Applied Linguistics

Overview

In the Applied Linguistics from The University of Edinburgh, we draw on knowledge about language, how it works and how it is used in order to contribute to real life issues.

We:

• examine language use in a variety of social settings (e.g. language use in everyday conversation, in educational settings, in medical settings etc.)
• focus on language variability (e.g. bilingualism, accents, dialects, etc.) versus social diversity (e.g. gender, class, ethnicity etc.)
• consider how knowledge about language as it is actually used in real social settings can (be made to) impact on people's lives

Key research areas

This programme will help you gain intellectual and practical skills to engage in applied linguistics research, either for its own sake, or as part of cross-disciplinary research.

This highly flexible MSc draws on the University of Edinburgh’s unparalleled research expertise in Linguistics. Linguistics and English Language at Edinburgh has access to a wide breadth of research themes, with the greatest theoretical depth that you will find anywhere. This programme gives you the flexibility to choose courses and research topics to suit your academic interests and goals.

The department has multiple overlapping research groups, covering everything from meaning and grammar to language evolution. This programme is unique in allowing you freedom to draw on these resources.

Linguistics & English Language is rated 3rd in the UK by Times Higher Education for the quality and breadth of the research using the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).

What will I learn

You will:

• explore how language is used in a variety of social situations - for example, language use in everyday conversation, or in educational settings
• compare language variability - for example, bilingualism, accents, dialects - with social diversity such as gender, class, or ethnicity
• examine how knowledge and uses of language can impact people’s lives

You can also take advantage of the interdisciplinary department and draw on teaching and research both elsewhere in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences and within other relevant Schools.

Career opportunities

This is the ideal programme for deepening your involvement in linguistics, giving you a grounding in further study (PhD), or developing an academic career in linguistics.

The programmes also teaches a broad range of transferable skills applicable to a wide range of modern jobs, such as:

• Marketing, communications, and PR
• Speech synthesis (e.g., Amazon, Google)
• Interpreting and translation