Language Degrees Online

The MA Applied Linguistics and Language Pedagogy consists of three components: core courses, option courses and dissertation research. This degree programme is currently formulated with four different pathways (indicated in square brackets); specialising in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Tibetan.
Core courses
All students on the programme must take Language Pedagogy (1 unit), plus one unit chosen from the following core courses, as determined by their language pathway:
Japanese Language Learning and Teaching [Japanese] (1 unit)
Chinese Applied Linguistics [Chinese] (1 unit)
Korean Linguistics and Language Pedagogy [Korean] (0.5 unit)
Tibetan Linguistics and Language Pedagogy (new) [Tibetan] (0.5 unit)
Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism [Korean] (0.5 unit)
Option courses

Entering students who already hold an undergraduate major in linguistics/applied linguistics, or an MA in linguistics take two units of the core courses listed above, plus the equivalent of one full unit of option courses from the list below. Students with no background in linguistics must take the two core courses plus Introduction to the Study of Language.
Introduction to the Study of Language (1 unit)
Topics in the History and Structure of Korean Language [Korean] (1 unit)
Directed Readings in Linguistics/The structure of language A, B (1 unit)
Syntactic Structure of Japanese 1 [Japanese] (0.5 unit)
Second Language Acquisition in Japanese [Japanese] (0.5 unit)
Topics in the Structure of Chinese [Chinese] (0.5 unit)
Any linguistics course approved by the programme convenor

Upper second or equivalent in a BA in a relevant discipline (linguistics or applied linguistics), or a BA in other disciplines including some relevant units, and some relevant professional qualification (e.g. teacher training qualifications) or exceptional and documented experience in language teaching. Native or native-like proficiency in the language of the chosen path.

The Department provides tuition in the languages, literatures, histories, cultures and societies of Japan and Korea for the degrees of BA (single-subject or joint degree), MA, MPhil, and PhD. It aims through teaching and research to cover a broad spectrum of the cultures of Japan and Korea.
The learning of the languages of these cultures is the essential foundation for study at any level, and all students and staff of the Department are expected to develop and maintain a high level of language competence in Japanese and/or Korean. Students are offered a broad knowledge of the cultures through a variety of courses in the Department and in other departments of SOAS, both through language-based units and through courses covering such disciplines as literature, linguistics, history, religion, philosophy, art, economics and politics and social anthropology. Members of the Department have various complementary areas of specialisation and knowledge, which comprise the core subjects of the degrees offered. In addition, all students on Japanese and Korean BA degrees are required to spend time during their course at an educational institution in the country of their study.*
The Japanese section offers two BA degrees, each with distinct paths of single or joint honours.
The BA Japanese (single and joint) offers tuition that combines intensive study of the written and spoken language along with lecture courses that focus on the great diversity of Japan’s sophisticated and rich culture, both through in-depth study of the society and through student visits to Japan as part of the degree course. The number of specialists on Japan located in the various departments of the School makes this one of the largest Japanese studies programmes in the world.
*The new BA Japanese Studies (single and joint) degree does not include a period of study abroad in Japan and students are required to take only a minimum amount of language units. Students focus on the study of Japan through the many discipline courses on offer at SOAS. The degree is meant to serve both students with minimal Japanese language expertise/interest and students who already have advanced Japanese language skills.
The Korean section offers the BA Korean degree (single and joint), which combines study of the written and spoken language along with lecture courses that focus on Korean culture, society, literature, and history. It provides intensive training in the language and aims to impart to its students an understanding of pre-modern Korean tradition, sensitivity to Korea’s experiences under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) and during the Korean War, and the tools with which to interpret modern Korean culture and society to the West.

The MA provides advanced training in the field of Language Pedagogy with a specialization in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Tibetan. The programme provides an appreciation of the concepts, modes of analysis and theoretical approaches in the area of Language Pedagogy, including second language learning theories and teaching methodologies. Students will also be familiarised with the general areas of linguistic inquiry (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and discourse structure) and how they are relevant to the study of second language acquisition.
As a practical component, students will also become familiar with the intent and design of instructional material and teaching/testing techniques, and will evaluate second language learners’ performance through the analysis of empirical data and adequate descriptive terminology; they will also be able to design appropriate lesson plans, and will have carried out a certain amount of practice in the language of their chosen pathway.
Graduates will be qualified and well prepared for such professions as teaching the target language in higher education in the UK or in other countries, North America, and other parts of the world, teaching the target language at private institutions or at company, administrative or consultative staff at educational organizations, and editing staff at publishers related to language teaching.

The SOAS MA in Ancient Near Eastern Languages offers an intensive programme of text-reading and language-learning for those who already have a good knowledge of the Akkadian language - usually at least two years’ experience. The degree is intended to widen the student’s experience in the vast legacy of written documentation in Akkadian and other languages from ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia. The programme is tailor-made to serve as an intermediate year between SOAS’s three-year BA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (or an equivalent qualification) and postgraduate Assyriological research at the level of MPhil and PhD. It can, of course, be taken for its own sake.

Six of the academic departments are devoted to teaching and research in the languages, literatures and cultures of Africa, China and Inner Asia, Japan and Korea, the Near and Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asia, with the seventh teaching and conducting research in Linguistics. The Language Centre caters to the needs of non-degree students and governmental and non-governmental organisations. It maintains a huge portfolio of courses, including year-long diploma programmes, weekly evening classes in about 40 different African and Asian languages, and tailored intensive one-to-one courses.
The research conducted and published by the academic staff of the Faculty focuses on a wide range of topics in the languages, literatures, and cultures (both classical and popular) of Asia and Africa.
Their teaching is in three main areas:
language competence acquisition;
textual and cultural studies - both comparative and language-specific, and covering not only ‘literature’ in a strict sense but also visual media, performance, folklore, translation etc.;
language studies with linguistics at its core - including the prestigious Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project.
The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise produced healthy results for the Faculty of Languages and Cultures, which submitted its research outputs to the Asian Studies, Middle Eastern and African Studies and Linguistics sub-panels. These are subject areas in which good teaching draws heavily upon the quality of the research conducted. More than 50% of all research outputs were assessed to be either of world-leading quality or internationally excellent. We were judged to be the national leader in Asian Studies by a significant margin, with 65% of our research in the world-leading and internationally excellent categories. The Faculty successfully led a bid, in collaboration with University College London, for funding from HEFCE for a Centre of Excellence in the Teaching and Learning of Languages of the Wider World. The Centre came into existence in 2005.
The Faculty also administers the MA Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia) and it is also home to the Centre for Gender Studies and administers the MA in Gender Studies
While SOAS as a whole represents the most substantial concentration in the Western world of expertise dedicated to the study of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the Faculty of Languages and Cultures is heavily committed to teaching and research that is grounded in a knowledge of the principal languages and cultures of two-thirds of humankind

Many students make direct use of their South Asian undergraduate courses. As the UK is the home of a large number of people with South Asian cultural backgrounds there is a natural demand for people specialising in the languages and cultures of the subcontinent.
Some graduates opt for careers in:
Teaching
Journalism
Translation
Law
Local and National Government
Librarianship
Arts Administration
As the economies of South Asia continue to modernise, a knowledge of language and culture is likely to become an asset in the world of commerce and international trade.
SOAS Careers Services
The School has a careers service available to all SOAS students while they are at the school, free of charge.
The Careers Service will help with job listings, interviews during ‘milk rounds’, putting together CVs, and even organising postgraduate study.

Combined Honours
Year 1
Hindi 1 (1 unit)
South Asian Culture (1 unit)
2 units in other subject
Year 2
Hindi 2
Readings in Contemporary Hindi
2 units in other subject
Year 3
Study in India
Year 4
Hindi C(1 unit) compulsory
one further Hindi unit from among:
Literature and Colonialism in North India (0.5 unit) Term 1
Narratives of Mobility in Contemporary Hindi Literature (0.5 unit) Term 2
Directed Readings in a South Asian Literature (Hindi)(0.5 Unit) Term 1
An Independent Study Project in South Asian Studies(1 unit)

Hindi is the official language of India and is spoken across the northern states from Rajasthan in the west to Bihar in the east, and from Himachal in the north to Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh towards the south. It is very closely related to Urdu, and somewhat less closely to neighbouring languages such as Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali and Nepali with which it shares the inheritance of Sanskrit. Hindi is the first language of several hundred million speakers, and the second language of many more; it has a rich modern literature, while its regional dialects such as Braj Bhasha and Awadhi are the historical vehicle for religious and court poetry of the medieval period.
The general pattern in combined degrees is that students take two units on the language side and two units on the discipline side of their degree each year.
The degree is designed to give students a high level of competence in speaking, understanding, reading and writing Hindi, and a good knowledge of its cultural context. It assumes no previous knowledge of Hindi or its script, though we do prefer candidates to have some record of successful language-learning, for example an A-level qualification in a European language. Most of the language teaching is done in small classes and is thoroughly interactive, with students being encouraged to use their growing knowledge of Hindi from the very outset; advanced courses are largely taught in Hindi medium. Language courses are assessed by a combination of written and oral examination. The Department’s core course South Asian Culture is taken in the first year, and gives a solid introduction to the broader culture of the region.
BA Hindi is a four year degree, the third year (from September to March) being spent on a ‘Year Abroad’ programme in India: students live with Hindi-speaking families and attend full-time Hindi-medium courses.
The degree offers a progression of courses in the language itself, concentrating on communication skills and using a wide range of source materials including news broadcasts, recordings, video, the internet, and much else besides.
Students are encouraged to take a course in Urdu - Hindi’s ’sister language’ which shares the same basic grammar and vocabulary but which has a script and a cultural orientation derived from Persian; courses in other South Asian languages and subjects are also available.
Final-year options include an Independent Study Project, which gives the student an opportunity to use Hindi sources to pursue a subject of personal interest (in language, literature, politics, culture, religion, the arts and media, or any other aspect of contemporary or historical India), leading to the writing of a 10,000-word dissertation under tutorial supervision; the ISP may form a bridge to link the two halves of this two-subject degree

Two-subject degree students must take and pass a minimum of eight units in Chinese, including all core units, over the course of their four-year programme.
Students must pass at least three units, including all core units, in each year in order to be allowed to proceed to the next year.
Year 1:
All units are compulsory.
Elementary Modern Chinese Language I (101) (CORE)
Elementary Modern Chinese Language II(102) (CORE)
Introduction to Classical Chinese (104) (CORE)
The fourth course unit is taken in the other subject. Note: for most other subjects, this unit will also be considered as CORE, and this will be clearly stated on the web site or in the information provided by the other department. This means that for the majority of two-subject degree students, ALL FOUR Year 1 units are CORE and must be passed in order to proceed.
Year 2: (Compulsory year in Beijing)
All units are compulsory.
Modern Chinese Language and Reading Comprehension (201) (CORE)
Readings in Modern Chinese (202)
Sinological Research Project (203) (CORE)
Basic Classical and Literary Chinese (204)
Year 3:
Two-subject degree students who passed all seven units of Chinese in Years 1 and 2 are required to pass one more course in our department in either Year 3 or Year 4. Naturally they are welcome to take more courses, as long as this fits in with the requirements for the other half of their degree. Students who passed only six units of Chinese prior to Year 3 (because they failed one non-core unit in Year 2) must take and pass at least two more units in Years 3 and 4, or they must re-sit and pass the failed Year 2 unit and pass one more unit in Year 3 or 4.
Available units:
Intermediate Modern Chinese Language I (301)
Intermediate Modern Chinese Language II (302)
Modern Chinese Theatre and Film (303)
Traditional Chinese Language and Literature I (304)
Elementary Cantonese (305)
Year 4:
Two-subject degree students wishing to take 400 level courses can choose from the following. It will normally be expected that they will have successfully passed at least one 300 level course. Exceptions to this rule are made at the discretion of the course convenor.
Available units:
Advanced Modern Chinese Language (401)
BA Dissertation in Chinese Studies (402)
Modern Chinese Literature (403)
Traditional Chinese Language and Literature II (404)
Styles of Modern Chinese Literary Language (405