Postdoc Position: Creating a Prosodic Proficiency Test Battery

Are you passionate about understanding how people produce word stress, intonation and rhythm in English? Do you thrive on tackling complex challenges through advanced programming? If so, this postdoctoral position in the NWO-funded project ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it: Creating a Prosodic Proficiency Test Battery’ offers a rare and exciting opportunity to make a tangible impact on the future of language learning, teaching and research.

In this project, you will work together with Dr Lieke van Maastricht (principal investigator) and a research assistant to develop and validate the first-ever open-access online tool for assessing prosodic proficiency. This innovative tool will transform how language learners, teachers, clinicians and researchers evaluate and improve critical aspects of spoken language—rhythm, stress and intonation—which are essential for clear communication and effective second-language acquisition.

Why this project matters: Accurate prosody is key to reducing foreign accents, avoiding social stigma, and enhancing mutual understanding between speakers of different languages. Despite its importance, there is currently no efficient way to assess prosodic features in language education, clinical practice or research. This project will address this gap by creating the Prosodic Proficiency Test Battery—a comprehensive tool that provides rapid, automatic assessment of prosodic accuracy. Using this tool, learners can track their progress, teachers can tailor their instruction, and researchers can explore new dimensions of language development.

What this project entails: This project seeks to combine knowledge from the fields of linguistics, computational modelling and AI to attain two objectives:

1. To create the stimuli for the Prosodic Proficiency Test Battery and perform a pilot study to determine which automatic labelling tools for prosodic annotation are most suitable for the test.
2. To run a large-scale study to collect foreign-language proficiency data to assess the validity and reliability of the test items in the Prosodic Proficiency Test Battery.

Your role: As a postdoctoral researcher, you will take the lead in designing experiments, assessing the suitability of automatic annotation tools, conducting the large-scale study to test the validity and reliability of the Prosodic Proficiency Test Battery, and co-supervising the research assistant who will help execute the experiments. You will present your work at international conferences and publish your findings in scientific journals and/or at conferences.

Why this is a unique opportunity: This position offers a rare chance to work on a pioneering project that blends linguistics, AI, and language learning. Not only will you contribute to a tool with real-world applications, but you will also collaborate with prosody experts in the field, giving you the opportunity to contribute to the future of language education and research. Whether you are passionate about advancing theoretical knowledge or developing practical solutions for language learners worldwide, this project provides a platform to make a meaningful difference.

Profile

• You should hold a PhD degree in linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, AI, psycholinguistics, or a related field.
• You enjoy reading and writing code and have demonstrable programming experience, for example in Python, C++, Matlab, Java, and/or HTML/CSS.
• You are a creative, critical and independent researcher who is motivated to take initiative when needed.
• You are a team player who not only provides constructive feedback but is also happy to receive it, who supports others, and who is keen to engage in scientific discussions. You enjoy supervising students.
• You are able to contribute to a collaborative work environment based on transparent communication and a positive and respectful attitude towards supervisors, colleagues and students.
• You have an excellent command of English (both spoken and written) and you have a good publication record.
• You possess excellent time management and organisational skills.
• Ideally, you also have expertise and hands-on research experience in prosody research, good skills in preparing and analysing speech-elicitation experiments, and demonstrable experience with R and Praat.

We are

You will be part of the Speech Production and Comprehension group, which is part of the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) within the Faculty of Arts of Radboud University. There are collaborative links to other research groups at the Nijmegen campus, including the SPRINT group (PI: Amalia Arvaniti) at CLS, the Speech Perception in Audiovisual Communication group (PI: Hans Rutger Bosker) at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, and the Individual Differences in Language Skills group (PI: Antje Meyer) at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. You can also benefit from the presence of a large and active Artificial Intelligence department at the Faculty of Social Sciences. In sum, you will be part of an exceptionally rich environment for research on language and speech. CLS aims to contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive world, which is why we especially seek applications from candidates who bring diverse perspectives, backgrounds and skills that will be assets in research and teaching. English is the lingua franca at the Institute.

Radboud University

At Radboud University, we aim to make an impact through our work. We achieve this by conducting groundbreaking research, providing high-quality education, offering excellent support, and fostering collaborations within and outside the university. In doing so, we contribute indispensably to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. To accomplish this, we need even more colleagues who, based on their expertise, are willing to search for answers. We advocate for an inclusive community and welcome employees with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Will you also contribute to making the world a little better? You have a part to play.

Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts is committed to the development of knowledge with a strong scientific and social impact. With over 500 academic and support staff, we teach and conduct research in the fields of art, history, language, culture and communication, using innovative methodologies and collaborating closely across disciplines. Our research is embedded in two research institutes: the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) and the Radboud Institute for Culture & History (RICH). Approximately 2,500 students are currently enrolled with us across our three departments: the Department of History, Art History and Classics, the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures and the Department of Language and Communication. The faculty is characterised by a pleasant and open culture with various opportunities for the professional development of our staff.

We offer

• Your salary within salary scale 11 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. If you have not yet defended your PhD at the start of the contract you will start in salary scale 10. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week.
• Depending on the researcher's salary, any configuration between 0.5 FTE for a year and 1.0 FTE for half a year is possible and will be decided on between you and the project principal investigator.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Additional employment conditions

Work and science require good employment practices. Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions reflect this. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself. For example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports membership. In addition, you receive a 34% discount on the sports and cultural activities at Radboud University as an employee. And, of course, we offer a good pension plan. We also give you plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

Dr L.J. van Maastricht (Lieke)
lieke.vanmaastricht [at] ru.nl