Pla d'estudis Màster Oficial - English Studies: Linguistic, Literary and Sociocultural Perspectives

Guies docents dels mòduls

1. Research Methods in English Studies

This subject serves as an introduction to the principal approaches and research methods in the fields of linguistics, literature, and cultural studies. It provides a general overview of the fundamentals of research, including the problem, objectives, questions, thesis, and research ethics, as well as the main epistemological and methodological differences amongst various approaches. It also offers a more detailed examination of the following perspectives: (a) quantitative methods, introducing the principles of experimental design, quantitative data analysis, and statistical interpretation of results (descriptive statistics); (b) qualitative methods, exploring the principles and practices of ethnography and the qualitative and interpretive analysis of linguistic data; (c) textual analysis, identifying stylistic features and the underlying structure of texts, and interprets their content using the main theoretical frameworks; and (d) archival research, familiarising students with search techniques and document analysis in both digital and physical archives for researching linguistic or literary corpora.

2. English in a Global Context: Linguistic Varieties and Literary-Cultural Productions

Nowadays, English holds the status of an official language or a language of prestige and education in numerous countries worldwide, a legacy of the British Empire and a consequence of the emergence of the United States as a global superpower in the 20th century. This subject provides a linguistic overview—including vocabulary, pronunciation, and morphosyntactic differences—of different varieties of English, both spoken and written, around the world. These varieties are studied from the perspectives of geographical origin, historical development, social class, age, ethnicity, and gender. Regional idioms, accents, and creoles, observed in both literary and cultural texts such as speeches, songs, and films, will be analysed as examples or case studies. The course also explores the differences between standard and non-standard varieties and challenges stereotypes of how ‘good’ English should be spoken and written.

3. Language Technologies Applied to English Studies

This subject is an introduction to how the use of technology can influence the various thematic areas covered in this master’s programme. Firstly, it explores applications and tools useful in the field of language teaching, which facilitate the modification of classroom dynamics with the goal of achieving student-centred learning and promoting motivation, autonomy, and self-regulation. Secondly, students are introduced to the use of technologies in language analysis, including: 1) Corpus Linguistics and the Internet as a corpus; 2) tools in lexicometry for stylistic analysis; and 3) technologies that facilitate work in translation. Finally, students also become familiar with tools and technologies used in editing and online publishing of content, as well as in searching for digital documentary sources, both primary and secondary.

4. Writing Research

This subject provides the academic writing techniques and strategies to guide students through the preliminary stages of the writing process. Students learn how to structure a research paper, identify the register, audience, and the required level of precision and formality, find and evaluate sources, contextualise the topic, and position their study within the theoretical framework—particularly focussing on coherence, cohesion, and the strength of the claim—and write an abstract. The course, designed to be essentially practical, relies on the students’ written production to address the typical linguistic and stylistic problems they encounter and helps them convey ideas clearly and effectively through the appropriate use of vocabulary and syntactic structures.

5. Conflict, War and Trauma in Anglophone Literature and Culture

War, as a pervasive theme in the literature and culture of the English-speaking world, stretches across various geographies and historical periods. This is largely due to the devastating wars of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Yet, war trauma extends beyond the battlefield, encompassing racial tensions and social conflicts, and drawing upon the complex layers of memory and postmemory to inspire a variety of literary and cultural narratives. This subject aims to achieve three main objectives: 1) introduce students to a wide range of texts that address themes of conflict, war, trauma and memory across various genres, including both fiction and non-fiction, and spanning literary and audiovisual media. 2) provide an in-depth exploration of how conflict, war, trauma and memory are represented, offering insights into the theoretical frameworks that underpin these portrayals. 3) develop the students’ ability to conduct advanced literary and cultural analysis, focusing on the complex examination of these critical themes.

6. Gender and the Body in Narrative Discourse

The main objective of this subject is to study the articulation and representation of the body throughout different periods of narrative discourse, genres and platforms, with a particular focus on the body as a site for the intersection of cultural discourses. We interrogate the body as a cultural construct that shapes our notions of authorship in a text and how literary discourses alter our understanding of the body and its relationship with both the individual author and its readers. From novels and short stories to graphic fiction and non-fiction, this course explores methodological approaches and primary sources that read the body critically, while engaging in debates on how narratives shape public discourses on sexual identities and conceptualise a notion of the body that transcends its physicality.

7. Environmental Ethics in Literary Culture

This subject introduces students to a wide range of literary and theoretical texts that raise critical questions about our ethical responsibilities towards both the nonhuman and human others that inhabit and shape our environment. The selected texts encourage students to view the environment not just as ‘nature’ but as a complex web of relationships in which human and nonhuman beings interact, and in which ecological crises like climate change are intertwined with geopolitical issues such as the refugee crisis. Through this course, students learn about and engage with diverse critical approaches, including political ecology, new materialism, ecofeminism, postcolonial ecocriticism, studies on pollution and waste, disaster studies, and climate justice. Students develop the skills to articulate, both orally and in writing, how literature serves as a unique medium for voicing these concerns and envisioning possible solutions.

8. Reading Critically in English for the Contemporary Humanities

The digital age presents numerous challenges for the humanities, including a massive increase in the availability of specialised sources and an amplification of the specific academic, social, and political currents these sources endorse. While the increased volume and access to resources are beneficial, the need to understand implicit objectives in textual sources becomes increasingly critical. This course offers a practical approach to the critical analysis of academic texts; it aims to evaluate and unravel their underlying discourse, revealing hidden power structures, textual legitimisation, and the reflection or support of systemic prejudice. The course introduces key issues in Critical Literacy (CL), Discourse Analysis (DA), and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), distinguishing between these approaches, and identifying and evaluating the latent social/political positions present in texts. It also focuses on the subjectivity/objectivity of authors, their positioning, and identity strategies.

9. Issues and Challenges in Second/Foreign Language Acquisition

This subject introduces students to the study of foreign or second language (L2) acquisition, focusing on languages learned after the first language in either an immersion or instructional setting. It analyses the acquisition of various language components, including word and sentence structure, speech sound structure, and lexicon, while reviewing key concepts and factors relevant to acquiring an L2 or foreign language. The course also familiarises students with the principal theoretical approaches and models related to L2 or foreign language acquisition, examining the main hypotheses, significant empirical findings, and the challenges encountered in this research area. Through assigned readings and classroom activities, students gain an introduction to the specific methods used for data collection and analysis in this field.

10. Language, Inequality and Globalisation

Language in a changing world context plays a key role in both the social processes that produce inequality and those that promote activism and social justice. Language is deeply embedded in relations of identity and power, which are realised in everyday practices of meaning making. Taking a critical sociolinguistic perspective, we will examine a variety of contexts that illustrate the contradictions, ambivalences, alternatives and ideologies speakers navigate in institutional, leisure and workspaces. The understanding of language and societal discourses as actions and practices, combined with the use of interpretive and ethnographic methods, provides ways to analyse linguistic diversity, multilingualism, and the role of English in today’s world in a complex and situated manner.

11. Principles and Practices of English Language Teaching

This subject aims to introduce students to various approaches and methods of teaching English as a foreign language, as well as the principles and practices of classroom management and lesson planning. It addresses the main challenges and techniques in teaching vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation in the context of learning English as a foreign language. Furthermore, the course focusses on the individual factors of learning that influence the learning process, teaching practice, and course design. Based on the study of the main theoretical approaches to language learning and their methodological principles, students critically evaluate different teaching methods and practices in relation to various age groups, contexts, and learning objectives. The course also intends to analyse real teaching practices through classroom observations and the development and micro-teaching of tasks and activities.

12. Internship

The aim of this subject is to introduce students to professional practices and research methodologies, along with their specific applications and areas of action. The module offers students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through internships at educational centres, research groups, or in other institutions partnered with the UAB. Alternatively, students can suggest their own host institution, pending approval from the coordinators of the module. By the end of this course, students have a solid understanding of the professional reality within different areas of intervention.

13. Master’s Degree Dissertation

In this subject, students undertake independent research on a topic previously approved and related to the content of the master’s programme or the faculty’s area of expertise, under the guidance of a supervising tutor. They are expected to define clear research objectives, employ suitable methodologies, and achieve outcomes that meet these objectives. Students must also present and defend their work to a review panel.