Language, self, and society: Linguistic inequality and beyond

PLEASE NOTE: This project is for self-funded or externally sponsored students only.

Language is said to be a uniquely human property which constitutes many aspects of our lives. It serves as a fundamental medium for interactions between people in the society. In addition, it plays a key role for individual language users to establish and update their identities in the society. Our highly interdisciplinary project attempts to address complex interwound relationships between language, individuals and societies. To address the question, one could explore situations in which individuals are prevented from using a language in a cognitively and/or socially optimal way (e.g., non-native international students, refugees, people with language-related disorders). In such settings, language users’ objective and/or self-perceived proficiency level of the target language could influence various critical domains of their lives (e.g., academic achievement, self-esteem, difficulty in assimilation). Another approach would be to focus on potential biases and inequalities derived from language-based variations: e.g., speakers’ accents of various types (e.g., socio-economic, regional, first-language based) could lead to implicit prejudices or societal inequalities. In the current globally connected, yet disparate world, it has been becoming more urgent to address these issues with multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches.

We invite applications from strong and motivated candidates who are prepared to take the leading role in this project.

For more information about the supervisory team, please see https://www.dundee.ac.uk/people/yuki-kamide and https://www.dundee.ac.uk/people/ana-maria-bliuc.

For informal enquiries about the project, contact Dr Yuki Kamide (y.kamide@dundee.ac.uk)

For general enquiries about the University of Dundee, contact doctoralacademy@dundee.ac.uk

QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants must have obtained, or expect to obtain, a UK honours degree at 2.1 or above (or equivalent for non-UK qualifications), and a good Masters degree, in Psychology.

Applicants without a Psychology qualification: Applicants with a Undergraduate or Masters degree in a relevant subject (e.g., Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, TEFL/TESOL) are advised to complete our Taught Masters programme, Psychology of Language, in the first year, prior to the PhD: https://www.dundee.ac.uk/postgraduate/psychology-language.

For international qualifications, please see equivalent entry requirements here: www.dundee.ac.uk/study/international/country/.

English language requirement: IELTS (Academic) overall score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in reading, listening and speaking). The University of Dundee accepts a variety of equivalent qualifications; please see full details of the University’s English language requirements here: www.dundee.ac.uk/guides/english-language-requirements.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Step 1: Email Dr Yuki Kamide (y.kamide@dundee.ac.uk) to (1) send relevant documents (your CV, transcripts, research proposal), and (2) discuss your potential application and any practicalities (e.g. suitable start date).

Step 2: After discussion with Dr Kamide, formal applications can be made via our direct application system. When applying, please follow the instructions below:

Apply for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Psychology on our direct application system : Psychology : Study : University of Dundee

This project is suitable for the three-year route or the four-year route as agreed with the lead supervisor.

Please select the study mode (full-time/part-time) and start date agreed with the lead supervisor. 

In the Research Proposal section, please:

-       Enter the lead supervisor’s name in the ‘proposed supervisor’ box

-       Enter the project title listed at the top of this page in the ‘proposed project title’ box

In the ‘personal statement’ section, please outline your suitability for the project selected.