Research at CLS

The Centre for Language Studies (CLS) aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the cognitive and social processes underlying language systems, language processing, and language use. We aspire to optimise human communicative interaction. Our approach is to investigate language from single sounds to discourse, including modalities from speech and text to gestures, signs, and images. In our research projects, we examine the three Big Questions presented below.

1) How are language systems structured and how do they evolve?

We study typological, regional, and historical differences between languages and their varieties, and how social and cognitive factors contribute to language structure, variation and change. View more projects with this theme.

Explicit and implicit communication across languages and cultures

Research

With this study, we hope to understand how people from different cultures and speaking different languages interpret and communicate information differently.

Nimwèègs from a dynamic point of view

Research

The city dialect of Nijmegen, known as Nimwèègs in the local vernacular, is a dialect spoken in the city of Nijmegen. This project aims at understanding the communicative place of Nimwèègs in the linguistic ecology of Nijmegen.

2) How do humans and machines acquire languages?

We examine the factors and processes underlying language acquisition in first, second, foreign and multi-language contexts by human learners of all ages in naturalistic and educational settings, and we examine the possibilities and boundaries of computers in simulating these processes. View more projects with this theme.

ASTLA

Research

This project investigates speech diagnostic output and how that data can be used to personalise learning-to-read trajectories.

Two children talking to each other sitting on the ground

Head gestures as precursors of prosodic focus marking in the L2

Research

As prosodic discourse marking is challenging for both L1 and L2 learners, this project investigates whether this bootstrapping function of head gestures in prosodic focus marking also occurs in an L2 context.

3) How do human communication and cognition interact?

We investigate the structure, meaning, functions, and modalities of language in social interaction. We examine language processing and communication effects on cognition and behaviour in healthy persons and individuals with an impairment, in interpersonal, organisational, and digital contexts. View more projects with this theme.

Line-drawing of person looking at a phone screen

Autonomy, persuasion, and manipulation in the digital sphere

Research

Emerging information technologies like large language models and opaque recommendation systems pose challenges to public values. In this theme, researchers from various fields study the current online information ecosystem.

The body in language use

Research

Using a Conversation Analytic approach, this project inductively investigates what signals humans make relevant while interacting with a robot for the first time.

Research groups

Researchers are associated with a research group, and they actively collaborate both within their own group and across different groups whenever feasible.

Participate in our research!

We are always looking for participants. Sign up as a participant in the Radboud SONA system to take part in our lab or online experiments. For further information, please send an e-mail to clslab [at] let.ru.nl (clslab[at]let[dot]ru[dot]nl).

CLS Talks

CLS Talks take place once a month on Thursdays at 4 pm. These colloquia showcase research done within the CLS, with the aim to increase awareness of the ongoing research in our institute, and to facilitate discussions and collaborations between researchers. In addition, we invite a number of external speakers to share their work with us. If you would like to suggest names for speakers (someone else or yourself), please get in touch with us via clstalks [at] ru.nl (clstalks[at]ru[dot]nl).

CLS Talks are open to all interested researchers. If you are not on the CLS mailing list but would like to receive notice about an upcoming talk, please send a message to clstalks [at] ru.nl (clstalks[at]ru[dot]nl).

CLS Talks are organised by Janine Berns, Rebecca van Herck and Joyce van Zwet.

The most recent overview of upcoming CLS Talks can be found here:

Show CLS Talks

Education

The Centre for Language Studies (CLS) is involved in language education and in the Research Masters Linguistics and Communication Sciences and Historical, Literary and Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Arts of Radboud University.

Networks

Networks facilitate research past the borders of our institute. Many researchers of CLS founded and collaborate in networks, of which an overview is presented below.