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Dutch higher education is populated by students from many different language and cultural backgrounds. Ideally, these diverse backgrounds make no difference for academic achievement. However, research demonstrates that language-related degree-awarding gaps exist. Specifically, students from non-native language backgrounds are less likely to succeed academically. You will be part of a team of researchers that aims to increase our understanding of the role of language in academic achievement in higher education.
Your specific subproject focuses on how Dutch and English academic literacy develop within Dutch and English tracks, and how curriculum characteristics may be conducive to this. This involves the analysis of a large sample of graded, student-written texts from UvA databases. Important steps constitute the development and validation of automated and potentially LLM-based scoring metrics. These metrics will then be used to inform longitudinal and cross-sectional studies intended to reveal to what extent students’ develop academic language abilities (in Dutch or English) throughout their bachelor programs, and to what extent these abilities are supported by specific properties of the bachelor curricula.
This project is funded by NRO (Netherlands Initiative for Educational Research) and includes additional time for you to develop your teaching activities.
Dutch higher education is populated by students from many different language and cultural backgrounds. Ideally, these diverse backgrounds make no difference for academic achievement. However, research demonstrates that language-related degree-awarding gaps exist. Specifically, students from non-native language backgrounds are less likely to succeed academically. You will be part of a team of researchers that aims to increase our understanding of the role of language in academic achievement in higher education.
Your specific subproject focuses on how Dutch and English academic literacy develop within Dutch and English tracks, and how curriculum characteristics may be conducive to this. This involves the analysis of a large sample of graded, student-written texts from UvA databases. Important steps constitute the development and validation of automated and potentially LLM-based scoring metrics. These metrics will then be used to inform longitudinal and cross-sectional studies intended to reveal to what extent students’ develop academic language abilities (in Dutch or English) throughout their bachelor programs, and to what extent these abilities are supported by specific properties of the bachelor curricula.
This project is funded by NRO (Netherlands Initiative for Educational Research) and includes additional time for you to develop your teaching activities.
You will be engaged in the following tasks and activities:
Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.
You will be engaged in the following tasks and activities:
Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.
You will be appointed at the The Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC) as part of the project “Watching Our Language: Curriculum innovations for language equity and academic success”, led by prof. dr. Sible Andringa and funded by the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO). This project consists of three interconnected projects. The first develops tools to assess curriculum support for Dutch and English language development and is conducted at Hogeschool Rotterdam. The second and third projects are run by PhD candidates at the UvA. This PhD-project aims to establish how academic literacy evolves in Dutch and English tracks, and how curricula can support this development. Another PhD-project explores the impact of language of instruction, student backgrounds, and curriculum features on academic success. Each PhD will have its own supervision team consisting of specialized members of staff (dr. Caitlin Meyer and dr. Jelke Bloem for the present project). You will meet regularly within these teams as well as in the larger project team.
The Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research. Within the University of Amsterdam, the ACLC represents the thriving linguistics community and is home to several research groups that you are free to joint. The current project falls under the Language Learning, Literacy and Multilingualism research group. The ACLC also has an active and social PhD community that meets formally and informally.
You will be appointed at the The Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC) as part of the project “Watching Our Language: Curriculum innovations for language equity and academic success”, led by prof. dr. Sible Andringa and funded by the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO). This project consists of three interconnected projects. The first develops tools to assess curriculum support for Dutch and English language development and is conducted at Hogeschool Rotterdam. The second and third projects are run by PhD candidates at the UvA. This PhD-project aims to establish how academic literacy evolves in Dutch and English tracks, and how curricula can support this development. Another PhD-project explores the impact of language of instruction, student backgrounds, and curriculum features on academic success. Each PhD will have its own supervision team consisting of specialized members of staff (dr. Caitlin Meyer and dr. Jelke Bloem for the present project). You will meet regularly within these teams as well as in the larger project team.
The Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research. Within the University of Amsterdam, the ACLC represents the thriving linguistics community and is home to several research groups that you are free to joint. The current project falls under the Language Learning, Literacy and Multilingualism research group. The ACLC also has an active and social PhD community that meets formally and informally.
For questions about the position or department, you can contact Prof. dr. Sible Andringa, [email protected]
If you recognize yourself in the profile and are interested in the position, we look forward to receiving your application. Applications should include the following information (submitted in one .pdf):
The vacancy closes on 3-10-2025. The first round of interviews will take place starting end of October and beginning of November, in weeks 44 and 45.
For questions about the position or department, you can contact Prof. dr. Sible Andringa, [email protected]
If you recognize yourself in the profile and are interested in the position, we look forward to receiving your application. Applications should include the following information (submitted in one .pdf):
The vacancy closes on 3-10-2025. The first round of interviews will take place starting end of October and beginning of November, in weeks 44 and 45.