Salary: £34,866 to £45,163 per annum (pro rata)

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 14 February 2025

The Role

The School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics wishes to appoint a Lecturer in English language and linguistics 0.5 FTE (Teaching and Scholarship).

This is a fixed-term appointment for 12 months: the start date is 8 September 2025 and the end date is 7 September 2026.

You will have a PhD in a relevant subject area, as well as proven experience in teaching introductory and intermediate linguistics to undergraduate students. Experience of working with taught postgraduate students is also desirable.

You will be expected to contribute to teaching and assessment on stage 1 and 2 modules in syntax, semantics and pragmatics, and a team-taught stage 3 module on multilingualism. They will also be given time to integrate scholarship, research and/or professional activities with teaching and learning, as appropriate – including by working with professional partners. The successful candidate may also be expected to supervise undergraduate and postgraduate independent work, take on admin roles in the School and moderate the marking of colleagues.

The School

SELLL is a robust and highly motivated intellectual community of 55 academic and research staff working across the fields of English Literature, Creative Writing, and Language and Linguistics. We offer a range of undergraduate degrees, both Single Honours English Literature and Joint Honours English Literature with Creative Writing, Language and Literature, and English Literature and History. We run thriving post-graduate taught and post-graduate research degrees. 

The Language and Linguistics subject group in SELLL has particular research and teaching strengths in: language acquisition, evolution and development; linguistic theory; language and cognition; and language variation and change. Funded projects over the past few years have addressed issues across these sub-disciplines, including topical research on language, migration and identity and work on language learning by immigrant adults. Considerable funding has also been attracted for research into and the development of a ‘big data’ corpus of North Eastern English. Funding has been won too for research in language and cognition as well as in comparative syntax, most recently for a project on Romance causation and perception. In addition to the wide range of undergraduate teaching and learning offered by the Language and Linguistics subject group in SELLL, the group also lead the MA in Linguistics and IPhD in English Language and Linguistics. We have had considerable success too in supporting postgraduate research via the UK Research & Innovation-funded doctoral training partnerships known as ‘Northern Bridge’ and ‘NINE’.

Newcastle University also has a very well-resourced Linguistics Laboratory (LingLab). LingLab is the central hub for supporting empirical and experimental linguistics and language science research. The lab hosts a wide range of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment that facilitate high-quality linguistics research, including: multiple sound-attenuated booths with specialist recording equipment; computers with software for audio-visual analysis; an eye-tracker for psycholinguistic research into reading and language processing; additional equipment such as ultrasound tongue imaging and electroglottography; and a range of other resources to support psycholinguistic, corpus, articulatory and phonetic research. LingLab is supported by dedicated lab managers who advise on research project design, experimental design, analytical strategy and statistics.

Staff in the Language and Linguistics subject group in SELLL collaborate with linguists in two other Schools (School of Modern Languages and School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences) as well as with colleagues in the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Psychology and Cognitive Science. Our staff are involved in several of the Newcastle University Centres of Research Excellence (NUCoREs), including: Ageing and Inequalities; Data; Heritage; Researching Cities, and Behaviour. In addition, staff in SELLL are able to access funding and research networks through the three Research Institutes: Humanities, Social Sciences and Creative Arts Practice.

As the first unit in our subject area in the UK to have been recognised for our commitment to the advancement of equality and diversity through a Athena Swan Bronze accreditation, we value the benefits of a diverse intellectual community of staff and students and promote the principles of equality and diversity in all of our activities. We therefore encourage applications from individuals whose work draws on and reflects the full range of backgrounds, perspectives and diversity of our modern world, and welcome applications from underrepresented groups.

For further enquiries, please contact Professor Helen Freshwater, Head of School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics () or Dr Christine Cuskley, Subject Group Head for Language and Linguistics ().

We ask that candidates submit a covering letter of up to 2 A4 pages only, alongside a CV. No other materials are required at shortlisting stage.

Key Accountabilities

• Contribute as an active citizen in the School and University Community, working collaboratively with colleagues
• Undertake administrative duties as required by the Head of School
• Have a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and ethics, responsibility and sustainability

Teaching and Learning

• Design and deliver high quality teaching and learning material, resources, and activities in syntax and related areas to our students, in line with School and Faculty teaching objectives 


• Supervise undergraduate dissertations and research projects in relevant areas.

• Set, assess and moderate assessments in accordance with University standards, providing timely and effective feedback to students
• Evaluate own teaching practice and presently have or have a willingness to work towards a category of Fellowship with the HEA

Scholarship

Develop and integrate scholarship and teaching-related research that can support student experience

The Person

Knowledge and Experience

• Teaching experience at undergraduate level in syntax, rooted in strong disciplinary knowledge that engages, challenges, and inspires our students
• Evidence of or the potential to supervise undergraduate dissertation projects
• Experience of/potential of providing academic guidance and/or pastoral care to students

• Experience of/potential of providing support or mentoring to colleagues or students

Attributes and Behaviour

• Commitment to maintaining and supporting a diverse and inclusive working environment, in which all colleagues (academic and Professional Services) and students are treated fairly and respectfully
• Excellent organisational, time management and presentation skills
• Ability to work as part of a team and on own initiative

• Willingness and ability to assume administrative responsibilities

Qualifications

• You will have a PhD in a relevant subject area

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silverAthena Swanaward in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold aRace Equality CharterBronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are aDisability Confidentemployer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 27862

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