PhD position in the Multimodal Language Department

Job description

Reference is one of the most basic functions of language and therefore, all languages in the world have reference systems that allow conversational partners to coordinate on an intended referent. Demonstratives, for example words like ‘this’ and ‘that’ in English, are a universal reference system that is used together with pointing to orient the addressee’s attention towards an element in the speech situation. Because of their fundamental function to establish joint attention, demonstratives are linked to human social cognition. Definite articles and pronouns, on the other hand, are used to signal referents that are familiar to the addressee (e.g., ‘We finally bought the house, but it was really expensive’). Therefore, these reference systems also rely on social cognition. This research project will investigate referential communication from a cross-linguistic perspective, adopting an integrated production and comprehension perspec...