The MA is made up of two parts. The first part is the ‘taught’ component from October-June. Part I is divided into Teaching Block 1 (TB1) from October to January and Teaching Block 2 (TB2) from February to June. Part II is the independent completion of either a dissertation or a portfolio of pedagogical reflections, lessons, and classroom research.
Part I (Taught portion of the MA Sept – June)
Teaching Block 1
ALEM18: Vocabulary: Teaching and Learning
In this module we will explore the nature of vocabulary and the difficulties associated with defining and categorizing the “Word”. We will examine and identify word components, and look at the ways in which larger language chunks or groups of words- sometimes behave like single vocabulary items. We will analyse what is meant by word knowledge and the various facets of this and in the light of this whether it is realistic to measure how many words a person knows. We will look at models of the L2 lexicon and use this as a basis for the investigation of the manner in which to teach the reading, writing, listening and speaking of foreign language lexis.
ALEM22: Communicative Language Teaching
The module covers basic principles, philosophy and the historical development of learning and theory of language learning leading to the communicative approach to language teaching. It addresses the current debate about methods and methodologies in the context of English as an international language.
ALEM36: Grammatical Analysis
This module provides a descriptive overview of English grammar. It surveys English grammatical structures and the major patterns of language use from a grammatical perspective, taking a descriptive, register perspective. While the module is not designed as either a survey of grammatical theories, or a course in ESL methods for grammar instruction, it will offer opportunities for discussion of classroom teaching implications, particularly when we look at the discourse/register characteristics of grammatical features.
Students taking this module will develop the ability to carry out grammatical analyses of naturally-occurring sentences from spoken and written texts. There is only one way to develop this ability: with consistent practice. Students will therefore be expected to complete all readings and assigned homework regularly. Inconsistent class preparation and poor class attendance are unlikely to lead to satisfactory performance.
Teaching Block 2
ALEM19: Research Methods
This module teaches students the relevant research methods in order to be able to carry out their own empirical study for the dissertation. Topics include:
- Research ethics and theory underlying research in ELT contexts
- Research designs in ELT
- Collecting and analysing data
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis
- Designing a limited practical project in ELT, which could stand alone or be built on further for the dissertation
ALEM20: Second Language Acquisition
How do you learn a second language? What processes are involved? What is the role of the first language? In this module, students will engage with these questions among others. Students will critically evaluate different theories of second language acquisition including what knowledge we have at the outset of the acquisition process and how we develop. Students will also examine different factors that may influence how successful a language learner becomes, including motivation, aptitude etc. We will read empirical studies that have sought to examine different studies and we will critically evaluate their results. The different methods of assessment will require students to critical evaluate research papers, analyse second language learner data and use this to support their arguments.
ALEM21: Discourse Analysis for Language Teaching
This course introduces students to discourse analysis, an interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and increasingly popular area of language studies. Discourse analysis, broadly understood as the study of language in context and of the interfaces of language, culture, and society, is arguably an essential discipline for prospective language teachers. Accordingly, this course overviews some of the key approaches to discourse analysis with direct applications to language teaching, including text conversation analysis, politeness theory, speech act theory, (cross-cultural) pragmatics, interactional sociolinguistics, systemic functional linguistics, register analysis, and genre analysis. It provides students with hands-on practice in the application of these approaches to discourse analysis, and it systematically draws students’ attention to the implications and applications of these approaches for language teaching and materials design.
Part II (Independent research, June-Sept: ALEM15 OR ALED00)
ALEM15: Dissertation
Students are required to plan, carry out and write up an extended empirical research project. Students are expected to build on knowledge on empirical research in applied linguistics acquired in the research methods module (ALEM19: Research Methods in ELT). Specifically, students are expected to plan and carry out an empirical research project on a topic of relevance to English language learning and teaching and following established approaches and methods in applied linguistics. They will then write up the project following the structure of empirical research reports and established academic writing conventions.
ALED00: Professional Reflective Practice Portfolio
Students will produce a portfolio demonstrating research ability and practical skill in language teaching. This module requires candidates to apply the theoretical aspects of English language teaching to classroom practice