Find details about studying the MAppLing at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.

The MAppLing, PGDipAppLing, and PGCertAppLing make up a tiered family of qualifications. These are “staircased”, so that courses completed for a smaller qualification can count towards a larger one.

• Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Linguistics (60 points)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics (120 points)
• Master of Applied Linguistics (180 points)

The MAppLing programme is made up of 180 points at 500-level, starting with two compulsory research methods courses: LALS 540 and LALS 541. You’ll choose the remaining 150 points of your degree from LALS 510–584, giving you the freedom to pursue a field of research that appeals to you.

After completing the compulsory preparation courses (LALS 540/LALS 541), you have several options for furthering your research journey. You may apply to enrol in a supervised 15-point research study (LALS 580 or LALS 581), a 30-point research project (LALS 582), a 60-point dissertation (LALS 583), or a 90-point thesis (LALS 584).

With approval from the Programme Director, you may apply to enrol in LALS 580/581 or LALS 582 after completing only one of the research methods courses.

The PGDipAppLing programme is made up of 120 points at 500-level, starting with two compulsory research methods courses: LALS 540 and LALS 541. You’ll choose the remaining 90 points of your degree from LALS 510–583.

To get a balanced understanding of the field, you can take courses from three different areas: teaching practice, language awareness, and language learning.

Courses on offer in the MAppLing programme cover a wide range of topics:

• teaching language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing
• language testing and assessment
• language for specific purposes
• computer-assisted language teaching
• discourse analysis
• formulaic language
• bilingualism and multilingualism
• identity and language
• second language acquisition
• teaching pronunciation
• grammar and vocabulary
• task-based language teaching.

You can start the MAppLing in any trimester—February, July, or November. You’ll typically complete the MAppLing in four trimesters of full-time study, although it is possible to complete it in three trimesters of intensive study.

If you’re studying the PGDipAppLing full time, you’ll study eight courses over two trimesters.

Full-time students can expect a workload of around 40 hours a week. You can estimate your workload by adding up the number of points you’ll be doing. One point is roughly equal to 10 to 12 hours of work.

You’ll be assessed in a range of ways, including through research, assignments, literature reviews, reflective blogs, and the analysis and design of lessons and classroom materials.