IIT-Madras launches Language & Cognition Lab’ to study India’s linguistic diversity

The Language and Cognition Laboratory (LC-Lab) will investigate how people process linguistic information by employing techniques such as eye-tracking and reaction-time studies.

The LC-Lab’s interdisciplinary framework integrates insights from science, technology, and the humanities to advance both academic research and technological innovation.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has launched the ‘Language and Cognition Laboratory’ (LC-Lab) to study India’s linguistic diversity through an interdisciplinary and technology-driven approach. The Language and Cognition Laboratory, established within the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, is claimed as the first lab in India dedicated to systematically exploring the country’s vast linguistic diversity through experimental linguistics.

According to a press release from IIT Madras, the laboratory was inaugurated on November 10 by Prof. V. Kamakoti, the Director of IIT Madras.

The LC-Lab aims to investigate how humans perceive, process, and produce language using advanced experimental methods. It will employ techniques such as eye-tracking and reaction-time studies to examine how people process linguistic information.

The lab’s research will primarily focus on Indian languages, providing valuable insights into the understanding and production of grammar, voice, and sentence structure in multilingual contexts.

While ongoing projects study grammatical voice and copula constructions, upcoming work will examine dyslexia in Indian children, with the goal of improving educational outcomes and developing linguistically relevant teaching interventions.

The LC-Lab’s interdisciplinary framework integrates insights from science, technology, and the humanities to advance both academic research and technological innovation.

In the short term, the LC-Lab will conduct experimental research using eye-tracking technology to validate established linguistic theories in Indian languages. In the long term, it plans to integrate advanced neurocognitive techniques such as Electroencephalography (EEG) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

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These tools will enable comprehensive research in language, cognition, and computational modelling while fostering collaboration with experts in psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. The lab is currently supported by the IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation and Aspire Infolab in Hyderabad, both of which have contributed to its establishment and research infrastructure.

Highlighting the need for such interdisciplinary research, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Linguistics is increasingly moving toward empirical, data-driven inquiry, combining methodologies from the sciences and humanities. India needed a dedicated facility that integrated linguistic theory with modern experimental and computational tools. The Language and Cognition Lab was established to fill this gap—creating a space that connects linguistics, cognitive science, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, and contributes to the development of socially relevant, linguistically informed technologies.”