Doctoral Position in multilingual language learning / education

at  Universitt Konstanz

(part-time 50 %, E 13 TV-L)
Reference number 2024/117. The start date is 01.07.2024 or soon thereafter. The position is available until 28.02.2027 with an option to be extended.
The University of Konstanz is one of eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany. Since 2007 it has been successful in the German Excellence Initiative and its follow-up programme, the Excellence Strategy.
The Multilingualism Group at the University of Konstanz headed by Prof Dr Theodoros Marinis is recruiting a PhD candidate to work on the project ‘ACT and connect for Integration’ (ACTIN) that has been funded by the European Union under the AMIF program (Transnational Actions on Asylum, Migration and Integration).
Project description
ACTIN is an international project involving the University of Konstanz, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Strasbourg, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the University of Geneva, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and the NGOs Roscommon in Ireland, Solidarity now in Greece, and Fundacja Wspierania Kultury I Jezyka Polskiego Im. Mikolaja Reja.
The aim of the project is to support and reinforce the integration and inclusion of migrant children and adolescents in education and by extension in the society by developing, implementing, and evaluating language and language & content learning activities within schools and informal educational activities within and outside schools.
The doctoral researcher will develop, implement and evaluate a series of plurilingual language learning activities for primary and secondary school children in Germany in collaboration with the other team members across the consortium. The doctoral researcher will also be involved in cultural sensitivity workshops in formal education and extracurricular activities in informal education settings, as well as in the development of an open access resource. Working languages are English and German.
The Multilingualism Group is part of the Linguistics Department that combines theoretical with experimental linguistics and offers a lively and internationally well-connected research environment, where students are integrated in scholarly life and research at all levels. The department’s research infrastructure includes the Psycholinguistics Lab, the Neurolinguistics Lab, the Baby Speech Lab, the MuSe Lab, the Phonlab, and the Computational Linguistics Lab. The doctoral researcher will join the doctoral programme of the Linguistics Department and will be supervised by Prof Dr Theodoros Marinis and members of the international consortium.

Your Responsibilities

• Developing protocols and material for plurilingual language activities, including pedagogical translanguaging and implementing them in primary and secondary schools in Germany
• Documenting and evaluating the activities
• Training teachers in plurilingual language activities
• Contributing to cultural sensitivity workshops in formal education and extracurricular activities in informal education settings
• Contributing to science communication activities
• Contributing to the maintenance of the project website and the development of an open access resource

Your Competencies

• An MA or MSc degree in Linguistics, Multilingualism, German as a Second Language (DaZ), Education, Speech & Language Pathology or related discipline
• A strong interest in multilingualism and plurilingual education
• Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Excellent language and communication skills in German and English (C1 level)
• Excellent academic writing skills
• Ability to work as part of an international team
• Familiarity with plurilingual language learning pedagogies (desirable)
• Knowledge of the German education system (desirable)
• Experience with teaching German to children/adolescents with a migration background (desirable)
• Experience in science communication and website development (desirable)

We Offer

• The opportunity to do a PhD within a unique international and interdisciplinary consortium
• Training in science communication and web design through the ACTIN project and the Centre for Multilingualism
• The opportunity to be part of a friendly, lively linguistics department with a broad range of research specialisms, an international profile, and a strong record of third-party funding
• Salary according to the pay-scale for University employees (TVL-13)
• Career development opportunities and support

Questions can be directed to Prof. Dr. Theodoros Marinis via e-mail: .
We look forward to receiving your application by 15.06.2024 via our .

• Developing protocols and material for plurilingual language activities, including pedagogical translanguaging and implementing them in primary and secondary schools in Germany
• Documenting and evaluating the activities
• Training teachers in plurilingual language activities
• Contributing to cultural sensitivity workshops in formal education and extracurricular activities in informal education settings
• Contributing to science communication activities
• Contributing to the maintenance of the project website and the development of an open access resourc