Graduate education is a key strategic feature of Mary Immaculate College s (MIC) mission to enhance the intellectual and professional development of students through excellence in research, teaching and learning in a range of disciplines.
For a number of years, MIC Campus Limerick has offered postgraduate researchers structured PhD programmes in the areas of Education and in the Philosophy of Art and Culture. From September 2016, MIC will provide three new doctoral programmes to research students. These include two new structured PhD programmes in the areas of Applied Linguistics and Development Education and Practice, as well as a professional doctorate programme in Educational and Child Psychology.
The new Structured PhD in Applied Linguistics (PhD AL) is a four-year fulltime programme which includes a combination of taught modules (in year 1 of the programme) and individual research, the principal component being the doctoral thesis. The programme aims to enhance the professional knowledge of language teachers and language professionals by focusing on the core features of language as a system (grammar, lexis and phonology), language learning and acquisition, as well as language in its broader societal context. The taught modules will be offered in a face-to-face environment and blended learning will be used to offer flexibility for learners.
The core educational principle of the programme is that it will be research-led and will entail engaging with cutting-edge research across a range of sub-fields of Applied Linguistics. This will mean promoting enquiry-based learning by posing real world problems relating to language use and acquisition. The fostering of critical thinking is also core to the educational principles of the programme. Students will be challenged throughout the programme to engage critically with received models of language use and acquisition. A range of pedagogical strategies will be deployed to promote active research-led learning and scholarship. Residential summer schools will also be a key component of the programme and will allow students to engage with high profile Applied Linguists and also to present their own research, with the aim of enhancing their development as independent researchers
