Master of Arts (MA)
On this page:
Enrolment is closing early
You must enrol for trimester 1, 2010 courses before 1st February 2010. Applications for all MA courses in our school close on 31st January. Incomplete applications in the online enrolment system (OES) on 31st January will be processed.Application (for new students only)
Domestic Student Applications
Domestic students (i.e. New Zealand citizens and Permanent Residents) applying for the MA by coursework please go to the Online Enrolment System to apply. If your application is accepted, the system will progress you through to enrolment.
Domestic thesis students (any thesis or dissertation of 90 points or above) need to apply to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Student and Academic Services Office.
Thesis students must also re-enrol annually, see the Faculty Masters Guidelines below.
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| Faculty Masters Guidelines | 537 KB |
International Student Applications
New international students may apply to the School first, to see if they will be accepted academically. To do this, complete the School Application form.
Alternatively, contact Victoria International directly (email: address or tel: 463 5350).
If you are accepted by the School, you will still need to enrol through Victoria International (email: address or tel: 463 5350).
Enrolling and Registering for courses (returning students only)
Existing and returning students find information about enrolling and registering for courses here.
Courses Offered in 2010
Course descriptions, recommeded texts, lecturers etc are detailed on the courses offered page.
Trimester 1, 2010:
Note: all courses start in week 2 of this trimester.
LALS 510 Listening and Speaking in the Language Classroom
LALS 513 Pronunciation of English
LALS 514 Understanding Second Language Learning
LALS 519 Special Topic: Cultural Learning and Language Teaching. Taught Mon-Fri, 4pm-6pm in MYLT 102 22 Feb - 26 Feb, and KK 202 1-5 Mar)
LALS 522 Teaching and Learning Vocabulary
LALS 526 Special Topic: computer-Assisted Language Learning
LALS 540 Evaluating Research in Applied Linguistics
Trimester 2, 2010:
LALS 511 Teaching Reading and Writing
LALS 512 Pedagogical Grammar of English
LALS 515 Language Curriculum Design
LALS 518 Special Topic: Linguistic Structure of Signed Languages (You must be proficient in New Zealand Sign Language to take this course). Taught Wed 9 June - Sun 13 June in VZ 106, 9am - 5pm)
LALS 520 Learners and Second Language Learning
LALS 541 The Research Process
LALS 561 Syntactic Analysis
LALS 563 Issues in Sociolinguistics
Timester 3, 2010/11:
LALS 516 Special Topic: Learner Autonomy and Learner Strategies
LALS 521 Language for Specific Purposes
LALS 524 Language Testing
LALS 542 Interaction and Identity in Language Learning
LALS 544 Discourse Analysis
The research papers below are offered in all three trimesters:
- LALS 580 Research Paper
- LALS 581 Research Paper
- LALS 582 Research Project
- LALS 583 Research Dissertation
- LALS 584 Research Dissertation (full-year course)
Note: LALS 580 courses can not be added to your study of programme via the web add/drop function. Because they are research courses, a supervisor must be assigned to students taking these courses.
Interested students should either talk to the MA Programme Director and he will find you a supervisor, or they talk to a potential supervisor and inform the Director after the supervisor agrees.
Students taking any courses from LALS 580-LALS 583 must complete the School Approval form for MA research. LALS 584 requires completion of a postgraduate thesis application form, for this please contact Naomi West at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS).
Our Courses Offered page contains additional information about courses offered in the first and second trimesters.
About the MA by Coursework
The School offers Master's programmes in TESOL, Applied Linguistics and Linguistics by course work, either on campus or by distance, and either part-time or full-time.
MA by Thesis
The MA by thesis offers
a very useful research qualification for those planning to apply to undertake PhD study
relevant research experience for those aiming to apply for positions involving research in professional contexts, e.g., policy analyst, researcher, HR
Who is it for?
The MA by thesis is most suitable for those who are interested in research in Linguistics, Writing, and Deaf Studies. Applicants interested in TESOL or Applied Linguistics have other research options in the taught MA (e.g., 15-90 point research projects and dissertations), although a full thesis (120 points) is possible as well on a case-by-case basis.
The MA by thesis option is not available to distance students.
What are the Entry requirements?
The same as for the MA by coursework, see below.
How to apply?
A proposal of about a page in length must also be submitted to the School.
Candidates can not apply for theses or research dissertations using the Online Enrolment System, therefore, applicants should complete a Postgraduate Enrolment Application form. This form is also available from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Office (Murphy 411).
Further to an enrolment application form applicants for an MA with a thesis component worth at least 60 points must complete the Application for Master’s Degree by Thesis or with a Thesis Component form. This form is also available from the Faculty Student and Academic Services Office.
Entry Requirements
In the case of MA in Applied Linguistics (or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent qualification) in Linguistics, English Language, Education or a language other than English (or another relevant degree), and at least two years of professional experience in language education or other aspects of applied linguistics; or
In the case of MA in Linguistics, a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent qualification) in Linguistics, English Language or a language other than English, and at least two years of professional experience in dealing with linguistic matters.
Mode of Study
The qualification can be taken by distance or on campus. It can also be taken part-time or full-time. The distance version does not require attendance at the university, but students must have good access to the Internet. Fifty percent of the School's MA students study by distance. Eighty percent of the School's MA students study part-time. Many of these part-time students have full-time teaching jobs. For this reason most on campus courses are taught from 4-6 pm each weekday. A part-time student does one or two courses per trimester. Each course is worth 15 points. 30 points is a usual part-time load; 60 points is a full-time load.
How Does Distance Study Work?
Victoria uses a web-based learning system called Blackboard, where course information, study guides and links to electronic resources are provided by the teaching staff. Apart from completing the assignments and other assessment tasks, students are required to participate in a weekly email discussion of the course content on Blackboard. Many of the courses have a textbook and they usually have a volume of set readings which are available from address and are also available as pdf files.
What is the Difference Between the MA in TESOL and the MA in Applied Linguistics?
The TESOL and Applied Linguistics (ALIN) degrees draw on the same pool of courses, but their requirements and their target audiences are different.
The TESOL degree has a core of seven required courses in methodology, description of English and second language acquisition, providing a broad foundation of postgraduate-level study for teachers and others who are primarily engaged in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages.
Candidates for the ALIN degree are required to take only the two courses on research methodology, so they have more choice of courses. One group for whom the ALIN option is designed are teachers who have completed our former Postgraduate Diploma in TESOL, so they have already taken courses similar to the ones in the TESOL core, and they have the opportunity to focus more on research and on more specialised areas in the field according to their interests. The ALIN degree is also suitable for teachers of languages other than English and for anyone who is interested in Applied Linguistics in a broader sense rather than just language teaching. Those intending to do a research paper or go onto PhD research should consider doing the research methods courses (LALS 540 and 541) and thus perhaps the MA in Applied Linguistics.
Core Courses
An MA involves 180 points usually made up of twelve 15 point courses.
When completing your MA part-time, you may have to wait to do a core course as each MA course is only taught once per year. If you only need electives to complete your degree, you have much greater flexibility of choice of courses for completion.
MA TESOL
There are seven core courses from three different categories for the MA in TESOL.
The course planner (see below) will help you to choose your core TESOL courses and electives.
It is best to do core courses first as they provide a useful preparation for other courses.
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MA Applied Linguistics
Core courses offered in MA in Applied Linguistics are: LALS 540 and LALS 541.
MA Linguistics
Core courses offered in MA in Linguistics are: at least two courses from LALS 561, LALS 562 and LALS 563.
Note: The MA in Linguistics is available by on campus mode only. Two of the core courses are not available by distance.
What is the Period of Study for an MA?
Courses are taught in all three trimesters (Trimester 1 February/March-July; Trimester 2 July-November; Trimester 3 November-February). On a full-time basis it normally takes three trimesters (twelve months) to complete the degree. Part-time study can be spread over a period of up to four years. Part-time study doing two 15 point courses per trimester will take two years.
When Can I Start My Studies?
You can start at the beginning of any trimester: February/March (Trimester 1), July (Trimester 2) or November (Trimester 3). Courses are 10 weeks in length and usually start in the second week of 12 week trimesters. None of the core courses are taught in the third trimester (November-February), but you can study on a full-time or part-time basis in all three trimesters.
What Fees do I Have to Pay?
For New Zealand citizens or Permanent Residents of New Zealand please see the fees information page
For International Students please see the Victoria International Cost Calculator.
Unfortunately the School does not have any scholarships or any other financial aid that we can offer to those in the MA programme. There are a number of Victoria scholarships, prizes and awards available to students.
Typical First Year Programmes of Study
The principles behind these suggested programmes are (1) do the core courses first, and (2) do 30 points per trimester part-time. Core courses are in bold.
A part-time student doing the MA in TESOL:
- Trimester 1 LALS 510 and 513 or 514
- Trimester 2 LALS 511 and 512 or 515
- Trimester 3 LALS 524 and 522 or 516
A part-time student doing the MA in Applied Linguistics:
- Trimester 1 LALS 540 and 514 or 513
- Trimester 2 LALS 541 and 563 or 520
- Trimester 3 LALS 522 and 523 or 516
A full-time student doing the MA in TESOL on campus:
- Trimester 1 LALS 510, 513, 514 and one elective course.
- Trimester 2 LALS 511, 512, 515 and one elective course
- Trimester 3 Four elective courses
Please note: You do not need to choose all your courses at the start of your degree. In fact, it is recommended that you enrol for 3 or 4 in your first trimester of study only, and then speak with staff and other students before choosing the rest of your courses. Furthermore, an MA is very intensive. It is not recommended to most students that they try to complete within a year.
Intensive Courses
Every year, two or three intensive courses will be taught on campus by a visiting professors in their area of specialisation. These courses are not offered by distance. The intensive courses are usually taught from 4 pm to 6 pm on weekdays for ten days. The assessment is completed later in the trimester.
The regular courses begin after the intensive course ends. There may be limitations on numbers for these courses so enrol early.
2009:
LALS 519 (Intensive on-campus only course from 20 Aprl-01 May crn 10589) Corpus-based study of register variation (Douglas Biber)
2008:
LALS 519 (Intensive on-campus only course from 14 - 27 Feb. 2008 crn 10589) Psycholinguistic Aspects of Second Language Acquisition (Hakan Ringbom)
LALS 518 (Intensive on-campus only course from 26 June - 09 July 2008 CRN 10588) Situated Discourse Analysis (Malcolm Coulthard)
2007:
LALS 519 - 15 February - 28 February 2007, Joan Rubin, Learner Self Management.
LALS 518 - 28 June - 11 July 2007, Scott Thornbury, Critical Pedagogy in TESOL.
LALS 517 - 1 November - 14 November 2007, Justine Coupland and Nikolas Coupland, Language, Identity and Social Relations and their Relevance for Applied Linguists.
2006:
LALS 517 6 November - 17 November 2006 Merrill Swain on Sociocultural theory and second language learning
LALS 519 February 2006 Dianna Eades on Language, Law and Society
LALS 518 29 June -12 July 2006: Tom Cobb on Topics in computer-assisted vocabulary learning
2005:
LALS 518 March 2005 Michael Stubbs on Text and Corpus Analysis
LALS 517 November 2005 Jenny Thomas on Cross-cultural pragmatics and language learning.
For Further Information
This page, the MA page is the first place for all MA students to find information, further to this, there is more detailed information on our School FAQ page.
Write to:
School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600
Wellington 6140
NEW ZEALAND
Telephone: 64 4 463 5600
Or Email:
Course content: Stuart Webb, MA Programme Director, email address.
General enquiries: Rachel Scholes, Administrative Assistant, email address.
Scholarship information: address.
International student enquiries: contact the online student support centre or email: address.