Project description/ Key responsibilities

• The PhD candidate will carry out research in the framework of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) funded project "Crossing language borders " led by Prof. dr. E. O. Aboh (UvA), Prof. dr. F. K. Ameka (LUCL) dr M.C. Parafita Couto (LUCL & U. Vigo), and dr. A. Beaty-Martinez (McGill University).
• The project's aim is to yield an integrated approach to multilingual speech that is both descriptively and explanatorily adequate. Despite extensive research in this area, no clear explanation emerges about the regularities underlying mixed speech. While most existing studies focus on Western communities in which Code Switching/ Code Mixing (CSCM) is socially disfavoured, this project investigates CSCM in multilingual communities, Benin (West Africa) and Belize (Central America), where multilingual discourse involving CSCM is the norm. We will use a multimethod, comparative approach, linking linguistic, cognitive and social factors to help us understand how multilinguals adapt to communicative demands of contexts where CSCM is the norm.

We are looking for a talented and creative junior scholar with a Master's degree (or equivalent) who is fascinated by language use in a multilingual community, and is curious about how to describe and analyse CSCM phenomena from an interdisciplinary perspective. We expect you to conduct fieldwork in a multilingual community in Belize. You will collect data on CSCM, transcribe and annotate them digitally, and analyse the data in scholarly articles or book chapters as part of your thesis. You will present your results in (inter)national conferences, and participate in research activities within the project team and within the Leiden University of Linguistics as well as with collaborating groups at the Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication (ACLC), UvA. At the end of the four years of appointment you will submit and defend your doctoral thesis

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Submission of a PhD thesis within the period of appointment;
• Collection of community network data;

Selection criteria

• A completed Master's degree in linguistics or related fields (e.g., sociolinguistics, grammatical description, psycholinguistics, anthropology of language, language and education).
• 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;
• A strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• Enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences;
• Excellent command of Spanish and/or English, and also knowledge of Belizean Kriol and/or a Mayan language or any other local language.

Terms and conditions

Appointment will be according to the terms of the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO Nederlandse Universiteiten). The employment will be for a period of four years, first with a contract of 18 months with an extension of 30 months after positive evaluation of capabilities and compatibility, starting on 1 January 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. The appointment must lead to the completion of a PhD thesis. Salary range from €[[salarisMin]].- to €[[salarisMax]].- gross per month (pay scale [[ufoSchaal]]), in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities).

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses(8.3 %), training and career development and sabbatical leave. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break. More at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/working-at/job-application-procedure-and-employment-conditions.

Diversity and inclusion
Fostering an inclusive community is a central element of the values and vision of Leiden University. Leiden University is committed to becoming an inclusive community which enables all students and staff to feel valued and respected and to develop their full potential. Diversity in experiences and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High quality teaching and research is inclusive.