The Centre for Language Studies (CLS) was established on 1 December 1993 and has been playing an important role in developing and enhancing the language proficiency of students in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. CLS offers a variety of Bahasa Melayu, English Language and third language courses. The Bahasa Melayu course we offer focuses on academic and workplace needs. In addition, we also offer beginner level courses to cater to the needs of international students, staff and also the public. Our English language courses are aimed at improving the proficiency of students to enable them to cope with academic needs while at university and professional needs in the workplace, as well as to use English for aesthetic purposes. We also offer English language courses to UNIMAS staff. Besides these, we have been instrumental in introducing our students to other languages and cultures through the third language courses offered under the University Elective programme. The third language courses we currently offer are Arabic, Japanese and Mandarin.

On the research front, CLS has been involved in fundamental and applied research projects in selected fields that are relevant within and outside Malaysia. Our strengths are in sociolinguistics and literature, and our academics are also actively researching various aspects of language teaching and learning in order to bring about more perceptible language learning outcomes. CLS also renders its knowledge and skills in teaching and research to various sectors through professional consultancy services.