Has anyone done a UK Phd in Linguistics (particularly sociolinguistics)?

Question

I'm about to complete a degree in English Literature and Linguistics and I'd really love to continue with linguistics. I love sociolinguistics and would actually miss it! The thing is, the courses I've looked at so far are more - how do I put it? - 'structure-based' (grammar, syntax, semantics, etc) but I want to focus on sociolinguistics in particular. Has anyone done that and did you enjoy it? Could you also tell me how long it took and do you have to do a masters before the Phd?

Answer 1

I have done a masters, although not in this subject. You are very likely to find a Masters in sociolinguistics at a uk university. Some masters are taught, so they are very much like a continuation of doing your degree- attending lectures and tutorials etc.

They do one in essex - which you can find through this link
http://www.findamasters.com/search/showcourse.asp?btype=3&cour_id=5239

They usually require a 2:1 or at least a 2:2 pass in your degree- a 1st is obviously preferable, though not necessary for both masters and a phd.

You can do a phd without doing a masters first. The difference is that you basically study on your own far more, with less interaction with tutors or lectures. Also, you have to come up with an area you wish to research and put forward a proposal of study, which would be a very small part of sociolinguistics as in a phd you are trying to discover something new.

If you wish to do a phd, it may be worth seeing if you can do it at your current uni. Discuss with one of the tutors what you wish to research etc and see if they can be your tutor.

Money is the key issue here. Unless you can get funding from somewhere like the ESRC
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/opportunities/

You would have to pay tuition fees and living expensives- there are no student loans for post grads. This is the biggest obstacle- if you have the money for the fees, most uni's can't resist to take you on!

masters take a year to do
phd's take 3 years to do.