Department of Language & Linguistic Science, University of York

Sir Michael Caine has lent his voice to a research project co-led by Dr Ben Gibb-Reid in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York. The study tests how well people can distinguish authentic speech from AI-generated audio, with the aim of strengthening protections for performers whose voices are replicated by AI. Read the full story on the University website.

https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2026/research/michael-caine-lends-voice-to-ai-deepfake-research/

Postgraduate translation students at the University of York have had terminology entries published in WIPO Pearl, a multilingual database maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization. York is one of only two UK universities where students contribute directly to this global resource.

Read more:
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/wipo-pearl/

Prof George Tsoulas delivered a keynote at the 50th anniversary conference of the International Circle of Korean Linguistics, held at the University of Sheffield. Founded in 1975 with just 27 members, ICKL has grown into a global organisation that has held conferences on every continent. Prof Tsoulas's talk explored how studying Korean syntax can shed light on ambiguities in English.

Read more
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/york-professor-delivers-keynote/

Dr Gustavo Góngora-Goloubintseff has published a new article exploring how machine translation is changing legal translation in the UK. The study surveys freelance translators on how they are adapting their workflows, and how client expectations around quality, speed, and pay are evolving. Read the full article in 'Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice'.

Link to the article:

Technology-driven changes in the UK legal translation market: a practice-based study of NMT and its impact on freelance translators’ workflow Recent advances in Neural Machine Translation (NMT) have reshaped the language services industry, with the number of language service providers offering machine translation services nearly doubling...

Monica Lethbridge, the first student on York's MSci Linguistics programme, has been awarded a fully funded PhD with the UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Safe Artificial Intelligence Systems (SAINTS). Her research will apply sociophonetic expertise to the safety of AI-generated and AI-processed speech, an area where linguistic insight has been largely absent. She is the first student with a linguistics background to join the SAINTS cohort.

Learn more about SAINTS:
https://www.york.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/centres-doctoral-training/safe-ai-training/

The Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York will host the German Language Association annual conference on 18 September 2026. This year's theme is "Revisiting culture and language integrated education", with an opening keynote from Dr Nils Bernstein (University of Hamburg). Registration is now open: https://www.germanlanguageassociation.org/

The University of York will host the 11th Northern Englishes Workshop on 9–10 September 2026 at the Guildhall in York city centre. The workshop welcomes research on dialects from across the linguistic north of the UK, including varieties shaped through contact with Northern Englishes. Early bird registration is open until 24 July.

Register now:
https://store.york.ac.uk/product-catalogue/languages-linguistics/11th-northern-englishes-workshop

One of our lecturers, Dr Gustavo Góngora-Goloubintseff, was recently invited to SlatorCon London, a flagship gathering of the global language industry. He joined companies, technology developers and fellow academics to discuss how AI is changing translation, interpreting and localisation. Conversations like these help us keep our courses connected to the realities of professional practice.

Read more:
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/slatorcon-london/

The Department of Language and Linguistic Science welcomed 80 pupils from five schools on 10 June for a day of language workshops, a taster lecture and student-led sessions, organised by the department's Outreach Team. Every pupil who responded to the feedback survey rated the day positively, and 86% of responding teachers felt it was likely to increase their pupils' motivation to go to university.

Read more:
https://www.york.ac.uk/language-linguistic-science/about/news/2026/york-outreach-day/

At this year's York Festival of Ideas, the department's Kamishibai team joined the charity York Cares to run a session for 20 children aged five to eleven and their families. Géraldine Enjelvin, Yumi Nixon and Ulrike Wray combined Japanese picture-card storytelling with origami, multilingual vocabulary and a collaborative, riddle-led treasure hunt, all built around the theme of sharing.

Read more:

Kamishibai and origami draw families to York Festival of Ideas Families at the York Festival of Ideas explored languages, origami and a riddle treasure hunt in a session built around the theme of sharing.