Triple Laidlaw success for Language and Linguistic Science students

Posted on 1 May 2020

Three first-year LLS undergraduates secure a prestigious Laidlaw Scholarship.

The Department of Language and Linguistic Science is delighted to announce that three first-year undergraduate students, Catherine Brislane (BA in English and Linguistics), Fae Hicks (BA in Linguistics) and Ezri Mannion (BA in Linguistics), have each secured a prestigious Laidlaw Scholarship. They will form part of the fourth cohort of Laidlaw Scholars at the University of York, following in the footsteps of previously awarded LLS students Holly Shorey (2018-2020) and Ailsa Nice (2019-2021).

The Laidlaw Scholarship is a research programme generously sponsored by Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay. The scholarship gives students at York the opportunity to undertake a unique research project combined with an innovative and accredited leadership development programme. By becoming a Laidlaw Scholar students have the chance to develop their academic and professional potential and to gain the necessary skills to become future leaders in their sector.

The research projects undertaken by Catherine, Fae and Ezri are on various topics in linguistics and aligned with the University of York’s research theme culture and communication. Our three new Laidlaw Scholars will be supervised and mentored by academic staff in the department, respectively Dr George Bailey, Dr Julia Kolkmann and Dr Sam Hellmuth.

Here’s what they told us when we asked them about their research project and scholarship:

As a Laidlaw Scholar, I am excited to work on my project entitled ‘What are the differences between trained and untrained speakers in the production and perception of typologically rare and unattested sounds?’. It will involve using the electromagnetic articulography equipment which I would not usually be able to use. It makes me all the more excited to start my research! The leadership component of the scholarship will also provide me with some great opportunities for travel, work and professional development which I cannot wait to take part in over the next two years. - Catherine Brislane, UG Student, Dept. Language and Linguistic Science, University of York

I am looking forward to starting my research project ‘How do tautological words, such as ‘interconnect’ and ‘conjoin’, affect the perceived meaning of an utterance?’. It will be interesting to see how much attention is paid to language in conversation. This will be a great opportunity for me to bolster my understanding of linguistics while bringing together some of my favourite modules and getting a taste of research beyond the syllabus. - Fae Hicks, UG student, Dept. Language and Linguistic Science, University of York

I am very excited to become a Laidlaw Scholar! In particular, I look forward to conducting my research project ‘How does our approach to constructed language reflect our ideas of human language, and how has this changed over time?’, where I intend to investigate how constructed languages used in fiction can reflect our ideas of language and culture, through analysing their phonemic inventories. I am also eager to experience the opportunities for personal growth through the accompanying leadership projects. - Ezri Mannion, UG student, Dept. Language and Linguistic Science, University of York

The Department of Language and Linguistic Science is very proud of this achievement and wishes our awarded students all the best with their projects.

For more information on the Laidlaw Scholarship at the University of York: Laidlaw Scholars video presentation