguistics apply to different walks of life. Therefore, there are varied topics for your linguistics research. It can make choosing a topic quite stressful. What you do is find what interests you and find topics in that aspect. Start by looking for a broad aspect then narrow it down to a part of the field. For instance, you can start with applied linguistics and move on to linguistics in politics.
• Brainstorm with friends . After you have chosen the aspect you like, you can pick a list of topics in linguistics for research papers and bounce off ideas from the topics with your friends. You can even write out your ideas from your brainstorming and ask your friends what they think about them. The topic that you notice that you and your friends keep going back to is possibly the best one for you. If you find a lot of things to talk about it, you would possibly find a lot of things to write about it.
• Research the topics . Talk is cheap though. If you want to write on a topic, ensure that there are enough materials to support your claims. After you and your friends decide on a topic, research the topic before you start writing. Once you find that there are enough materials, you can start.

Linguistics has different aspects. If you check online and on our list, you would find different topics in these aspects, including topics related to linguistic diversity. Follow our guide and list to find the best linguistic topic for you!

U.S. Code: Table Of Contents

• TITLE 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
• TITLE 2 - THE CONGRESS
• TITLE 3 - THE PRESIDENT
• TITLE 4 - FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES
• TITLE 5 - GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
• TITLE 5a - FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT
• TITLE 6 - DOMESTIC SECURITY
• TITLE 7 - AGRICULTURE
• TITLE 8 - ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
• TITLE 9 - ARBITRATION
• TITLE 10 - ARMED FORCES
• TITLE 11 - BANKRUPTCY
• TITLE 11a - BANKRUPTCY RULES
• TITLE 12 - BANKS AND BANKING
• TITLE 13 - CENSUS
• TITLE 14 - COAST GUARD
• TITLE 15 - COMMERCE AND TRADE
• TITLE 16 - CONSERVATION
• TITLE 17 - COPYRIGHTS
• TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
• TITLE 18a - UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OR RECEIPT OF FIREARMS
• TITLE 19 - CUSTOMS DUTIES
• TITLE 20 - EDUCATION
• TITLE 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS
• TITLE 22 - FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
• TITLE 23 - HIGHWAYS
• TITLE 24 - HOSPITALS AND ASYLUMS
• TITLE 25 - INDIANS
• TITLE 26 - INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
• TITLE 27 - INTOXICATING LIQUORS
• TITLE 28 - JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
• TITLE 28a - JUDICIAL PERSONNEL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
• TITLE 29 - LABOR
• TITLE 30 - MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
• TITLE 31 - MONEY AND FINANCE
• TITLE 32 - NATIONAL GUARD
• TITLE 33 - NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
• TITLE 34 - CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
• TITLE 35 - PATENTS
• TITLE 36 - PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
• TITLE 37 - PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES
• TITLE 38 - VETERANS’ BENEFITS
• TITLE 39 - POSTAL SERVICE
• TITLE 40 - PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS
• TITLE 41 - PUBLIC CONTRACTS
• TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
• TITLE 43 - PUBLIC LANDS
• TITLE 44 - PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
• TITLE 45 - RAILROADS
• TITLE 46 - SHIPPING
• TITLE 47 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS
• TITLE 48 - TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS
• TITLE 49 - TRANSPORTATION
• TITLE 50 - WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
• TITLE 50a - WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE [ELIMINATED] Current through 114–86u1
• TITLE 51 - NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS
• TITLE 52 - VOTING AND ELECTIONS
• TITLE 53 - [RESERVED]
• TITLE 54 - NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AND RELATED PROGRAMS