New PhD Studentship in collaboration with Welsh Government

The School of English, Communication and Philosophy and the School of Welsh are pleased to announce a new ESRC studentship for a PhD project on Welsh sociolinguistics.

The project will be supervised by Dr Mercedes Durham, Centre for Language and Communication, and Dr Jonathan Morris, School of Welsh, in collaboration with Welsh Government.

The title of the project is: The acquisition of sociolinguistic competence in a Welsh immersion context. Looking at the spoken forms of Welsh to which pupils in Welsh-medium are exposed inside and outside of the classroom, the project will answer the following research questions:

• To what extent is there variation in pupils’ linguistic registers?
• To what extent do other social factors (home language, use of Welsh in community, use of Welsh outside school) affect sociolinguistic competence?

Studentship Awards commence in October 2018 and will cover tuition fees as well as a maintenance grant (currently £14,553 p.a. for 2017/18 for full-time students). The award is available on either a 1+3 or +3 basis. A 1+3 studentship provides funding for four years (or part-time equivalent). The successful candidate will complete a research training Masters followed by three years research funding for a PhD. A +3 studentship provides funding for the three years’ PhD research study only (or part-time equivalent).

Candidates should have an excellent academic background in the social sciences, holding a first or strong upper second class degree; applications from those also holding a relevant research training Masters degree (or an equivalent background in research training) will be considered for a +3 award. Please note that the ability to undertake research in Welsh is essential for this post.

For further information and before submitting a formal application, please contact one of the supervisors for the project:

• Dr Mercedes Durham DurhamM@cardiff.ac.uk
• Dr Jonathan Morris MorrisJ17@cardiff.ac.uk

The deadline for completed applications is 1 February 2018 (16:00).