Stillingstittel:
PhD position at the Department of Language and Literature

Stillingsbeskrivelse:

NTNU - kunnskap for en bedre verden

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Jobbnorge ID: 121767

PhD position in the project Deictic Communication (DCOMM).

The PhD positions is offered by the project Deictic Communication Innovative Training Network (ITN).  ITN is a funding scheme in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions under EU commissions Horizon 2020. The position is for a period of 3 years.

Project descriptionDeictic language and deictic gestures in developmental deficits

Communication involves a combination of language and gestures that act in concert. Deictic (spatial) communication is paradigmatic of communication, allowing speakers to use language and gesture to refer, and direct the attention of a conspecific, to an object/object part in the world. The primary words used for spatial deictic communication are demonstratives - words including this/that/here/there in English. These words occur in all languages, are among the highest frequency terms within a language and philologically emerge as the earliest traceable words in languages. They are among the first words children acquire and are more closely associated with deictic gestures than other linguistic items. Deictic gestures are also a predictor of language acquisition. This project focuses on deictic communication in neurodevelopmental disorders. It is well known that there are pragmatic deficits in Autistic Spectrum Disorders. For example, problems with some pragmatic language problems persist even in the presence of preserved structural language at the high end of the autistic spectrum. It is also well known that there are deficits in visual attention in neurodevelopmental disorders, but with different disorders showing varying deficit profiles. This project will employ a range of experimental (EEG, eye tracking) and linguistic methods to provide the first detailed examination of (possible) deficits in deictic gesture and deictic language in autism in comparison with other developmental deficits (e.g. Williams Syndrome). 

The fellow will work in close collaboration with the international group of senior and junior researchers participating in the DCOMM project (http://www.dcomm.eu/) and will benefit from the training opportunities offered by the project framework and the local PhD Programme. The project is experimental in nature and the aim is to collect and analyse reliable empirical data, however with a strong interpretative component. It has huge potential for contributing to our understanding of deictic communication in the context of developmental deficits. The project comes under the broader research agenda of The Language Acquisition and Language Processing (LALP) Lab group at the Department of Language and Literature, NTNU.

QualificationsApplicants should have a strong background in developmental deficits of language and cognition (from the perspective of linguistics, psychology or cognitive (neuro-) science), preferably with experience from experimental research, speech therapy, assessment and/or intervention. They should have high proficiency in English and good research writing skills. Experience with experimental research methods (eye-tracking, ERP/EEG) and statistical analyses is mandatory. Knowledge of Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language) will weigh in favour of the applicant.

Applicants are invited to submit a 5 page project prospectus outlining a research agenda for experimental research in the project area. The project prospectus should contain the following: i) an outline of the idea that the applicant wants to pursue, ii) brief descriptions of the relevant theoretical background and methodological aspects of the proposed p

Minstelønn: 0

Maksimal lønn: 0

Arbeidsgiver Navn: NTNU - Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelig

Arbeidsgiver adresse: 7491 TRONDHEIM

Job kort beskrivelse: University and higher education teachers

Land: Norge

Region: Sør-Trøndelag

Kilde til jobbtilbud: NAV, Offentlige arbeidsformidlinger, Norge

Lønn valuta: NOK

Lønn periode: Pr. år