Professor of Language Didactics, in particular English - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

On the subject and the content of the position

The Lund Teacher Education Programme is located in the Department of Educational Sciences, but subject studies and subject didactics are based in the department where teaching and research in the individual subject is conducted. Participation in the Teacher Education Programme is a comprehensive and integral part of the activities at the Centre for Languages and Literature (SOL) and it constitutes one eighth of the total educational assignment. In addition to research on Subject Didactics, which this professorship is intended to strengthen, there is well-established, strong and growing research on second language acquisition at SOL; see for example the SOL-based interdisciplinary research platform LAMiNATE. The HT faculties’ Humanities Laboratory is an invaluable resource for research on, for example, language acquisition.

Duties

This professorship aims to ensure high research expertise in Second Language Didactics (English). As a research leader in this field, the professor's main duty is to be a significant driving force in the research-based development of our teacher education programme. The duties of a professor of Language didactics, include (1) responsibility, in the capacity of research leader, for the development of research within Language Didactics at SOL, (2) individual research, planning, participation in, and management of, research projects, (3) applications for research funding, (4) teaching, supervision and course development within teacher education in all cycles of study including at post-doctoral level.

In addition to strengthening the scientific basis for SOL's education in English Language Didactics, the successful applicant is required to support the didactic components in the other language subjects within our teacher education. The professor will also work to further develop subject didactics and school-oriented research at Lund University in collaboration with other language subjects within the teacher education at SOL, research education and research conducted at the Department of Educational Sciences and other parts of the Teacher Education Programme at LU, and thereby increase the quality of our teacher education. The position also involves collaboration with researchers and professors in English Linguistics and English Literature as well as in other related fields of research. The aim is to contribute to building an environment where the different lines of research can benefit from each other.

Active physical presence in the research environment is important.

Required qualifications

A person who has demonstrated both research and teaching expertise shall be qualified for employment as a professor. For appointment as a professor there is a requirement for training in teaching and learning in higher education amounting to at least five weeks or that equivalent knowledge has been acquired in some other way.

Although teaching and supervision within the framework of the position take place in English, a successful candidate who does not speak Swedish, Danish or Norwegian at the time of appointment will be expected to acquire sufficient knowledge of Swedish to be able to use it in a work context within two years of employment.

If the successful applicant has undergone fewer than 10 weeks training in teaching and learning in higher education and/or lacks training in the supervision of doctoral students, this training is expected to be obtained within the first two years of employment.

Further requirements for appointment are:

• Doctoral degree or equivalent research expertise relevant to the subject area in question and the duties included in this post.
• Documented high quality research qualifications in English with significant relevance for language didactics and teacher education, or documented high quality research qualifications in language didactics and teacher education with significant relevance to English.
• Documented and thorough understanding of current language didactics and school-centred research concerning the English language.
• Documented high level of teaching expertise in English didactics.
• Well-documented excellent command of English in both speech and writing
  

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria for appointment as a professor shall be the degree of the expertise required as a qualification for employment.

• A very high level of research, teaching, administrative and other expertise that is of value in view of the subject matter of the post and the duties that it will involve, as well as the personal skills in general that are important for successfully carrying out the duties.
• A very high level of research qualifications including a very good national and international standing as a researcher. Demonstrated by:
  • extensive, documented research contributions and through the applicant having sustained internationally recognised activity of high quality,
  • internationally competitive publishing, demonstrating both breadth and depth,
  • documented expertise in planning, initiating, leading and developing research,
  • documented ability to obtain research grants in competition,
  • documented experience and expertise in master’s and doctoral supervision.
  • a broad international network and active participation in the national and international research community reflected, for instance, through documented experience of assignments as an expert, editor, peer reviewer (referee) or project manager, by membership in formal networks and various positions in elected office.
• A very high level of teaching expertise, which involves a very good ability to conduct, develop and lead teaching and other educational activities on different levels and using a variety of teaching methods.
  • Demonstrated through both experience of the educational activities described above and a reflective attitude to the applicant’s own teaching role.
• A good ability to supervise doctoral students to achieve a PhD.
• A good ability to participate in and develop public engagement and other outreach activities.
• A good general ability to lead and develop activities.
  • Demonstrated through documented experience, with positive testimonials and clear results, of leading, coordinating and developing research activities and collaborating with others.

Desirable qualifications in descending order of importance:

• Documented broad experience of, or otherwise obtained good and broad understanding of, language didactics and teacher education.
• Documented thorough understanding of the link between research and practice, specifically focused on didactics and teaching with an emphasis on the English language.
• Documented experience and proven expertise in supervision at Master’s level and/or PhD level, and documented ability to foster the establishment of junior researchers in the research community.
• Documented expertise in second language didactics related to other languages than English, and documented expertise in second language acquisition.
• Documented experience of language teaching in schools below university level.

In the assessment, equal consideration is given to teaching expertise and research expertise.

Instructions for the application

The application must conform to the instructions that can be downloaded at
https://www.ht.lu.se/en/the-faculties/academic-vacancies/instructions-for-applicants. The applicant is responsible for making sure that the application is complete, in accordance with the vacancy announcement and instructions, and for submitting it to the University by the application deadline through the recruitment portal.

The Academic Appointments Board normally selects a shortlist of applicants. This selection can be done in one or several steps and if needed with the help of external experts. The applicants who are selected for external assessment may be invited to submit physical copies of the papers that they wish to submit for expert assessment within 14 days.