Communication (NewRoutePhD) - 2012/2013 entry

This NewRoutePhD will help you achieve a critical conceptual understanding of evidence and theory relating to recent developments in the fields. You will then be in a position to apply this understanding to your own professional context.

You will take taught modules as part of your qualifying requirement. The aim of these modules is to help you to gain the skills, knowledge and understanding to engage with and evaluate research and theory. These modules will also enable you to prepare and carry out a research project.

By the end of the programmes, you will be able to:

• present key facts, concepts, ideas and approaches relating to the subjects of your modules and your research in an accurate and coherent way
• collect and critically evaluate information and commentary on research, especially in the areas you select to study
• design, conduct and present a research investigation in a specific area 
• make informed judgements on complex issues in specialist fields
• communicate your ideas and conclusions clearly and effectively to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• demonstrate the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment in professional or equivalent environments.

We also have information about studying at Birkbeck and our PhD courses.

There will be a wide range of generic research training courses offered by the College Research School and the Bloomsbury Postgraduate Skills Network. You will also have the opportunity to present your work annually for discussion by fellow students and staff at seminars.

Find out more about the student support and facilities we offer.

You must achieve an average of 65 per cent in the taught modules and at least 60 per cent in the critical review and in each of the two core modules to be considered a PhD candidate. PhD candidates will need to complete a research project written and presented as a thesis of 45–55,000 words.

Please note: for those who are interested in the areas of TESOL and language teaching, the department would be happy to consider applications in the field of language learning, including the learning process and outcome of one, two or multiple languages in different contexts, intercultural learning and teaching. We are unable to consider any PhD/NewRoutePhD applications at the moment if your interest is in teaching methods, professional development of teachers, assessment, or evaluation. You are strongly advised to read our departmental website, paying particular attention to individual staff’s stated research interests and their latest research publications, and to find a suitable supervisor whose interest matches yours before making an application.

If you are considering applying for MPhil/PhD research in any of these areas, you are advised to contact the department about your research plan before making an application.

• Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele, LicPhilRom, LicDroitEurop&Internat, PhD: Second language acquisition; interlanguage; individual differences, multilingualism and emotion; sociopragmatics; psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics in foreign language production.
• Dr Malcolm Edwards, BA, PhD: Codeswitching and grammar; grammatical theory; translation; Arabic linguistics.
• Dr Penelope Gardner-Chloros, MA, MA, PhD: Bilingualism; sociolinguistics; sociolinguistics of French and modern Greek; codeswitching; language contact; tu/vous terms of address; comparisons between linguistics and history of art.
• Professor Li Wei, DipEd TESOL, BA, MA, PhD: Bilingual and multilingual first language acquisition; codeswitching; social networks and language change; applications of conversation analysis; East Asian philosophies and linguistics.
• Professor Marjorie Lorch, BA, PhD: Neurolinguistics; psycholinguistics; cross-linguistic studies of language use and language disorders; brain structure and language behaviour; nineteenth-century study of the language faculty.
• Dr Lisa J McEntee-Atalianis, BA, PhD: Aphasia; sign language/deaf studies and sociolinguistics; ethnolinguistic vitality; social psychological studies in Cyprus and the autochthonous Greek-Orthodox community of Istanbul; language policy and discourse practices in a London agency of the United Nations; sign language/deaf studies; sociolinguistics of the Greek diaspora; institutional/workplace discourse and identity; English as a global language.
• Dr Rosemary Wilson, BA, CertEd, RSA DipTESOL, MA, PhD: Language teaching methodology; language testing and assessment; learner autonomy; language teacher education; English for academic purposes.
• Professor Zhu Hua, BEng, MA, PhD: Cross-cultural pragmatics; intercultural communication; acquisition and development of pragmatics in young children; phonological awareness; cross-linguistic studies of phonological development and disorder.

• We recommend you apply as early as possible. Later applications may also be considered, subject to availability of places.