As has been noted in a study carried out by the Spanish Association of Anglo-Northamerican Studies (i.e. Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos, AEDEAN) in 2005, “in the last 10 years, the educational objectives, and therefore also the professional integration and career prospects related to the degree of English Philology/English Studies, have been extended beyond the profiles associated to the education and the teaching of the English language. The cultural, linguistic, and literary contents of this current degree in English Philology/English Studies are contributing to the training of future professionals who work in areas as varied as European and international administrations, archivist and library science, linguistic consulting (commercial, law, forensic, technical and specific purposes), artistic and literary creation, documentation and management of knowledge, cultural and touristic managements, management of human resources, the editorial industry, linguistic mediation, means of communication, rehabilitation of linguistic pathologies, the information and multimedia communication technologies, and translation”. To these areas, the area of specialized research in English linguistics has to be added.

Competences

The MA in English Linguistics guarantees all the basic competences gathered in the Annex I of the Royal Decree  1393/2007, dated October 29th, and those that appear in the Spanish Framework of Qualifications for Higher Education (Marco Español de Cualificaciones para la Educación Superior, MECES).

Objetives and Knowledge

The general and specific competences proposed correspond to the required competences in order to grant the MA certificate, according to the Annex I of the Royal Decree dated October 29th 1393/2007. The chief aim of the MA in English Linguistics: New Applications and International Communication (short: MLINACI) is the students’ acquisition of:

(a) an advanced training for the development of research tasks within the field of English Linguistics.

(b) academic specialization and/or the professional application of the ICTs for the learning and teaching of English

(c) translation and international communication.

The main objectives according to the different modules of specialization are:

• To train researchers in English Linguistics, future PhDs/PhD holders, and university teachers.

• To train experts in diverse fields within Information and Communications Technology and its applications to the teaching and learning of English.

• To train professionals in intercultural communication and translation.

 

General Skills

Apart from the basic skills already indicated, the student must acquire the following general skills (GS), proposed in the study plan, and subdivided in conceptual, procedural and attittudinal:

(a)    Conceptual Skills:

GS1: knowledge of the different disciplines and subdisciplines of the field in English linguistics.

GS2: knowledge of the methodologies for linguistic research in the English language.

GS3: familiarization with ICT for the teaching and learning of the English language.

GS4: consciousness-raising for intercultural aspects which have an impact on communication, translation and mediation.

(b)   Procedural Skills:

GS5: understanding and integration of mass and complex information coming from different sources (articles, Internet, specialized journals, etc.) within different theorical perspectives in English linguistics.

GS6: ability to carry out theoretical and/or empirical research, expressing the outcome in articles, essays and/or doctoral thesis, where applicable.   

GS7: ability to present the outcome of one’s research publically in an academic environment (congresses, seminars, and conferences among others).

GS8: use of computer tools and its applications in the field of linguistic research, teaching and learning, and intercultural communication.

(c)    Attitudinal Skills:

GS9: attitude for team work, with the consequent skills that it entails: negotiating, make oneself understood, provide and/or accept constructive criticism.

GS10: attitude for independent work, with the consequeent skills that it entails: development of the initiative to organize one’s time and effort effectively.

GS11: interdisciplinar orientation with the aim of extrapolating the above mentioned skills to a large variety of professional fields in which these skills are increasingly more valued (not only in the educational field but also in some other fields like translation or mediation).

GS12: development of a reflexive and critical thinking on the diverse areas of the English language.

GS13: both personal and intellectual development of attitudes of coexistence and dialog.

 

Specific Skills

In addition, the student must acquire the following specific skills (SS) in accordance with the module of specialization chosen in each case and in accordance with the QAA’s “Subject Benmakrs Statements” and also with the EUA’s “Bologna Handbook”.

(a)    Conceptual Specific Skills

SS1: detailed knowledge of the different theoretical currents and linguistic analysis methodologies such as: cognitive linguistics, functional linguistics, computational and corpus linguistics, applied linguistics, and discourse analysis among other applied to the English language.

SS2: in depth knowledge of the available ICTs such as the use of databases, computer-assisted teaching-learning, translation programs, and artificial languages among others.

SS3: needed knowledge for the design of teaching-learning of the English language.

SS4: knowledge of the intercultural differences for the contrastive study of English and Spanish.

SS5: adequate training for the linguistic counseling to different entities such as public, European and international administrations as well as private companies, media and other contexts.

(b)   Procedural Specific Skills

SS6: ability to apply the tools that were provided by the diverse linguistic theories in to the in-depth analysis of texts in the English language, both written and orally.

SS7: application of ICTs to the methodology and teaching-learning of the English language with the aim of improving the teaching and learning contexts quality.

SS8: carrying out translation of all types of texts and levels both direct and indirects in English and Spanish as well as performing the role of mediator in intercultural contexts.

(c)    Attitudinal Specific Skills

SS9: attitude for both independent and team work, with the consequent skills that it entails: oriented to English linguistic research.

SS10: development of awareness towards classroom cultural diversity as well as towards the attention of interdisciplinarity and transversality.

SS11: both personal and intellectual development of attitudes of coexistence and dialog among different ideologies, genders and ethnic groups as well as the deepening in foreign cultures as the study of multiculturality entails.