The Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (CLAL) is recognized as a “National Key Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences” by the Ministry of Education. Owing to CLAL, the field of linguistics and applied linguistics is the only field recognized by the Ministry of Education to have a national key research institute devoted to it.    

CLAL boasts a proud academic heritage. Under the leadership of CLAL’s founding professors Shichun Gui, Xiaoju Li, Ziran He, Jianhua Huang and Guanlian Qian, the center has cultivated a core team of scholars whose works in  linguistics are both prolific and broad in scope, spanning second language learning, societal and public discourse analysis, and theoretical linguistics.

CLAL maintains a rigorous program of research as attested by its great number of scientific accomplishments. The center lays claim to a long list of national- and provincial-level grants and honors. It is credited with numerous ground breaking discoveries and theoretical advances in areas as varied as foreign language learning, psycholinguistics, corpus linguistics, and language testing. CLAL promotes a strong interconnection with the global research community by diversifying its faculty (e.g., bringing on board foreign scholars), forging international research collaborations, and encouraging open-mindedness and attention to international standards.

CLAL is an active and vibrant hub of linguistics research and training. Annually or biannually, we host both national and international academic forums. These include “The Guangwai Forum for Applied Linguistics”, “The CLAL Academic Forum”, and “The National Doctoral Student Forum for Linguistic and Applied Linguistics in Foreign Languages”. We also regularly host individual guest speakers, including for our “Distinguished Overseas Scholar Lectures” and for our “Yunshan Scholar Lecture Series”. These various academic venues greatly enrich and enhance our center’s intensive research environment.

CLAL encourages academic innovation. Professor Chuming Wang has advanced influential hypotheses related to second language acquisition. These include the “Learn Together, Use Together Hypothesis”, the “Compensation Hypothesis”, and the Theory of Xu (Continuation). Professor Wang has also developed widely adopted foreign language teaching methods such as the “Length Approach” and the “Read-Then-Write Approach”. Graduate training is a top priority at CLAL, and the center has launched a large number of PhD graduates into successful academic careers.

CLAL generates research that directly benefits society. Professors Shichun Gui and Xiaoju Li are regarded as the founders of foreign language testing in China, having spearheaded the introduction of standardized foreign language testing and led the development of the “English Proficiency Test” (EPT) for Chinese students planning to study abroad. Professor Jian-da Liu led the development of the national foreign language aptitude testing and evaluation system. Professor Xiaowei He has long led his research team in providing expert consultation to parents whose children suffer from Special Language Impairment (SLI).  

Through 30 years of commitment to innovative research in linguistics and applied linguistics, CLAL has perfected upon its distinctive characteristics and strong points to emerge as a leading institute in the field. We look forward to continuing to make significant advances in the field and to strengthening our interconnectedness with the global scientific community.