General entry requirements

Minimum requirements

2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

English language requirements

You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:

• Band A with a minimum of 6.5 in Writing for IELTS

International qualifications

We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.

For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.

Additional requirements

There are no additional entry requirements for this course.

Core modules

Understanding Culture

While the idea of culture can seem relatively straightforward, how we understand it has become quite a contested area in the study of intercultural communication. This module will give you a better understanding of the idea of culture, introducing a range of conceptualisations of culture that have been developed in different disciplinary areas. Importantly, you’ll gain a critical perspective on culture and a deeper understanding of your own experience of communicating interculturally in everyday life and in the workplace.

Exploring Professional Communication

Communication plays a central role in business and other professions. This module will introduce you to theoretical approaches, models and concepts that will help you understand the complexities of professional communication in different socio-cultural contexts. You’ll explore a wide range of authentic examples that occurred in different workplaces around the world. The module develops your ability to identify, describe, and analyse different types of communication in various professions, using different analytical and theoretical frameworks and approaches.

Culture, Identity and Adaptation

This module focuses on recent research in the area of cultural identity, adaptation, and growth. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, it explores major theories of cultural adaptation, including stress, learning, and identity. The module also provides you with the opportunity to start researching these issues for yourself. The practical development sessions will enable you to reflect on your own identity and cultural adaptation, promoting your own growth towards intercultural personhood. Assessment is by a reflective portfolio and analytical commentary on your reflection.

Leadership, Teamwork and Culture

What is leadership? What is teamwork? And what role does culture play in this context? This module will address those questions by introducing you to theoretical approaches, models and concepts that will help you understand the complexities of leadership, teamwork and culture. It focuses on the crucial role of communication and follows some of the most recent debates around leadership, teamwork, and culture. You’ll analyse these notions in action by exploring numerous real-life examples of how leadership and teamwork are actually done in different socio-cultural and intercultural contexts.

Research Methods

This module will familiarise you with current issues in researching culture and communication in business and professional contexts. It will help you develop essential skills in designing a research project. You’ll be introduced to a range of data collection methods and analytical approaches, as well as up-to-date ethical issues in research. Term One will focus on quantitative research methods and Term Two will focus on qualitative methods. The module is designed to prepare you to begin work on your dissertation at the end of Term Two.

Dissertation, or Experiential Placement and Major Project

You’ll be allocated a supervisor who will provide guidance in Term Three during the process of carrying out your own research.

Optional modules

Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

• Crisis Communication
• Globalisation and Diversity in the Workplace
• International Business
• Intercultural Coaching and Development
• Intercultural Competence and Assessment
• Language and Interaction in Context
• Management Across Cultures
• Marketing Across Cultures
• Media and Intercultural Communication
• Public Relations Across Cultures

Teaching

Lectures, seminars, workshops and experiential practice sessions. In addition, you will carry out guided reading and complete assessed work for each module, such as assignments, portfolios of materials and oral presentations.

You will be introduced to research methodologies which will help you carry out your research for your dissertation or major project. You will complete this in the summer with the support of a supervisor. Several of the modules will also help prepare you for living and working in an unfamiliar culture.

Class sizes

Class size will vary depending on type of module (core or optional) and teaching session (lecture or seminar), ranging from around 10 students (for some optional modules) to around 80 students (for core module lectures).

Typical contact hours

There are 10 weeks in each term. For both Terms One and Two, you will usually have 8 weeks of teaching contact with the remainder of each term dedicated to module related reading, assignment work and optional tutorials.

Assessment

Programmes within the department of Applied Linguistics are assessed through a variety of methods. Examples of the types work you might submit for assessment include individual academic essays or research assignments, examinations, group projects and presentations.

Reading lists

If you would like to view reading lists for current or previous cohorts of students, most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library on the Talis Aspire platformLink opens in a new window. 

You can search for reading lists by module title, code or convenor. Please see the modules tab of this page or the module catalogue. 

Please note that some reading lists may have restricted access or be unavailable at certain times of year due to not yet being published. If you cannot access the reading list for a particular module, please check again later or contact the module’s host department.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you, and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

Your career

Previous MSc graduates from the department have gone on to work for employers including: Credit Suisse, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), OPPO, Henkel, MIPOW Ltd, Reuters PR, Millward Brown, Samsung Chemical, Braun and IPSOS.

Graduates have pursued roles as management consultants, marketing and communication executives, public relations managers, human resources managers, brand promotion specialists and advertising account managers, business analysts and business reporters, financial project management professionals, international development managers, further education professionals, journalists, newspaper and periodical editors, and research and development managers.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• CV Workshop
• Interview preparation
• Making the most of your time at Warwick and securing work experience opportunities
• Securing placements and work experience
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year

Applied Linguistics at Warwick

Apply your learning from day one.

With a history dating back to 1983, Applied Linguistics at Warwick has diversified over the years from a main focus on English language teaching and teacher education to include expertise in areas such as: intercultural communication, professional communication, the sociolinguistics of language use, the teaching and learning of languages other than English.

Find out more about us on our website.

Our Postgraduate Taught courses

• Intercultural Communication for Business and the Professions (MSc)
• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (MA)

Our Postgraduate Research courses

• Applied Linguistics (MPhil/PhD)
• Discourse Studies (MPhil/PhD)
• English Language Teaching (MPhil/PhD)
• English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (MPhil/PhD)
• Intercultural Communication (MPhil/PhD)
• Linguistics (MPhil/PhD)

Tuition fees

Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.

Find your taught course fees  

Fee Status Guidance

We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.

Do you need your fee classification to be reviewed?

If you believe that your fee status has been classified incorrectly, you can complete a fee status assessment questionnaire. Please follow the instructions in your offer information and provide the documents needed to reassess your status.

Find out more about how universities assess fee status

Additional course costs

As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.

For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).

Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:

• Core text books
• Printer credits
• Dissertation binding
• Robe hire for your degree ceremony

Scholarships and bursaries

Please visit our departmental MSc in Intercultural Communication for Business and the Professions webpage to find out more about our departmental scholarships and bursaries and how to apply under the ‘Fees and funding’ tab.

How to apply

Applications are now open for courses that start in September and October 2025.

Applications will close on 2 August 2025 for students who require a visa to study in the UK, to allow time to receive a CAS and complete the visa application process.

How to apply for a postgraduate taught course