Research

Language and Communication Sciences Research

LCS makes a very significant contribution to research and scholarship within the Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) profession. Dr Nicola Botting and Dr Katerina Hilari are the LCS research directors. Please contact us for information on LCS research or for PHD enquiries.

Language and Communication Sciences carries out internationally excellent research that is renowned for its novelty and clinical relevance. Our research is published in high ranking journals in the field of speech and language therapy and related academic areas; examples being: Stroke, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, The Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, Cortex, and Brian and Language. The Division has an on-site SLT clinic, including an aphasia research clinic, and has active collaborations with clinical and educational partners and other academic departments.

2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), 60% of our submissions were judged to be of international significance, with 40% of those being in the top two research categories of international excellence and world-leading. LCS was the only SLT department in the UK that entered a 'stand alone' submission. All other departments running SLT courses combined with larger, more research active centres. Despite this, the RAE results show that LCS is not only the largest provider of speech and language therapy courses in the UK, it also produces an equivalent level of top quality research when compared to established centres for wider disciplines such as psychology and allied health. This combination ensures that our staff, students and visitors experience a truly excellent working environment.

Research themes

Assessment and intervention in children and adults

Led by Professor Jane Marshall (adults) and Professor Shula Chiat (children) this group has attracted major funding from ESRC, EPSRC and voluntary organisations. Examples of projects include an investigation of gesture therapy for severe aphasia; the use of computer technologies in aphasia therapy; studies of language and social disadvantage; the impact of very early processing skills on language, social communication and literacy; and communication intervention for secondary age school children.

For more information on some of these projects, see:

Current and recent reserach grants made to members of LCS include:

Deafness, sign language and gesture

Led by Professor Gary Morgan this group hosts part of the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL) which is supported by a £5.5 million ESRC grant. Research topics include:

For more information on some of these projects, see: Professor Gary Morgan's profile.

Current and recent research grants made to members of LCS include:

Speech, acoustics and linguistics

Led by Professor Barbara Dodd this group has projects funded by the ESRC. Examples of projects include phonological impairment -assessment and therapy, language in Williams syndrome, rhotic r sound production, prosody and intonation and Foreign Accent Syndrome.

Quality of life and social aspects of communication disorders

Led by Dr Nicola Botting (children) and Dr Katerina Hilari (adults) and with work funded by the ESRC and NIHR SDO. This group has generated world leading research on the impact of communication disabilities on people's lives. Projects include quality of life in stroke and aphasia, the impact of specific language impairment in adulthood: identifying pathways to resilience / maladjustment, and the role of allied health professions in health promotion.

For more information on some of these projects, see:

Current and recent reserach grants made to members of LCS include:

Research MSc degrees

The department offers MSc courses attended by qualified SLTs (MSc in Human Communication; MSc in Joint Professional Practice) or other professionals (MSc in Joint Professional Practice).

All MSc courses in LCS include a research project. Most projects entail clinical research, often conducted in the student's own setting. In this way they further strengthen links between the department and working clinicians. A number of these have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

The City University research pages can be accessed here: City University Research Information