Courses of Study

The Master's course “German Linguistics” (or “Applied Linguistics” as of 2019) is a research-oriented and consecutive course of study, designed for a duration of two years. For example, you can take up this Master's course after completing the Darmstadt Joint Bachelor, provided that you chose the sub-area German Studies. However, you are also very welcome if you come from another university or from related (linguistics-oriented) Bachelor's or teacher training courses.

The course of studies aims to provide you with sound text competencies in the area of Linguistics and to enable you to work on practical research questions in the fields of Linguistics and research on multilingualism. Here, text competencies are to be understood as sophisticated production, reception, and criticism of texts – as well as the ability to reconstruct knowledge from texts and, conversely, use them as an instrument to pass on knowledge.

In the first part, the course of studies is aimed at in-depth competences in the research areas of writing research, Variational Linguistics, and Textual and Discourse Linguistics. However, what is special about the Master's course of Linguistics is the subsequent elective required subject areas which it is possible to acquire further in-depth knowledge in two different sub-areas. You can choose between the thematic focus

(1) “literacy”, in particular with regard to the context of “work-related language”

or the thematic focus

(2) “German as a Foreign and Second Language (DaF / DaZ)”.

In the scope of thematic focus 1, we discuss and develop possible approaches to communicative challenges in work-related situations, especially with regard to image and knowledge communication in the context of different occupational fields or working contexts (such as Economics, Media, Science, Law, Sport, etc.). You can add interdisciplinary courses, and you have to complete an internship. In the scope of thematic focus 2, we discuss concepts and theories of language teaching in the context of DaF/DaZ, addressing questions of research on multilingualism. Here, you will be concerned with project-oriented work as well (for example in the SchreibCenter of the TU), and you also have to complete an internship.