LIFELANGS: A Living Observatory of Shared Languages and Identities
LIFELANGS is one of four North-South cross-border research projects selected to receive up to €4 million over a four-year period.
The Centre for Language Education Research is partnering with the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences at Trinty College Dublin for a new research project called LIFELANGS. Dedicated to studying the languages and identities of different communities across the island of Ireland, LIFELANGS is one of four North-South cross-border research projects selected to receive up to €4 million over a four-year period.
In response to the funding announcement, Director of the Centre for Language Education Research said:
“We are delighted and honoured to have been selected to take forward this new cross-border research partnership. We know that people on this island want a more inclusive society, where we can better communicate with one another, connect with one another, and better understand cultural differences within and across different communities.”
The LIFELANGS project will create a Living Observatory of Shared Languages and Identities on the Island of Ireland. It will take an inclusive and dialogic approach to understanding the many ways that language/s (signed and spoken) are used and learnt across the island. It uses an innovative and sustainable way to record, archive, and share, how people of all ages learn and use languages in places like schools, workplaces, and public spaces. And it will establish a critical mass of interdisciplinary expertise and evidence-based resources in languages, education, and social science.
The LIFELANGS team is led by Dr Aisling O’Boyle at Queen’s University Belfast and Prof Lorna Carson at Trinity College Dublin, with project co-leads Dr Ian Collen, Dr Mel Engman, Dr Sultan Turkan at QUB and Dr Bronagh Catibusic, Dr Colin Flynn, Dr Kathleen McTiernan at TCD.
On establishing a Living Observatory, Dr O’Boyle noted:
“It is about making expertise and resources available to all and prioritising knowledge creation across traditional disciplinary boundaries in collaboration with community partners. We need citizen involvement in research to better understand and tackle inequalities and address societal challenges which often lie at the intersections of languages and identities. With this research we want to contribute to a more future-facing understanding of how to build better shared dialogues, more social cohesion, and greater inclusivity for a shared future for all on the island of Ireland.”
Prof Carson from Trinty College Dublin added:
“We are thrilled to be working with an amazing LIFELANGS team based at Trinty College Dublin’s School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences and at Queen’s University Belfast’s Centre for Language Education Research. We are eager to see our vision for a Living Observatory take shape!”
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