Training in postgraduate level research skills in English language and linguistics.
The programme provides postgraduate level training in English language and linguistics. The programme is specifically designed to develop students' knowledge in the various areas of language and linguistics (e.g. syntax, semantics, language acquisition, discourse among others), and also to afford students the opportunity to focus the development of their research skills on and within their chosen sub-discipline.
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
In this section
Based within the School of Communication & Media, the programme is distinctive in its breadth, offering modules in core theoretical generative linguistics as well as modules in conversation and discourse analysis with special focus on the study of English. The programme team includes experts in the various areas of linguistic research with PhDs from top universities in the world. The members of the team are all actively involved in research on a variety of topics. Language acquisition and multilingualism are core overlapping research interests of the group as a whole. The team also benefits from links to research groups in other universities in the UK, Australia and the US and has established a series of research seminars which bring in speakers from the UK, Ireland and overseas. The programme team has strong links with speech and language therapy and several of the team members are involved in research with clinical applications regarding language and communication disorders.
The programme will thus be particularly relevant to:
The course is taught during the day and it normally requires attendance to classes over 2 or 3 days a week. The timetable changes every year and the course director can be contacted to gain more information about this.
All other qualifications have an overall grade determined by results in modules from the final level of study. In Master’s degrees of more than 200 credit points the final 120 points usually determine the overall grading.
The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 59% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.
Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (25%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (20%) or Lecturers (55%).
We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic staff (81%) are accredited fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advanced HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.
The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise. The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff. This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.
Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.
Figures correct for academic year 2021-2022.
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Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
In this section
Year: 1
Status: C
The module provides a thorough overview of the structure and the history of the English language from 500 BC until the present. It also raises critical awareness by the students of core concepts used in the analysis of language change. Furthermore, it presents in detail a wide array of morpho-phonological, syntactic and semantic changes in the history of English. During this module, students will learn to use descriptive tools in order to observe and describe language change phenomena in the morphology, syntax and semantics of English. in addition to that, students will have to critically evaluate cutting-edge research and advanced scholarship in the area of historical linguistics and engage creatively with current issues in the field.
Year: 1
Status: C
Syntax is a rapidly developing discipline with many unsolved problems which are subject to hot debates in the literature. This module focuses on the current discussions in syntactic theorizing introducing students to work at the cutting edge of theoretical syntax with special reference to the syntax of English.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module covers current theoretical and methodological issues in first and second language acquisition research.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module aims to develop students' understanding of the dfferent theoretical approaches to the analysis of spoken discourse and also to facilitate students' engagement with current epistemological and methodological debates. The module will focus on Conversation Analysis as an analytical approach to understanding institutional talk in interaction.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module aims to facilitate the students' critical engagement with the research process by supporting them in reviewing the current theoretical literature and research methods for a topic of their choice in English language and/or linguistics. This module supports the students' development as researchers by engaging students in methodological debates and by making explicit those approaches to data that are predominantly implicit
Year: 1
Status: C
This module is an introduction to sociolinguistics, within which students will be familiarised with
linguistic variability and the social use of language, as part of the scientific study of the relationship between language and society.
Year: 1
Status: C
The Communication dissertation aims to enable students to design and carry out an independent piece of research. It is intended that this will strengthen their ability to interpret and apply research data to a work environment. The research will focus in depth on one area of communication.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
This module supports the students' abilities of knowledge transfer and application by engaging students in current debates of linguistic interface issues and how they might solve problems which have previously created challenges for non-integrated approaches in traditional framework of generative grammar.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
It is generally accepted that the majority of the world's population speaks more than one language and that the monolingual situation is now rather uncommon. This module focuses on recent advances on multilingualism and introduces post-graduate students to topical current theoretical debates. Apart froms its interest for theories of language acquisition, a more sophisticated understanding of the phenomenon of multilingualism can assist teachers, speech and language therapists and other language professionals when they have to deal with multilingual children and adults. This module focuses on recent advances on multilingualism and introduces post-graduate students to topical current theoretical debates. The module can also be delivered as a stand-alone CPPD module for language professionals that wish to advance their knowledge on aspects of multilingual development.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
Semantics is an important area in theoretical linguistics. This module builds on the descriptive understanding of linguistic and non-linguistic meaning developed in Year one and it aims to further and deepen the study of this components of our linguistics knowledge, knowledge of word and sentence meaning.
Status: O
Year: 1
This module is optional
The module introduces students to the concepts and methods of semantics and pragmatics. The main emphasis is on understanding the nature of the semantic enterprise, in order that students can work from a thoroughly grounded framework in selecting various analytic concepts for use within their future research work.
We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.
A successfully completed undergraduate Honours degree with a final classification of 2:2 or higher.
English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.
Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.
In this section
The programme develops students knowledge in the study of language and can hence lead to the following career options:
PhD in Linguistics
Publishing
Teaching
Many of our past graduates have chosen this course as a first stepping stone towards a career in Speech and Langauge Therapy.
There are also other generic and transferable skills that the student will develop from studying a linguistics degree. They include:
£6,720.00
£15,840.00
Where the postgraduate course selected offers multiple awards (e.g. PG Cert, PG Dip, Masters), please note that the price displayed is for the complete Masters programme.
Postgraduate certificates and diplomas are charged at a pro-rata basis.
Find out more about postgraduate fees
It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.
Where a course has additional mandatory expenses (in addition to tuition fees) we make every effort to highlight them above. We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free Wi-Fi are also available on each of the campuses.
There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as a part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs, as well as tuition fees.
See the tuition fees on our student guide for most up to date costs.
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
