Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Job description

A Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) in applied linguistics is available at the Section for English language and linguistics within the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo. The Doctoral Research Fellowship is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and is associated with the research project “MULTIWRITE – Interactions Between First, Second and Third Languages” (project number: 324962).

Expected start date: 1 March 2022

The languages that a learner knows are all held by the same mind. Yet, language acquisition is largely studied one language at a time. In the MULTIWRITE project, we will study the language development of multilingual learners as a whole, and over time, in order to understand how their languages interact. We will also investigate how language teaching in schools can foster development across languages, and how teachers can collaborate across language subjects to increase pupils' learning. We will do this by investigating non-literary written production and teacher feedback in the first (Norwegian), second (English) and third (French/German/Spanish) languages over the first year of Norwegian upper secondary school, and by exploring teacher collaboration across language subjects.

The doctoral research fellowship is connected to the part of the MULTIWRITE project that focuses on teacher feedback. Applicants are invited to submit a project proposal for a doctoral dissertation focusing on how teachers’ feedback influences students’ writing and the interaction between their three languages. The candidate’s own project is supposed to complement or elaborate on aspects of the larger project of MULTIWRITE. It does not need to involve more than one of the foreign languages commonly taught in Norwegian schools – French, German or Spanish. The research fellow will be involved in the collection of sets of texts from the same pupils written in Norwegian, English and the chosen foreign language(s).

More about the position

The successful applicant will be part of the MULTIWRITE project group, which includes one more doctoral and one postdoctoral research fellow and has members at different departments of the University of Oslo, the University of Agder, the University of Bergen and the University of Exeter, UK. The project has links to the TRAWL research group, which consists of researchers building a corpus of pupil texts from Norwegian primary and secondary schools and researching different aspects of writing development.

The doctoral research fellow will also be a part of the research community at the Section for English language and linguistics at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, where there is a focus on corpus linguistics, contrastive linguistics and learner language research. The research fellow will be jointly supervised by Associate professor Hildegunn Dirdal from the Section for English Language and Linguistics and one of the other project members with expertise in language education and teacher training.

Qualification requirements

• A Master's degree or equivalent in English/Norwegian/French/German/Spanish linguistics. The Master's degree must have been obtained and the final evaluation must be available by the application deadline.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English and Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language) and good knowledge of German, French or Spanish.
• Personal suitability and motivation for the position.
• The candidate’s submitted research project must be closely connected to the part of the MULTIWRITE project that focuses on teacher feedback in pupils’ multilingual language development.

Further qualifications

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on:

• The project's scientific merit, research-related relevance and innovation
• The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the allotted time frame and contribute to (the overall goals of) the MULTIWRITE project
• The applicant's ability to complete research training
• Good collaboration skills and the ability to successfully join in academic collaboration within and across disciplines
• In addition publications in journals and presentations at conferences will be considered.

Applicants who have recently graduated with excellent results may be given preference.

We offer

• salary NOK 491 200 – 534 400 per annum depending on qualifications (position code 1017)
• a professionally stimulating working environment
• attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include:

• Application letter describing and exemplifying the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position. It is important that the applicant in the application letter describe, document and exemplify his/her qualifications with respect to the range of qualifications mentioned in the call text through concrete examples.
• Curriculum Vitae (with a list of degrees, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities, as well as a complete list of published and unpublished works)
• Transcript of records of applicant’s Bachelor’s and Master's degrees and a certificate of Master’s degree. Applicants with education from a foreign university must attach an explanation of their university's grading system
• Master’s thesis (digital)
• Project description, including a detailed progress plan for the project (3-5 pages, see Template for project descriptions)
• A list of 2-3 reference persons (including name, relationship to the applicant, telephone number and email address)
• Documentation of Language requirements, if applicable

Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Other diplomas, educational certificates and the like are not to be submitted with the application, but applicants may be asked to submit such information or works later.

Please do not attach any letters of recommendation.

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system; please follow the link “Apply for this job”.

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

Formal regulations

See also regulations as well as guidelines for the application assessment process and appointments to research fellowships.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) § 25, Chapter 2, demographic information about the applicant may be used in the public list of applicants even if the applicant opts out of the entry in the public application list.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

• Associate Professor Hildegunn Dirdal (e-mail)
• Head of Administration Karina Kleiva (e-mail)
• HR Adviser Evian Nordstrand (for questions on electronic application)

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