Language analysis and counter-analysis in asylum applications
What we covered
We offered analyses of speech to help determine background or place of socialisation, and counter-analyses of language origin reports by experts and government contractors. We carried out analyses of existing speech samples as well as targeted elicitation of speech samples that are tailored to the individual case.
Our unique expertise
We were the only university-based team of language analysts for asylum cases. Our team members were researchers with formal university qualifications in linguistic analysis as well as first hand knowledge and expertise of the languages concerned. They drew directly on their knowledge of the languages, and on their research on the dialects of these languages. The team was led by a senior researcher, Professor Yaron Matras, and included native speakers of Sorani and Kurmanji Kurdish and of Arabic who have postgraduate university degrees in Linguistics and have worked as assistants on university research projects on investigating regional variation in language. As a research group, our team developed the world’s only online databases on regional variation in the dialects of Kurdish, Arabic, and Romani. We were in the unique position of being able to compare speech samples from clients with data from our own research databases and to offer a reliable, objective and genuinely verifiable analysis and interpretation. We also carried out research examining the methods used by government contractors in language analysis and are able to critically assess the vulnerabilities of such analyses, where applicable.
Our language specialism
We specialised in the dialects of Kurdish, Arabic, and Romani, and were able to draw on first hand knowledge and research expertise on these languages, developed as part of large-scale research projects funded by national and international research councils. We were also able to support queries and analysis at different levels for a variety of other languages of Europe and the Middle East.