Eversince it was established in 1978, the Linguistic Institute for International Communication has been engaged in a variety of research projects relating to all aspects of language, and has grown steadily with the purpose of deepening international understanding and facilitating cultural exchange between the East and the West. Currently, over 60 personnel including honorary members are engaged in joint research, and are striving to advance academic exchange and research through workshops, invitation of researchers from inside and outside Japan, and hosting of lectures. The Institute has two affiliated research organizations; the Research Center for Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and the Phonetics Laboratory. The research areas that the Institute covers include the following: the theoretical investigation of issues related to the universal and particular aspects of languages, empirical exploration of foreign language learning and instruction, the development of teaching methods and materials, studies of the social and cultural aspects of language, cognitive-scientific and biolinguistic approaches to the study of human language, research into speech and language disorders and their treatment, scientific studies of the sounds of language, etc.

• Research Project : 8 / Sponsored Research : 1
• Publications: The Institute has been releasing its findings annually through the publication of a number of journals and research reports, including Sophia Linguistica (in collaboration with the Graduate School of Languages and Linguistics), Working Papers in Phonetics, Sophia University Research Center for Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Annual Report, and until 2000 Overview of Overseas Development in Linguistics (Taishukan Shoten), among others.
• Hosting linguistics symposia, seminars and special lectures: To promote understanding in the field of language studies, the Institute hosts symposia, seminars and workshops, to which a number of distinguished scholars have been invited from within Japan and overseas.