Subject overview
Sussex is ranked 12th in the UK for linguistics in The Times Good University Guide 2013.
The School of English at Sussex is an environment for excellence and offers outstanding opportunities for postgraduate study of English language and linguistics.
You will work with active, enthusiastic and dynamic researchers who are committed to teaching and your intellectual development.
Research supervision is provided for a wide range of subject areas by supervisors committed to the development of knowledge and scholarly excellence.
Postgraduate degrees in linguistics attract students of different nationalities, cultures and walks of life. You will find yourself in a lively and dynamic research community situated in a cosmopolitan location.
Programmes
- PhD in Linguistics
- MPhil in Linguistics
The School of English offers research supervision in a wide range of subdisciplines of English language and linguistics. There is active research in applied linguistics, descriptive grammar and theoretical syntax, discourse analysis, first-and second-language acquisition, lexicology and lexicography, phonetics and phonology, semantics and pragmatics, language variation and change, and sociolinguistics.
Our doctoral students work on a variety of areas of research, using approaches including corpus linguistics, ethnographic methods, field linguistics, and film and literary analysis.
We offer supervision in the description and analysis of any language or any variety of English. Recently we have supervised work on Kuwaiti Arabic, Azeri, Tunisian Berber, Tunisian Arabic, English, French, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Judeo-Espanyol, Kenyang, Korean, Setswana, Vietnamese and Yoruba.
Recent thesis titles
May and can in French-English interlanguage
Multiple verb constructions in Korean
Null subjects in Kenyang
Examples of current areas of PhD research
A descriptive grammar of the Hadari Kuwaiti dialect of Arabic
The argumentative function of metaphor
Verbs of motion in Tunisian Arabic
Entry requirements
- MPhil in Linguistics
-
UK entrance requirements
A Masters degree in English language or linguistics or a related area.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to Overseas qualifications.
English language requirements
IELTS 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each section. Internet TOEFL with 95 overall, with at least 22 in Listening, 23 in Reading, 23 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
For more information, refer to English language requirements.
- PhD in Linguistics
-
UK entrance requirements
A Masters degree in English language or linguistics or a related area.
Overseas entrance requirements
Please refer to Overseas qualifications.
English language requirements
IELTS 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each section. Internet TOEFL with 95 overall, with at least 22 in Listening, 23 in Reading, 23 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.
For more information, refer to English language requirements.
Visas and immigration
Find out more about Visas and immigration.
For more information about the admissions process at Sussex
For pre-application enquiries:
Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
For post-application enquiries:
Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk
Related subject
Fees and funding
Fees
- MPhil in Linguistics
-
Home UK/EU students: £3,9001
Overseas students: £13,00021 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
- PhD in Linguistics
-
Home UK/EU students: £3,9001
Overseas students: £13,00021 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
2 The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
To find out about your fee status, living expenses and other costs, visit further financial information.
Funding
The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.
To find out more about funding and part-time work, visit further financial information.
Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust for Postgraduate Study (2013)
Region: UK
Level: PG (taught), PG (research)
Application deadline: 1 October 2013
The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust are offering bursaries to Postgraduate students following any postgraduate degree courses in any subject.
Faculty interests
Faculty research interests are briefly described below. For more detailed information, visit the School of English.
Also refer to the English language teaching (ELT) subject area and visit the Sussex Centre for Language Studies.
Dr Andrew Blair Second-language acquisition, English language teaching.
Dr Melanie Green Descriptive grammar, comparative syntax, descriptive linguistics of Hausa and other African languages.
Dr M Lynne Murphy Lexical semantics, the adjective category, lexical relations, pragmatics.
Dr Roberta Piazza Sociolinguistics, pragmatics and linguistic stylistics, discourse analysis, Italian literature and film.
Dr Justyna Robinson Lexical semantics, sociolonguistics, variation and change in English.
Dr Christian Uffmann Phonological theory, language contact, creoles, loan word adaptation, phonetic and phonological variation in English.
Dr Simon Williams Teaching English for academic purposes, testing and assessment, approaches to listening skills development, phonology.
Dr Jules Winchester Sociolinguistics; intercultural communication; linguistic politeness; language use and identity.
Careers and perspectives
Many of our graduates have gone on to academic careers in the UK and overseas.
For more information, visit Careers and alumni.
School and contacts
School of English
Over the last 30 years, English at Sussex has played a key role in shaping the direction of the discipline in Britain and throughout the world. The School of English offers you exciting potential for engaging with English as a world language and literature.
School of English,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton, BN1 9QN, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877303
E englishpg@sussex.ac.uk
School of English
Discover Postgraduate Study information sessions
You’re welcome to attend one of our Discover Postgraduate Study information sessions. These are held in the spring and summer terms and enable you to find out more about postgraduate study and the opportunities Sussex has to offer.
Visit Discover Postgraduate study to book your place.
Other ways to visit Sussex
We run weekly guided campus tours every Wednesday afternoon, year round. Book a place online at Visit us and Open Days.
You are also welcome to visit the University independently without any pre-arrangement.