MA English Language and Linguistics
The programme combines courses on academic skills with the opportunity to work with key experts in one or more of the vibrant research areas of English studies in which the department excels.
Functional Cognitive Linguistics
Speakers use language to express a particular communicative intention. As functional-cognitive linguists, we (the Fun*Cog team) are interested in how this conceptualized intention is linguistically expressed, i.e. in the relation between the function of language (discourse-pragmatics, semantics) and its form (syntax, phonology). Why do speakers use a particular form, and what role does context play? How are these function-form relations acquired, and how (and why) do they change over time? For more information on Fun*Cog see here.
Communication and Globalization, English as a Lingua Franca
As both consequence and driving force of globalization, English is currently the predominant international means of communication, across a vast range or human interaction. It is therefore crucial to investigate how its global users appropriate it for their communicative purposes. The study of English as a lingua franca is concerned with the sociolinguistic significance of this naturally adaptive language development and its applied linguistic implications in the real world. For more information on ELF, see here
Educational Linguistics
Educational linguistics deals with issues in education that require expertise in language and linguistics (e.g. language learning and use in and out of the classroom, multilingualism, language policy and assessment etc.). For more information on our ongoing research see here.
Variation, Change and Evolution
Historical approaches to English enquire how and why it got to be the way it is. They ask where its properties come from, investigate earlier stages of the language, and ask why some of words, sounds, and grammatical constructions have been passed down to present times more successfully than others. For more information on NatSide see here.