What I’m interested in
I chose to study MSc Linguistics because I’m primarily interested in both sociolinguistics & linguistics education. In other words, the relationship between language and society, then how this research is then taught to people. Before coming to York, I worked as an A-level English Language teacher at a Sixth Form College in Hampshire. This allowed me to really get stuck in with the teaching of linguistics. It also helped me to communicate to young people the power language has to change lives.
Language is a major part of our identity. Communicating to people the influence of educational policy and social biases have on how people feel about the way they talk is something I really care about. One module I’m looking at explores how large language models like chatGPT can potentially perpetuate negative stereotypes about the way that various people speak when asked to produce text in a particular way. This is really interesting.
With that being said, I think Dialect Grammar of British English has been my favourite module so far. I find dialectology fascinating, so producing research on a particular grammatical variable has been interesting from a linguistic standpoint. Beyond that, it’s also helped me develop useful skills in quantitative data analysis and Microsoft Excel. Schools and employers find these skills really valuable.
I looked at perceptions of non-standard subject verb agreement in the younger generation of Hampshire. This meant that I could continue to develop a repertoire of research specifically in a niche area of interest. Next semester I’m especially looking forward to taking Advanced Topics in Language Variation and Change and Sociophonetics.
Why York?
Since studying my undergrad at another university back in 2018, I’ve wanted to study at York I studied English Language and Literature. But, I soon realised that my real passion was mainly language and linguistics. After I completed my PGCE and started teaching, I wanted to go back to university to study linguistics. York was the only uni I applied to, as it has such strong research strengths in the subject.
The Department also runs the ‘English Language Toolkit‘, a CPD workshop for teachers. I’ve attended this for several years. I’m doing a talk at the next conference about how these materials can be used in the classroom. This is great for my own professional development. I’ve found there’s been lots of opportunities like this at the University to develop my career and bring my experience to the table. This is definitely another positive of studying here.
Returning to education and advancing my career
As a mature student, I was admittedly a little nervous about returning to university after a few years, especially when it came to making friends and getting to know people. Fortunately, the community at the University has been great. I’ve met lots of new people who I can firmly call my friends, both on my course and also from various clubs, societies and social events ran throughout the semester.
I’ve also found the staff in the Department to be brilliant. Support staff answer all your questions and lecturers deliver content with genuine enthusiasm that really adds to the experience. Lecturers will adapt their teaching to meet the needs of everyone. They’ll also happily go over content again to make sure we’re all on the same page. As a teacher myself, I understand this is really important for making sure all students get the most out of a module.
I enjoyed my undergraduate degree, but I’ve learned so much more linguistics-specific information in one semester here than I did in 3 years back then. I have developed skills in specific software like Praat and Corpus Data, knowledge of various theoretical perspectives I didn’t know existed. I have fully begun to understand why this subject means so much to me.
Overview
Ultimately, I think the main thing I’ve learned from my time at York so far is to take every opportunity you can to follow your passions and never be afraid to put ideas out into the world. You never know what might come your way as a result!
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