Applied Linguistics and Communication MA

Birkbeck, University of London

Our MA Applied Linguistics and Communication gives you the opportunity to explore language and communication from a wide variety of perspectives. It is designed to cultivate your understanding of key concepts, issues and theories, while also developing your analytical and empirical skills, so you can investigate and deal with real-world language issues applicable to a variety of domains and careers. Why choose this course? Applied linguistics has been taught by experienced, world-leading academics at Birkbeck since 1965. Our centre of teaching and research excellence has contributed greatly to the field over the years. Our most recent external examination reported: 'very high levels of professionalism and real quality in teaching. Students taking this unique course are getting the best in terms of professional practice and support. They are also allowed to develop their own interests and demonstrate independence of both skills and knowledge.’ This Master's degree is unique in offering you a choice between two dissertation pathways: an empirical research investigation, or an independent library-based project on a relevant topic. It is ideal if you want to gain experience useful in furthering your career prospects and professional development, or if you have an interest in doctoral research and aspire to work in higher education. It offers you flexibility in how you attend classes. You can choose to take a route through the course on campus, online or via a combination of both. What you will learn Core modules will introduce you to qualitative and quantitative research methods for undertaking your own empirical and/or theoretical research into language and language behaviour and sub-domains of applied linguistics. These include, for example, first and second language acquisition, intercultural communication, language pedagogy and assessment, language impairment, language policy, language and identity, and language variation. You can also choose from a suite of option modules to tailor your degree to your interests or career aspirations. How you will learn This course is available to study full- or part-time. It has an evening timetable with classes in the evening. You will learn through lectures, seminars, workshops and one-to-one supervisory sessions. You will also benefit from the experience of attending extracurricular seminars hosting guest speakers. These will introduce you to cutting-edge research and enable you to mix with language professionals working inside and outside of academia. This course is part of our Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both. If you require a Student visa to study in the UK, you will only be able to apply for the on-campus study option for this course. Online and flexible options will not be available to you because they may affect the conditions of your visa.