Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

The Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics 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.

Aims

The aims of Theoretical and 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 Department's staff includes many internationally known experts in their respective fields.

Boundaries between subdisciplines of linguistics are highly permeable within and beyond the Department 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.