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Welcome to the Centre for Language & Communication Studies (CLCS)

CLCS Head of Discipline: Professor Breffni O'Rourke

The Centre for Language and Communication Studies (CLCS), founded in 1979, is a centre of research in linguistics, applied linguistics, phonetics and speech science, computational linguistics and natural language processing. We also teach the Linguistic components of many undergraduate programmes and we have five taught postgraduate programmes. CLCS is one of two departments in the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences, the other being the department of Clinical Speech and Language Studies.

In Linguistics we focus our research on phonetics and phonology, and linguistic interfaces in syntax, semantic and pragmatics.

In Applied Linguistics we focus our research on language pedagogy and acquisition, language teaching, sign language teaching and interpreting, bilingualism and multilingualism, and new technologies in language learning. We have specific expertise in the applied linguistics of English, Irish, Irish Sign Language and Asian Languages.

In Speech and Language Processing we focus our research and development in speech processing, text-to-speech synthesis and automatic speech recognition, and in various areas of computational linguistics and natural language processing including morphological analysis/generation and syntactic/semantic parsing.

We welcome enquiries from prospective doctoral candidates who are interested in researching any of the above areas.

CLCS has several specialist Laboratories and Research Centres in support of our activities:

• Centre for Deaf Studies (CDS)
• Centre for English Language Learning and Teaching (CELLT)
• Trinity Centre for Asian Studies (TCAS)

• Phonetics and Speech Laboratory
• Language Learning Centre
• Irish Language Technology (ITUT)

CLCS staff provide teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels:

• Bachelor in Deaf Studies, a four-year honours degree with specialisms in Irish Sign Language (ISL) teaching, ISL/English interpreting and Deaf Studies
• Joint Honours in Linguistics, a four-year honours degree which is taken with another subject as Major, Minor, or Joint Honours
• Linguistics components of the Moderatorship in Computer Science and Language
• Broad Curriculum:
  • BCLNG1: Language, the Individual and Society
    BCLNG2: Language and the Mind
  • BCASIA: Contemporary Asian Studies
  • CLCS Language Modules
• Linguistics optional modules for Two Subject Moderatorship students in the departments of French, Germanic Studies, Hispanic Studies, Irish, Italian and Russian
• M.Phil. in Applied Linguistics
• M.Phil. in English Language Teaching
• M.Phil. in Linguistics
• M.Phil. in Speech and Language Processing

Orientation sessions will be held in the week before instruction begins.

• M.Phil. in Chinese Studies

• English for Academic Purposes

Many CLCS modules are available to Visiting and Exchange Students