Welcome to the Sciences du Langage teaching and research unit (UFR) of Université Paris 8

The present UFR Sciences du Langage (SdL) was born in 2006 from the union of three entities :

• Linguistique Générale, which continues the linguistics department founded in 1968 by Jean-Claude Chevalier, Jean Dubois, Maurice Gross and Nicolas Ruwet at the former Centre Universitaire Expérimental de Vincennes ;
  
• Didactique et Acquisition des Langues, a modern development of the former Institute of Applied Linguistics and Second-Language Teaching founded in 1968 by Emmanuel Companys, Louise Dabène and Hélène Gantier at the Centre Expérimental de Vincennes ;
  
• Linguistique des Langues des Signes, a pioneer project (one of the very first of its kind in France at university level) launched at Paris 8 in 1998 by Christian Cuxac, which combines courses in theoretical and applied linguistics, and an intensive training in French Sign Language.
  

The “experimental touch” which defined the Centre Universitaire de Vincennes at the time of its foundation lives on in the curricula, the pedagogical choices, and the research orientations of UFR SdL, as witnessed by our thorough introduction to formal linguistics (covering phonology, morphology, metrics, syntax and semantics), our productive exploitation of the wide array of natural languages spoken by our students, our innovating and critical approach to French grammar, our combined study of linguistics, language-teaching and language acquisition, and our pioneering sign-language curricula, naturally open to deaf students.

The UFR SdL is qualified to issue two licences and one master involving three specializations (spécialités) :

• Licence de Sciences du Langage (3-year qualification) ;
  
• Licence professionnelle Enseignement de la LSF en milieu scolaire (Professional sign-language-teaching qualification) ;
  
• Master de Sciences du Langage :
  
  • spécialité Linguistique Théorique et Descriptive (Theoretical and Descriptive Linguistics),
    
  • spécialité Didactique des Langues Etrangères (Second-Language Teaching),
  • spécialité Interprétariat en Langue des Signes (Sign-Language Interpretation).

As regards research and graduate studies, the UFR SdL is locally anchored to the graduate school CLI (Cognition-Langage-Interaction) and to the research unit Structures Formelles du Langage (SFL). It is further linked to two journals : Recherches linguistiques de Vincennes and AILE (Acquisition et Interaction en Langues Etrangères), and to the collection Sciences du Langage published by the Paris 8 University Press (Presses Universitaires de Vincennes).