Environment and Facilities
The School of Modern Languages offers an inclusive, interdisciplinary research environment.
Research environment
The School of Modern Languages (SML) provides excellent research support to staff at all levels. We also offer our early-career colleagues sustained mentoring.
We host regular seminars, exhibitions, and events, designed to share research within the University and beyond.
We have strong links to interdisciplinary research groups and centres within and beyond the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
SML researchers are key members of various groups and centres, including the:
- Postcolonial Research Group
- Gender Research Group
- Asian Studies Research Group
- Anthropocene Research Group
- Cultures of Memory
- Translation and Interpreting Research Forum
- Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (CLAC)
Research equipment and facilities
Our research facilities are equipped with advanced hardware and software designed to support cutting-edge studies in:
- translation
- interpreting
multimodal communication
human interaction
These tools enable data-rich investigations into cognition, emotion, behaviour, and user experience in both real-world and virtual environments.
Interpreting suites and mobile interpreting booth
Experience world-class facilities designed for innovation in interpreting and communication research.
Our main suite features:
- a United Nations-standard conference interpreting system
- specialized conference-floor cameras
- ten soundproof booths with built-in cameras
A second suite provides an additional conference-style setting with ten more booths. These suites enable the capture of real-time interaction and communication dynamics, supporting cutting-edge research into interpreting behaviour, speech production, paralinguistic features, and remote interpreting.
Our portable, soundproof interpreting booth offers a controlled acoustic environment that can be configured to meet a wide range of research needs—ideal for experiments and simulations.
Video analysis suite
Our video analysis software tools—FaceReader and The Observer XT—allow for detailed, frame-by-frame analysis of:
- facial expressions
- gaze
- head orientation
- gestures
- verbal/non-verbal interactions
These tools are ideal for research on interpreting/translating behaviour, emotion, interaction, and multimodality.
Eye-tracking systems
We provide access to both wearable (Interpreting Lab) and screen-based (LingLab) Tobii eye-tracking technology. These are:
- useful for capturing real-time gaze patterns in both task-based and naturalistic settings
- suitable for studies on cognitive load, attention, and translating and interpreting behaviour
High-resolution AI-powered video cameras
We offer high-definition, AI-enhanced video cameras capable of capturing subtle movements and expressions with clarity. These are ideal for recording interpreting behaviour and collecting high-quality interaction data.
Virtual reality (VR) headsets (with eye, wrist, and face tracking)
Our VR headsets support immersive, scenario-based research. These are compatible with a wide range of VR-enabled and custom-built or interactive scenarios. They are ideal for research on:
- translator/interpreter training
- scenario-based learning
- embodied cognition
- user experience in virtual spaces
Chinese Independent Film Archive (CIFA)
CIFA is the world’s largest publicly accessible archive dedicated to independent Chinese cinema. It houses over 900 films and 170 oral-history video interviews among other materials and hosts a digital archive on its official website.
Please visit on the second floor of the Old Library Building by making a reservation.
Students working in the Language Resource Centre
Our excellent Translation and Interpreting Suite
The computer area in the Language Resource Centre
Students working in the Translation and Interpreting Suite