Page 34 - ELG2102 Feb Issue 474

MASTER’S DEGREES .

Which
Which master’s master’s degreedegree is is

right for you?
right for you?

Melanie Butler unlocks the secret
to understanding the MA system
in the UK and Ireland

n the UK and Ireland, master’s degrees are not normally teacher-
training qualifications. They are post-experience courses which
teachers enrol on in order to further their careers.
I Masters for English language teachers cater for a wide range
of students, from experienced native speaker teachers aiming for
a teaching job at university level, to non-native speakers enrolled
because it’s a teaching qualification back home or they’re recent
graduates with degrees in language and linguistics who may not want
to teach at all but aim to go into research.
In the UK and Ireland, a full-time master’s will take a year on
average. Though, especially on a research-focused degree, this may
be a full calendar year from September to September, rather than an
academic one. Basically, this means that you are expected to write your
thesis over the summer and then graduate in the autumn.
In order to make the right choice it’s important to understand the
jargon surrounding master’s courses in the UK and Ireland.

Study a master’s in TESOL

Learn to teach English to speakers of other
languages with this specialist masters course
from the University of Bath.

A TOP 10 UK Universty * Open your mind
Study a Masters in
language education
at a world-leading
university

MSc Language & Intercultural Communication
MSc Language Education
MSc TESOL
go.bath.ac.uk/tesol
Apply now for September 2021
“I learnt a lot, and turned out to edin.ac/educ-taught-degrees
be a very different person after Better at
the course. A more capable
person in this industry.” Bath
Xing Feng,
MA TESOL Graduate 2019
*The Guardian University Guide 2021
34 February 2021