Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguistics at University of York is a vibrant and growing subfield of linguistics. Interested in the mechanisms that allow people to acquire, produce and comprehend language, our field spans an incredibly diverse set of topics.

Quick Facts:

• The MSc program offers two pathways: Language Processing, and Language Acquisition and Development. Researchers in first and second language acquisition ask questions about what typical development looks like, such as 'how do infants move from producing isolated sounds to understanding whole conversations in the span of just a few years?' On the other hand, research in adult language processing asks questions about the 'target state' of language development, such as 'what is it that fully-fledged language users are doing when they produce and perceive linguistic input?'
• The structure of the program is very flexible to adapt to your prior background, offering both introductory modules (for conversion students) and specialist advanced modules if you have a background in linguistics and/or psychology.
• You'll progress to specialist modules in the second semester within your psycholinguistics area of choice (Language Processing or Language Acquisition and Development), through which you deepen your subject knowledge while also developing your abilities in dealing with controversial proposals, weighing up the evidence, evaluating the quality of the arguments, and articulating your own conclusions.
• In addition, both routes include practical training in experimental methods and quantitative methods in psycholinguistics. Finally, in collaboration with our staff, you will design and conduct your own psycholinguistic research for your dissertation, which closes the program and allows you to apply the concepts and skills acquired during the MSc (including experimental design and statistical analysis).

Courses include:

• Psycholinguistics

• Language Acquisition

• Phonetics and Phonology

• Advanced Syntax

• Advanced Phonetics

• Advanced Phonology