A Journal of Research in Language Studies
Published on behalf of the Language Learning Research Club at the University of Michigan
Grant Programs
The Language Learning Dissertation Grant Program
The Language Learning Dissertation Grant Program provides support for the research work of doctoral candidates in the language sciences. The grant is designed to cover actual expenses, up to $1,500 per grant, e.g., travel for data collection, essential equipment etc., connected with the research component of the dissertation. Applicants should be at the level of "advanced candidacy" and have a dissertation proposal approved by the relevant departmental authorities. Applications are invited worldwide and should consist of the abstract of the dissertation proposal, a detailed research budget, and letters of endorsement by the thesis supervisor and a university official agreeing to administer the grant if awarded. The names of recipients are published, once a year, in the September issue of the journal. Seven Dissertation Awards were made in 2005.
The Language Learning Roundtable Conference Program
The conference program is intended to fund small roundtable conferences, worldwide, organized around a topic of significant current interest and resulting in a position paper to be submitted to the customary review process for consideration as a potential 'state-of-the-art' review article in Language Learning. The Board of Directors encourages small groups of senior investigators to get together for a day or two to discuss in depth a topic currently central to their field and to chart the course for its immediate future. Applications, in free form, are to be submitted by a Convener who will assume responsibility for organizing the conference and for the subsequent submission of the conference report to Language Learning. Applications are to include a description of the proposed project, its rationale, a brief review of the relevant recent literature, a detailed budget, the names of the participants, their c.v.'s, and their agreement to attend the conference. Recipients for 2006 were Prof. Kees de Bot, University of Groningen, Netherlands and Prof. Ayse Gürel, Bogaziçi University,Turkey. In addition, a biennial Alexander Guiora Conference on the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Learning and Processing has been established in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, Neterlands. The first conference took place in 2005.
The Language Learning Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Program
This program is designed to enable university departments worldwide representing the broadly defined area of applied linguistics, to host a distinguished scholar of their choosing for a week on their campus. Several fellowships are offered annually. DSiR Fellows for 2006 are Prof. Merrill Swain at Beijing Foreign Studies University and Prof. Kirsten Haastrup at the University of Ottawa.
The Language Learning Small Grants Research Program
This program provides research support of up to $10,000, in direct cost only, for new research projects relevant to the language sciences. No overhead or indirect costs by the applicant's institution can be approved. Applications may be submitted by any academic institution worldwide such as a university or college. Applications are evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group. Funding decisions are based on scientific merit and availability of funds. Recipients for 2006 are Prof. Carrie Jackson, Pennsylvania State University; Prof. Keiko Koda, Carnegie Mellon University; and Prof. Susan Rickard Liow, National University of Singapore.
The Language Learning Visiting Research Assistant Professorship
In 1985 Language Learning, in a matching arrangement with the College of Literature Science and the Arts of the University of Michigan, endowed a Language Visiting Research Assistant Professorship in Linguistics at the University of Michigan. In 2004-06, this position was held by Dr. Andries Coetzee whose research deals with phonological processing and phonological variation, as well as the formal/mathematical properties of Optimality Theory.
Details and application procedures relating to these grants are published in the journal. Applications should be made to the Executive Director, Alister Cumming.
