English Studies (MA)

English Studies is a degree programme with a strong research focus offering two areas of specialisation:

• Culture and Literature: this study path enables students to combine modules in literary and cultural history and theory with a broad range of interdisciplinary modules. Culture and Literature focuses on historical perspectives and involves two key areas of the humanities: the history of ideas and discourse analysis. Areas of expertise include:
  • Cultural Studies: focus on cultural history and popular culture with a particular emphasis on the intersections of culture with economics and politics. In addition to these areas, this focus concentrates on cultural and medial translation.
  • Literary Studies: relations between literature and other discourses such as philosophy, religion and politics.
• Linguistics and Applied Linguistics: this study path focuses on describing and analysing the English language in light of current linguistic theories and teaching approaches. The following topics are covered in the degree programme:
  • the idiomatic element of language: construction grammar, valency theory, research on collocation and idiomaticity
  • foreign language teaching: lexicography, grammar, contrastive linguistics, speech perception and production, literacy development, bilingualism and bilingual education
  • first and second language acquisition and research on learner language
  • corpus linguistics: the English language: history and variation
  • advanced language modules

Students may study one of these specialisations exclusively to obtain a degree in 'MA English Studies: Culture and Literature' or in 'MA English Studies: Linguistics and Applied Linguistics', or they may choose to study a combination of the two fields to obtain the degree title of 'MA English Studies'.

Open to graduates with a BA English and American Studies with a final grade of 2.5 or better (exceptions may be made in well-substantiated cases and on the basis of a short letter of motivation and a 15- to 20-minute interview for those students who achieved a final grade ranging up to 3.3). Graduates of other BA programmes with a focus on English philology (60 ECTS credits) are also invited to apply. Prospective foreign students who are not native speakers must submit proof of their English language proficiency (level C1) with their application.

The programme begins in the winter semester.

This degree programme is open to all graduates of the Bachelor's degree programme in English and American Studies and other degree programmes in English. In some cases, graduates with a degree in computational linguistics may also be admitted to study the specialisation in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics.

If you are interested in this degree programme and have a degree in a different subject or a degree from a different university in Germany or abroad, please contact the degree programme coordinator.

Specialisation: Culture and Literature

1st semester:

• Introductory module: Culture
• Introductory module: Literature
• Elective module

2nd semester:

• Core module: Culture
• Core module: Literature
• Academic language skills

3rd semester:

• Master's module I: Culture or Literature
• Master's module II: Culture or Literature
• Elective complementary studies/Wild Card

4th semester:

• Master's thesis in the chosen specialisation

Specialisation: Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

1st semester:

• Introductory module: Topics in Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition Research
• Applied Linguistics A
• Descriptive and Theoretical Linguistics A
• Research module: Lexicography, Valency, Collocation

2nd semester:

• Corpus Linguistics
• First Language Acquisition and Language Teaching
• Linguistics and Language Teaching A
• Linguistics and Language Teaching B
• Language Variation
• Academic language skills

3rd semester:

• Applied Linguistics B
• Descriptive and Theoretical Linguistics B
• Research module: Lexicography, Valency, Collocation
• Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching
• English Historical Linguistics

4th semester:

• Master's thesis in the chosen specialisation