Postgraduate Degrees and Diplomas by coursework
- Postgraduate courses in Linguistics
- OCL or Open Universities?
- Contacts
- Members of staff and their fields of special interest
- Applying for candidature
- Objectives of the programs
- Resources
Postgraduate courses in Linguistics
The Linguistics Program accepts suitably qualified candidates for the degrees of Masters in Applied Linguistics (5th Year coursework; with or without a research component) and the Master of Linguistics in Language Endangerment Studies(coursework). Linguistics also offers a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Linguistics in Language Endangerment Studies, a Graduate Certificate in Linguistics in Language Endangerment Studies, a Faculty Certificate in Linguistics in Language Endangerment Studies, and a Graduate Certificate (formerly Faculty Certificate) in Linguistics (both 4th Year coursework only).
Most coursework units are offered only by OCL (formerly OCL). The exceptions are ALM4150 /5150 (Research Design), which will continue to be offered not only by OCL but also (if numbers are large enough) on campus, and any remaining units which have not yet been prepared in OCL form; these latter will be offered on campus if and when they are scheduled until they do become available by OCL. Research Projects and Special Topics, where selected by students in either 4th or 5th Year, will continue to be offered on campus. Many individual units are also available by Open Universities. However, students should check the availability of units in particular modes when planning their studies.
Students should note that fee structures may differ for the various courses and that there may therefore be restrictions on taking out intermediate qualifications. Furthermore, students intending to progress or upgrade to a second postgraduate course or program should check the fee status of that program.
OCL or Open Universities?
Most of the Program's postgraduate coursework units are available either by OCL or by Open Universities.
OCL students are enrolled in a Monash Linguistics program which leads to a Masters degree or a postgraduate diploma. Open Universities students are not Monash students and are considered to be taking individual subjects ('units'). They may combine these units into a sequence corresponding with a diploma or Masters program, but to actually obtain such an award they must apply to be admitted to a OCL program and to have the Open Universities units which they have already taken credited to that program as the equivalent OCL units. This can be done either during the sequence of Open Universities units (in which case the student takes later units by OCL instead), or at the completion of the sequence. In the latter case care must be taken to ensure that the units taken correspond to the requirements of the degree programs.
OCL students must meet Monash, Arts Faculty and Linguistics Program criteria for admission to the program in which they are interested. Open Universities students may take any unit(s) they wish; there are no admission criteria. However, some Open Universities units correspond with 4th Year OCL units and some with the more advanced 5th Year OCL units. These latter assume 4th Year by way of background. Open Universities students should consult the Program as to whether or not a given unit which they propose to take is at 5th Year (advanced) level and assumes background which they do not yet have (but could acquire by first taking 4th Year level units). If an Open Universities student does choose to take a unit equivalent to a 5th Year unit without having the relevant 4th Year background, no allowance can be made in assessment.
On request, the Program will assess an Open Universities student's c.v. at any time to determine whether or not such a student would be admitted to a given OCL program, thus enabling the student to plan ahead. A fee is charged for this assessment.
OCL students are eligible for HECS (which may be paid up-front or deferred) if they are Australian citizens or residents, otherwise full fees are applicable. Please refer to the HECs website: http://www.hecs.gov.au .
Open Universities students pay a fee per unit. For further information visit the Open Universities website: www.open.edu.au or phone 1300 36 36 52.
Contacts
Dr Julie Bradshaw
is the coordinator of the postgraduate degree courses in Applied Linguistics, including OCL and also Open Universities: the Graduate Certificate (formerly Faculty Certificate), the Postgraduate Diploma and the Masters in Applied Linguistics. For academic matters relating to these courses she can be contacted by phone (03) 9905 5451 or email lingPGcoursework@arts.monash.edu.au .
Ms Sally Riley
is the administrative officer for postgraduate studies. She can be contacted about administrative matters, information about fees etc. by phone (03) 990 55409 or via email Sally.Riley@arts.monash.edu.au .
Dr Keith Allan
is the coordinator of the graduate research degree program in the Linguistics Program (M.A. in Linguistics, PhD). He can be contacted via lingPGresearch@arts.monash.edu.au or phone (03) 9905 2299.
Members of staff and their fields of special interest
Keith Allan
Semantics; pragmatics; jargon, euphemism, and dysphemism; discourse analysis; philosophy of linguistics; cognitive linguistics.
Heather Bowe
Syntax and language typology; second language acquisition; phonetics and phonology; linguistic issues in cross-cultural communication, especially in business; Aboriginal languages.
Julie Bradshaw
Sociolinguistic aspects of second language acquisition; classroom discourse; bilingualism; English in Southeast Asia; community languages and schooling; language maintenance and shift; languages and cultures in contact; language variation; applied linguistics.
Kate Burridge
Euphemism, dysphemism and political correctness; structure and history of English; grammar and sociolinguistics of Pennsylvania German speech communities; Germanic linguistics; historical linguistics.
Margaret Florey
Austronesian languages (particularly those of eastern Indonesia), language shift and maintenance, anthropological linguistics (particularly ethnobiology), language and gender.
Anna Margetts
Austronesian (particularly Oceanic) and Papuan languages, morpho-syntax, language typology, semantics, pragmatics, grammaticalization, discourse analysis, first language acquisition.
Simon Musgrave
Austronesian languages (particularly Western Malayo-Polynesian languages, language typology, syntax (especially constraint-based formal models), language documentation, computational tools for linguists.
Members of staff from other programs involved in the Masters in Applied linguistics and their fields of special interest:
Georgina Heydon
(English as an International Language/Language and Learning) Critical discourse analysis, power and authority in institutional discourse, police institutional discourse and the discursive practices of police interviewers, forensic linguistics, conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics.
Applying for candidature
Masters in Applied Linguistics, Postgraduate Diploma in Arts, Graduate Certificate (formerly Faculty Certificate) in Applied Linguistics. It is normal to commence studies in Semester 1 (March), but (with the approval of the Program) students may commence in Semester 2 (July) provided that one of the following applies:
- they are entering directly entering the Masters;
- they have been exempted (with or without credit) from ALM4110 (General Linguistics) on the basis of earlier studies;
- they have satisfied the Program that, despite not yet having completed ALM4110 (General Linguistics) or having been exempted from this unit, they will be able to compensate for this by private study.
The usual closing date for applications for a Master's or Diploma course is October 31st of the year preceding enrolment, but students seeking to commence in Semester 2 may apply later than this (but as early as possible). If an application form does not accompany this document, one will be sent by the Program to any potential student who requests this.
Submitted application forms should be accompanied by:
- Details of qualifications in the form of a transcript of academic record (with a certified translation where appropriate).
- Details of any relevant experience in teaching or research.
- Details of any publications in a relevant field.
- Non-returnable samples of any such publications.
- Application for advanced standing (credit/exemption), if appropriate.
As well as completed application forms and these other materials, overseas students should also provide proof of English proficiency and a $50 deposit payable to Monash University. Upon approval of their application, students should forward the first semester fees to the university.
Applicants should return the enclosed application forms and other materials to:
Postgraduate Coursework
Office
Faculty of Arts
Building 11
Monash University
Victoria 3800
Australia
Objectives of the programs
The broad teaching and learning objectives of these programs require students (mostly lacking previous training in linguistics but qualified and proficient in other humanities disciplines and the like and often possessed of extensive work experience) to achieve a suitable level of expertise in the fundamentals of applied linguistics and in some of the more specialised subdisciplines of the discipline. Students who take a research project will also need to demonstrate the relevant research skills.
Masters graduates are expected to have come to a self-conscious understanding of the present interpretations and future likelihoods of the major concepts and issues underlying the content of and the approaches to the subdisciplines they have studied, and to have developed the intellectual capabilities inherent in reading and interpretation, written argument, quantitative analysis, qualitative critique and creative thinking required for scholarship and good practice in linguistics. They should also have acquired the practical skills (including those of oral presentation and, where appropriate, computing skills) required for the study of the unit at this level; and they should be aware of the philosophical underpinnings and issues relevant to the discipline and more generally to the careful study of the humanities and to all liberal intellectual pursuits. Further, and most crucially, they should have acquired the expertise and flexibility needed to apply these studies in the rapidly changing circumstances of intellectual life and the world of the professions in which they are employed or are likely to be employed.
Upon successful completion of their course, students should have be able to demonstrate:
- a sound grounding in some of the basic subdisciplines of linguistics; be able to apply the main relevant facts, theoretical concepts, approaches, etc. of these subdisciplines to novel problems, issues and situations (such as those they will encounter in more advanced programs);
- a critical understanding of the theoretical and methodological concepts, principles and issues which arise in the pursuit of the study of language in a linguistic framework, and of how these apply to practical language issues;
- the ability to use primary and secondary sources effectively (along with their own critical thinking), to develop coherent arguments and arrive at clear conclusions based on evidence and argumentation, and apply research methods effectively and reliably;
- effective academic writing and oral presentation skills;
- and, if a research project is taken, the ability to undertake a sustained research and writing project involving the critical interpretation of sources and data and the careful conduct and presentation of their own research in all its phases.
Naturally, those who complete only the Postgraduate Diploma (or the Graduate Certificate, on which see below) are expected to have achieved these outcomes to a more limited degree, acquiring the fundamentals of the discipline and being thus prepared for further studies such as those leading to the Masters with its higher levels of attainment.
Resources
Library facilities
The Monash University library holdings of books and journals on linguistics are extensive. There is also a small Linguistics library within the School library.
Other resources
The program has a phonetics laboratory equipped with a Kay Elemetrics Sona-Graph phonetic analysis system using a CSL package permitting spectrographic analysis, waveform analysis, etc.