Summer Research Opportunity: CSAAL at UMass

In June 2011, the Center for the Study of African American Language at UMass, Amherst will again offer its annual Summer Dialect Research Project. The goal of the project is to provide research experience to undergraduates interested in linguistics. According to the website:

“The focus is on the description of patterns in African American English (AAE). In addition to taking courses on the linguistic description of AAE, participants will gain research experience by exploring current issues in the study of AAE. The focus will be on methods for describing patterns in the use of AAE and analyzing data. Research will be conducted in laboratory settings on databases of adult and child AAE language samples. The descriptions of the data will characterize the differences between AAE and mainstream English. The linguistic description based on this research will be shown to have practical application in fields such as education and communication sciences.

Participants will receive a taxable stipend of $600 plus free room and board on campus, and travel fees up to $600 will be paid.”