Postgraduate Prospectus

Linguistics | www.essex.ac.uk/linguistics
Why study linguistics
at Essex?
n
n
Outstanding research environment
– rated as producing the highest
proportion of ‘world-leading’
linguistics research of any
university in the UK in the last
Research Assessment Exercise
(RAE, 2008)
Part of the University’s accredited
Doctoral Training Centre of the
Economic and Social Research
Council (ESRC), with a number
of ESRC studentships available
for new postgraduates
n Unrivalled range of over 20
specialist MA courses
n
n
Master of Research (MRes) and
integrated ‘new route’ four-year
PhD programmes available
MA Linguistic Studies available on
credit accumulation basis to study
part-time over a number of years
Career prospects
Given the breadth of our
provision, career prospects for
our graduates vary depending
on the study undertaken, but a
number of our programmes relate
to English language teaching,
and our students come to us
with the intention of entering
the ELT/TESOL profession, or
to further knowledge in this area.
Some of our other MAs connect
with careers in computing,
language disorders/speech
therapy, and management.
From most of our taught courses
there is a natural progression to
PhD study, using the research
training from our MA programmes.
Often the career destination is
university lecturing or research.
150 | Postgraduate Prospectus 2012
About our Department
We are one of the largest and most
prestigious departments of our kind in
the world, rated as producing the highest
proportion of ‘world-leading’ linguistics
research of any university in the UK in
the most recent Research Assessment
Exercise (RAE, December 2008).
Comprising 24 academic staff, we offer
teaching and research supervision in:
language acquisition, language learning
and language teaching; culture and
communication; psycholinguistics; language
disorders; sociolinguistics; and theoretical
and descriptive linguistics.
We have a large and thriving graduate
community working within a dynamic
research environment. We form part of
Essex’s interdisciplinary Doctoral Training
Centre, recently designated by the UK’s
Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC) and one of only 21 in the UK. This
means some of our courses have ESRC
Doctoral Training Centre accreditation,
and a number of ESRC studentships are
available for new students to begin an MSc
or MA, followed by a PhD, with us (1+3).
Taught courses
Our taught courses typically consist of eight
one-term modules assessed by coursework
and a 16,000-word dissertation, which
allows you to focus in depth on a topic of
special interest from April onwards. The
normal format involves a set of four core
modules and a choice of four relevant
specialist options from more than 100
on offer. The flexible modular structure
means that our MAs can be followed on
a 12-month full-time and a 24-month
part-time basis.
If you are unable to study full-time, we
offer MA Linguistic Studies on a credit
accumulation basis: you gain credits for
each module you take (over a number
of years, if necessary) until you have
completed the credit requirement of
your MA.
Takers of our MA TEFL and some other
courses come to us with the specific
intention of entering the ELT/TESOL
profession, which they duly go on to do.
Graduates of our MA ELT and other
courses related to English language
teaching and applied linguistics often join
us after a career in English teaching, to
update their expertise and return to the
classroom with a career enhancement.
The specialist knowledge you gain enables
you to take on senior or specialist roles
(eg in CALL, ESP, teaching young learners
or testing), not necessarily only in the
classroom but also in educational advice
and management, programme evaluation,
syllabus design and teacher education.
Our other MAs, as their names suggest,
connect you with careers in computing,
language disorders/speech therapy
and management.
From most of our taught courses there is
a natural progression to PhD study, using
the research training in your MA course.
Often the career destination afterwards is
university lecturing or research. Given the
interdisciplinary nature of the areas of
linguistics we cover, this could be in
departments of English, linguistics,
education, sociology or even cognitive
science. For example, from our MA
Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics,
several graduates have taken academic
posts at the Max Planck Institute for
Psycholinguistics and at the Universities
of Tuebingen, Hamburg, Kobe, and
Thessaloniki.
Other careers our postgraduates have
gone on to, where the generic skills they
acquired with us are also valued, include
publishing, social work, administration,
retail and public speaking.
MA Applied Linguistics•
This course explores the results of recent
empirical studies of second language
acquisition, focusing on how learners
develop L2 knowledge and what role
classroom practice plays in that
development. You learn to apply the
insights of current linguistic theory in
understanding and explaining non-native
language acquisition. Our core topics
include: second language acquisition,
language teaching, linguistic theory and
research methods for studying language,