Language and Communication

Entry requirements

Candidates should have a good first degree or MA in linguistics, psychology, sociology, education, communication, or a related area.

Months of entry

October

Course content

The PhD in Language and Communication is an interdisciplinary programme run across four departments: Education, Language and Linguistic Science, Psychology and Sociology. The staff on the programme are experts in language and communication who pool their resources to offer the PhD. Students on the programme have two joint supervisors, each from a different department, and are part of the academic community of both departments.

Academic staff on the programme have established international reputations for innovative research and cross-disciplinary working. We employ multiple methodologies underpinned by a range of approaches to the study of language, including cognitive, ethnographic, interactionist, or dynamic/emergent approaches to language study. Some of us use primarily qualitative methods (notably conversation analysis), while others specialise in experimental and quantitative approaches.

We are international in outlook and welcome multilingual and multicultural research projects. Students on the programme have conducted research on a wide range of European, Asian and African languages and social settings (and more information about these can be found on the ‘research’ tab).

Partner departments all have a full training programme for PhD students and students registered on the Programme have access to training in their departments. Such programmes include subject-specific courses, courses on research skills, and generic courses aimed at increasing students’ employability, personal effectiveness, language skills, etc.

The PhD in Language and Communication is available to full and part time research students, and also to Visiting Research students who would like to come here for short periods (usually between one term and a year) for specialist training.

Information for international students

For applicants whose native language is not English, the Programme requires an English language proficiency level of 7.0 in the British Council's IELTS test with at least IELTS 7.0 in writing. We do accept other English Language Tests. Information on these is available here.