Research at the School of Applied Linguistics
Language matters. At the School of Applied Linguistics, we research the key role played by language and communication, enabling practitioners and society at large to reap practical benefits from linguistics.
The two strategic areas of energy research and societal integration shape the ZHAW research agenda, and the School of Applied Linguistics incorporates related topics into its own projects and labs. For example:
- Swiss-AL, a web corpus of Swiss sources, has been compiled by the School of Applied Linguistics and is used by researchers and students to conduct data-supported and data-driven research on public discourses in multilingual Switzerland, including monitoring the energy discourse.
- In the LAIC Lab – Language Accessibility and Inclusive Communication Lab, our researchers collaborate with service providers, target group representatives and relevant associations to develop practical, needs-based solutions. These draw on well-established research about communication modes that foster societal inclusion for everyone.
The ZHAW is a member of CLARIN – Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure. It is a pan-European research infrastructure aiming to render accessible all digital language resources and tools from all over Europe through a single sign-on online environment.
Professorships and labs
In the professorships at the School of Applied Linguistics, we conduct research on language use in domain-specific communication, language-mediated cross-domain communication and media-mediated public communication.
Domain-specific communication
- German as a Foreign/Second Language (Prof. Dr. Liana Konstantinidou, Karin Madlener-Charpentier)
- Digital Linguistics (Prof. Dr. Philipp Dreesen, Prof. Dr. Cerstin Mahlow)
- Intercultural Studies and Linguistic Diversity (Prof. Dr. Christiane Hohenstein)
- Language Management and Globalisation (Prof. Dr. Patrick Studer)
- Professional Literacy (Dr. Marlies Whitehouse)
Language-mediated cross-domain communication
- Applied Discourse Studies (Prof. Dr. habil. Ulla Kleinberger)
- Accessibility Studies (Dr. Sarah Ebling)
- Interpreting Studies (Prof. Dr. Michaela Albl-Mikasa)
- Human–Machine Communication (Prof. Dr. Alice Delorme Benites)
- Technical Communication (Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Ing. Catherine Badras)
- Translation Studies (Dr. Caroline Lehr)
Media-mediated public communication
- Journalism Studies (Prof. Dr. Vinzenz Wyss)
- Media Literacy (Prof. Dr. Guido Keel)
- Media Linguistics (Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Gnach, Prof. Dr. Wibke Weber)
- Organisational Communication and Management (Prof. Dr. Nicole Rosenberger Staub)
- Organisational Communication and Public Spheres (Prof. Dr. Peter Stücheli-Herlach)
The labs at the School of Applied Linguistics bring researchers in the professorships together with stakeholders from all areas of society. These experts from academia and professional practice collaborate to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for the benefit of society.
Projects
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Use of machine translation in healthcare
The current migration crises as well as the necessity to recruit healthcare staff from abroad highlight the need for healthcare providers to deal with language barriers in a way that is efficient and patient-centred. Machine translation (MT) opens up new possibilities for multilingual communication and is ...
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Enhancing sustainability at workplace: live more sustainably and healthily thanks to regular Beekeeper nudging
Internal digital communication channels have become an essential part of work life. The project aimsat promoting sustainability in employee's workplace behaviour at Dept. L. In order to achieve this,different interactions such as brief information, tips and surveys are emitted via Beekeeper,employees are thus ...
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LEAD – LEarning from the pAst: Digitized past pandemics in Switzerland
The project LEAD is designed to meet two specific needs: - data hub providing data on past pandemics in Switzerland (1890, 1918, and 1957), publicly accessible to different target groups; - selected data stories about forgotten past pandemic experiences.