Meet the expert: Dr Chris Carignan
Dr Chris Carignan, Programme Director for the Language Science MSc talks about what initially got him interested in speech science and what he thinks is special about the course.
What originally got you interested in speech, hearing and phonetic sciences?
My pathway into speech science was originally through studying the French language. My family heritage is French (Carignan), but my great-grandmother was the last person in the family to actually speak the language. She passed away when I was a child, but even then I remember being struck by the thought that it wasn’t just a member of the family that died on that day… but an entire language of the family. So I decided to revive it, to return some of our heritage back to my family. The more I studied the French language and, specifically, how people produce the sounds of the language, the more I became fascinated with researching how people all over the world use a relatively small portion of the body (the vocal tract) to produce the vast array of speech sounds that we observe across all human languages. Since then, my research interests have continued to grow and refine as I learn new aspects of speech and language that fascinate me.
What new developments or technologies do you see coming down the track for language sciences in the next 5 years?
Simply put: I don’t see them… and that’s precisely what’s exciting! Since our field relies so much on methodological advances (especially computational ones), it is always changing along with technological progress: The methods that we use, the type (and size) of data that we analyze, and even the research questions that we ask are constantly evolving. 5 years ago, we couldn’t have predicted some of the developments that have given rise to the methods that we use now for our research, for example, large language models (LLMs) or large scale online data collection. In some cases, these developments have completely changed the way that we approach speech and language science itself, including the kinds of questions that we’re able to research. What developments will happen in the next 5 years that might further transform our methodological approaches? I can hardly give a reliable prediction for that progress… and yet, equally, I can hardly wait for the chance for my research to evolve along with it.
What is special and unique about studying Language Sciences MSc at UCL?
I always like to say that the MSc Language Sciences is a fantastic “bang for the buck” degree programme, in which students have the chance to gain the same knowledge and experience within a single year that took me personally several years to acquire.
Through compulsory modules, students on all specialisations of the programme become versed in a wide arrange of methods that we use across the field, learn how to perform statistical treatment of data, and work with a UCL faculty member to carry out an original piece of research and write a dissertation on their findings. Through optional modules, students within a given specialisation take classes that have been carefully curated to provide deeper knowledge about the specific aspect of language science that is unique to that particular specialisation, taught by experts working in that area of the field. Finally, through elective modules, students have the flexibility either to take more modules within their specialisation or to branch out and take modules in other areas of the field, even optional modules from other specialisations on the programme. In this way, the MSc Language Sciences provides students with the necessary training to conduct reliable scientific research within the field, the knowledge to deepen their understanding of the particular area of language science that excites them most, and the freedom to tailor their degree to meet their own specific needs. And all of this within the span of just one year!
What types of careers do graduates of the Language Sciences MSc go on to have?
The array of career paths that our students choose is, in many ways, as diverse as the students themselves. Most find their research so compelling that they continue working as scientists, either within academia (as PhD students) or within industry. Some go on to find careers outside of science, but nonetheless related to language in some way. Some even pursue career pathways that may not have much to do with language at all, but related more to research itself; the more general skills that students gain on the MSc Language Sciences programme (e.g., developing a scientific approach to problem-solving, understanding how to think and work quantitatively, learning how to read and apply knowledge from scientific reports, and writing about their research in a way that is clear and accessible to other people) are abilities that are valuable in practically any career. In a survey conducted among some of our recent graduates, the careers that these students have chosen to pursue range from PhD students, to research assistants, to software engineers, to clinical assessment developers, to text editors, to language teachers, to interpreters, to data scientists.
What advice would you give someone considering studying Language Sciences MSc at UCL?
Be curious! One of the hallmarks of scientists is curiosity, plain and simple. This is no different for speech and language scientists; we are driven by a curiosity to understand how things work and, in our case, how humans produce, perceive, learn, and use language. So I would advise someone considering the MSc Language Sciences programme at UCL to be curious about speech and language: Think about speech and language, read about speech and language, discuss with other people about speech and language. If you don’t know where to begin… ask us! Look at the UCL profile pages of staff members in the Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences department (and other departments within the Psychology and Language Sciences Division) to discover some of the research questions that we are interested in. If you see something that interests you as well… then just send us an email! We’re always very happy to discuss the research that we do and the questions that we’re interested in; after all, it is that very curiosity that drew us to science in the first place.