Description
This is a generalist Master’s programme in the field of Linguistic Science.
The Master’s in Linguistic Science at Université Bordeaux Montaigne offers an advanced training covering all of the key domains that make up linguistics. From the second semester onwards the programme is organised into two distinct subject pathways.
- A research pathway entitled ‘Theory and Description of Language and Languages’.
- A vocational pathway entitled ‘Linguistics: Corpora and Digital Tools’ (including an internship of 420 hours).
Objectives
Programme objectives
The course units offered within the two subject pathways are characterised by their triple identity: they aim to be descriptive, theoretical and applied.
The decision to integrate course units that focus entirely on digital tools and corpora has been made in response to an increasing demand for linguists who, whilst they may not be computer scientists, are able to join multidisciplinary projects and collaborate with information technology teams. This is with a view to carrying out expert evaluation of linguistic data and developing tools and applications linked to human language.
These practical skills have also become indispensable for those who wish to carry out advanced research in the field of linguistics (searching through texts, assembling and analysing corpora, handling oral data etc.).
Students enrolled in this Master’s will develop within a stimulating and friendly atmosphere. They will have the opportunity to mix with other students from a range of different countries and academic backgrounds (linguistic science, foreign languages, literature, psychology, philosophy, computer science etc.).
Training content
Two years of study: Master 1 (M1) and Master 2 (M2)
Master 1: First year of two-year Master’s programme
The first year of study comprises fourteen teaching hours per week and is organised into three unit blocks.
In the first semester:
The Common Core Curriculum unit block includes the following course units:
- Discourse Analysis
- Cognitive Semantics
- Syntax: Recent Theories and Models
- Applied Linguistics and Data Classification.
The Cross-disciplinary Skills unit block includes the following course units:
- Documentation
- English.
The Options unit block comprises three course units to be chosen from the following:
- Sociolinguistics
- Building and Using Corpora
- Digital Tools for Linguistic Analysis
- Comparative Approach to Spoken Communication
- Philosophy of Language
- a ‘taster’ seminar unit from a unit outside the Master’s in Linguistic Science (French as a Foreign Language, Literature, Philosophy etc.).
In the second semester:
The Common Core Curriculum unit block includes the following course units:
- Text Linguistics
- Linguistic Formalisation: Morphology and Syntax
- Phonology: Description and Theory
- Semiotics in Texts.
The Cross-disciplinary Skills unit block includes the following course units:
- Introduction to the World of Professional Research: Organising a Colloquium
- English.
The Options unit block includes one block to be chosen (Block A or Block B):
Block A – ‘Linguistics: Corpora and Digital tools’ including course units on:
- Corpora: Tools and Exploitation
- Corpora-assisted Description of Contemporary French
- a ‘taster’ seminar unit, either from a unit outside of the Master’s in Linguistic Science or from within Block B of this programme.
Block B – ‘Theory and Description of Language and Languages’ including course units on:
- Descriptive Linguistics and Typology: Japanese
- Multilingualism: Issues and Perspectives
- a ‘taster’ seminar unit, either from outside of the Master’s in Linguistic Sciences or from within Block A of this programme.
Master 2: Second year of two-year Master’s programme
The first semester of Master 2 is organised as follows (six and a half teaching hours per week).
The Common Core Curriculum unit block includes the following course units:
- Research Methodology in Linguistic Science
- Seminar unit: ‘Current Research in Linguistics’
- a language course unit entitled Scientific Communication in English.
The subject pathway to be chosen from the following:
- a subject pathway entitled ‘Linguistics: corpora and digital tools’
or
- a subject pathway entitled ‘Theory and Description of Language and Languages’.
The second semester is reserved entirely for the completion of the dissertation and, where relevant, the internship.
Access condition
Find information regarding enrolment procedures and the supporting documents to be provided, according to your profile and your level of studies :
Knowledge and skills
- Maîtriser les connaissances générales et théoriques dans le domaine de la linguistique.
- Savoir mettre en œuvre le recueil, l’analyse, la formalisation de données linguistiques dans leurs dimensions théoriques et techniques et pouvoir en produire une formalisation explicite.
- Rédiger des rapports, publications, mémoires des travaux de recherche en linguistique.
- Élaborer des consignes, protocoles, cahiers des charges, préparer des tests et des essais portant sur des faits linguistiques.
- Concevoir et appliquer des modèles théoriques (calcul, simulation, modélisation).
Career pathways
Employment opportunities
Students may seek employment as:
- linguists
- researchers in linguistics
- experts in lexicology
- scientific communications managers
- technical advisors in communications
- assignment managers (European business and projects, international relations, linguistic politics etc.)
- heads of documentary resources
- scientific researchers and archivists
- document engineers and coordinators.