Research
Through research in fields such as professional communication and speech technology, as well as gender and ethnicity, our department contributes to interdisciplinary efforts at our university. The department also contributes towards developing contacts across languages and cultures.
Read more about our Projects. Our different fields of research comprise applied linguistics, linguistics, phonetics, second language acquisition and Swahili.
Verbal communication / Applied linguistics
Research on verbal communication is characterized by empirically based studies of dialogue, speech and written texts in all variants. A key issue is how one can understand and describe verbal communication and the development of communication skills. A number of subjects address this question. A characteristic of applied linguistics is that it involves multidisciplinary problem-oriented approaches, emphasizing the interaction between theoretical and practical work. Collaboration with research users (for example, in the school system, the media, industry and commerce, and public administration) is essential in the academic activities. Some relevant research fields in the Department of Language and Communication Studies are:
- Professional/Institutional Communication
- Health Communication
- Norwegian as a second language
- Writing and learning: The National Center for Writing Education and Research
- Ethnicity, gender and equality
- Communications Technology
- Media Communication
Linguistics
The department's pragmatic research emphasizes the development and application of relevance theory, and the department works together with the International Pragmatics Association's Research Center in Antwerp, Belgium. The Department is also conducting a project funded by the Research Council of Norway called Diskursegenskaper til norske nominalfraser (Discourse characteristics of Norwegian nominal phrases).
The department involved in several projects in the field of grammar:
- Natural Language Processing and NorSource
The NorSource Project - Computational Lexicography
NUFU Projects Ghana Project and Malawi Project Digital Language Documentation and Language Annotation.
Typecraft
Phonetics
The phonetics laboratory supports several standard research activities in phonetics and linguistics, such as speech analysis as well as development and implementation of listening tests.
Current projects:
- Marie Curie Training Netwok Sound to Sense
- Norwegian dialects Nordavinden og Sola
- CALST- Computer-Assisted Listening and Speaking Tutor
- Norwegian language sounds
Swahili
Research into Swahili/Kiswahili at ISK department covers the major aspects of Kiswahili grammar and linguistics. We focus on phonology, morphology and syntax within modern linguistic theories. Specific topics are nominal and verbal morphology, documentation of syntactic structures and uses of the language, and the semantics and categorization of the noun classes. Weight is placed on working with native speakers. We have a longstanding agreement on teaching and research with Uppsala University, which we value highly. We are also engaged in applied language research with emphasis on second language learning, e.g. the Swahili/Kiswahili of second language speakers from Norway and Central Africa. We research the effects of translational grammars on learning and analyzing Kiswahili.
Current projects:
- Possessive morphology, syntax and semantics in Kiswahili.
- Noun reflexive anaphors and their implications for reflexive binding theory.
- Locative syntax and locative inversion hypothesis in Kiswahili.
- A survey of learning strategies used by Norwegian students of Kiswahili.
