The research unit Variation, Linguistic Change and Grammaticalization is based in the Department of English and German at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Founded in the 1990s by Professor Teresa Fanego, the group has become a leading centre for research on the history and variation of English. Over the years, it has trained more than 40 scholars, many of whom now lead their own research teams at universities across Spain. The unit is currently coordinated by Professor María José López-Couso.

Our research explores how English varies and changes across time, space and text-types, with particular attention to morphosyntactic and semantic-pragmatic developments. We investigate both the historical evolution of the language and its present-day diversity, examining through corpus-based methodologies a wide range of periods and varieties from across the English-speaking world. Beyond our research activities, the team is actively involved in developing tools and resources for the field and has compiled a range of computerized corpora, including historical and learner corpora. Our work is grounded in cognitive-functional approaches to language and focuses on the mechanisms that drive linguistic change. Key areas of interest include grammaticalization, Construction Grammar and the typological dimensions of language variation and change. Through these perspectives, we seek to contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamic nature of language and the factors that shape its evolution.