[Dgkl] Two postdoctoral positions in Linguistics at FAU

[Ewa Dabrowska]

Two postdoctoral positions in Linguistics

General

The FAU seeks to appoint two postdoctoral researchers in empirical linguistics. The researchers will be based in the Department of English and American Studies and will be part of an international research group funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and headed by Prof. Ewa Dąbrowska. In addition to Prof. Dąbrowska, the group will include three post-doctoral researchers (all based at FAU) and six doctoral researchers (four based at FAU and two based at the University of Birmingham). The group’s research will focus on individual differences in first language (L1) and second/foreign language (L2) acquisition and attainment. In particular, the group will examine relationships between individual strengths and weaknesses in specific areas of linguistic and non-linguistic cognition, with a view to developing and testing hypotheses about which aspects of language depend on which aspects of cognition.

The group’s research will include three main strands:

A. Explicit and implicit language aptitude

This strand will examine the following research questions:


·        How do we measure explicit and implicit language aptitude?

·        How does explicit and implicit language attitude influence speed and accuracy of language processing (in both L1 and L2)?

·        What is the relationship between these two types of aptitude?

·        To what extent do adult second language learners rely on the same mental mechanisms as children acquiring their first language?

B. Fluency

This strand will examine fluency in the broadest sense: not just phonological fluency (the ability to produce rapid speech with relatively few pauses and self-corrections) but also cognitive fluency (the ability to retrieve and integrate linguistic units rapidly and effortlessly during online processing). These will be investigated using a variety of methods, including analysis of spontaneous speech samples, behavioural experiments, and ERP recordings. While there is a considerable amount of work on fluency in the field of second language acquisition, it is almost virgin territory in work on L1 development (except among researchers dealing with language pathology). This research strand will thus be ground-breaking in many respects, and will give us a better understanding of the cognitive abilities underlying the development of fluency in typical first language acquisition as well as informing linguistic theory by exploring the similarities and differences in the development of fluency in first and second language acquisition.

C. Language and literacy

Modern linguistic theory is based largely on research on highly literate speakers of languages with a long written tradition – that is to say, hardly language in its “natural” state. This strand will look at how literacy affects language at both the developmental level (i.e., how becoming a skilled reader affects individual speakers’ mental grammars) and at the historical level (the effects that a long tradition of literacy has on language structure). This will involve


·        Analysis of vocabulary richness (e.g. lexical density, lexical diversity) and grammatical complexity (e.g. use of subordination and complex noun phrases) in texts produced by highly literate and low-literate speakers;

·        Analogous analyses of historical corpora;

·        Experimental studies examining the relationship between print exposure and comprehension of complex syntax (focussing on subordination devices and discourse connectives);

·        Comprehension experiments and elicited production studies comparing the linguistic abilities of adult literates and illiterates (data to be collected in Spain and possibly in Latin America).


These three strands overlap and interweave in a number of ways, and although one postdoctoral researcher will be nominally responsible for each strand, the entire group will work together as a team. All post-doctoral researchers and four of the PhD researchers will be based at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität in Erlangen. The other two PhD researchers will be based at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Selection criteria

Essential:


·        PhD in Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology or a related area

·        Fluent in English

·        Ability to work both independently and as part of a team

·        Good IT skills

·        Good knowledge of a variety of statistical methods

·        A strong research record, appropriate to the stage of the candidate's career

Desirable:


·        Knowledge of German

·        Knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese

·        Experience in designing and carrying out psycholinguistic experiments

·        Experience working with children and/or low-educated participants

·        Experience working with corpora

·        Experience teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level

Main Duties


·        Design and carry out research relevant to one or more strands of the project

·        Write up publications and present at conferences

·        Contribute to supervision of PhD students and part-time research assistants

·        Teach at undergraduate and/or MA level (approximately 5 hours per week for Position 1, approximately 2 hours per week for position 2)

·        Manage the Linguistics Research Laboratory (Position 2 only)

·        Undertake any other duties consistent with the level and nature of the post


Application process

Applicants should submit a CV, contact details for three referees and a covering letter indicating which strand they would like to be primarily associated with, and how they would contribute to the strand to barbara.gabel-cunningham at fau.de<mailto:barbara.gabel-cunningham at fau.de>.

Informal inquiries can be directed to Prof. Ewa Dąbrowska (ewa.dabrowska at bham.ac.uk<mailto:ewa.dabrowska at bham.ac.uk>).

Deadline for Applications: 30 July 2018
Salary: €44064 to €640547 per annum (depending on experience)
Starting time: 1 October 2018 or as soon thereafter as possible
Length of appointment: up to six years (Position 1), up to four years (Position 2)

It is anticipated that the interviews for the post will take place in the last week of August.

Prof. Ewa Dabrowska
Dept of English Language and Applied Linguistics
3 Elms Road
The University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
United Kingdom


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