On the morning of September 5, 2024, Professor Xu Jinfen, second-class professor and doctoral supervisor of Huazhong University of Science and Technology was invited to give a special lecture entitled "Writing Strategies of Social Science Applications in Applied Linguistics: Literature Review, Structure and Theoretical Framework" for teachers and students of SFS. More than 30 teachers and students attended the lecture.
Professor Xu Jinfen began the lecture by stressing the importance of topic selection for project applications and pointing out that a well-chosen topic is essential to a project's success. She explained the disciplinary definition of applied linguistics and analyzed the distribution and the trend of the projects financed by the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC) over the past ten years quantitatively and comparatively. Based on the applied linguistics of foreign languages, the development of foreign language teachers, language policy and other directions, she condensed and refined the scope of the topic selection, providing a guiding strategy for how to draw up a high-quality topic selection for the NSSFC projects of applied linguistics. Professor Xu recommended that teachers be problem-driven, concentrate on academic hotspots and national needs, and select topics with academic characteristics in familiar and specialized research fields. Therefore, the topic can not only meet the actual needs, but also provide a new research perspective for applied linguistics, foster theoretical innovation and practical development, and advance the field's prosperity.
In terms of literature review writing, Professor Xu believed that in a high-quality NSSFC application, a literature review can help researchers look at the overall situation of research, clarify the research direction and learn from other people's experiences in an appropriate academic background. In addition, it offers a reference for reviewers to understand the research value of the topic. Based on personal experience in applying and evaluating the project application, Professor Xu taking excellent literature review cases as an example, suggested that researchers should make clear their research objectives and scope, and discuss their keywords mentioned in titles when writing literature reviews. In order to work out comprehensive reviews and evaluations, researchers should also analyze and refine the development process, current situation and trend of the research topics on the basis of a thorough reading of the literature. Professor Xu also emphasized the importance of logic and order, the reasonable arrangement of the content, and making sure the discussion is clear-cut and cohesive in the literature review.
When discussing the structure of the project application, Professor Xu Jinfen suggested that researchers should first determine the research content and then clarify the structure. On this basis, she deeply analyzed how to draw the structure map of the research application with actual cases. Being concise and graphic, avoiding cumbersome design and inconsistent graphics and texts, structure maps should help the reviewers grasp the overall layout and implementation path of the research at a glance, and improve the professionalism and rigor of the application as well.
Professor Xu Jinfen also distinguished the differences between theoretical framework and conceptual framework, theoretical framework and theoretical perspective in terms of definition and function, and discussed the relationship between theoretical framework and research issues. When preparing a project application, she advised researchers to thoroughly comprehend the pertinent theories and core concepts of the project and fully discuss the correlation between theory and research content when writing a project application. As a result, it is possible to emphasize the theoretical framework's overall direction for the study and improve the application's scientific and methodical writing.
Professor Xu Jinfen's lecture not only showed a strategic and far-reaching research vision, but also provided a detailed and insightful analysis of actual cases of project application, which benefited teachers and students of SFS a lot.
SFS places a high importance on the application of various scientific research projects. This lecture pointed out the direction, provided experience guidance, and boosted the confidence of teachers who wanted to apply for the NSSFC project in applied linguistics. To further advance the NSSFC application and establish a strong academic and practical foundation, SFS will continue to invite renowned scholars and organize academic exchange activities about project application in the future.
