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Intercultural Communication MA

London, Bloomsbury

This MA explores intercultural communication through a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. The understanding you gain will equip you to investigate in new ways questions around language, culture and diversity, helping you to overcome barriers to understanding while also preparing you for research, policy and practice in applied language studies, education and the workplace in a superdiverse and communicatively complex world.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2022/23)
£10,800
£5,400
Overseas tuition fees (2022/23)
£24,000
£12,000
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2022
Applications accepted
All applicants: 18 Oct 2021 – 31 Mar 2022

Applications closed

Notification

Application closes at 17:00 GMT.

Entry requirements

Normally a minimum of a second-class UK Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject (e.g. English, languages, linguistics, and communication), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard is required.

If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency.

The English language level for this programme is: Good

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level. International Preparation Courses

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

This programme is suitable for international students on a Student visa – study must be full-time, face-to-face, starting October.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

This programme will provide you with interdisciplinary insights into intercultural communication, drawing upon applied linguistic, anthropological, sociological, language educational and cultural studies perspectives. It will also develop your capacity to analyse, evaluate and synthesise sociocultural and linguistic data, primary and secondary sources, as well as helping you to design research.

Who this course is for

This programme is suitable for anyone with a keen interest in issues of communication across languages and cultures. In addition to language educators and communications professionals, it is also directed at graduates in languages, linguistics, education and all those with an interest in critical understandings of language, culture and identity.
Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

The Department of Culture, Communication and Media (CCM) is committed to excellence in teaching, research and consultancy across a range of areas including intercultural communication.

Our rich research culture will bring you into contact with thriving IOE research centres whose work feeds into our teaching and our wide range of internal and public events. These include the Centre for Applied Linguistics, which conducts research in areas such as bilingualism and multilingualism, linguistic ethnography, semiotics and language education policy and practice.

The IOE also has an International Centre for Intercultural Studies which develops innovative thinking in relation to the study of diversity, equity and social justice in education. The work of these two centres provides the basis for the knowledge and thinking behind this MA.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

This programme not only provides you with an outstanding foundation for PhD research and an academic career but will also prepare you to develop yourself internationally in areas such as education, communications or public relations. Group discussions and debates in class will help you to acquire strong presentation and negotiation skills. Likewise, the analytical and research skills you will gain are highly valued by employers from a range of sectors. Additional activities are available both within the department and the wider IOE and UCL community to help you to develop your employability through public talks, seminars and other networking opportunities.

Employability

Graduates of this programme will include university and college lecturers, researchers, education professionals and others working, or planning to work, in diverse cultural and linguistic settings. Fields might include international schooling, NGOs, international development, international commercial enterprise, communications, consultancy and relevant academic disciplines.

Teaching and learning

This programme is delivered through lectures, supervisory tutorials, student presentations and class discussions. Within sessions, students often engage in individual, pair and group tasks for feedback in plenary. Students are assessed through written coursework, oral presentation and the final Dissertation. Alternative modes of assessment may be a feature of some modules.

Students spend about 20% of their time in lectures, seminars, or one-to-one supervisions. The remainder is dedicated to preparing for lectures and seminars, and pursuing students' own interests via independent study.

Modules

The programme consists of one compulsory module (30 credits), one compulsory research dissertation (60 credits), and three optional modules (90 credits).

Compulsory modules:

Intercultural Communication: Concepts, Theories and Issues

The module is concerned with conceptions of culture, sociocultural practice and identity in human communication. It considers the historical, political and economic conditions under which cultural beliefs and practices are formulated and realised through the semiotic resources which people draw upon in diverse cultural contexts, locally and internationally. The module aims introduce students to the field of intercultural communication by problematising fixed and essentialised popular assumptions around cultures and what these are so as to develop a more critical understanding and appreciation of what intercultural communication can entail and mean.

Dissertation Intercultural Communication 

The aims of this module are to enable students to:

  • develop an ability to carry out a sustained and systematic piece of academic or professional enquiry
  • develop research literacy, namely the capacity to act on an awareness of the benefits, limitations, values and impact of research in the field
  • increase their knowledge and understanding of different approaches to research and to develop the capacity to apply this appropriately to a piece of small-scale enquiry
  • reflect critically on the benefits and limitations of their own and others’ research
  • make a contribution to the overall body of knowledge about communication and/or policy
  • improve their practice through their engagement in either an evidence-based or literature-based enquiry.

Optional modules: (Find more optional modules at the list below)

Language and Interculturality 

The module is designed to allow students to reconfigure and problematise intercultural communication in respect of practices such as tolerance, curiosity, openness, altruistic concern and care, as these are notions that transpire, or should transpire through the process of intercultural communication in diverse settings. Sessions will aim to discuss issues in communicative practice in the circumstances of linguistic diversity and cultural difference. The aim of this module is to lead towards a reflection and applied practices on the potentialities and limitations of complex understandings of language and culture in relation to intercultural communication.

Intercultural Communication and the Foreign Language Classroom 

The module will explore the interface between second language learning theory and research, and foreign language teaching policy and practice with a particular focus on interculturality. It will provide a better understanding of wider policy contexts to develop an understanding of the potential of those to influence methodology. The module will broaden and develop theoretical and practical understandings of foreign language instruction with the aim of enhancing professional agency and developing innovative teachers.

The programme consists of one compulsory module (30 credits), one compulsory research dissertation (60 credits), and three optional modules (90 credits).

The programme consists of one compulsory module (30 credits), one compulsory research dissertation (60 credits), and three optional modules (90 credits).

Compulsory modules




Optional modules










Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability is subject to change.

Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Intercultural Communication.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support & Wellbeing team.

Visit us

All open days and events

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: TESOL, Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Communication

Watch the presentation from our programme team and find out what it's like to study Graduate programmes in TESOL, Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Communication at IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society.

Watch on demand event

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: Applying for Graduate Study at UCL

The Applying to UCL for graduate study session took place in December 2021. The session, covered by our Graduate Admissions and Student Recruitment teams, provides helpful information about the process of applying for graduate study, as well as offering an insight into what we consider to be a competitive application.

Watch on demand event

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2022/23) £10,800 £5,400
Tuition fees (2022/23) £24,000 £12,000

Additional costs

Students should take into account any travel, accommodation and expenses involved in their dissertation.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Digital Media Programme Bursary

Now closed for 2022/23
Value: £5,000 (One year)
Criteria Based on financial need
Eligibility: UK

IOE Windle Trust Scholarship

Value: Full tuition fees and some allowances (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

IOE-Clarke Scholarships

Deadline: 2 May 2022
Value: Tuition fees and a stipend (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

IOE-ISH Centenary Masters Scholarships

Deadline: 2 May 2022
Value: Full tuition fees and accommodation (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Intercultural Communication at graduate level
  • why you want to study Intercultural Communication at UCL IOE
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
  • how your academic and/or professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your MA degree Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

    Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes in any application cycle.

    • Got questions? Get in touch

    Culture, Communication and Media Department
    Culture, Communication and Media Department

    ma.icc@ucl.ac.uk

    UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.