The new sociolinguistic laboratory of the University of Cologne is dedicated to interdisciplinary research in the intersection between linguistics and social sciences. Our aim is to investigate spontaneous speech by using modern statistical and computer-assisted methods. Areas of interest are, among others, linguistic diversity, ongoing language change, the identification of subtle but critical differences in language use and lifestyle, or language contact and migration in megacities.http://sociolab.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/22741.html