Farooq Ahmad Mir

Dr. Farooq Ahmad Mir is an Assistant Professor of English Linguistics at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Aligarh Muslim University, with a specialization in Neuro-Cognitive Linguistics. His Ph.D. thesis was superviseed at Psychophysiology Lab IIT Bombay, Mumbai India. His doctoral research examined the phonological processing abilities of literate and illiterate Kashmiri speakers from a neuro-cognitive perspective. He also holds an M.Phil. in Linguistics, an M.A. in Linguistics, and a B.Ed. from Indian universities such as University of Kashmir, Aligarh Muslim University, and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) Mumbai. 

Dr. Mir’s research interests lie at the intersection of psycholinguistics, neuro-cognitive linguistics, field linguistics, sociolinguistics, first- and second-language acquisition, language teaching and learning, and linguistic research methodology. His scholarly work particularly engages with language processing, phonological awareness, language documentation, language endangerment, and the linguistic and cognitive dimensions of Kashmiri and other lesser-known languages.

With more than nine years of research experience, Dr. Mir has undertaken extensive fieldwork and language documentation projects involving Birhor and Chinali, including the preparation of descriptive grammars, ethnolinguistic studies, and trilingual pictorial dictionaries. He has also been designated by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, as a well-trained fieldworker and expert in language documentation. His postdoctoral research at the Psychophysiology Laboratory, IIT Bombay, focused on linguistic activation and bidirectional reading in Urdu using electroencephalography and eye-tracking methodologies.

Dr. Mir has taught linguistics and English at the undergraduate and university levels and has also taught Kashmiri to students from Harvard and Yale Universities through the American Institute of Indian Studies. His publications include research on Kashmiri phonology, phonological processing, language documentation, language endangerment, deixis, and language pedagogy. His forthcoming book, Manual of Linguistic Research, is under publication with Palgrave Macmillan, London.

His academic work reflects an interdisciplinary approach to linguistics, combining theoretical, empirical, field-based, and experimental methodologies to investigate language structure, cognition, acquisition, and use. He is a member of the Society for Endangered and Lesser-Known Languages–India (SEL-India) and the International Cognitive Linguistics Association (ICLA).