Linguistics

Can you learn a new language the same way you learned your mother tongue? How does our brain cope with multiple languages? Is there a teaching pedagogy that is the most effective?

This Master's track focuses on research into second or foreign language learning and teaching. You study the learning process and the use of new languages and the track allows you to focus your research on your language of choice: English as a second language, Dutch, French, German, Swedish, Chinese, etc. The skills and knowledge you acquire in this track are highly valued in areas of language teaching and testing, educational publishing, language policy making, and linguistic research.You will approach second language acquisition from many angles, including linguistics, (social and cognitive) psychology, social interaction, and language teaching and assessment. The dynamic aspects of language development—how a wide range of factors (e.g. a learner's age, motivation, the amount of input) affect the learning process—receives particular attention. As such, our MA track trains you to become an all-round expert on second language development.While this is not a teacher training programme, there is ample opportunity to discuss teaching-related issues and it is possible in some cases to do a language teaching internship.Read more about the Department of Applied Linguistics.Sign up now for the Master's Week from 18-22 November!

How is language constructed and which aspects can be distinguished and studied? How are these aspects realized in different language families and specific languages?

Theoretical and Empirical Linguistics is a one-year Master's track of the MA Linguistics which is based on the strengths of the Groningen Linguistics department (English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish). Students can choose between two specializations: The Human Language System (THLS) and Language Development and Variation (LDV).This MA track offers students a broad and attractive, but coherent and cohesive, range of options, oriented along the following approaches:* Empirical investigation of the structure of the European languages, with focus on synchronic and diachronic variation* Theoretical study of syntax, semantics, morphology, and phonology/phonetics* Use of a variety of data (native speaker intuitions, corpus data, language acquisition data) and methodsThe track focuses on language with all its complexities. The main focus is how to make sense of complex data in order to be able to study the structure, variation, change, and development of language, so as to obtain a better understanding of the human language faculty. It covers the principal subfields of linguistic study (sound, structure, meaning), and offers plenty of opportunity for students to focus on a particular language or language family (working with specialists in different modern European languages) or to pursue their interests in general linguistics.​Sign up now for the Master's Week from 18-22 November!

Do you know more languages than the one you are reading now? Chances are, you are bilingual or multilingual. We live in a world where multilingualism is the norm and monolingualism the exception.

This comes with challenges and possibilities, for individuals, societies, and organizations. Do you want to take the lead in dealing with these challenges and possibilities? Then this is the MA track for you!This Multilingualism Master’s track trains you to become a diversity manager specialized in linguistic and cultural diversity. You will develop expertise on bilingualism and multilingualism from a variety of angles: sociolinguistic, educational, cognitive, cultural, historical, management and policy. You will learn how to do your own linguistic research, but also how to manage linguistic diversity in various settings, such as the workplace, in education, and on regional, national and transnational levels. You will deal with day-to-day issues such as helping companies overcome (intercultural) communication problems, design effective language policies or give schools advice on how best to teach pupils with diverse language backgrounds.Upon finishing the Multilingualism Master’s track, students will receive a MA degree in Linguistics.Sign up now for the Master's Week from 18-22 November!