Program Overview

Deepen your knowledge of the linguistic study of the English language, while developing your independence as a learner and researcher.

With specialist training in the linguistic study of the English language, this course offers the best of both taught and research-focused postgraduate courses.

The course covers concepts and methodologies in linguistic description and analysis, including methods used to study linguistic structure and variation, and approaches in semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis. You will also have the option to explore psycholinguistics or receive training in event organization and presentation, with practical hands-on experience organizing a conference.

Whatever your area of interest, we will give you the opportunity to develop your own specialisms and build on your skills in writing for publication, presenting work, publishing and researching. This course is taught by staff who are active researchers with expert knowledge across a range of fields in English language and linguistics, including sociolinguistics, pragmatics, lexical semantics, language and sexuality, corpus linguistics, and influence and persuasion.

With us you will build on strong research skills, including literature review and critical analysis of research methods, to enable you to build an interesting, thorough independent research proposal to explore in your final dissertation. The course is ideal for students who are self-motivated, with good time management and the ability to work independently, as these skills will be developed throughout. This is an excellent stepping stone to either research at PhD level or a career in teaching, publishing or research.

The English Language MA is a degree in linguistics. If you are interested in becoming an English Language teacher, then please see our English Language Teaching MA. If you are a non-native English speaker and you would like to improve your English language skills, our dedicated Centre for English Language Learning (CELL) offers a range of courses.

Key features

• Focus on key concepts and methodologies in the core areas of linguistic description and analysis.
• Tailor the curriculum to your own specialist interests to meet your individual learning goals.
• Receive expert teaching and supervision for your dissertation from our specialist academics who are active researchers with expertise spanning a range of English language and linguistics subfields.
• Benefit from both collaborative teaching and individual learning experiences and receive personalized feedback to help you to reach your independent research goals.
• Practical training in presenting work, writing for publication, research and organizing a conference gives you real-world skills for a career in teaching, publishing, research or event management.
• The focus on individual research and fostering your skills as an independent learner provides ideal preparation for?progression to Ph.D.