Fully funded PhD position on ‘Heritage languages in the east of England: grammar, attitudes and uptake’ at Anglia Ruskin University

After English and Welsh, the most widely spoken languages in the UK are: Polish, Panjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Arabic, French, Chinese and Portuguese (2011 census). Uptake for GCSEs and A-levels in these ‘community’ languages remains low, however, and many young UK bilinguals gain no formal qualification in their other language(s). The reasons for this are not well understood, and nor is it known how well these assessments map onto UK heritage varieties, as the syntax and phonology of many of these varieties has not been systematically studied.

The successful candidate will investigate one or more of the heritage languages spoken in the eastern region of the UK, focusing on: (i) the syntactic, morphological and phonological properties of this/these varieties in comparison with L1 and L2 variants; (ii) the attitudes of heritage speakers to their bilingualism; and (iii) potential reasons for the low uptake of community language qualifications. They will work closely with schools in the region in order to identify heritage language speakers, making multiple visits and potentially contributing teaching materials based on their findings.

Successful applicants will benefit from a fee waiver and a stipend/bursary at Research Councils UK (RCUK) level. For 2017-18, this is £14,553. As PhDs run for three years, your stipend will be uplifted in line with RCUK recommendations for each year of study. 

For further information on this position, including detail of how to apply see: https://www24.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_angliaruskin01.asp?s=4A515F4E5A565B1A&jobid=69695,2362338768&key=28763639&c=415234471387&pagestamp=seyqsiwcwwjjebcsuw