Tanja Säily

Curriculum vitae

28 October 2024

Personal details

Surname: Säily
First names: Tanja Inkeri
ORCID: 0000-0003-4407-8929
Website: tanjasaily.fi

Degrees

PhD degree: 25 Nov 2014, English Philology, University of Helsinki, Finland
MA degree: 10 Jun 2008, English Philology, University of Helsinki, Finland
BA degree: 15 Jun 2004, English Philology, University of Helsinki, Finland

Current employment

Job description: Associate Professor in English Language (tenure track)
Employer: University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Languages
Start & end dates: 1 September 2024 – 31 August 2028

Previous work experience

Assistant professor: University of Helsinki, Finland, September 2019 – August 2024
Postdoctoral researcher: University of Helsinki, Finland, January 2015 – August 2019
Doctoral student: University of Helsinki, Finland, January 2009 – December 2014
Research assistant: University of Helsinki, Finland, September 2005 – December 2008, part-time

Research visits: University of Saarland, Germany, February–March 2019; University of Zürich, Switzerland, February–March 2017; University of Tampere, Finland, September–December 2016; University of Freiburg, Germany, November 2010

Research funding & grants

Principal investigator: Research Council of Finland, grant 333717, 2020–2024, funding €275,187 (consortium €552,973)
“Rise of commercial society and eighteenth-century publishing”
Postdoctoral researcher: Research Council of Finland, grant 323390, 2020–2023, funding €213,530
“Historical sociolinguistics meets Construction Grammar: The case of productivity in English”
Member of application writing team, postdoctoral researcher in project (PI Terttu Nevalainen): Research Council of Finland, grant 293009, 2016–2019, funding €370,855 (consortium €664,871)
“Interfacing structured and unstructured data in sociolinguistic research on language change”; Research Council of Finland, grant 276349, 2014–2018, funding €544,917
“Reassessing language change: The challenge of real time”
Doctoral student: Langnet, the Finnish Graduate School in Language Studies:
4-year funded PhD student position, January 2009 – December 2012
“Sociolinguistic variation in derivational morphology: Studies and methods in diachronic corpus linguistics”

Research output

Number of publications

50 publications in total, including:: 14 refereed journal articles (A1); 16 refereed articles in edited volumes (A3); 12 refereed articles in conference publications (A4); 7 edited volumes (C2); 1 book, PhD thesis (G5)

Most important publications in the ranking of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies

4 articles in top (level 3) publication channels:: 2 × Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory; 2 × International Journal of Corpus Linguistics
5 articles in leading (level 2) publication channels:: 2 × Digital Scholarship in the Humanities
(formerly known as Literary and Linguistic Computing); 1 × Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics; 1 × Pragmatics & Cognition; 1 × Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia
3 edited volumes in leading (level 2) publication channels:: 2 × John Benjamins; 1 × Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics

Complete list of publications

Publications · Tools

Research supervision & leadership experience

Supervision of doctoral students: Laura Folino (2022–), co-supervisor; Emily Öhman (2018–2021), co-supervisor
Principal investigator: Rise of commercial society and eighteenth-century publishing
(RiCEP, Research Council of Finland, 2020–)
Leader of subproject: NATAS: Social embedding of neologisms in early English letters
(STRATAS, Research Council of Finland DIGIHUM programme, 2016–2019)
Project coordinator: Data mining tools for changing modalities of communication
(DAMMOC, Research Council of Finland MOTIVE programme, 2009–2011)

Teaching merits

Pedagogical training

YP111 Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2011 (5 cr)

YP112 Constructive Alignment in Course Design, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2012 (5 cr)

YP 2.2 Assessment of Learning and Giving Feedback, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2020 (5 cr)

YP 3.1 Academic Supervision and Supervisor Training, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2021 (5 cr)

YP 3.2 Development of Teaching and Practical Training, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2024 (5 cr)

YA 3 Pedagogical Leadership and the Development of Teaching at the University, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2022 (5 cr)

Development of teaching

Kielitieteen metodipankki [Method Bank for Linguistics], open-access resource: Section on historical corpus linguistics, 2020–2021

Teaching experience

KIK-EN113 Contrastive Text Analysis: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2024 autumn (co-teacher)
ENG-Ling320 Thesis Seminar in Linguistics: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2023–2024 (teacher); University of Helsinki, Finland, 2020–2021 (co-teacher)
ENG-Ling310 Research Design for Thesis Writers in Linguistics: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2023 autumn (co-teacher)
New course: ENG-Ling340 Historical Sociolinguistics: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2023 spring (co-teacher)
ENG-Ling330 Digital Humanities Project Course: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2023 spring (co-teacher); University of Helsinki, Finland, 2022 autumn (co-teacher); University of Helsinki, Finland, 2022 spring (co-teacher); University of Helsinki, Finland, 2021 autumn (co-teacher)
KIK-402 Kieli yhteiskunnassa ja kulttuurissa [Language in Society and Culture]: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2020 spring (co-teacher)
ENG-3013 Methodology in Corpus Linguistics: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2019 autumn (teacher)
New course: LDA-H502 Digital Humanities Hackathon: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2019-05 (co-teacher); University of Helsinki, Finland, 2015-05 (co-teacher)
ENG-3037 Project in Variation and Change: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2018 spring (co-teacher)
New workshop: Data Visualization in Historical Sociolinguistics: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, 2018-03 (teacher)
ENG381 Project Work in English Philology: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2016 autumn (co-teacher); University of Helsinki, Finland, 2015 spring (co-teacher)
New workshop: DH Methods for Dummies: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2014-12 (co-teacher)
ENG114a Text Analysis from English into Finnish I: University of Helsinki, Finland, 2012 spring (teacher)

Awards & honours

Best paper award: 5th Digital Humanities in the Nordic Countries conference (DHN 2020), Riga, Latvia; 4th Digital Humanities in the Nordic Countries conference (DHN 2019), Copenhagen, Denmark

Other key academic merits

External examiner: Chris Ryder’s PhD thesis, University of Reading, UK, December 2018
(advisors: Jacqueline Laws and Sylvia Jaworska)
Member of grading committee: Inés Matres’s PhD thesis, University of Helsinki, Finland, September 2024
(advisors: Mikko Tolonen and Coppélie Cocq)
Expert evaluator: University Lecturer, University of Turku, Finland, February 2024; Title of Docent, University of Eastern Finland, Finland, December 2023; Title of Docent, University of Turku, Finland, April 2021
Reviewer of project proposals: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Board member: International Society for the Linguistics of English:
Secretary, 2019–2023; Webmaster, 2010–2012; Helsinki Society for Historical Lexicography:
Webmaster, 2014–; Secretary, 2018–2020; Oxford English Dictionary Advisory Forum:
Member, 2020–
Editor of series: Studies in Variation, Contacts and Change in English:
Managing Editor, 2012–
Editorial board member: Corpora, 2021–
Reviewer: Applied Linguistics, Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics, CogniTextes, Cognitive Linguistics, Corpora, Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, Formulaic Language, International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, Journal of Data Mining and Digital Humanities, Journal of Germanic Linguistics, Language in Society (Wiley Blackwell series), Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique, Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, Practical Handbook of Corpus Linguistics, Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, Routledge Advances in Corpus Linguistics, Studies in Corpus Linguistics, Studies in English Language, Token: A Journal of English Linguistics, Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs; Proceedings: Dialogic Language Use 3, ICAME 27, ICAME 39, ICAME 40, DHN 2019, DHN 2020, DHNB 2022
Scientific committee member: International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE 2023); Historical Sociolinguistics Network (HiSoN 2022, 2023); Computational Approaches to Historical Language Change (LChange 2021); History of English Lexicography and Lexicology (HEL-LEX 2019); International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English (ICAME 2018, 2019, 2020); Digital Humanities in the Nordic Countries (DHN 2018); ELF & Changing English (2017)
Local organizing team member: Workshop on Creativity and Productivity in CxG (2023; c. 20 participants); From Data to Evidence (2015; c. 100 participants); New Approaches in English Historical Lexis (2012, 2008; c. 40 participants each); Helsinki Corpus Festival (2011; c. 120 participants)

Scientific & societal impact

Production of research data: CEECE = Corpus of Early English Correspondence Extension. Compiled by Terttu Nevalainen, Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, Samuli Kaislaniemi, Mikko Laitinen, Minna Nevala, Arja Nurmi, Minna Palander-Collin, Tanja Säily & Anni Sairio at the Department of Languages, University of Helsinki.; CEECES 1 = Corpus of Early English Correspondence Extension Sampler part 1. Compiled by Terttu Nevalainen, Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, Samuli Kaislaniemi, Mikko Laitinen, Minna Nevala, Arja Nurmi, Minna Palander-Collin, Tanja Säily & Anni Sairio at the Department of Languages, University of Helsinki. XML conversion and encoding by Lassi Saario. Helsinki: VARIENG, 2021.; CEECES 2 = Corpus of Early English Correspondence Extension Sampler part 2. Compiled by Terttu Nevalainen, Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, Samuli Kaislaniemi, Mikko Laitinen, Minna Nevala, Arja Nurmi, Minna Palander-Collin, Tanja Säily & Anni Sairio at the Department of Languages, University of Helsinki. XML conversion and encoding by Lassi Saario. Helsinki: VARIENG, 2022.; TCEECE = Tagged Corpus of Early English Correspondence Extension. Annotated by Lassi Saario & Tanja Säily. Spelling standardized by Mikko Hakala, Minna Palander-Collin, Minna Nevala, Emanuela Costea, Anne Kingma & Anna-Lina Wallraff. Compiled by Terttu Nevalainen, Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, Samuli Kaislaniemi, Mikko Laitinen, Minna Nevala, Arja Nurmi, Minna Palander-Collin, Tanja Säily & Anni Sairio at the Department of Languages, University of Helsinki.; TCEECES = Tagged Corpus of Early English Correspondence Extension Sampler. Compiled by Terttu Nevalainen, Helena Raumolin-Brunberg, Samuli Kaislaniemi, Mikko Laitinen, Minna Nevala, Arja Nurmi, Minna Palander-Collin, Tanja Säily & Anni Sairio at the Department of Languages, University of Helsinki. Spelling standardized by Mikko Hakala, Minna Palander-Collin, Minna Nevala, Emanuela Costea, Anne Kingma & Anna-Lina Wallraff. Annotated by Lassi Saario & Tanja Säily. XML conversion and encoding by Lassi Saario. Helsinki: VARIENG, 2022.
Science communication: “Pandemiat nopeuttavat kielenmuutosta” [Pandemics accelerate language change], talk at The Night of Science: Humanistisen tutkimuksen yö, Think Corner, University of Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2021. Presentation slides.; “Ensin juotiin chata, sitten teetä – näin kehittyi englannin teesanasto” [Cha before tea: How the English tea vocabulary developed], University of Helsinki news item with Eetu Mäkelä & Samuli Kaislaniemi, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland, 12 December 2019. News item.; “The OED and historical text collections: Discovering new words”, joint webinar with Eetu Mäkelä in the Oxford English Dictionary webinar series, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 5 July 2019. Webinar; blog post part 1, part 2.; “Kuinka lukea tuhansia kirjeitä yhdellä silmäyksellä: Vanhat kirjeet uudessa käyttöliittymässä” [How to read thousands of letters at a glance: Old letters in a new interface], talk at the Digital Humanities theme event, Think Corner, University of Helsinki, Finland, 15 November 2016. YouTube video.; “Tiedonlouhinta ja uudet menetelmät englannin kielen tutkimuksessa” [Data mining and new methods in English linguistics], talk at the alumni event Digitaaliset ihmistieteet – miten teknologia muuttaa ihmisen ja yhteiskunnan tutkimusta?, Think Corner, University of Helsinki, Finland, 18 March 2015.; “Kielenmuutostietokanta: Tutkimuksen tutkimusta” [Language Change Database: Research about research], joint lecture with Terttu Nevalainen in the public lecture series 4K: Kielen, kirjallisuuden ja kulttuurin kohtaamisia, University of Helsinki, Finland, 28 January 2015.