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Research in the School

 

Research activity is organised and supported within two discipline centres

The Centres reflect the current range of expertise in the School which covers each of the main west European languages – English, French, German, Italian and Spanish – and Arabic and Chinese

The Centres regularly host international visiting scholars, including in recent years Professor Jan Retsö, University of Gothenborg, and Profesor Ovidi Carbonell, University of Salamanca.

Research interests are focused around the fields of Theoretical Linguistics, Translation and Interpreting Studies and Intercultural Studies. Particular research strengths lie within the following areas:

  • Theoretical Linguistics
    • Pragmatics
    • Semantics
    • Phonology
    • Morphology
    • Syntax
    • Psycholinguistics
    • First and second language acquisition
    • Arabic and Semitic linguistics
  • Translation & Interpreting Studies
    • Literary translation
    • Genre-specific translation studies (e.g. translation of literature, political discourse and ideology, scientific discourse)
    • Sociology of translation
    • History of translation
  • Intercultural Studies
    • Literary studies with reference to: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish
    • French politics and contemporary history
    • Geo-politics
    • Comparative social policies

 

Staff

Staff in the School regularly publish books and articles and contribute as keynote and invited speakers at national and international conferences.

A number of our staff are editors, co-editors or members of editorial committees of journals in their respective fields including The Translator: Studies in Intercultural Communication, Forum: International Journal of Translation and Interpretation, Across Languages and Cultures, Asian EFL Journal, Lingua, Transactions of the Philological Society and Wiener Zeitschrift der Kunde des Morgenlandes. They also act as referees for major publishing houses, funding councils and journals, and as advisors to foreign governments and institutions (for example, Professor John Keiger was a member of the commission set up in 2007 by the French Prime minister to reform the French University system).

Staff have received research grants from a wide range of funding bodies, including the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the British Council, the Caisse Nationale des Allocations Familiales and the Leverhulme Trust.

 

Funding

Read about the funding opportunities available for applicants to School PhD programmes.

 

Research Excellence

The School’s research expertise is internationally recognised. School researchers were returned to four units of assessment in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise: on average more than 30 per cent were rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (4* or 3*). The School’s research strength
contributes directly to the quality of our postgraduate programmes and provides an opportunity for graduates of our Masters programmes to further their knowledge and skills through doctoral research at Salford.  Read a summary of the results.