PhD position in analytics of survey language data

The Reading Lab led by Dr Victor Kuperman invites applications for one four-year PhD position starting in September 2024. The Reading Lab is part of the Department of Linguistics and Languages and the Centre for Advanced Research in Experimental and Applied Linguistics (ARiEAL) at McMaster University, Canada. The successful PhD student will work under the supervision of Dr Victor Kuperman and benefit from the vibrant research environment of ARiEAL and data available through the Research Data Centre at McMaster.

Speaking and reading proficiencies are critical for an individual’s ability to participate in society and achieve professional, academic, economic and physical well-being. Thus, an important goal for language researchers is to understand what the causes of inadequate language or literacy skills are and what consequences such skills have on the advancement of individuals and societies. We are looking for a bright, motivated and well-trained young scholar to use advanced analyses of linguistic data for investigating a variety of socially relevant questions. Examples of the areas in which the role of language is salient are:

• secondary and higher education;
• immigration, acculturation, and adaptation;
• bilingualism and first/second language acquisition;
• health and financial literacy;
• gender and other group differences in academic performance;
• language skills as predictors of employability and income;
• language skills in ethnic and linguistic minorities.

We expect the PhD student to harvest existing sources of behavioural, educational, and demographic data to pursue the goal of the project. A selection of publicly available or restricted-use datasets that the PhD student might use include:

• multinational surveys of literacy performance in secondary schools (PISA) and among adults (PIAAC);
• Statistics Canada census data;
• Statistics Canada data on academic status and employment of all Canadian post-secondary students;
• S. national educational data;
• Data from local school boards and colleges in Canada and Brazil.

The PhD student will be expected to communicate findings through publications in scholarly journals and conference presentations. They will also engage in knowledge translation for policymakers and other stakeholders in the field of education, immigration, and language instruction. Canadian and international collaborative opportunities are available as well.

The Ideal candidate for the project will have strong command of multivariate statistics and programming skills as well as interest in the use of language research in the public interest. Knowledge of statistical survey-analyses is an asset. The successful PhD student will become part of the Research Data Centre, a secure facility with access to restricted-used microdata master files at McMaster University. To gain this access, candidates should be prepared to obtain the security clearance and take additional steps to as described here.

The successful candidate will be admitted to the graduate program in the Cognitive Science of Language housed at the Department of Linguistics and Languages, Faculty of Humanities, McMaster University, and will be expected to complete the curriculum of the respective PhD degree. Successful candidates will be awarded the standard PhD funding package and additional research scholarships or research assistantships funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

If you are interested in applying, please submit a letter of intent describing your interest in the project and qualifications (1-2 pages) as well as your CV to readlab@mcmaster.ca by January 7, 2024. For all questions please contact Dr Victor Kuperman at readlab@mcmaster.ca.