Postdoctoral Position in Signal-based Analysis of Fluency in Speech and Sign language 80 %

Computational linguistics is the science of understanding and modeling human language using computers. Since human language has many forms – spoken, signed and written – and involves various organs such as the vocal tract, ears, face, hands, eyes, and the brain, our research covers the full range of these modalities and senses.

Fluency in spoken communication – the ability to speak with smooth, natural timing and appropriate speed – forms the foundation of successful spoken interaction, enabling efficient and effective exchange of information. It is one of the most salient hallmarks of spoken language proficiency. While fluency has been extensively studied in speech communication, its role in sign language, where language is conveyed entirely through the visual-spatial modality, remains largely unexplored.

In a newly funded SNSF project, “Fluency in Speech and Signing” (FluSS), we aim to understand how utterance production and cognitive mechanisms in sign language compare to those in speech. Specifically, we will investigate whether the mechanisms that underlie fluency in speech also play a critical role in sign language fluency. The project consists of three closely interconnected subprojects: (1) Fluency across modalities and proficiency levels (Prof. Dr. Tobias Haug, University of Teacher Education in Special Needs, HfH), (2) Automatic analysis of fluency in speech and signing (Prof. Dr. Sarah Ebling, University of Zurich), and (3) Common cognitive processes in speech and signing (Prof. Dr. Volker Dellwo, University of Zurich). The project is carried out in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Nivja de Jong (Leiden University).

We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher (4 years) at the Department of Computational Linguistics, University of Zurich. The researcher's focus will be on the analysis of raw acoustic and visual signals to find correlates for aspects of fluency in speech and signing. The researcher will be involved mainly in subprojects 2 and 3 but will communicate and collaborate across the entire project.

The Department of Computational Linguistics conducts research and teaching in artificial intelligence for language and speech. The position will be hosted across the Phonetics & Speech Sciences (Prof. Dr. Volker Dellwo) and Language, Technology and Accessibility (Prof. Dr. Sarah Ebling) groups. The experimental work will be carried out in the laboratory of the Linguistic Research Infrastructure (LiRI).