Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching MSc

**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.**<br/><br/>The MSc Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching is a degree aimed at professionals of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) or modern foreign languages. It is taught primarily via distance/online learning. This innovative two-year part-time course offers a cutting-edge introduction to the linguistic and pedagogic knowledge needed for teaching language. <br/><br/>While the concepts covered in the course can be applied to all languages in most contexts, there is a strong opportunity for students to specialise in the teaching of English language in university settings.<br/><br/>A low-residency course, it is characterised by intense online interaction and feedback, using a range of communication media. Its small-group teaching format pursues the Oxford tradition of demanding much of students and giving them much in return. <br/><br/>The course is taught over two academic years, preceded by a week’s induction module in Oxford. Numbers on the course are kept low, to ensure quality of teaching and learning.<br/><br/>The course consists of six summatively assessed modules, two in term one and one in term two of each year, and a dissertation of between 15,000 and 20,000 words submitted at the end of the course. <br/><br/>You will take the following modules:<br/><br/><br/>- Induction (one-week residential module during which your academic writing will be formatively assessed)<br/><br/><br/>- Learning and teaching vocabulary<br/><br/><br/>- Materials and assessment in language teaching<br/><br/><br/>- Sociolinguistics and language teaching<br/><br/><br/>- Individual and group differences in language teaching<br/><br/><br/>- Listening and reading processes in language learning<br/><br/><br/>- Developing second language speaking and writing<br/><br/><br/>In addition to the six summatively assessed modules, you will take a formatively assessed module on Research Methods in term two of the first year, to help prepare you for your dissertation project.<br/><br/>Beginning in term three of the first year of the course, you will work on your dissertation project under the supervision of a member of the applied linguistics research group.<br/><br/>You will be expected to spend up to 20 hours per week on the course during term time, engaging in independent reading, online discussions, group work, listening to webinars, and writing review and reflection papers.<br/><br/>In addition, you will be given access to recorded lectures from the departments graduate modules on Research Methods in Education and Statistics. These are non-compulsory and non-assessed.<br/><br/>Research in the department is organised around three major themes:<br/><br/><br/>- Language, Cognition and Development<br/><br/><br/>- Policy, Economy and Society<br/><br/><br/>- Learning: Pedagogy, Learning and Knowledge<br/><br/><br/>Within each of these themes there are several research groups and centres. All staff and doctoral students belong to one or more of these research groups, each of which has its own seminar programme to which graduate students often contribute. In addition, the department sponsors regular seminars and public lectures which attract distinguished national and international speakers. These seminars are often provided online as well as in person, and recordings are made available for students unable to attend due, for example, to time differences.