MA in English Language and Literature

The MA English Language and Literature provides you with an opportunity for advanced study in contemporary Literary Studies and Applied Linguistics.

It will provide you with the theoretical and analytical training required to continue to a research degree at the doctoral level or to develop professional skills relevant to working within relevant fields, including but not limited to the teaching of English, editing, and professional writing.

The course will develop your specialist knowledge of research methods and practices in the wider field of English to give you a strong methodological underpinning. This will be supplemented by specific applications of the study to increase your understanding of language use and will enable you to make the transition from undergraduate study to the higher level required during your master's studies. Using a thoroughly interdisciplinary approach, the course then aims to equip you with theoretical knowledge and understanding whilst developing the practical skills required by work in the arts and humanities in English.

You will cover the range of theoretical approaches making up the contemporary intellectual vocabulary of English and English Studies. The course will also develop your awareness of practices in language use and their application to various contexts. The course will focus on developing your ability to engage in critical evaluations of current research. It will also develop your ability to problem-solve with respect to real-world projects and case studies.

Course structure

The full-time MA English Language and Literature course lasts 12 months and is divided into two semesters and a summer period. You will take four 15-credit modules per semester. You will then complete a dissertation over the summer to be submitted in September.

image courtesy of University of Nottingham Malaysia

Modules

Typical core modules

• Approaches to Language and Linguistics
• English: Dissertation
• Grammar and Disprogramme
• Literary Linguistics
• Literature and Modernity
• Popular Literature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
• Research Methods in Language and Literature
• World Englishes
• What is a Text?

Assessment

Taught modules are assessed by a 5,000-word assignment or equivalent, and you must also submit a 14,000-word dissertation. To help guide you through your coursework, you will be assigned a personal tutor as well as a dissertation tutor. There are no examinations.

Entry requirements

A relevant second class honours degree (or international equivalent). Mature applicants without any standard entry requirements but with substantial and relevant experience may be considered. Non-UK qualifications will be assessed against this standard.

Applicants must have graduated from an approved university. Other equivalent qualifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (with no less than 6.0 in each element).
• TOEFL (iBT): 87 (minimum 20 in Speaking and 19 in all other elements).
• PTE (Academic): 62 (with no less than 55 in each element).
• MUET: Band 4.

IELTS, TOEFL and PTE (Academic) test results must be less than two years old and all IELTS must be the academic version of the test. MUET results are valid for five years from the date of the release of results.