About the course

Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which mediates between the theory of language and the practice of language learning. It is also an overarching field that includes second language acquisition (SLA) and, as such, can shed light on the teaching and learning of a second or foreign language.

The MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition is a popular course which will introduce you to the key issues within the field of applied linguistics with a focus on topics relating to second language learning. The topics represented within the course draw from some of the related disciplines within applied linguistics such as psycholinguistics, education (language teaching/learning), linguistics and sociolinguistics.

The MSc is taken full-time over one year. The course consists of six taught modules assessed by written assignments and one research dissertation. All taught modules take place in Michaelmas and Hilary terms. In Trinity term the focus of study is the dissertation.

The course is designed to provide you with an opportunity to reflect and further develop your understanding of both theoretical and practical considerations in the field of language learning and teaching. It will encourage you to develop a broad theoretical base reflecting current cutting edge research within applied linguistics and related disciplines. Additionally, this course makes links between the different disciplines which contribute to our knowledge of language learning and issues related to language pedagogy.

Assessment

Summative assessment is comprised of six end-of-module assignments of 2,500 words each and a dissertation of between 15,000 and 20,000 words. The questions for each paper are set by the course convenor and approved by the external examiner. The dissertation topic is selected by the student and approved by the supervisor.

Graduate destinations

The most recent Oxford University Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey made contact with 635 master's course students who graduated from the Department of Education between 2012 and 2014. Fully 90.2% of alumni were in work and 5.8% in further study with only 2.0% looking for work, ranking the department in the best 3 of the 20 departments in Oxford's Social Sciences Division.

Past students from the Department of Education have gone on to academic and research careers at universities in the UK (eg Oxford, Edinburgh, Warwick, UCL, King's College, St. Mary's, Liverpool) and across the world (eg Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Hong Kong, Chile), or are employed across a wide range of other sectors such as policy for government departments or NGOs, international organisations such as OECD, think tanks and administration at local and national levels. The department’s ‘Conversations with Alumni’ feature includes interviews with two DPhil alumni on their career paths after Oxford.