The Centre for Language and Communication Studies strives to follow the St. Xavier's University, Kolkata’s vision to promote a global society based on love, freedom, liberty, justice, equality and fraternity, rooted in and inspired by the Ignatian charism of forming men and women for others.

The Centre for Language and Communication Studies is set to establish the significance of learning indigenous languages of our country while introducing languages from across the world to our students; thereby providing exposure to our students which will be a transforming experience intellectually, culturally, socially and personally. The Centre is on its path to carve a special niche for the students of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata who by their multilingual abilities would be better equipped to greet the opportunities that are on offer globally and themselves be focal points for cultural amalgamation.

The Centre for Language and Communication Studies will be responsible for undertaking various activities such as:

• To introduce various Modern Indian Languages and introduce the students to the plethora of cultures within our country.
• To introduce various foreign language courses for students and facilitate them to be proficient in communication.
• To engage in academic partnerships with other organizations that would facilitate linguistic exchange.
• To explore possibilities of potential collaborations regarding language and communication related courses.
• To act as the nodal point of the various language courses that would be offered by the Centre.
• To create synergy of research between departments and faculty members and to develop language/ communication based collaborative research projects with other institutions.
• To be a single point contact of students for issues in relation to language course related inquiries.
• To organize and facilitate Seminars/ Workshops/ Symposium/ Conferences.
• To explore possibilities of Courses/ Online Degree/ Diploma Programmes.
• To collaborate with the Centre for Global Network and Initiatives.
• To consider any other relevant function that would be enriching for the students.

Dr. Bidisha Kantha
Prof-in-Charge
Centre for Language and Communication Studies

Rev. Dr. John Felix Raj
Vice-Chancellor
St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata

Centre for Language and Communication Studies
June 2024- June 2025

Commencement of Hindi and Bengali Courses

The Centre for Language and Communication Studies, St. Xavier’s University Kolkata, commenced the Hindi and Bengali courses for its undergraduate students July 2024 onwards. These courses are taught to the students of semesters III and IV across the School of Social Studies and the Department of Commerce and Management Studies. Experienced faculty members with an aptitude of research are engaged in the training and education of students in the respective subjects. Committed to contribution towards the enrichment of proficiency in the Indian languages, the Centre is offering these two languages at present. The Centre aims to augment the choices available for various Indian languages soon.

Spanish Course for Beginners

St. Xavier’s University Kolkata is offering an Additional Language Proficiency Course titled Spanish Course for Beginners, conducted for 60 hours, in two segments:

1. Spanish Course for Beginners: Sem 1 (B.L. 1) and
2. Spanish Course for Beginners: Sem 2 (B.L. 2)

The Details of the course are as follows:

• Credits per segment of the course: 2
• Number of classes per segment of the course: 30
• Total number of classes for the complete course: 60
• Venue of the course: St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata campus.
• Tentative Timings of the course: 9.00 a.m. - 10.00 a.m. for the Day batch and 11.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. for the Morning batch
• Frequency of classes: Classes are expected to be conducted twice a week.
• Enrolment to the course: The applicant must be a student of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata.
• Attendance Requirement: Any student enrolled in the course is required to have 75% attendance in that particular segment of the course without which they will not be permitted to appear for the final evaluation of that segment of the course, and they will not be promoted to the next segment of the course.
• Evaluation of the course: Evaluation of the course shall span across reading, listening, writing and comprehension.
• Award of certificate: If a student successfully completes the Spanish Course for Beginners: Sem 1 (B.L. 1) he/she will be awarded a certificate for that segment only. The certificate for the entire course would be provided once a student successfully completes both segments of the course.
• Seats: The course has a limited number of seats which will be available to students on a ‘first come-first served’ basis.
• Course fees: Total Course fees (for 60 hours of the course) to be paid at the time of admission to the course: Rs. 14000/- **.
  **(Non-Refundable).

CLCS conducts week-long workshop

Centre for Language and Communication Studies (CLCS) of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) conducted a 7-day workshop from June 16 to 22, 2025 at the university campus. The theme of the workshop was “Decoding Words: Emerging Trends in Understanding Translation Studies.”

The workshop was conducted in hybrid mode. The inaugural address was delivered by Rev. Dr. Jeyaraj Xavier, S.J., Registrar of SXUK and was graced by Dr. Chandrakala Pandey, a former Professor of the Department of Hindi, University of Calcutta and also a former Member of Parliament.

The workshop witnessed six engaging sessions by distinguished faculty members and professionals, spanning areas across literary translations, translations for administrative purposes and machine translations. A total of 33 participants attended the workshop. Each session was followed by an evaluative assignment at the end.

Dr. Bidisha Kantha
Professor-in-charge
Centre for Language and Communication Studies

SXUK hosts fireside chat

Centre for Language and Communication Studies of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) hosted a fireside chat on February 25, 2025 in the university campus for the postgraduate students of the Department of English. The topic was Passport to the Mind and World: How Foreign Languages Unlock Cognitive Potential and Global Opportunities.

The guest speaker was Prof. Indranil Dutta, School of Languages and Linguistics of Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Prof. Ashok Mahapatra of the Department of English of SXUK conducted the hour-long discussion.

Prof. Dutta discussed the relevance of language learning in a world where Artificial Intelligence is progressing at a fast pace. He mentioned the cognitive advantages of learning multiple languages. Prof. Mahapatra’s skilful conduction of the discussion threw light on the differences between languages and the ongoing research in the field of language studies.

The event concluded with an interactive session with the students.

Dr. Bidisha Kantha