Research

The linguistics department at UMass is a center for cutting-edge research in semantics, phonology, syntax, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, phonetics, acquisition, and prosody. Research at the interfaces of these areas i.e. syntax-semantics, phonology-syntax, or phonology-morphology, is also a hallmark of the UMass research profile.

Students listening in a lecture hall

Research participation

Many undergraduate linguistics courses offer extra credit for experimental participation. If the Instructor for a course is offering such an opportunity, students may sign up for experiments via the SONA system.
 
Students without an account can click "Request Account" on the SONA homepage. After supplying account information, the student will be able to log in then select experiments and times to participate. Non-students interested in participation should contact the lab manager- email listed at the bottom of the SONA homepage.

Departmental support for student research

Graduate students are encouraged to embark early on their own research projects, are given considerable mentorial support, and are encouraged to deliver papers or posters at conferences, with financial support for at least one conference trip a year per student.

Grant-funded research

The UMass linguistics department has had a particularly strong record in externally funded research. In most years between two and five graduate students work as research assistants to the faculty on externally funded grants, instead of as teaching assistants. See a list of current grants.

Centers and institutes

The Center for the Study of African American Language, directed by Lisa Green

The UMass Initiative for Cognitive Science, co-directed by Joe Pater

Language Acquisition Research and Resource Center, directed by Tom Roeper

Linguistics Laboratories and Experimental Research​