Stilling:
Postdoctoral Researcher position in Heritage Language Bilingualism
Deadline 15.04.2019
About the Position
A Postdoctoral Researcher position using EEG/ERP in Heritage Language Bilingualism is available in the Department of Language and Culture at the University of Tromsø - The Arctic University of Norway. The position is affiliated with the LAVA research group (Language Acquisition, Variation & Attrition) and is connected to a large research project HeLPiNG (Heritage-Bilingual Linguistic Proficiency in the Native Grammar: Charting and Explaining Differences), funded by the Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse 2019-2023. This is one of several postdoctoral researcher and Professor II positions associated with HeLPiNG. The position will start no later than January 1st 2020.
The appointment is a fixed term position for a period of three years.
For further information about the positions and the project (inclusive of a copy of the grant proposal, please contact Professor Jason Rothman, Tel: +47 77 64 42 56, E-mail: j.rothman@reading.ac.uk
Affiliation
The position is affiliated with the Department of Language and Culture (ISK). The Department has 75 permanent employees, 10 adjunct professors, and approximately 30 PhD fellows. Additionally, the Department has approximately 25 temporary research and teaching positions. The Department’s core activities are research, teaching, and dissemination within linguistics, literature, art history, and media and documentation studies.
The Department has a very active and diverse research profile. It houses one of the world’s most excellent research communities in linguistics, with research groups within cognitive linguistics (CLEAR), Sami language technology (Giellatekno and Divvun), sociolinguistics (LAIDUA), language acquisition (LAVA), and theoretical linguistics (CASTL-FISH). The Department’s research communities within literature, art history, and media and documentation studies are nationally highly competitive, and are organized into research groups such as Health Art Society (HAS), Russian Space, WARGAME and ALMPUB.
ISK offers one-year programme education, Bachelor, and Master programmes within general linguistics, literature, art history, media and documentation studies, English, Kven, Finnish, Norwegian, Russian, Sami, Spanish, and German. It also offers PhD education within cultural/literary studies, art history, media and documentation studies, and linguistics.
The Project
The LAVA research group currently consists of 21 active researchers, including seven professors/associate professors, four Professor II positions (20%) who are top, internationally recognized leaders in our fields, a lab manager, four researchers/postdoctoral fellows, three MSCA postdocs, and four PhD students. The group members are involved in a number of research projects both locally and internationally, e.g. the MiMS and SALT projects financed by the RCN. For further information about the group’s work and activities, see the website of the LAVA research group here: http://site.uit.no/lava/
The HeLPiNG project has received funding (NOK 15 million) from Tromsø Forskningsstiftelse (Tromsø Research Foundation), 2019-2023. The advertised researcher position is connected with this project and will give the successful candidate the opportunity to work closely with an outstanding team of linguists.
The appointed Post-doctoral Researcher must have her/his daily workplace at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, campus Tromsø.
The position’s field of research/research project and other duties
HeLPiNG, brief project description: Heritage language bilingualism—the acquisition of a native language in a home context in which the majority societal language is distinct—has shown significant degrees of variation in development, but especially ultimate attainment outcomes from monolinguals of the same language and across individual heritage speakers. The primary objective of HeLPiNG is to answer: Why is Heritage language bilingualism characterized by such variation in grammatical knowledge and language use to degrees unseen in monolinguals? by addressing these equally fundamental secondary objective questions: (Aim 1) when and why do developing monolinguals and HSs begin to diverge for the same language?, (Aim 2) at what levels (under what modalities of testing) do HSs truly differ? and (Aim 3) what is the role of the (lack of) HL literacy in explaining (some) observed HS outcomes? HeLPiNG will address these queries combining insights from several work packages focusing on complementary questions and using complementary methodologies (cross-sectional and longitudinal offline behavioral testing, EEG/ERP, eye-tracking).
The current postdoctoral research position will work primarily on work package 2 (WP2): WP2 relates to the question detailed in Aim 2: At what levels (under what modalities of testing) do HSs truly differ? WP2 will use EEG/ERP in combination with offline behavioral linguistic tasks to examine if heritage speaker bilinguals indeed process linguistic structures differently or as differently as one might expect from typical performances in offline experiments. We will also collect speech production samples to contribute towards heritage speaker corpora construction, extensive information about linguistic background and usage behaviors, as well as test various domains of executive functions. As EEG/ERP is not typically used with heritage speaker bilinguals to date, a goal of this project will also be to determine the best methodological and analytical practices to be employed with this group. As a result, expertise in EEG/ERP methods at the conceptual and practical levels as well as in different types of analyses is crucial.
This project is flexible in terms of the specific heritage language to be used and, to an extent, the domain of grammar to be tested. Gender and number were conceived as good domains to examine given previous work by the PI and expertise in this area across LAVA. Russian, German, Scandinavian, Turkish and Romance languages are especially welcome given expertise in the group and the facts of these languages, but any proposed language will be considered. In due course, there will be a HeLPiNG website for further information (including the full research proposal). For now, kindly contact the PI Prof. Jason Rothman (see contact details above) for access to the research proposal and if you have any questions.
Qualification requirements
- A PhD in Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Psychology or another relevant field.
- High command/competence of statistical modelling—Bayesian modelling is highly desirable—, EEG/ERP analysis and research design expertise (experience with time-frequency analytical approaches is highly desirable in addition to more typical methods in psycholinguistic research).
- Experience with experimental methods in language acquisition is desirable.
- Excellent command of spoken and written English.
The applicants must provide a contextualizing statement/proposal (3 pages maximum), indicating their background and experience with ERP/EEG research, knowledge of analysis inclusive of programs (and programming) they are familiar with, and how they see themselves fitting into HeLPiNG, especially in relation to WP2 and its goals of (i) introducing the EEG/ERP method to heritage language bilingualism studies and (ii) understanding how doing so could provide deeper insights into questions about heritage bilinguals’ competences in their heritage language. Please also indicate which languages and what domains of grammar you might wish to study and why, always in relation to the questions and aims of WP2.
Personal suitability will be given special consideration in the evaluation process.
Working conditions
The working hours are reserved for research, research related activities and research administration.
The successful candidate must be willing to engage him/herself in the ongoing development of their discipline and the university as a whole.
The remuneration for this position is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.
Application
The application must be submitted electronically via the application form available on www.jobbnorge.no and shall include:
- letter of application
- contextualizing statement/proposal
- CV (containing a complete overview of education, supervised professional training and professional work)
- diplomas and references (a list of three to four references who can be contacted)
- list of works and description of these
- the list of works shall contain the following information:
- author(s), the work’s title
- for articles: the journal’s name and volume, the first and last page of the article, year of publication
- for publications: publisher, printer, year of publication, number of pages
NB: The applicant’s PhD thesis should be submitted as one of these works. If not yet submitted, please include a chapter or two for assessment. Note that having a successfully conferred PhD is a requirement for employment at the start date of no later than Jan. 1st, 2020. If your PhD is not yet submitted or defended, please also include a letter from your advisor guaranteeing you can meet the requirement for employment by Jan. 1st, 2020.
Additionally, the applicant should provide a description of his/her academic production, indicating which works are the most relevant in relation to the announced position, and therefore should be emphasized in the assessment. The remaining listed works should be described briefly in order to demonstrate the depth of the production. The descriptions should be attached to the application.
Assessment
The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. It is the committee’s mandate to assess the applicants’ qualifications based on their submitted works and the job announcement.
The best qualified applicants will be selected for interviews. The interview shall among other things aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position.
We offer
- Good welfare arrangements for employees
- Good arrangements for pension, insurance and loans in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
More information about moving to Tromsø: uit.no/mobility
Other information
We make the appointment in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.
UiT The Arctic University of Norway has HR policy objectives that emphasize diversity, and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of their age, gender, functional ability and national or ethnic background. The university is an IW (Inclusive Workplace) enterprise, and we will emphasize making the necessary adaptations to the working conditions for employees with reduced functional ability.
We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act. You may request to not be registered on the public list of applicants, but the University may decide that your name will be made public. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication.