Department of Language & Linguistic Science, University of York

12/10/2026

Our department recently hosted the second annual German Language Association conference at the University of York. German language educators from across the UK and Ireland gathered to discuss culture- and language-integrated education, with presentations ranging from creative writing to Kamishibai theatre techniques.

Read more:
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/gla-2026/

23/09/2026

York ranks 2nd in the UK for Italian, 3rd for French, German and Iberian Languages, and 4th for Linguistics in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2027. Congratulations to our students and staff!

21/09/2026

Our autumn colloquium series opens with a talk by Daniel Cabeza Campillo (University of Warwick) on the translation of Brexit-related metaphors in British and Spanish online media. The research examines how concepts of divorce, war, and poison frame political narratives across languages. All are welcome on 1 October at 16:00 in D/L/028.

Read the abstract:
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/events/events-2026/lls-colloquium-01-10-26/

21/08/2026

Sir Michael Caine has lent his voice to a research project co-led by Dr Ben Gibb-Reid in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York. The study tests how well people can distinguish authentic speech from AI-generated audio, with the aim of strengthening protections for performers whose voices are replicated by AI. Read the full story on the University website.

https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2026/research/michael-caine-lends-voice-to-ai-deepfake-research/

12/08/2026

Postgraduate translation students at the University of York have had terminology entries published in WIPO Pearl, a multilingual database maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. York is one of only two UK universities where students contribute directly to this global resource.

Read more:
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/wipo-pearl/

15/07/2026

Prof George Tsoulas delivered a keynote at the 50th anniversary conference of the International Circle of Korean Linguistics, held at the University of Sheffield. Founded in 1975 with just 27 members, ICKL has grown into a global organisation that has held conferences on every continent. Prof Tsoulas's talk explored how studying Korean syntax can shed light on ambiguities in English.

Read more
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/york-professor-delivers-keynote/

09/07/2026

Dr Gustavo Góngora-Goloubintseff has published a new article exploring how machine translation is changing legal translation in the UK. The study surveys freelance translators on how they are adapting their workflows, and how client expectations around quality, speed, and pay are evolving. Read the full article in 'Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice'.

Link to the article:

Recent advances in Neural Machine Translation (NMT) have reshaped the language services industry, with the number of language service providers offering machine translation services nearly doubling...

30/06/2026

Monica Lethbridge, the first student on York's MSci Linguistics programme, has been awarded a fully funded PhD with the UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Safe Artificial Intelligence Systems (SAINTS). Her research will apply sociophonetic expertise to the safety of AI-generated and AI-processed speech, an area where linguistic insight has been largely absent. She is the first student with a linguistics background to join the SAINTS cohort.

Learn more about SAINTS:
https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/centres-doctoral-training/safe-ai-training/

29/06/2026

The Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York will host the German Language Association annual conference on 18 September 2026. This year's theme is "Revisiting culture and language integrated education", with an opening keynote from Dr Nils Bernstein (University of Hamburg). Registration is now open: https://www.germanlanguageassociation.org/

25/06/2026

The University of York will host the 11th Northern Englishes Workshop on 9–10 September 2026 at the Guildhall in York city centre. The workshop welcomes research on dialects from across the linguistic north of the UK, including varieties shaped through contact with Northern Englishes. Early bird registration is open until 24 July.

Register now:
https://store.york.ac.uk/product-catalogue/languages-linguistics/11th-northern-englishes-workshop