Tag Archives: Linguistics

Are you part robot? A linguistic anthropologist explains how humans are like ChatGPT – both recycle language

Are you part robot? A linguistic anthropologist explains how humans are like ChatGPT – both recycle language

ChatGPT is a hot topic at my university, where faculty members are deeply concerned about academic integrity, while administrators urge us to “embrace the benefits” of this “new frontier.” It’s a classic example of what my colleague Punya Mishra calls the “doom-hype cycle” around new technologies. Likewise, media coverage of human-AI interaction – whether paranoid or starry-eyed – tends […] … learn more→

Do you really have to learn the syntactic rules?

Do you really have to learn the syntactic rules?

In these times in which, who more and who less, everyone allows himself to talk about science and its advances, the criticism that is directed towards certain professional sectors connected in a very direct way with science, such as the doctors and teachers, when they incorporate scientific advances. There are some very clear examples that […] … learn more→

Don’t be afraid to pass your first language, and accent, to your kids. It could be their superpower

Don’t be afraid to pass your first language, and accent, to your kids. It could be their superpower

Australia is a multicultural society. There are different traditions, cultures, accents and languages all over the country. The latest Census data show almost 30% of Australians speak a language other than English, or English and another language, at home. In our latest survey, we have had responses from 281 multilingual families across Australia, who speak a variety […] … learn more→

Stays abroad: the best way to learn a language?

Stays abroad: the best way to learn a language?

“Immerse yourself in the language,” “impregnate”, “immerse yourself in a language bath”, all expressions that may suggest that a stay abroad is the miracle solution to learn a second language. Here, we want to quote the author of the blog “The world of languages”  : “the problem with this myth is that it leads you to believe […] … learn more→

The rise and rise of Hinglish in India

The rise and rise of Hinglish in India

English is widely acknowledged as the world’s most successful language. It has developed over the 20th century into a global lingua franca, the most widely used language on the internet, and the clear leader in education and research. But new competitors are emerging to displace English, especially in rich multilingual contexts such as India. The […] … learn more→

Mining the language of science

Ask any biomedical scientist whether they manage to keep on top of reading all of the publications in their field, let alone an adjacent field, and few will say yes. New publications are appearing at a double-exponential rate, as measured by MEDLINE – the US National Library of Medicine’s biomedical bibliographic database – which now […] … learn more→

Master of Linguistics

This program focuses on the nature and structure of language. It is designed for students interested in the description and explanation of particular languages, or of human linguistic capabilities in general. … learn more→