Job description

The FWO-project “An integrative account of codeswitching: reconciling structural, sociolinguistic and cognitive factors” is opening a fully-funded 4-year PhD position in linguistics at Ghent University. The project is embedded in the research groups GLiMS (https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/glims), CROS (https://www.cros.ugent.be/) and the Department of Experimental Psychology of Ghent University, and forms an international collaboration with the University of Leiden (the Netherlands), and the College of Wooster (USA).

The project
The project wants to contribute to a better understanding of the grammar underlying Spanish-English(-Kriol) codeswitching (CS). Its objective is threefold. First, at an empirical level, it provides insight into the way the conflict between synthetic/morphological and analytic/lexical patterns is handled in CS contexts. It therefore looks into the factors governing phenomena like intensification and attenuation, which express a quantitative or qualitative upward or downward scaling of a referent, and are very differently represented in Spanish, English and Kriol. Despite its common occurrence and varied forms, no research has as yet examined these patterns in a CS context. Second, the project aims at revealing the abstract or context-dependent nature of CS. It therefore observes how the conflict points are administered by multilingual speakers in three communities (Miami and El Paso in the USA, and Belize) that differ in geographical setting, history, and social status of the languages. Third, it wants to tackle the fragmented knowledge of the nature of CS by developing an integrative theory and assimilating insights from sociolinguistics, structural linguistics, and experimental psycholinguistics. Hence the project adopts a multimethod approach and combines the study of unexplored naturalistic data with an experimental design.

The supervisory team
The project is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Renata Enghels (project PI, Ghent University: https://research.flw.ugent.be/nl/renata.enghels), Prof. Dr. Rob Hartsuiker (Ghent University: https://users.ugent.be/~rhartsui/), Prof. Dr. M. Carmen Parafita Couto (Universiteit Leiden & Universidade de Vigo, https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/maria-del-carmen-parafita-couto#tab-1), and Prof. Dr. Osmer Balam (The College of Wooster, https://wooster.edu/bio/obalam/).

Job profile

YOUR TASKS

• Conducting fieldwork in multilingual communities (Miami, El Paso, Belize)
• Collecting, transcribing, annotating and analyzing naturalistic and experimental data
• Writing a dissertation based on the research project
• Preparing individual and joint publications for international scientific journals
• Presenting your research at (inter)national conferences
• Participating in research activities within the project team
• Assisting occasionally in the teaching activities at the department

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Master’s degree in (Spanish) Linguistics obtained with good grades before the start of the PhD project
• You are fascinated by language use in a multilingual community
• Native or near-native proficiency in Spanish and English
• Good academic skills in English
• Excellent research and field or lab work skills demonstrated by your Master’s thesis and a demonstrable capacity to develop a track record of publishing in high-ranking journals and/or with leading presses
• Knowledge of or willingness to learn computer programming and statistics (R, Python etc.)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• You take initiative in searching for new research ideas and are not afraid to be critical about your own work
• You are a highly motivated, hardworking, flexible, able to face complex issues and you have an appropriate problem-solving attitude
• You are able to take on responsibilities, work independently on your research but also as part of a team

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• This position after approximately four years of successful research results in a PhD title in Linguistics. We offer a full-time position for 4 years with yearly evaluations, in an exciting, dynamic and international research environment.
• As a UGent PhD fellow, you will enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, possibility of flexible working hours, bicycle commuting reimbursement, eco-vouchers, reimbursement of commuting expenses by public transport etc. You will be allocated office space and a laptop, and receive funding for research activities like attending conferences abroad and organizing workshops and conferences. You will start on a salary of approximately 2.100 EUR/month.

How to apply

Please send your application (in English) by e-mail by February 28, 2023 to Prof. Renata Enghels (renata.enghels@ugent.be), which includes the following documents as pdfs and with appropriate file names (i.e. FAMILYNAME_FILETYPE).
The application should include:

• Your application letter (max. two pages) that indicates why you wish to pursue a PhD, and why on this topic at Ghent University
• Your curriculum vitae, including a list of all Master-level modules you have taken, with an official transcript of grades
• A personal piece of (scientific) writing in the form of a student paper or publication (e.g. Master thesis or paper)
• The names and contact details of two references, including your advisor, who may be approached by the selection committee
• A copy of your Master’s diploma (if already obtained, if not, you will be asked to send a copy before the start of the PhD project)

The envisaged starting date is September 2023 (or sooner if possible). The interviews will take place in April 2023. You are welcome to contact Renata Enghels (renata.enghels@ugent.be) if you have further questions.