16.2354, Support: Discourse Studies: PhD Student, Tilburg U

Tue Aug 9 16:55:48 UTC 2005

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2354. Tue Aug 09 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.2354, Support: Discourse Studies: PhD Student, Tilburg U

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1)
Date: 01-Aug-2005
From: Alfons Maes < maes at uvt.nl >
Subject: Discourse Studies: PhD Student, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands 

-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Tue, 09 Aug 2005 12:50:51
From: Alfons Maes < maes at uvt.nl >
Subject: Discourse Studies: PhD Student, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands 

University or Organization: Tilburg University

Job Rank: PhD  
Specialty Areas: Cognitive linguistics 
The Faculty of Arts at Tilburg University announces a full-time position for a
PhD student (vacancy number 810.05.05). This position is connected to the
research programme Multimodality and Cognition (see for a description
www.tilburguniversity.nl/faculties/flw/cc/research/).  Starting date: October 1,
2005.

Description
This PhD-project aims at investigating the influence of computer mediation on
the communicative behavior of participants, thereby focusing on one aspect,
i.e., how do participants refer to entities which are relevant in the
communicative setting and how do they establish referential coherence in their
interaction. In this project, we expect that mediated reference is affected in
the first place by the following two communicative conditions, i.e., the
participants' co-presence and the presence of a shared workspace. It is
reasonable to expect that humans in a computer mediated setting refer
differently to objects depending on the degree of presence of their addressee.
Computer mediated addressees can be mentally present but perceptually invisible,
they can be visible in abstract animated form (e.g. in the form of a cartoon
figure or an embodied conversational agent), or they can be visible as a real
life representation (via web cam for example). Likewise, participants are
expected to refer differently depending of the degree in which they share a
relevant workspace. This central research question can be formulated as follows:
'What is the effect of the presence of participants (co-presence) and the
presence of a visual workspace on the verbal and non-verbal referential behavior
of language users in a computer mediated communicative environment.

For a more comprehensive description of the project, see: 
www.uvt.nl/faculteiten/fcc/people/maes/news/PhDVacancy

Requirements: 
- Master's degree in discourse studies, linguistics, (cognitive) psychology,
communication science, or a related field of expertise. Strong preference for a
linguist, who is experienced and has strong affinity with experimental research,
or a psychologist who is experienced with and has strong affinity with
linguistic research.
- Knowledge of statistical techniques 
- Technical experience in the field of digital media recommended
- A clear interest in and proven qualifications for doing research. This should
be evident from a high quality (Research) Master's thesis as well as from the
subjects chosen during the Bachelor/Master or doctoral curriculum
- Able to finish the research project within a period of four years (or five
years in the case of a part-time position). 

Salary
The selected candidate will get a four year contract (full-time) as a PhD
student. The (gross) salary will be EUR 1867 at the start of the project and EUR
2394 at the end. 

Applications
Candidates apply by sending the following documents by September 10 2005: 
- a letter of application
- a critical reflection (max 2 pp.) on the extended project proposal description
downloadable from www.uvt.nl/faculteiten/fcc/people/maes/news/PhDVacancy
- a curriculum vitae. This should at least contain copies of the diploma, an
informative list of courses, relevant professional experience in the area of
education and research and a list of publications, if any. In case a candidate
has not yet formally acquired the Master's degree, a list should be provided of
results so far and information about the Master's thesis.  As a rule, around 80
per cent of a PhD's time is reserved for research and training, the rest is
reserved for courses and teaching. At the time of  appointment, a training and
supervision plan will be drawn up.

Address for Applications:

Drs Olga Zweekhorst 
Tilburg University - Arts Faculty 
POBox 90153 
Tilburg 5000 LE 
Netherlands 
Also by email at solliciterenFDL at uvt.nl 

More detailed information about the position:
Prof. Dr. A.Maes (maes at uvt.nl). 
Website: http://www.uvt.nl/faculteiten/fcc/people/maes/news/PhDVacancy/

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