Graduate Degrees: An Overview of Our Graduate Courses

Your Basic Choice

Students on Square 3 Your choice of graduate course here at Essex depends on four factors:

The level of your course: MA or MRes; MPhil; PhD
The structure and delivery of the course: by Taught Programme (including Supervised Dissertation) or by Supervised Research alone, or by an integrated combination of both those, the New Route PhD (PhDNR)
The length of your candidature: from 12 months for MA courses up to 6 years for part-time PhDs
The topic of your course: there are specialist taught programmes in twenty different sub-disciplines of linguistics, or your course can be put together just for you, to fit your precise research project (MA Linguistic Studies, MRes, PhDNR, and Supervised Research degrees).

The table below shows the combinations of level, course structure and candidature duration that we offer:

	12 months	24 months	36 months	48 months	72 months
MA Course	yes	yes
MRes Course	yes
PhDNR				yes
MA by Supervised Research	yes	yes
MPhil by Supervised Research		yes		yes
PhD by Supervised Research			yes		ye

For those who need to study part-time while they work, we also offer an MA in Linguistic Studies on a Credit Accumulation basis which can last up to 5 years. We therefore offer a great deal of flexibility not just in the level of your graduate studies, but also in the structure of courses offered and the length of time you can take to complete them.

All the above programmes can be taken as complete in themselves. However most of them incorporate research training that is also very relevant to the student who wants to pursue a PhD later in the same area. The exceptions are MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (which is more exclusively dedicated to vocational preparation of future EFL or TESOL teachers), and MA in Linguistic Studies (depending on the mix of modules chosen).

While the taught MAs are, in part, an opportunity for you to find a research area of interest to pursue for the dissertation, our other graduate degrees are for those who already have a research topic in mind before they arrive (so you are asked for a research proposal when you apply). The MRes and PhDNR provide some training as an essential feature of the degree scheme, while the MA, MPhil and PhD purely by research assume you already have (more or less completely) the relevant training for what you want to research.

MA Courses

Our MA courses combine coursework with supervised research. You may be interested in such a course for one year as an end in itself, or for its vocational value (e.g. if you are a teacher or plan to become one). Or you may be interested in research but not yet be fully trained to engage in a purely research-oriented course. Each MA (except Linguistic Studies) has obligatory core modules which define it in relation to its named area of specialisation, and option modules where takers can choose according to their interest (and maybe what they plan to do their dissertation on). There is usually a list of option modules regarded as especially suitable for each programme, but normally a student may with permission also take as options one or two modules from the entire departmental list of graduate modules, as appropriate. Programmes usually also have additional unassessed elements available, and sometimes obligatory. These include assignment and dissertation preparation classes, computer training classes, research methods classes, and general information lectures. There are also opportunities to attend talks by distinguished visiting speakers weekly in term time, and students may normally sit in on additional modules that they are not taking for assessment, if they wish.

Master of Research in Linguistics (MRes)

The MRes in Linguistics provides tailored support for the researcher-in-training in any of the areas staff cover. A choice is made from all the 80+ graduate modules available in the department according to the nature of their dissertation project (some normally required to be research methods modules), together with a newly developed professional development training course. Additionally language courses may be taken as needed.

New Route Integrated PhD (PhDNR)

The New Route PhD is a four-year course which combines a first year of training, which is the same as that described for MRes, into an integrated programme where you are supervised on your intended research for all the four years, with a training element all through, leading to a PhD thesis.

MA, MPhil or PhD by Supervised Research

For those wishing to pursue a research degree with no taught element we can offer supervision in any of the subjects staff supervise. For more information, see Departmental Research Areas & Individual Staff Research Interests.

Assessment

The table below shows the coursework and dissertation requirements for our Graduate Courses with a taught element:

	Autumn Term	Spring Term	Dissertation requirements
12 month MA	4 graduate modules	4 graduate modules	16,000 word dissertation to be submitted in mid-September
24 month MA (1st year)	4 graduate modules in total		6,000 word dissertation
24 month MA (2nd year)	4 graduate modules in total		10,000 word dissertation OR one 16,000 word dissertation at end of second year
12 month MRes	6 graduate modules and professional development training		22,000 word dissertation to be submitted in mid-September
48 month PhDNR (Year 1)	6 graduate modules and professional development training		22,000 word dissertation to be submitted in mid-September
48 month PhDNR (Year 2)	2 graduate modules and professional development training		dissertation expanded to 80,000 word thesis, to be submitted by end of 48th month
48 month PhDNR (Years 3 & 4)	individually geared professional development training

For students on all taught programmes, progress to the dissertation or thesis stage is dependent on achieving an appropriate level of marks on their graduate modules in the first year, and on writing a good research proposal in Term 2. Assignments for modules are marked on a uniform scale where 50 represents a pass at MA level, and 70 a distinction level of performance.

Requirements for the degrees by Supervised Research alone are:

MA by Supervised Research: students write a 30,000 word dissertation in 3 terms (full-time) or 6 terms (part-time)
MPhil by Supervised Research: students write a (maximum) 50,000 word dissertation in 6 terms (full-time) or 12 terms (part-time)
PhD by Supervised Research (PhDSR): students write a (maximum) 80,000 word thesis in 9 terms (full-time) or 18 terms (part-time)

During your research degree (and in the New Route PhD after the first, training, year) your progress is monitored formally every six months by Supervisory Board meetings, which are designed to make sure you keep on target and help with any problems you are facing. These involve your supervisor, a chairperson and an adviser who will be another member of staff working in a related area. All research degrees (and PhDNR) are assessed finally by an internal examiner (who is not your supervisor or advisor) and an external examiner in your field of research from another university.

Further Information

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