A picture of Drs Tony Herdman and Sid Fels looking at a cap covered in electrodes on a research assistant.

Research

Research

Three Primary Pillars 

  1. Language, Sustainability, and Transnationalism 

    • explores the ways in which language shapes and is shaped by interactions between individuals and communities

  2. Communicating Mind and Body 

    • explores the physical and neural foundations of language

  3. Evolving Language in an Information Economy 

    • explores language’s role in information and technology

Five Grand Challenges 

Language Sciences focuses on five key research challenge areas for interdisciplinary research: 





Simulating Languaging Bodies

Investigating the neural and physical foundations of language.

 





Mapping Language Acquisition and Decline

Understanding how language is acquired and how it changes or declines over time.

 





Supporting Community-Engaged Language Survivance

Promoting community-led efforts to revitalize and sustain endangered languages. Learn more.

 





Enhancing Language and Literacy Education

Developing effective tools and strategies for language and literacy education in a multicultural and digital world.

 





Reimagining Public Discourse

Examining how language shapes public communication and discourse in society. Learn more. 

 

Overview of Our Research

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The Language Sciences Research Wheel includes research works that span the interdisciplinary field of language sciences, and cover key questions our members are working to answer. Our aim is to build a global network of scholars, teachers, and learners, who work with community partners to translate knowledge into practical results. Groups involved in language science research are distributed throughout UBC.

Click here to view Research groups.

Need a collaborator? 

Explore this page for Language Sciences-funded projects, research news, and to find a collaborator for your next research project.

Language Science Collaborations

Research News

  1. Members of the Gitksan Research Lab, and students learning Gitksan, are pictured practising the language.
    January 17, 2019

    Helping to preserve a language 1,200 kilometres from home

    “My name is Gawagani. I come from the house of Gamlaxyeltxw.” Gawagani, or Vincent Gogag, is 1,200 kilometres from home, and has just finished speaking the Gitksan language for a group of students on a Wednesday afternoon. This is part of Gogag’s role as a language consultant with the…

    Learn more

First Nations land acknowledegement

We acknowledge that UBC’s campuses are situated within the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, and in the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples.

UBC Language Sciences

4031 Audain Art Centre
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4
Tel 604 822 7435
E-mail language.sciences@ubc.ca
Website languagesciences.ubc.ca

Research Excellence Clusters at UBC Vancouver is a joint initiative of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver and the Vice-President, Research and Innovation. Funding support for the clusters is provided by Academic Excellence Funds – UBC Vancouver.

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