LINGUIST List 4.554

Thu 15 Jul 1993

Jobs: Chair in Linguistics, Research Asst., NLP

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. "Steve Fligelstone", Job: New Chair in Linguistics/Human Communication at Lancaster
2. Karin Stromswold, research assistant wanted
3. Patricia Brooke, NLP Research Opportunities

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND MODERN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY, LANCASTER, U.K., LA1 4YT

CHAIR IN LINGUISTICS/HUMAN COMMUNICATION

Applications are invited from suitably qualified persons for the Chair in
Linguistics/Human Communication tenable from January 1994 or as soon as
possible.

Candidates must have extensive relevant teaching experience and an outstanding
academic record of research and publication. The successful candidate would
normally be expected to hold a PhD in a relevant area, and have an established
international reputation. The Department is seeking to complement and extend
its existing strengths through this appointment. Applications are welcomed
from candidates with interests in any part of the broad field of Linguistics
and Language Studies.

The person appointed will be expected to teach at undergraduate and
postgraduate levels, supervise research students and research projects, assume
administrative responsibilities, including the (rotating) headship, and make a
major contribution to the intellectual life of the Department.

Salary will be within the Professorial range: present Professorial
minimum #29,949 p.a. Ref. No: L991

Method of Application

Candidates should complete and return NINE copies of the following:
application form, curriculum vitae (giving full particulars of education,
qualifications, publications and main academic interests) and covering letter,
if appropriate, to arrive NOT LATER THAN 20 SEPTEMBER 1993 at the Personnel
Services Office, Bowland College, Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K.,
LA1 4YT, from where further particulars of the post can also be obtained.
Envelopes should be marked with appropriate reference.

Further Particulars

Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language
Chair in Linguistics/Human Communication

The Department is a major international centre of teaching and research in
linguistics and human communication. It has a programme of research, which is
closely integrated with its teaching in the fields of general linguistics,
English language, computational linguistics, human communication,
sociolinguistics and applied linguistics - broadly defined to include
language in social life, educational linguistics including ELT, mother
tongue education, stylistics, bilingual education and literacy. The Department
is also engaged in collaborative teaching and research with the Computer
Science department, other departments in the Social Sciences faculty and, to a
lesser extent, the language departments in the Humanities faculty.

In recent years the Department has experienced rapid expansion in its teaching
and research activities. The numbers of both undergraduate and postgraduate
students have grown, as have the numbers of research and teaching staff. It is
in this context that the University has agreed to this new position at
professorial level. In making this appointment, we are seeking to recruit a
senior academic with an international reputation, who has a distinguished
research and publication record.

Applications are invited from candidates specialising in any area of the broad
field of linguistics and human communication. But as there are already two
chairs in the Department, one in Linguistics and Modern English Language which
is held by Prof. Geoffrey Leech, and the other in Linguistics and English
Language Education, which is held by Prof. Charles Alderson, we would like the
new Chair to consolidate and complement rather than simply duplicate our
established strengths.

Research

The Department has a high research profile, being one of the four linguistics
departments in the country achieving the top rating (class 5A) in the recent
national research assessment exercise. (See endnote) Research in the Department
is increasingly organised in research centres with their own management
structure, and these include the Unit for Computer Research on the English
Language (UCREL), the Centre for Language in Social Life (CLSL) and the Centre
for Research in Language Education (CRILE). In addition, there are a number of
more informal, but flourishing research groups, e.g. the stylistics research
group, and groups concerned with language testing and with language and gender
in the classroom.

The person appointed will be expected to make a prominent contribution to at
least one of the research groups or launch a new one, and to attract external
research funding where opportunities occur. She or he will also be expected
to be actively involved in the supervision of research students. Staff
currently act as supervisors for up to six full-time research students (or an
equivalent number of part-time students).

Teaching

The Department runs or contributes to several undergraduate (BA) degree
schemes, including Linguistics, English Language, Human Communication, and
Culture and Communication. There are also BA schemes combining linguistics
with another subject: e.g., English, Modern Languages, Japanese Studies,
Computer Science, Psychology or Philosophy. At MA level, our main efforts are
concentrated on the MA in Linguistics for English Language Teaching and the MA
in Language Studies, each of which is well-established and enrolls approximately
25 students per year. We also contribute to a Faculty of Social Sciences
training programme in research methodology for new research students.

We put considerable emphasis on the quality of our teaching and on the
students experience of learning. We value collaborative methods of teaching and
learning. We are actively involved in the development of new teaching methods,
e.g. taking advantage of new technology in the teaching of larger numbers of
students. The person appointed will be expected to contribute to teaching at
all levels, from the first year undergraduate level upwards. We shall be
looking for teaching ability, and an innovative approach to teaching methods.

The student body in the Department is somewhat more varied than is usual for a
British University. There are many mature students because the University has
always had a policy of actively recruiting mature students. It is a leading
partner in the Open College which provides access to higher education for
mature students who wish to undertake degree level studies but lack the
standard educational background of university entrants. About one in five of
our undergraduates are over 23 and most of the graduate students are over 30.
Although the majority of students are British, a large minority of the
undergraduates and about half of the postgraduates come from overseas, mainly
from Europe, East Asia, and North America.

For more information about the degree programmes, please send for Departmental
prospectuses.

Facilities

Research facilities are good. We have recently made great progress in
developing our Departmental computing infrastructure. We have three computing
laboratories, including the phonetics laboratory, all of which contain
state-of-the-art technology with access to specialised packages such as
concordance packages, for study and analysis of linguistic data. On the
pedagogical side, these computing facilities offer much scope for further
development. All staff offices are connected to the local area network and to
the campus mainframe, and have direct access to Janet and the Internet.

For information about the general library and other facilities available at
the University please send for university brochures.

Administration

The person appointed will be expected to play a full role in the day-to-day
administration of the department and the faculty. This may include at some
point serving a three-year term as Head of Department and possibly playing a
role in the faculty administration.

Interview

Candidates shortlisted will be invited to come for an interview around November
1993. An opportunity will also be found for them to meet members of staff and
the student body of the Department, and to make a brief presentation to a
restricted audience on current interests, recent work, and plans for the
future.

Endnote

In 1992 the Universities Funding Council, at the instigation of the government,
conducted an assessment exercise designed to evaluate the effectiveness of
research activities undertaken in higher education institutions in the United
Kingdom. Departments were ranked on a scale going from 5A, for top departments
with a world class research output, to one for departments with an
undistinguished research record.

 Research Assistantship Position
Cognitive & Neural Bases of Language & Language Acquisition

A research assistant is needed to assist in studies of normal and
abnormal language acquisition and studies of language processing by
normal adults. The RA will be involved in all aspects of the studies,
including recruitment and testing of subjects, designing and creating
experimental stimuli, and analyzing data.

This position is ideal for someone with a BA or MA in
psychology, linguistics or cognitive science who wants laboratory
experience before pursuing graduate training.

If you or someone you know is interested in this position, please contact:

Karin Stromswold

Department of Psychology & Center for Cognitive Science
Psychology Building, Busch Campus
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
fax (908) 932-2263

phone: (908) 932-2448

e-mail: karinruccs.rutgers.edu

[Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships may also be available.]

 CORRECTION!
 MICROSOFT RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY

A previous job posting for Microsoft Research contained an
erroneous second paragraph citing "primary responsibilities".
Please disregard that paragraph. What follows is the entire
relevant text:

 **********************************************************
The Natural Language Processing group at Microsoft Research
is looking for a computational linguist with a background in
English syntax, an interest in stylistics and the complexity of
prose, and the desire to work on a large real-world NLP system
that deals with unrestricted text.

To apply, send your resume and cover letter to:

Surface:
 Microsoft Recruiting
 ATTN: Patricia Brooke
 One Microsoft Way
 Redmond, WA 98052-6399

Email:
 ASCII ONLY
 pattibrmicrosoft.com

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer working to
increase workforce diversity.
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