English Language and Linguistics

Specialisation of: Linguistics
Degree: Master of Arts in Linguistics
Mode of Study: Full-time, part-time
Duration: 1 year (full-time); 1,5 year (part-time)
Start date: September, February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 60815
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The MA specialisation in English Language and Linguistics offers a wide array of topics, centering on issues related to such questions as how language and people influence each other, and what the real function of language is. You will deal with the application of various aspects of linguistic theory to the description of the facts of English, with a particular emphasis on earlier stages of the language, such as Old and Middle English, as well as Early and Late Modern English.
The programme covers theoretical, applied, historical and socio-historical linguistics. It builds on current linguistic research carried out at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), one of the largest linguistics institutes in the Netherlands, and you will benefit from the expertise of continental Europe’s finest English scholars.

Programme

During the one-year programme, you gain in-depth and practical knowledge on how to use language for various purposes, such as to persuade, to write academically, or to entertain. You will accomplish this by taking part in a variety of compulsory and optional courses, such as translation studies (a course within the translation specialisation), or sociolinguistics, that focuses on the impact of society on language and describes language variation and change. In our seminars on topics such as phonology, syntax, morphology, and psycholinguistics, you study the origins of language by means of analyzing speech sounds, word structure, and sentence structure.

The only compulsory element in the programme is the master thesis.

For the current course overview, see the e-Prospectus English Linguistics courses and English Language Acquisition courses. Courses of the 2012-2013 programme will be published in Spring 2012.

Thesis subjects

What are the thesis’s subjects?

Some recent examples of excellent thesis:

Language Acquisition

  • Sven Klippel, How English are the non-natives? 2009-2010
  • Mili Gabrovsek, Contact-induced vs. externallyinduced language change 2009-2010

Philology

  • Ruud vd Bovenkamp, Magic in the Anglo-Saxon charms 2009-2010
  • Machteld Harmsen: Unmasking J.M. Coetzee 2009-2010

Literature

  • Natasha Marks, Sympathy for the Devil 2009-2010

Linguistic

  • Tessa Obbens, What’s in a word but what we call an infix? 2009-2010