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Job # 298 R&D

Supervisor

Becky Xi Chen, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development

Job/Project Title

Reading Comprehension among Majority and Minority Language Children in French Immersion: The Contribution of Oral Language Skills and Reading Strategies

Job Description

This position will contribute to a larger project funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant. The study examines the contribution of oral language skills to reading comprehension among children enrolled in French immersion programs. Specifically, we will focus on morphological awareness, syntactic awareness, vocabulary and reading strategies. All of these skills, as well as reading comprehension, will be assessed in English and French. Analyses will be conducted to understand how these skills are related to reading comprehension within English and French, and how skills developed in each language are related to reading comprehension in the other language.

Duties

Responsibilities of the position may include:

• Designing and revising language and literacy measures in English and French
• Creating testing manuals and training protocols for measures
• Administering measures to children either virtually or in a school setting and entering data into a master database.
• Supervising undergraduate students in data collection and data entry.
• Conducting statistical analyses based on collected data. Training will be provided.

Job Location

We will have both online meetings and in-person meetings at ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ on a regular basis. Data collection is conducted in person in schools of the Toronto District School Board across the GTA.

Period of Assignment

September 1, 2024—April 30, 2025

Hours of Assignment

240 hours                                            

Required Skills

• Speaking and writing skills in French
• Basic understanding of children’s language and literacy development
• Basic knowledge of research design
• Basic research skills (administering standardized and experimental measures to children, entering and coding data). Additional training will be provided.
• Statistical analysis skills. Additional training will be provided if necessary.
• The ability to effectively interact with teachers and children for the purposes of collecting data in the school setting

Additional Requirements

You will be required to travel to schools in the GTA for data collection. Please make sure that you are available for one full day of the week. 

Evening or Weekend Work

Occasionally evening or weekend work may be required.

Eligibility

• To hold an R&D GA, you must be registered as a full-time student at ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ in an eligible program.
• Masters students (including MA, MEd, MT, and MA-CSE) students are eligible to hold a R&D GA in the first 2 years of their program.
• MA-SCCP students are eligible to hold an R&D GA in the first 3 years of their program.
• Full-time doctoral students (PhD, EdD) are eligible to hold an R&D GA in the first 6 years of their program.
• Flex-time PhD students are eligible to be considered for a GA or R&D GA once during the first 5 years of their program and must be pursuing full-time studies as per the .
• You are ineligible for an R&D GA if you are holding a combination of scholarships, fellowships, ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½-arranged teaching assistantships, ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½-arranged course instructorships and/or research assistantships greater than or equal to the value of a full R&D GA during the academic year (September-August)
• You may not hold a Graduate Assistantship (GA) and an R&D Graduate Assistantship (R&D GA) at the same time
• For Fall/Winter, Fall, and Winter contracts, students who are full-time employees at the ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ or elsewhere, are ineligible to be considered for R&D Graduate Assistantships under the  Full-time employment is defined as 35 hours per week, or where different, the number of hours specified in an employee's contract as full-time employment.
• Appointments are conditional upon a student being legally authorized to work in Canada by virtue of having a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and Canada-issued study permit by the commencement date of the appointment or, at the latest, within 14 days following the commencement date of the appointment.  Students will need a Canadian bank account to receive remuneration.

Application Deadline

June 13, 2024. No late applications will be considered.

Application Instructions

Please email your cover letter and resume as one pdf document to xi.chen.bumgardner@utoronto.ca and copy to oise.research@utoronto.ca. Please quote the job number in your subject line and your student number in your covering letter. If applying for more than one R&D GA position, please submit a separate application for each job.

Full-time students may not concurrently hold a Graduate Assistantship and a Research and Development Graduate Assistantship. 

Research Development Graduate Assistantships (RDGA) are remuneration for graduate students who are engaged in research and/or field development-oriented projects contributing to their academic and professional development. The wage rate for a 2024-25 Fall/Winter RDGA is $13,382.84. 

The ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. 

The ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ invites all qualified applicants to apply.