LIFELANGS is co-led by Dr Aisling O’Boyle from Queen’s and Professor Lorna Carson from Trinity College Dublin. It is funded through the North-South Research Programme. 

The project will take an inclusive and dialogic approach to understanding the many ways that language/s (signed and spoken) are used and learnt across the island. It will use an innovative and sustainable way to record, archive, and share, how people of all ages learn and use languages in places like schools, workplaces, and public spaces.  

It will also establish a critical mass of interdisciplinary expertise and evidence-based resources in languages, education, and social science. 

Speaking about the project, Principal Investigator, Dr O’Boyle from the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s said: “We know that this is an ambitious project to create a Living Observatory of Shared Languages and Identities on the Island of Ireland. As a team, we have exceptional experience and expertise. And LIFELANGS is a project which we hope will contribute to a better future for everyone and give us a different picture of the island, which reflects us all." 

The project was also launched during an event in Dublin at Trinity College Dublin.  

Principal Investigator Professor Lorna Carson from Trinity College Dublin commented: "Launching the LIFELANGS project in Belfast and Dublin with our team and our partners is just the beginning of our work. Our research aims to enhance the understanding of how people on the island of Ireland learn languages at various stages and ages, while also exploring the unique cultural and linguistic landscape of where we live.” 

For more information about the LIFELANGS project, please visit: https://lifelangs.com/  

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk