Phonetics is one of several areas of linguistics research in the University of Westminster.

Phonetics research has for a number of years been carried out under the auspices of the Language and Linguistics Research Cluster and since 2005 has been regularly showcased at the annual Westminster Interface with Linguistics conference. Restructuring of research in the University during 2009 will see LLRC and other research groupings coming to an end and responsibility for future research will devolve to the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies.

Further research is undertaken at postgraduate and undergraduate levels. Student research in phonetics is encouraged and the work of final year undergraduates in this field also contributes to our profile and reputation covering areas such as phonetics in the workplace, the phonetics learning experience, accent studies and illustrations of the IPA.

Download a list of selected outputs in each of these areas.

The Interface with Linguistics (IwL) series consists of free, public conferences designed with three specific aims.

IwL conferences enable co-operative dissemination of the disparate research undertaken by members of the Language and Linguistics Research Cluster through themed presentations. The series reinforces the link between practice and theory, language and linguistics, in the broadest sense. IwL showcases not only the traditional, more theoretical side of language and linguistics research but also pedagogical research and practitioner research of international standing. It offers a platform for both established researchers and new researchers in the cluster to present their work.

IwL further acts as an outreach occasion. The short conferences attract a wide audience and foster interest and links with a broad a public.

Finally, the IwL conferences are also occasions which allow us to invite scholars of international acclaim to join us as keynote speakers on the conference platform – a tradition which began in the 1970s with the Saussure Lecture series and which has continued, in different guises, to the present day.

Download a list of IwL conferences to date.

The Creole Linguistics Research Group (CLRG) was established in 1994 with the aim of fostering and promoting research in the field of Creole studies. Evidence of its success is apparent in the annual Westminster Creolistic Workshops and the series of publications known as the Westminster Creolistics Series and the many international links that have been forged (such as those with the universities of Umea in Sweden and Aix-en-Provence in France.

The thrust of CLRG research activity focuses around:

• the origin and evolution of pidgins and creoles
• description and analysis of aspects of creole languages
• development of orthographies
• the pidgin/creole interface: similarities and differences
• child creole-language acquisition
• the role of pidgins and creoles in the development of linguistic theories

CLRG work in these areas together with international work in the field is showcased through the Westminster Creolistic Workshops and the books in the Westminster Creolistic Series.

Each Westminster Creolistic Workshop focuses on a single topic. Topics to date have included:

• developmental issues in creoles
• grammaticalisation in creoles
• the origin and development of Caribbean Creoles
• reduplication

Each workshop has resulted in the publication of a further collection of papers in the Westminster Creolistics Series. The series includes a number of textbooks.  For titles, please click on the link to the Westminster Creolistic Series. Enquiries concerning the Westminster Creolistic Series should be directed to battlebridge@sltnet.lk

The work done by the CLRG during the 1996-2000 period especially made the University of Westminster an internationally recognised centre for research in Creole Studies.

Since 2009 the Westminster Linguistics Conference series has sought to extend the great tradition of excellence in language contact research in the department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies by providing a platform for researchers concerned with aspects of multilingualism to compare findings on and exchange analyses of different settings, and in so doing to contribute to theory-building in the field.

Download a list of WLCS conferences to date.