Language and Linguistics

The Language and Linguisticscourse from Lancaster University is delivered by world-renowned experts in Lancaster’s School of Social Science. It has been designed to reflect the latest cutting-edge topics and developments in the field, as well as core theories and principles.

You’ll become a member of our thriving Linguistic community. Alongside taught elements of your degree program, there are numerous opportunities to engage with the subject, from attending our research groups to hearing talks by inspiring international experts. You will have access to our state-of-the-art labs, including a phonetics lab with ultrasound, an EEG lab, an eye-tracking lab and a child-language lab.

While you may have studied a linguistics or language subject before, this isn’t essential, and we also welcome students who have a language or linguistic dimension in their current work or a personal interest in the subject.

The MA offers a broad range of optional modules, offering the opportunity to tailor your degree and gain knowledge, skills and understanding in the areas that interest you the most. We’ll ensure you are party to the very latest knowledge in the field, and our modules include the most up-to-date topics, theories and methods in language and linguistics.

The degree covers a very broad range of topics, such as:

• Phonetics
• Corpus linguistics
• Pragmatics and sociolinguistics
• Areas where linguistics connects with broader disciplines such as cognitive science and psychology

Lancaster has expertise in real-world areas where we are seeing a greater prominence for language. These include:

• Power and politics
• Language policy and multilingualism
• Literacies and digital communication
• Language learning and teaching
• Security and intelligence

You will draw on your learnings from these and other topics as you choose a subject for your dissertation, delving deeper into an area of particular importance to you. Your dissertation is an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and skills as you investigate your chosen subject under the guidance of one of our academic team, with particular expertise in the subject.

Career opportunities:

The knowledge and skills you’ll gain from Lancaster’s MA in Language and Linguistics are relevant for a range of rewarding careers, including in language teaching, speech and language therapy, speech technology, publishing, translation, communications and journalism. Your strong analysis skills mean you’ll be a great fit for any role which involves interpreting large data sets.

Our graduates find rewarding roles in a range of areas including:

• Language teaching

• Language consultancy

• Speech scripting and transcription

• Speech and language therapy

• Forensic linguistics

• Interpreting and intelligence

• Journalism

• Media and communication

• Language technology

• Law and Business

• Publishing

• Translation

• Research

If you find that you enjoy carrying out your own research, this master’s will prepare you to continue your studies with a PhD in linguistic and language studies.

Courses include:

• Corpus Linguistics

• Culture and Communication: Theories of Intercultural Communication

• Discourse and Power

• Experimental Phonetics

• Foundations of Speech Science

• Intercultural Encounters: Applying Theories of Intercultural Communication

• Language Policy and Multilingualism

• Language Testing and Assessment