ObjectivesThe course aims to focus on the core issues of linguistic theory and linguistic description and the detailed study of the linguistic structure of a particular language.
Entry requirementsEntry requirements: An Upper Second Class Honours degree, or the overseas equivalent. The first degree need not be in Linguistics: a number of first degree subjects might provide a suitable background.
Academic titleLanguages and Linguistics MA
Course descriptionCourse description
This course focuses on the core issues of linguistic theory and linguistic description and the detailed study of the linguistic structure of a particular language. The choice of language teaching available in a particular year is likely to range over the following: English, Dutch, German, Germanic, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Old Latin, Vulgar Latin, Romance, Greek, Russian, Slavic, Semitic and Turkic amongst others.
All taught MA students are required to attend the Linguistics Seminar, which takes place usually fortnightly, on Tuesdays, from 4-5.30pm. The Seminar is the principal academic event of the Linguistics and English Language research community within the School. Presentations are given both by staff and by invited speakers from outside the university.
Module details
This MA comprises the compulsory core course units in either Introduction to Grammatical Theory (15 credits), or Phonetics and Phonology (15 credits), in addition to Research Methods (30 credits), a dissertation (60 credits), and optional course units (60 credits) which normally include course units from one of the participating disciplines of French, German, Italian, Middle Eastern Studies and Spanish & Portuguese. One or two course units may take the form of `Directed Reading' course units, available after consultation with an appropriate member of staff and the Course Director. One or two course units may also be taken as adapted Level 3 undergraduate course units, which supplement the course units on offer at MA level.
Optional course units available typically include:
-Language Change
-Sociolinguistics
-Language Evolution
-Readings in Applied Linguistics
-Psycholinguistics
-English Corpus Linguistics
-Issues in Turkic Linguistics
-Language and Totalitarianism in Germany 1933-1989
-Language and Identity in the German-Speaking Countries
-Spanish as a Pluricentric Language
-Cross Cultural Pragmatics