Research is undertaken on a chosen topic, leading to the preparation of a thesis of 40,000 words. Research training is provided. Period of registration: one year.
The thesis for a PhD is 80,000 words in length, and the period of registration is normally three years.* Research training is provided. Students who have not already completed a research Masters will normally register for an MPhil in the first instance, and apply to upgrade their registration to a PhD on the basis of progress made.
We also offer a PhD in Applied Linguistics (Sandwich), and PhD in Applied Linguistics (Modular).
There is an active research culture in the department, which is energetically supported by the activities of all its scholars and by a variety of postgraduate research seminars to which students, staff, and invited visiting speakers all contribute. We are always ready to discuss proposals for research topics with prospective students. To find out who researches these areas in the department, please visit our Academic Staff section.
Research interests in the Department cover a wide area and include: British studies, business English, children's literature, corpus linguistics, curriculum and syllabus planning, discourse analysis, discourse intonation, English as an international language, ESP and EAP, forensic linguistics, genre analysis, innovation and evaluation in ELT, integrational and systemic linguistics, language, culture and social change, language policy, lexical studies, lexicography, media studies, new Englishes, stylistics, teacher development, translation studies. Please see individual staff pages for more details about particular interests.
We offer doctoral supervision in a huge variety of topics, theories and genres. The work of postgraduate students is supported within the department by a network of research groups in the following periods: medieval; early modern and Shakespeare; restoration, the eighteenth century and romanticism; and the nineteenth and twentieth century (including Victorianism, modernism, aestheticism, postmodernism and contemporary literature and theory). Please see individual staff pages for more details about particular interests.
To find out about our Areas of Research Execllence, seminars and conferences, please visit our Research section.
For specific academic enquiries about the research programmes in English Language or Applied Linguistics, please contact Dr Alison Sealey. Before sending your query, please check whether it is one of our Frequently Asked Questions.
For specific academic enquiries about the research programmes in English Literature, please contact Dr Marion Thain.
