Bilingualism: Research Center & Jobs

[Juergen M. Meisel]

A new research center will be established at the Univeristy of Hamburg.
Please find below a short description of the Center and a job
announcement for one of its research projects.

Jurgen M. Meisel

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH CENTER ON MULTILINGUALISM
(Sonderforschungsbereich Mehrsprachigkeit)

University of Hamburg

A research center for the study of multilingualism, funded by the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Science Foundation) has been
established at the University of Hamburg (Germany) as of July 1999.
The Center currently comprises 13 research projects investigating
linguistic aspects of bi- and multilingualism. The focus of this
research lies in microanalyses of oral and written communication
in multilingual settings and in language development in the bilingual
individual. This work starts from the assumptions that human cognition
predisposes the individual to become multilingual, that the knowledge
of more than one language increases communicative possibilities rather
than decreasing them, and that diachronic studies of multilingualism
can lead to a better under-standing of contemporary situations and to
solutions for emerging problems. In order to put these claims to the
test, cognitive as well as cultural studies have been designed by which
specific hypotheses, based on these assumptions, are examined empirically.
The multilingual settings studied include social as well as family
bilingualism, postcolonial situations as well as ones resulting from
labor migration, and also contexts where more than one language is
used in education or at the workplace, at home or during extended or
short-term stays in a foreign country. The languages studied include
Aymara, Basque, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Guarani,
Italian, Japanese, Latin, Luganda, Lwo, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish,
Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, and several diachronic and regional varieties
of some  of these. By comparing an array of linguistically, culturally,
and socially diverse settings, the aim is to identify more general as
well as situation-specific factors favoring multilingualism or rendering
it more difficult for the indvidual and for society.

The 13 research projects carried out during the three year period
1999-2002 are listed below. The Center is organized into two groups.
Group A, entitled Oral and Written Texts and Types of Discourse in
Multilingual communication, investigates the production and comprehension
of multilingual language use in various social, cultural and institutional
contexts, contemporary as well  as previous ones. Group B, The Development
of Multilingualism, is concerned with diachronic change as well as with the
ontogenesis of multilingualism, investigating the simultaneous acquisition
of more than one first language and the successive acquisition of several
languages, and contrasting both to monolingual first language development.

                 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH CENTER ON MULTILINGUALISM
                    (Sonderforschungsbereich Mehrsprachigkeit)


			Chair: Prof.Dr. Jurgen M. Meisel
					Universitat Hamburg
					Romanisches Seminar
					von Melle-Park 6
					D-20146 Hamburg
					jmm at rrz.uni-hamburg.de

			Co-chair and coordinator of group A:
					Prof.Dr. Jochen Rehbein
					rehbein at rrz.uni-hamburg.de

			Co-chair and coordinator of group B:
					Prof.Dr. Conxita Lleo
					lleo at rrz.uni-hamburg.de


Group A: Oral and Written Texts and Types of Discourse in
         Multilingual Communication

A1: Japanese and German expert discourse in mono- and multilingual settings
        (Principal investigator: Jochen Rehbein)
A2: Interpreting in the hospital
	(PI: Kristin Buhrig)
A3: Processing of spoken language in the process of interpreting
	(PI: Walther von Hahn)
A4: Covert translation
	(PI: Juliane House)
A5: Literacy practices in cross-cultural perspective
	(PI: Mechthild Reh)
A6: Semicommunication and receptive multilingualism in contemporary
        Scandinavia
        (PI: Kurt Braunmuller)
A7: Disticha Catonis: Didactic forms of discourse between Latin
	and the vernacular
        (PI: Nikolaus Henkel)
A8: Stylistic levels and diglossia in the modern Hellenic world 	
        (PI: Hans Eideneier)


Group B: The Development of Multilingualism

B1: Multilingualism as cause and effect of language change:
        Historical syntax of Romance languages
        (PI: Jurgen M. Meisel)
B2: Simultaneous and successive acquisition of bilingualism
	(PI: Jurgen M. Meisel)
B3: Prosodic constraints on phonological and morphological development
        in bilingual first language acquisition
	(PI: Conxita Lleo)
B4: Bilingualism in early childhood: Comparing Italian/German and
French/German
        (PI: Natascha Muller)
B5: Linguistic connectivity in bilingual Turkish-German children
        (PI: Jochen Rehbein)


JOB OPPORTUNITIES

1 Post-doctoral researcher (full position)
1 Post-graduate researcher (half position)

in THE research project on "Simultaneous and Successive Acquisition of
Bilingualism". This project will investigate similarities and differences
in grammatical development between bilingual first language acquisition,
monolingual first language acquisition, and adult second language
acquisition. It is one of 13 projects of the Collaborative Research Center
on Multilingualism funded by the Deutsche Forschungsge-meinschaft (DFG,
German Research Foundation) to be established at the University of Hamburg
as of July 1st, 1999.

Pending final decision by the DFG, both positions will begin on this date
and will extend for a period of three years. The post-doctoral candidate
will be expected to co-direct this research group together with J.M.
Meisel. The post-doctoral position can be renewed for one three-year
period. The salary of the post-doctoral researcher corresponds to that of
an assistant professor in German universities (BAT IIa). The post-graduate
researcher must hold an M.A. (or equivalent). He or she will receive half
of the BAT IIa salary for a work load of appr. 19 hours per week and will
be expected to complete a doctoral dissertation on a topic related to the
topic of the research project.

Requirements sought are: good knowledge of syntactic theory (Principles and
Parameters Theory and possibly of the Minimalist Program), experience with
language acquisition research, and good knowledge of at least two of the
following languages: German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Basque. Also
desirable would be familiarity with speech processing research and/or
experience with corpus analysis and/or com-puter skills.

Send application (CV, list of publications, names of two referees) by June
15, 1999 to Prof. J. M. Meisel, University of Hamburg, Romanisches Seminar,
von Melle-Park 6, D 20146 Hamburg; for further inquiries contact
jmm at rrz.uni-hamburg.de

==========================================================
  Juergen M. Meisel                 jmm at rrz.uni-hamburg.de
 Universitaet Hamburg               Tel (+49-40) 428 38-4793
  Romanisches Seminar               Fax (+49-40) 428 38-4147
   von Melle-Park 6                  = NEW PHONE NUMBER!
   D 20146 Hamburg
==========================================================