As part of the annual professional activities of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, on the afternoon of April 6, 2012, the Faculty of Linguistics successfully organized the Student Scientific Research Conference for the academic year 2011-2012.The conference was attended by many linguistics professors from within and outside the Faculty, along with linguistics students and those passionate about linguistics and the Vietnamese language. This year's scientific research conference featured a total of 17 topics, of which 8 were selected for presentation to the Council and the entire conference. The topics mainly revolved around applied linguistic issues such as Vietnamese language teaching, marketing language, translation, etc. In addition, there were topics in the fields of minority languages, dialects, sociolinguistics, and toponymy. The highlight of this year's Linguistics Faculty Student Scientific Research Conference was its focus on current issues in the Vietnamese language, such as the confusion between /l/ and /n/, and the controversial "stylish idioms" book "The Killer with the Pus-Filled Head," etc. Commenting on the research topic of the second-year students – the study of "The Killer with the Pus-Filled Head" – Professor Dinh Van Duc highly praised their spirit and research efforts, while also reminding them: Language always has its own filter; what is accepted by the native-speaking community will remain, while what is not will inevitably be gradually eliminated. The "stylish idioms" in this book will also be scrutinized through that natural filter. Associate Professor Nguyen Huu Dat affirmed that these are additions to the Vietnamese people's understanding and thinking; therefore, we cannot deny them as variations of the original idioms. Concurring with the opinions of other professors, Professor Tran Tri Doi recommended that students reread his interview responses to gain a more rational and tolerant perspective on this particular book. Another hot topic is the study on the use of standard/non-standard /l/-/n/ variants in some areas of Vinh Phuc province, which was highly praised for the author's meticulous investigation and analysis of linguistic data (Duong Thi Hong Yen - K53). This is a valuable sociolinguistic study for current language policy makers. The study on the phonological characteristics of the Khmu language by K54 student Ta Quang Tung scored points for its significant application of technology (using specialized phonetic analysis software) in phonetic/phonological research. This research on the Khmu language is valuable for comparative historical research on the Vietnamese language because these two languages belong to the same Austroasiatic language family, the Mon-Khmer branch. Several other topics, such as the translation of English-Vietnamese literary book titles and a survey of the language used in salt production, were also well-regarded at this conference.
Finally, after more than 3 hours of presentations and lively discussions, the conference concluded with 2 first prizes, 4 second prizes, 6 third prizes, and 5 consolation prizes awarded.
See details here.In his concluding remarks at the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Chinh – Vice Dean of the Faculty – commented: "Although this year's student research conference had fewer topics than in previous years, in terms of quality, there was a clear improvement. The reports all presented issues that were very relevant and practical to the Vietnamese language. While some topics still showed the students' sometimes 'naive' linguistic sensibilities, it can be said that the spirit of learning and scientific research of all the groups and individuals participating in the conference, and of all students in the Faculty of Linguistics in general, is highly commendable. This is the best result that this year's conference has achieved."
