The Section pursues an interdisciplinary approach to theoretical and applied linguistics and avoids uncritical adherence to particular views and theories. Building on the strengths of the previous institutions, the new department covers a comprehensive range of the language sciences and offers excellent theoretical and empirical research in a broad spread of fields from historical linguistics and comparative syntax to language processing and computational linguistics. The aims of Theoretical & Applied Linguistics are:
- to achieve excellence across a broad spectrum of linguistic research
- to provide high quality teaching informed by current research
- to foster a broad and integrated approach to the study of linguistics
The Section's staff includes many internationally known experts in their respective fields. Courses are offered both at undergraduate and MPhil levels, and its breadth is also reflected in PhD research. Linguistics in Cambridge routinely tops national university league tables.
Boundaries between subdisciplines of linguistics are highly permeable within and beyond the Section as reflected in its Research Clusters and research projects. It also pursues collaborations with members of other institutions within the University and in the fact that many linguists work in other Departments, Faculties and even Schools of the University. The Cambridge Language Sciences Initiative, an initiative by the University of Cambridge to make Language Sciences a strategic priority for institutional support, aims to bring all those researchers concerned with research into various aspects of the language sciences together. Theoretical & Applied Linguistics is centrally embedded in the Initiative as it has the largest concentration of Linguists in one institution. It is also home to excellent Research Facilities.
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