The development and trends of complex dynamic systems theory in applied linguistics: A bibliometric analysis from 1997 to 2023

Abstract This study investigates the evolutionary trajectory of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) in applied linguistics from a bibliometric perspective. Drawing on a dataset comprising 290 citing papers sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus (1997–2023), Citespace was employed to examine the major themes, seminal works, developmental phases, citation trajectories, academic venues, and transformative publications. Underpinned by Shneider’s (2009) evolutionary model, eight major clusters were identified, which map onto three developmental stages based on the timeline visualization of co-citation, namely the conceptualizing stage (1992-around 2005), the maturing stage (around 2005-around 2015), and the expansion stage (around 2015-now). The analysis indicates that CDST studies have a tendency to employ innovative research methodologies to address both well-researched topics and emerging challenges in applied linguistics across a variety of contexts. This study demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of CDST in applied linguistics by incorporating topics and methods from psychology, education, and social sciences. The findings also provide theoretical, methodological, and practical insights that can inform future research endeavors in applied linguistics and CDST.