The Laboratory for the Study of
Sign Languages

Director of the Laboratory – Kira M. Iriskhanova, Ph.D., professor

About the director: In 1978 K. Iriskhanova received her Ph.D. from Moscow State Linguistic University. Her research was devoted to the phenomenon of toponymy in literary texts. From 1985 she has been Chair in English Stylistics. К. Iriskhanova is the Russian Federation Government award-winner in education. She has been the director of the laboratory since 2013. K. Iriskhanova is a senior investigator in a number of research projects supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.

The Laboratory for the Study of Sign Languages was founded in 2013 to provide comprehensive research in the field of signed languages. Along with sign language communication, the researchers of the Lab investigate a wide range of topics related to sign language. These include the linguistics of Russian Sign Language (pragmatics, stylistics, grammar, lexicology, phonology) and bilingualism in sign and spoken languages.

The Lab activities go well beyond research projects. Staff members of the Lab have developed a number of courses and teaching programmes of Russian Sign Language that are used by MSLU students. We have experience in organizing international workshops and seminars, contributing to networking of researchers, academic mobility and knowledge exchange. We provide assistance in research procedures and methods of sign language studies.