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The Centre for Language, Discourse and Communication is a globally influential centre for language research with exceptional strengths in discourse studies and sociolinguistics.

The over-arching research theme in the Centre is ‘Identities and Mobilities’, which links to the school-wide theme ‘Globalisation and Identity’. The theme reflects our core strength in research on (multilingual) identities in a variety of everyday, institutional and mediated contexts. Our work also closely engages with the cross-school theme ‘Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment’ through our work on language assessment and second language learning and teaching; with the theme ‘Professionalism and Workplace Practice’ through our comparative and historical work on language teacher education and development; and with the theme ‘Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice’ through our work on health and risk communication.

The Centre offers extensive research training and supervision on a range of (socio)linguistic methods and frameworks, including: cognitive linguistics, conversation analysis, corpus-assisted discourse studies, discourse & sociolinguistic approaches to social media communication, identities-in-interaction, narrative analysis and small stories research.

You can find more information about our people, publications, events and themes below.

Publications

    Activities

    London cityscape
    Language, Discourse & Communication Research Seminar Series

    The Language, Discourse & Communication Research Seminar Series provides a forum for language teachers of all levels to engage with theory and research of relevance to language teaching practices. Speakers present original empirical research or theoretical perspectives on a range of issues and applications.

    A device with wires and nodes coming off it
    Health Communication Lab

    The Health Communication Lab is an interdisciplinary group for researchers who have a broad interest in the intersection between health and healthcare and communication and language.

    Circular shelves of books
    Corpus research in linguistics and beyond

    Corpus linguistics is concerned with the study of large collections of electronically available written and/or spoken texts. The seminars will explore challenges, issues and opportunities faced by research that extends the scope of corpus linguistics.

    Two people looking at research posters
    LDC Doctoral Lab (LDCDL)

    The LDC Doctoral Lab is a forum led by and focused on doctoral researchers, capitalising on their interests and organisational initiative. Especially for PhD students, these sessions are an opportunity to discuss research projects in a friendly and supportive environment.

      Wheat in sunset.
      LDC PGR Blog

      The LDC PGRs Blog provides a space for postgraduate research (PGR) students in Language, Discourse and Communication (LDC), as well as guest bloggers from across the School of Education, Communication & Society, to share reflective accounts of experiences as PGR students and early career researchers and to disseminate and discuss research in progress.

      View of city with blocks of flats
      Working Papers in Urban Language and Literacies

      This series focuses on linguistic practice, literacies and mediated communication in diverse and stratified urban settings. It publishes research committed to developing sociolinguistic, applied and educational frameworks for the analysis of urban language, literacies, interaction and learning. It also develops modes of intervention in language policy and practice that are productively tuned to the realities of contemporary urban life.

      Application writing
      Writing Group for Academic Publishing

      This group, chaired by Professor Pat Mahony, meets monthly (on the first Wednesday of each month, 12.30-1.30pm) to support ECS staff and PhD students in getting their work published. Each month, one member circulates their draft of an article or book chapter and the rest of the group provide feedback in a constructive and supportive way. We aim to help the author to improve their paper in preparation for submission as well as support broader learning on the process of academic publishing. If you would like to join, please contact Dr Clare Coultas: clare.coultas@kcl.ac.uk.

        Dark blue background with optical twinkly shapes
        Micro-discourse analysis data sessions

        Hands-on data sessions that are designed to help students sharpen their sensitivity to the fine details of interaction, and to improve their practical skills in micro-analysis.

        Abstract painting of two faces intersecting with lots of different colours
        Language, Mind and Society

        Language, Mind and Society is a seminar series aimed at staff and students interested in the latest research on language, mind and society. Our seminars are open to all staff and students from across King’s and the University of London.

          Themes

          A female student writing notes in a lecture
          Academic Literacies

          The Academic Literacies Group is concerned with enhancing the pedagogic response which higher education institutions make to the needs of all their students.

            A female student on the computer
            Digital text and discourse

            Advances in computing power and storage have opened up opportunities for research into language and communication at scale, and increasingly, qualitative investigation is enhanced by quantitative exploration of large collections of digital text or ‘corpora’.

              A doctor holding a clipboard and writing notes
              Discourse, communication and health

              Our research on language and health spans spoken, written and multimodal forms of communication in health contexts.

                Two men standing on a bridge
                Discourse, interaction and identity

                Our research examines the way in which identities and relations are produced in language practice, and explores the theoretical, methodological and practical implications.

                  A school student writing in class
                  English in the school curriculum

                  We research the models and assumptions that English teachers operate with, on their changing perceptions of language use and on the role of language across the curriculum.

                    Three people chatting at a distance
                    Language, ethnicity and class

                    Our work on globalisation, diaspora, ethnicity and migration connects the empirical analysis of language and discourse to contemporary cultural theory

                      Colourful imagery depicting brain sensors
                      Pyschology and cognitive processes

                      Our research on language and mind is naturally interdisciplinary, with a focus on language and cognition in a range of social, educational and communication contexts.

                        Student and teacher discussing work in the classroom
                        Second/foreign language teaching

                        Our work in the field of Second/Additional Language looks at English language teaching and modern foreign languages.

                          Publications

                            Activities

                            London cityscape
                            Language, Discourse & Communication Research Seminar Series

                            The Language, Discourse & Communication Research Seminar Series provides a forum for language teachers of all levels to engage with theory and research of relevance to language teaching practices. Speakers present original empirical research or theoretical perspectives on a range of issues and applications.

                            A device with wires and nodes coming off it
                            Health Communication Lab

                            The Health Communication Lab is an interdisciplinary group for researchers who have a broad interest in the intersection between health and healthcare and communication and language.

                            Circular shelves of books
                            Corpus research in linguistics and beyond

                            Corpus linguistics is concerned with the study of large collections of electronically available written and/or spoken texts. The seminars will explore challenges, issues and opportunities faced by research that extends the scope of corpus linguistics.

                            Two people looking at research posters
                            LDC Doctoral Lab (LDCDL)

                            The LDC Doctoral Lab is a forum led by and focused on doctoral researchers, capitalising on their interests and organisational initiative. Especially for PhD students, these sessions are an opportunity to discuss research projects in a friendly and supportive environment.

                              Wheat in sunset.
                              LDC PGR Blog

                              The LDC PGRs Blog provides a space for postgraduate research (PGR) students in Language, Discourse and Communication (LDC), as well as guest bloggers from across the School of Education, Communication & Society, to share reflective accounts of experiences as PGR students and early career researchers and to disseminate and discuss research in progress.

                              View of city with blocks of flats
                              Working Papers in Urban Language and Literacies

                              This series focuses on linguistic practice, literacies and mediated communication in diverse and stratified urban settings. It publishes research committed to developing sociolinguistic, applied and educational frameworks for the analysis of urban language, literacies, interaction and learning. It also develops modes of intervention in language policy and practice that are productively tuned to the realities of contemporary urban life.

                              Application writing
                              Writing Group for Academic Publishing

                              This group, chaired by Professor Pat Mahony, meets monthly (on the first Wednesday of each month, 12.30-1.30pm) to support ECS staff and PhD students in getting their work published. Each month, one member circulates their draft of an article or book chapter and the rest of the group provide feedback in a constructive and supportive way. We aim to help the author to improve their paper in preparation for submission as well as support broader learning on the process of academic publishing. If you would like to join, please contact Dr Clare Coultas: clare.coultas@kcl.ac.uk.

                                Dark blue background with optical twinkly shapes
                                Micro-discourse analysis data sessions

                                Hands-on data sessions that are designed to help students sharpen their sensitivity to the fine details of interaction, and to improve their practical skills in micro-analysis.

                                Abstract painting of two faces intersecting with lots of different colours
                                Language, Mind and Society

                                Language, Mind and Society is a seminar series aimed at staff and students interested in the latest research on language, mind and society. Our seminars are open to all staff and students from across King’s and the University of London.

                                  Themes

                                  A female student writing notes in a lecture
                                  Academic Literacies

                                  The Academic Literacies Group is concerned with enhancing the pedagogic response which higher education institutions make to the needs of all their students.

                                    A female student on the computer
                                    Digital text and discourse

                                    Advances in computing power and storage have opened up opportunities for research into language and communication at scale, and increasingly, qualitative investigation is enhanced by quantitative exploration of large collections of digital text or ‘corpora’.

                                      A doctor holding a clipboard and writing notes
                                      Discourse, communication and health

                                      Our research on language and health spans spoken, written and multimodal forms of communication in health contexts.

                                        Two men standing on a bridge
                                        Discourse, interaction and identity

                                        Our research examines the way in which identities and relations are produced in language practice, and explores the theoretical, methodological and practical implications.

                                          A school student writing in class
                                          English in the school curriculum

                                          We research the models and assumptions that English teachers operate with, on their changing perceptions of language use and on the role of language across the curriculum.

                                            Three people chatting at a distance
                                            Language, ethnicity and class

                                            Our work on globalisation, diaspora, ethnicity and migration connects the empirical analysis of language and discourse to contemporary cultural theory

                                              Colourful imagery depicting brain sensors
                                              Pyschology and cognitive processes

                                              Our research on language and mind is naturally interdisciplinary, with a focus on language and cognition in a range of social, educational and communication contexts.

                                                Student and teacher discussing work in the classroom
                                                Second/foreign language teaching

                                                Our work in the field of Second/Additional Language looks at English language teaching and modern foreign languages.

                                                  Contact us

                                                  Please get in touch with us if you would like to know more about the Centre: