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Alan CienkiView profile

Professor

• Cognitive Linguistics
• Semantics and Conceptualization
• Gesture Studies
• +4 more

Alan Cienki is a Full Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands) in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, holding the chair in Language Use & Cognition and English Linguistics. He concurrently serves as Personnel Manager for the English Academic Language Programme and has a part-time appointment (currently on hold) at Moscow State Linguistic University’s Multimodal Communication and Cognition Lab. His research focuses on cognitive linguistics, gesture studies, multimodal communication, and metaphor analysis. Cienki earned a PhD in 1988 from Brown University, preceded by a Master’s in Slavic Languages (Brown University, 1983) and a Bachelor’s in Russian Studies (Hamilton College, 1982). Grants & Fellowships: NIAS Fellowship (2009-10, 2024), Russia Science Foundation grants (2014–2021), Netherlands Science Foundation (NWO), DAAD (2006). Teaching: Courses include Multimodal Communication, Spoken Language and Gesture, and Master’s thesis supervision in Communication Studies. Research Contributions: Authored/co-edited works like The Cambridge Handbook of Gesture Studies (2024) and pioneered the Amsterdam Gesture Center and PoliMod Lab in Moscow. His work bridges cognitive linguistics and gesture analysis, emphasizing dynamicity and multimodality in language use. Key projects explore gesture in interpreting, metaphor embodiment, and cross-linguistic communication dynamics.

Bob de JongeView profile

Associate Professor

• Sociolinguistics
• Romance Language Acquisition
• Linguistics
• +3 more

Dr. Bob de Jonge is an Associate Professor at the University of Groningen, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and the Department of European Languages and Cultures. He holds a PhD in Spanish Language and Literature from Leiden University (1990) and has been active in academia since 1985. His research focuses on sociolinguistics, Romance language acquisition, and linguistic analysis, particularly in Spanish and Italian. He explores topics such as pronoun usage, language variation, and cognitive grammar frameworks. His work includes studies on variable pronoun use in Patagonian Spanish, sociocultural aspects of le and lo/la in Spanish, and the relevance of cognitive approaches to linguistic analysis. He has contributed to edited volumes on topics ranging from food terminology in Dutch to immigrant influences on language. His publications reflect a strong emphasis on empirical research and functional linguistics. De Jonge has organized international conferences and presented at events such as the 13th International Columbia School Conference. His research activities span collaboration with institutions in Argentina, Italy, and Mexico. He currently serves as Co-Director of the Faculty of Arts at Groningen and is actively involved in theoretical and empirical linguistics research groups.

Jing LinView profile

Assistant Professor

• Language Acquisition
• Child Language Development
• Psycholinguistics
• +5 more

Jing Lin serves as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), affiliated with the Network Institute. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics, cognitive development, and educational applications, with a focus on language acquisition in multilingual contexts. Her educational background includes a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Amsterdam (2015) for research on negative polarity items acquisition, and a Research Master in Linguistics from the same institution. She conducted postdoctoral research at Leiden University (2016-2019) focusing on semantics and first language acquisition. Lin's research centers on first and second language acquisition mechanisms, particularly developmental milestones, cognitive interactions in language learning, and multilingual education. She employs experimental and corpus methodologies with special emphasis on young children and newcomers to the Netherlands. Current work investigates how phonological working memory training affects Dutch language acquisition in 4-7 year old newcomers. Her publication trends reveal dual specialization: (1) Core linguistics focusing on syntactic-sematic interfaces in language acquisition, and (2) Applied social psychology examining economic inequality's impact on prosocial behavior in adolescent development. Both strands maintain strong methodological rigor with cross-linguistic and developmental perspectives. NWO Open Competitie XS Grant for cognitive foundation research in second language learning NT2 Teacher Certification (2021) As Principal Investigator of an active NWO-funded project, she leads research on phonological working memory interventions for young newcomers. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on First Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics, and Foreign Language Teaching. She actively contributes to academic service through conference participation (e.g., Nordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Interaction) and peer review for journals like Applied Psycholinguistics. Lin maintains strong community engagement through her NWO project, collaborating with NT2 schools and caregivers of newcomer children in the Netherlands.

Jan-Wouter ZwartView profile

Professor

• Syntax
• Linguistic Typology
• Morphology
• +3 more

Prof. Jan-Wouter Zwart is a Professor of Theoretical Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen. His research focuses on syntax, linguistic typology, and morphological strength, with a particular emphasis on Germanic languages and cross-linguistic syntactic structures. He holds an office at the Harmony building (Room 1315.0401) and can be reached via c.j.w.zwart@rug.nl. Research Interests: - Syntax and its interface with morphology and semantics - Typological studies of alignment systems and verb positioning - Historical developments in Dutch and Afrikaans syntax - Formal syntactic theory and syntactic derivation mechanisms - Methodological approaches to linguistic analysis Recent work explores coordination structures, modal adverb placement, and rethinking alignment typology. His contributions appear in leading venues like the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics and Syntax-focused volumes. No scientific awards are explicitly mentioned, though his extensive publication record indicates academic recognition. He has no listed advisees or grants in the provided texts. His professional activities are centered at the University of Groningen without external roles.

Stephen JonesView profile

Assistant Professor

• Linguistics
• Cognitive Modelling
• Syntax-Prosody Interface
• +3 more

Stephen Jones is an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, affiliated with the Bernoulli Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, and Mathematics. His research focuses on the intersection of grammatical theory and cognitive models of language processing, particularly the syntax-prosody interface in Korean and English. He holds a DPhil in General Linguistics from the University of Oxford (2019) and has taught undergraduate linguistics courses at both Oxford and Groningen. Key research areas include Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), Dynamic Syntax, and computational modeling using the ACT-R architecture. He has also held visiting academic roles at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics. Awards include the MPhil to DPhil Progress Scholarship from Kellogg College, Oxford. His work bridges formal linguistics and cognitive science, with recent publications exploring Korean question focus, Dutch clitic pronouns, and cross-linguistic lexical tone learning. Grants include funding for computational modeling projects and participation in international conferences on syntax and psycholinguistics.

Hans WilkeView profile

Assistant Professor

• Linguistics
• Pragmatics
• Discourse Analysis
• +3 more

Dr. Hans Wilke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Communication and Discourse Analysis at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Arts. His research focuses on linguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, and experimental methods, with specific interests in information structure, coherence, and sentence processing. He holds a PhD and has contributed to interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of linguistics and cognitive science. Wilke's work examines how linguistic structures interact with discourse principles and cognitive processes, using experimental methods to explore topics like appositive relative clauses, pronoun resolution, and the syntax-semantics interface in Dutch. His recent publications (2022-2025) demonstrate a focus on empirical investigations of discourse processing mechanisms. No scientific awards or grants are explicitly mentioned in the provided texts, though his active publication record suggests ongoing research activity. His advising roles and student supervision details are not documented here. He is affiliated with the Speech Communication and Discourse Analysis unit at the Faculty of Arts, contributing to both teaching and experimental research initiatives.

Ielka van der SluisView profile

Senior Lecturer

• Human Communication
• Information Presentation
• Human-Computer Interaction
• +3 more

Dr. Ielka van der Sluis is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication and Information Science, Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen since 2011. She holds a PhD in Computational Linguistics from Tilburg University (2005) and has held research positions at Trinity College Dublin (2008–2011), the University of Aberdeen (UK), and the University of Twente. Her research focuses on human communication, multimodal interaction, natural language generation, and affective computing. She is a member of the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen and has contributed to projects like TUNA (EPSRC-funded), the OLIVE EC project, and the PAT framework for multimodal instruction analysis. Her work bridges computational linguistics and human-computer interaction, emphasizing the design and evaluation of multimodal systems. She has explored topics such as cross-linguistic referring expression generation, affective text impact, and procedural instruction design. Key contributions include developing the PAT annotation model for multimodal instructions and investigating cross-cultural assessment of automated referring expressions in virtual environments. Her research history spans over two decades, with impactful contributions to the understanding of text-picture alignment in procedural instructions, action categorization in multimedia, and user-centric evaluation frameworks. She collaborates internationally, particularly in computational linguistics and next-generation localization technologies.

• Linguistics
• Syntax
• Phonology
• +4 more

Ana Bosnic is a Lecturer in Linguistics at the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, Utrecht University. Her research focuses on experimentally testing quantification and distributive interpretations in Serbian, Korean, and Dutch, with a specialization in syntax-phonology interfaces and language acquisition. PhD in (Psycho)linguistics (University of Groningen & University of Nantes) As a member of the Dynamics of Youth (DoY) initiative and the COST Action Project CA22139 (Y-JustLang), she investigates distributive share markers, exhaustivity requirements, and cognitive load in linguistic processing. Her work spans experimental methodologies across adult and child populations. Recent publications highlight her contributions to understanding distributive quantifiers in Dutch (2018), agreement mismatches in Serbian (2016), and cross-linguistic studies of distributive markers in Serbian, Korean, and German (2020-2024). She employs empirical approaches to analyze syntax-semantic interfaces and phonological constraints. Ana Bosnic's active research and teaching are centered within Utrecht University's Transcomplex building (3512 JK Utrecht).

• Syntax
• Morphology
• Slavic Linguistics
• +3 more

Dr. Maaike Schoorlemmer is a Researcher at the Institute for Language Sciences under the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University . She has contributed extensively to fields like syntax, morphology, and Slavic linguistics. Role: Research Coordinator Department: Institute for Language Sciences University: Utrecht University Her research interests include: Syntax-Morphology Interface Slavic Language Structures Metalinguistic Awareness Formal Grammar Recent publications focus on Russian grammar, argument structures, and linguistic theory. She has edited academic yearbooks and contributed to theoretical linguistics. Contact: m.schoorlemmer@uu.nl

• Linguistics
• Syntax
• Semantics
• +4 more

Marijana Marelj is an Associate Professor at the Utrecht University , affiliated with the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication and the Institute for Language Sciences. Her research focuses on the lexicon-syntax-semantics interfaces , particularly causality and volitionality in natural language, and she contributes to projects like Dynamics of Youth and Human-centered Artificial Intelligence . PhD in Theoretical Linguistics (cum laude), Utrecht University (UiL OTS), supervised by Tanya Reinhart and Eric Reuland Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Connecticut (USA) and Utrecht University Her recent work explores clitics at syntax-phonology interfaces , cognate objects , and derivational complexity . She has co-edited major works like Concepts, Syntax and their Interfaces: The Theta System (MIT Press) and contributed to journals including Linguistic Inquiry , Syntax , and Theoretical Linguistics . Marelj is actively involved in Slavic linguistics , Romance-Slavic comparative studies , and psych verbs at interfaces . She serves on the LOT Curriculum Committee and the Linguistic Inquiry Associate Editorial Board .