Language, Community and Development

Entry requirements

Postgraduate MA programme

• An Honours degree at 2:2 or above. If your highest level of formal education was taken outside the UK, please see The University of Gloucestershire’s website, our Information for International Students and our Admissions policies including Selection Criteria​.
• GCSE in English (Language or Literature) at grade C or above, or equivalent, or an IELTS Academic Certificate with an overall score of 6.0 with at least 6.0 in each of reading and writing, or equivalent from a different testing system.
• An appropriate understanding of, commitment to and suitability for the range of vocations for which these studies prepare you.

• Prior learning, including the learning outcomes of the programme that you have achieved, and other relevant qualifications and experience, including evidence of how your studies have remained current.
• A capacity to benefit from the study of practice, as part of your continuing professional or vocational development.
• Sufficient academic ability.https://www.moorlands.ac.uk/study-with-us/applying/information-for-international-applicants/

Months of entry

August

Course content

Our MA in Language, Community and Development is provided as part of our School of Language and Scripture. The programme will provide you with essential tools in community-based development, linguistics, literacy and Scripture engagement and will equip you for service amongst communities across the world.

Programme content

The MA in Language, Community and Development* has three stages:

• Postgraduate Certificate
• Postgraduate Diploma
• Dissertation

In order to get the most from the programme, we recommend you initially register for the Postgraduate Certificate then work in a professional internship, exploring language and development issues within a new community and culture, before returning to reflect on your experiences as you complete the Masters programme.

However, if, for example, you have already had substantial experience working in a cross-cultural context, you can choose to register for the full MA.

The Postgraduate Certificate runs from August – February. During this time, you’ll be introduced to the complex interactions between language, culture, community and development issues. The first modules focus on how to ‘learn’ a new language and culture and how to work well within cross-cultural contexts. You’ll have the opportunity to work in teams and reflect on your own contributions, and to develop practical skills and tools in a mentored environment. In the remaining modules, you’ll develop foundational skills to work in a particular professional area, whether linguistics and Bible translation, Scripture engagement, literacy and community development, or language project management.

The Postgraduate Diploma stage runs from February – July. Throughout the Diploma, you’ll have the opportunity to reflect on your own cross-cultural experiences and integrate them with theoretical insights into language and culture. The first module focuses on anthropological and sociolinguistic aspects of language, culture, identity and development. After this, you’ll have a choice of modules through which you can more deeply explore a specialised professional area.

If your formal education does not meet the entry requirements, but you have experience and non-certificated learning to the appropriate level, or you wish to enter at a level other than the first year of study, please submit a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) application. You will also need to supply evidence to support it. Please do get in touch with us if you have any questions, we will be happy to guide you through the process.

Dissertation: For the Dissertation (L90) stage, you’ll embark on the final component: an 18,000 word dissertation. This involves researching and writing about a topic of your choice related to language, communities and issues of development. It offers the option of expanding on your specialised area of study, such as an analysis of linguistic aspects of a specific language, or an exploration of language-related development issues for a community with which you have experience. You’ll be allocated a supervisor appropriate to your field of research who provides you with ongoing support and guidance throughout the process of research and writing.

* validated by the University of Gloucestershire

Information for international students

Moorlands College is delighted to welcome students from around the world. Courses of study that are full-time, based at our Christchurch Campus, and leading to a qualification of degree-level or above, can be accessed via the Student Visa route. Various other studies may be accessed via the Standard Visitor route.

Standard Visitors to the UK are permitted to study for up to six months. Study may be part-time or full-time, and may be a single course, or a combination of short courses. Longer courses are only permitted if you are based outside of the UK for most of the time, and only come to Moorlands for short periods (e.g. induction weeks or intensive study blocks).

https://www.moorlands.ac.uk/study-with-us/applying/information-for-international-applicants/#student

Fees and funding

he UK government now provides a loans scheme for master’s programmes, including our MA in Applied Theology and our MA in Language, Community and Development.

For 2023/2024, you may be able to borrow up to £12,167 , which can be used towards tuition fees and expenses. You can borrow this amount even though our MA programmes actually cost less.

To see if you’re eligible for the postgraduate loan, please visit https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan.

We encourage you to apply as early as possible, to ensure that funding is in place for the start of the programme. For full details, and to begin your application process, please visit the Government’s Student Finance website.

Assessment