University of Glasgow - Open Day
18 Jun 2026, 08:00
Glasgow
This Masters will equip you with the key linguistic and technical research skills to explore the structure and everyday use of English, past and present, from Anglo-Saxon manuscripts to medieval letters, from speech to semantics, from language experiments to investigating vast text corpora. If you have little or no background in English Linguistics, we have a range of introductory courses which progress to more advanced courses, allowing you to develop theoretical and methodological background for you to carry out your own research study. If you have taken linguistics before, and want to deepen your interests, we offer advanced courses which will allow you to deepen your existing understanding and skills, to carry out your own research project.
WHY THIS PROGRAMME
You can study options from a wide range of historical and contemporary areas of English Language and Linguistics.
Its flexibility allows you to tailor the course to your own interests, so you can gain research expertise and key linguistic, technical, and study skills in the analysis of spoken and written English across all periods of English.
We cater both for students who have little or no background in linguistics and also for students with a background in language and linguistics who wish to carry out more sophisticated independent research in a particular area.
Your courses will be taught by expert academic staff who have directed and are currently directing research projects (e.g. Seeing Speech, Sounds of the City, One Speaker Two Dialects, the Scots Syntax Atlas (SCOSYA), Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech (SCOTS) among others).
We have outstanding resources in English Language and Linguistics, such as the Glasgow University Archives, Special Collections (which includes a large collection of medieval and renaissance manuscripts and early printed books) and the Glasgow University Laboratory of Phonetics (with a speech recording studio).
You can, if you wish, select one or two of your options from other available courses in the College of Arts.
We have close links with the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities and the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science, giving you access to additional training courses for graduate students.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
You will take:
One core course
Five optional courses
You will also produce a research dissertation.
Semester One
Core Course
Research Training Course 1: Introduction to Research
Optional courses may include:
History of English (PGT)
Introduction to Phonetics (PGT)
Quantitative Sociolinguistics
Semantics of English (PGT)
Introduction to Psycholinguistics (PGT)
Topics in Phonetics
Topics in Sociolinguistics
Early Modern Manuscripts for Research
Alternatively, you may choose one of your options from any appropriate course offered by the College of Arts & Humanities, subject to availability.
Semester Two
Core Course
Research Training Course 2: Dissertation Preparation
Optional courses may include:
Corpus Linguistics (PGT)
Language and the Global Campus: Linguistic Issues in the Internationalisation of Higher Education
Critical Approaches to Language and Communication
Editing Historical EnglishTexts (PGT)
Experimental Design and Data Analysis
Introduction to Older Scots (PGT)
Medieval Multitudes: Exploring Middle English Texts (PGT)
Methods in Phonetics (PGT)
Methods in Sociolinguistics (PGT)
Old Icelandic Language (PGT)
Multilingualism: Individuals, Institutions and Society
Onomastics
Contemporary Issues in Semantics (PGT)
Alternatively, you may choose one of your options from any appropriate course offered by the College of Arts & Humanities, subject to availability.
Summer
MSc DISSERTATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS
Discover what it's like to study English Language and Linguistics at University of Glasgow: insights on the course, making friends, personal statement tips, uni prep, and recommended books, podcasts, and videos.
Choose a specific option to see funding information.
Course optionsSponsorship and funding information can be found via gla.ac.uk by searching for 'scholarships'.
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