Postgraduate Prospectus

www.essex.ac.uk/linguistics | Linguistics
Ariel Vazquez Carranza,
Mexico – MA Linguistic Studies
’09, PhD Sociolinguistics
Student
profile
After doing my first degree in
Mexico, I came to Essex for my
Masters because the modules
offered as part of my course
were very appealing and I knew
staff in the Department of Language and
Linguistics had worldwide recognition for
their work.
During my Masters at Essex, I learnt
about the methodology of conversation
analysis and became hooked on this and
its findings on the organisation of talk, so
decided to pursue a PhD and investigate
Spanish conversation with this
methodology, as this has not been done
before. I received a grant, the Overseas
Research Award’s Scheme, as well as a
University of Essex Scholarship. Without
this funding I would not have been able
to do my PhD.
Essex is the perfect university for my
PhD studies since my supervisor is an
outstanding conversation analyst, as well
as very helpful and supportive of my
work. What I enjoy most about being
here is the opportunity to learn new
transferable skills and improve my
academic skills, as this will help me in
my future career. I find there is a good
atmosphere for study at the Colchester
Campus, particularly because of the
beautiful park in which the University
is located.
After graduating, I would like to find
a job in academia and continue my
research in conversation analysis in
Mexican Spanish, as well as
promote the importance of
doing a postgraduate degree.
n
Our three-year supervised research
route is if you already have a solid
knowledge of existing research in
your field and a good understanding of
research methods. If you have a suitable
research proposal, you may register
for your PhD or MPhil and immediately
begin your independent research, under
the guidance of your supervisor and
supervisory board.
Our programmes can be taken on a
full-time basis or, if you are from the UK
and other EU countries, on a part-time
basis. If you are an international student
who has already acquired a very solid
research training, you can apply to study
for your PhD by distance learning.
Conducting effective research requires
mastery of a wide range of skills, so
we recognise you may need to ‘top up’
your knowledge of theoretical issues or
understanding of statistical and
computational techniques at points during
your studies. You can attend any of over
100 of our training or other modules, as
and when you need to.
You have an opportunity to join one of our
research groups as soon as you register.
These are small, informal groups, led by one
or more members of our linguistics staff,
and attended by all our research students
working on topics that fall within the remit
of the research group. The main function is
to encourage discussion, exchange of ideas
and mutual support. Our research groups
provide a forum within which you can
regularly present your work and receive
peer feedback. We have found this an
excellent complement to the normal
advice and feedback you will get from
your supervisor.
Research areas
Research supervision is available in the
following fields:
n Analysing language use,
n Applied linguistics,
n Computer-Assisted Language Learning
n English for specific purposes
n English language teaching
n Experimental linguistics
n L1 acquisition
n L2 learning
n Morphology
n Phonology
n Psycholinguistics
n Sociolinguistics
n Syntax
Postgraduate Prospectus 2012 | 157