Overview
Learn the latest linguistics theories and apply them to your classroom practice. Advance your career in language teaching, or even take it international.
Find out more about teaching options and studying during COVID-19 in the Entry requirements section, below.
- Study in Cambridge, a city famous for language teaching, or by distance learning
- Boost your career prospects with new critical and analytical skills
- Take part in conferences and other high-profile research events
Our MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL will improve your theoretical understanding of language learning and help you to develop your teaching skills.
You will explore the latest theories in topics such as second language acquisition and social discourse, as well as learning different methods of analysis with which to assess to their value to your own language teaching.
You will also learn to conduct your own research, compiling and analysing qualitative and quantitative data and developing your critical-evaluative skills. These skills will be put to use on your own research project at the end of the course, as well as in your future career.
Our optional modules will also allow you to explore your own interests, with topics including course design and classroom practice, as well as 'Impacts of Migration' and 'Language, Identity and Policy', which will help prepare you for a teaching career across the world. You can also complete a part-time CELTA alongside your degree, or opt for a full-time, 4 week CELTA either straight before or straight after your MA, to maximise your opportunities as an English Language teacher.
Outside of the course, you can take part in our research seminars and conferences. Our past events have included the Identities in Language conference, the British Association for Applied Linguistics conference 2016, and the SymPol Conference on Linguistic (Im)Politeness.
Course Leaders: Alastair Douglas (Cambridge-based course); Dr Sebastian Rasinger (Distance Learning course).
CareersOur MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL will help you prepare for many language-learning and teaching-related professions, such as teaching English and other languages (in the UK and abroad), and developing courses, tests, materials or language policy.
Your department and faculty
At the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, we believe in thinking critically about the past, present and future to challenge perceptions and better understand communities and people.
With expertise from gender issues to literary analysis to exploring how the past has shaped our modern world, all our staff members are active researchers. This is reflected in our teaching, allowing us to support our students with the latest theories and practices, as well as essential employability advice.
Study options
You can take this course on our Cambridge campus or by distance learning. On campus, all your teaching will take place in the evening, making it easier to take paid work during the day. With its many language schools, Cambridge is the perfect place to gain experience in language teaching.
Our distance learning course is provided entirely online, so you can choose when and where to study: ideal if you are juggling work, family and childcare commitments.
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