IIT Madras has opened a new research center called the 'Language and Cognition Laboratory' (LC-Lab). The goal of this lab is to study the many different languages spoken in India using a modern approach that combines technology with various fields of knowledge.
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This new lab is set up in the Humanities and Social Sciences department. It will study the differences in Indian languages using experimental linguistics, which means running tests and experiments. The lab will investigate how people understand, process, and speak language by using modern research tools.
The lab was officially opened by IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti. He was joined by the head of the department, Rajesh Kumar, and the faculty coordinator, Anindita Sahoo, along with others.
The institute explained that, over time, the lab plans to help create AI systems that better understand humans and different languages. This will ensure that India's many languages and cultures are included in new technologies. The lab will also team up with IIT Madras's Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI) to study how AI can be used in language and brain research.
Professor V Kamakoti, the director of IIT Madras, said that modern language study is changing. It now heavily uses data and testing, mixing science methods with humanities.
India needed a dedicated facility that could combine language theory with modern experimental tools and computers.
The Language and Cognition Lab was created to fill this need. It connects fields like linguistics, brain science, and artificial intelligence to help develop useful technologies that genuinely understand and respect different languages.
The Grammar and Voice Systems of India's Languages
The LC-Lab will study how people's brains handle language information. It will do this by using special tools like eye-tracking and reaction-time studies. The research mainly focuses on Indian languages to understand exactly how people who speak multiple languages understand and create grammar, voice, and sentence structure.
Currently, the lab is working on projects related to grammatical voice and sentence structure. Looking ahead, the focus will shift to studying dyslexia in Indian children. The goal of this future work is to improve how these children learn and to create better teaching methods that fit the specific needs of their languages.
Sahoo explained that the LC-Lab aims to improve research by using technologies that show behavioral patterns. This allows the lab to gain a clear, data-based understanding of how people interact using language.
The lab is currently supported by two organizations: IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation and Aspire Infolab, Hyderabad. Both groups helped set up the lab and provided the necessary research equipment.
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