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Overview
- Degree awarded
- MA
- Duration
- 12 months full-time, 24 months part-time.
- Entry requirements
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We normally expect students to have a First or Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent in a humanities-based subject area.
- Number of places/applicants
- There is no limit on the number of places available.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MA | Y | Y | N | N |
| PGDip | Y | N | N | N |
Course overview
- Gain a thorough grounding in the full breadth and depth of linguistic theory.
- Access innovative resources, including psycholinguistics and phonetics laboratories with facilities for signal analysis, speech synthesis, laryngography and electropalatography.
- Build the necessary intellectual skills to plan and carry out independent research.
Open days
Each year, there are two Open Days for SALC master's programmes: November and May.
The details for the May Open Day will be posted here as soon as they are finalised.
Our open days are designed to enable you to:
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Get an overview of both the University as an institution and the School that houses the subject area in which you are interested.
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Explore available funding options and find out how to apply.
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Discover more about course content through subject specific talks or taster sessions.
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Meet academics and current students and find out more about life as a postgraduate student at Manchester.
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Find out more about our world-leading research.
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2020, the tuition fees are as follows:
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MA (full-time)
UK/EU students (per annum): £9,500
International students (per annum): £19,000 -
MA (part-time)
UK/EU students (per annum): £4,750 -
PGDip (full-time)
UK/EU students (per annum): £6,334
International students (per annum): £12,667
The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.
All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Each year the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures offer a number of School awards and Subject-specific bursaries (the values of which are usually set at Home/EU fees level), open to both Home/EU and international students. The deadline for these is early February each year. Details of all funding opportunities, including deadlines, eligibility and how to apply, can be found on the School's funding page where you can also find details of the Government Postgraduate Loan Scheme.
See also the University's postgraduate funding database to see if you are eligible for any other funding opportunities.
For University of Manchester graduates, the Manchester Alumni Bursary offers a £3,000 reduction in tuition fees to University of Manchester alumni who achieved a 1st within the last three years and are progressing to a postgraduate taught masters course.
The Manchester Master's Bursary is a University-wide scheme that offers 100 bursaries worth £3,000 in funding for students from underrepresented groups.
Postgraduate 1+3 funding is available from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for students to pursue postgraduate study through a master's (one year) leading into a PhD (3 years). It requires a project proposal as part of the application. Information is available here:Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- Contact name
- PG Taught Admissions
- MASALC@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/linguistics-and-english-language/
- School/Faculty
-
See: About us
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We normally expect students to have a First or Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent in a humanities-based subject area.
English language
An overall grade of 7.0 (with a minimum writing score of 7) in IELTS is required or 100+ in the TOEFL iBT with a minimum writing score of 25.
If you have obtained a different qualification, please check our English language requirements to ensure that it is accepted and equivalent to the above requirements.
English language test validity
Other international entry requirements
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
You should include a personal statement (no more than 500 words) that demonstrates your understanding of the subject and your motivation for wanting to study the programme.
If your academic background is not directly related to the programme, you should supply an academic-standard writing sample on a subject related to the programme.
If English is not your native language, then you should provide an academic-standard writing sample in English directly related to the subject.
For more advice on the application process, please visit our Applying page.
How your application is considered
Applications are mainly considered on the basis of an assessment of past and predicted academic achievements, the academic reference(s) and any other supplementary evidence that supports the application. Once we have an application that is ready for a decision, the admissions tutor (often the Programme Director) will relay the decision to the admissions team, who will send you this decision.
Please note that your application is usually received by the School 24 to 48 hours after the time you submit it. If you have not provided documentation that allows the admissions tutor to make a decision, we will contact you.
Re-applications
Course details
Course description
Our MA Linguistics master's course is a flexible programme that aims to explore the breadth and the depth of linguistics.
It builds on the widest range of teaching and research expertise, covering all aspects of theoretical and descriptive linguistics, including:
- phonetics
- phonology
- morphology
- syntax
- semantics
- pragmatics
- discourse and conversation analysis
- typology
- historical linguistics
- sociolinguistics
- cognitive linguistics and psycholinguistics
- computational and corpus linguistics
- field linguistics
- the documentation and description of endangered languages.
Our teaching staff work on various practical applications of linguistics (eg language codification and language policy, institutional language, language in the community, forensic linguistics).
Our internationally-recognised expertise encompasses a breadth of languages, including English and other Germanic languages, Romance languages, Russian, Polish, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Kurdish and other Iranian languages, Amerindian languages, languages of South Asia, indigenous languages of Australia and historical languages such as Old English, Old Saxon and Old Norse.
You will receive a solid foundation for linguistic study in three out of four core units:
- Grammatical Theory (compulsory);
- Phonetics and Phonology (compulsory);
- Semantics and Pragmatics;
- The Sociolinguistics of English.
The remainder of the course allows you to make the most of what our staff have to offer.
You can either take a variety of course units in different areas, including Forensic Linguistics, or specialise in one of the following pathways: Phonetics and Phonology, Sociolinguistics, Syntax and Semantics, Typology or Romani Linguistics.
Aims
We aim to:
- give you a grounding in breadth and depth in Linguistics, by exploring the central features of linguistic theory: its history, objectives, principal theoretical frameworks, methodologies, contested areas and uncontested results;
- enable you to gain experience of excellence in teaching and learning at an advanced level, in an environment that is also home to world-leading research in Linguistics.
Teaching and learning
You will learn through a variety of teaching methods.
Core course units and other MA-specific course units are typically taught as seminars, in a small group, combining lectures with discussion. Many units also have practical tutorials that will help you prepare for individual research projects.
Directed Readings involve individual or small group meetings during which pre-set readings on a particular topic are discussed.
The enhanced Level 3 undergraduate course units combine lectures or seminars, depending on the aim of the course unit, with more optional tutorials.
The aim across all teaching forms is to create the opportunity for intensive scholarly work, with areas of focus determined by students and your individual interests, which can be investigated in considerable depth.
Linguistics staff
You can see a list of our academic staff on the Linguistics and English Language website .
Coursework and assessment
Course units are assessed at the end of the semester during which they are offered.
All taught course units except Introduction to Grammatical Theory and Phonetics and Phonology are assessed by examined coursework only.
All course units include formative assessments to ensure interim feedback during the semester.
Course unit details
You will undertake units totalling 180 credits. Core and optional units combine to make 120 credits, with the remaining 60 credits allocated to the dissertation.
This MA consists of the following elements:
- compulsory core course units - Introduction to Grammatical Theory (15 credits), Phonetics and Phonology (15 credits), and at least two of the following: Semantics and Pragmatics (15 credits), Psycholinguistics (15 credits) and The Sociolinguistics of English (15 credits).
- Research Methods (15 credits); [Research Methods and NOT Research Methods I]
- optional course units (45 credits altogether);
- dissertation (60 credits).
Subject to Programme Director approval at the beginning of the academic year, it might be possible to waive some of the mandatory requirements if you can provide evidence of relevant previous knowledge and competencies. In borderline cases, you may be asked to take a proficiency test in Welcome Week.
The optional course units can be selected to follow specialised pathways, which include Sociolinguistics, Phonetics and Phonology, Syntax and Semantics, Typology, and Romani Linguistics. Please note that individual optional units that are part of our programme may not be available in any given year.
Some course units may take the form of Directed Reading units, which are individual or small group seminars about set readings on a particular topic. These are available after consultation with an appropriate member of staff and the Programme Director.
One or two course units may also be taken from a list of MA course units available in certain other subject areas, or from a list of enhanced Level 3 undergraduate course units in Linguistics and English Language, which supplement the MA-specific course units on offer.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Grammatical Theory | LELA70041 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Phonetics and Phonology I | LELA70061 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Language and identity in multicultural spaces | ICOM60031 | 15 | Optional |
| English Phonology Past and Present | LELA60441 | 15 | Optional |
| Topics in Romance Linguistics | LELA62002 | 15 | Optional |
| Semantics and Pragmatics | LELA62021 | 15 | Optional |
| Topics in the Study of Meaning | LELA70032 | 15 | Optional |
| Introduction to Grammatical Theory | LELA70041 | 15 | Optional |
| The Sociolinguistics of English | LELA70232 | 15 | Optional |
| Language Contact | LELA70291 | 15 | Optional |
| Displaying 10 of 14 course units | |||
| Display all course units | |||
What our students say
My MA at Manchester was a challenging but very enjoyable and valuable experience that gave me the opportunity to work with enthusiastic and inspiring staff.
I've developed skills that have proved useful in my current role as research assistant at the University's Multilingual Manchester project, and the master's experience has helped me prepare for a PhD in Linguistics.
Leonie Gaiser
Facilities
You will have access to innovative resources, including our psycholinguistics and phonetics laboratories, with facilities for signal analysis, speech synthesis, laryngography and electropalatography, computing facilities for speech analysis and one of the largest collections of linguistics texts in the UK.
Find out more on the Facilities page.
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
Studying Linguistics will equip you with a range of sought-after transferable skills, including written and oral communication skills, computing skills, intercultural awareness and research methods.
This course will also develop skills that will be useful in undertaking postgraduate research.
Career destinations for our graduates include language teaching, language policy, speech and language therapy, publishing and communications.