Language and Communication, M.A.

The formal admission requirement for the master’s program in Language and Communication is a first university degree in the humanities, education, social sciences, human sciences, natural sciences, engineering, technology, medicine, or an artistic-scientific discipline, or a related teacher training degree.

The Language and Communication master’s program is taught in German. If you are applying with a foreign school-leaving certificate, you must provide proof of German skills at a specific level. This is a prerequisite for admission. As some courses and professional literature are in English, you must submit proof of English skills at CEFR level B2.

The master's program consists of a compulsory component (18 credit points), a broadly-based compulsory elective component (39 credit points), and an elective component (18 credit points). Within the compulsory elective component, you can choose one of two areas of focus: cognitive media linguistics or applied communication and linguistics (15 credit points). Students complete the program by writing a master’s thesis (30 credit points).

There is a proposed course schedule for the degree program. This is a recommendation for how to complete the degree program within the standard period of study of four semesters and for which modules to take in which semester. While this proposed course schedule is ideal on paper, it is not mandatory. It is simply an example of how to successfully schedule and shape your studies. You can find the course schedule in the program’s study and examination regulations.

The master’s degree program consists of modules which combine curriculum content on a specific topic and include various study and teaching formats such as seminars, lectures, practical tutorials, projects, and integrated courses. Students are required to earn a specific number of credit points and complete certain coursework and assessments in each module.

A current overview of all modules in the program can be found in the module catalogue available in TU Berlin’s module transfer system (MTS). The MTS also provides an overview of which modules are mandatory for your degree program and which are elective. Detailed module descriptions provide information on the content, learning outcomes, participation requirements, workload, assessment methods, and much more. The module catalogue is based on the study and exam regulations. The most current version of the regulations applies to applicants.

You can complete various labs during the compulsory elective component. Additionally, you can complete a five-week internship during the elective component of the program.

The degree program is designed to enable you to incorporate a stay abroad into your studies while remaining within the standard period of study. The study abroad officer in the faculty will assist you with selecting a university and creating a course schedule.

The master’s program provides you with sound knowledge of current theories and their methodologies as well as the ability to reflect on them. You are further able to apply methodological tools in the research of linguistic communication and implement this knowledge in different fields of practice. You acquire the skills to develop processes and apply these within a number of disciplines. This applies to, among other areas, the production and processing of acoustic, psychological, and linguistic information by humans, in relation to the human-machine relationship and in relation to the transmission and use of information by technical means and equipment.

As many disciplines and academic chairs contribute to teaching in the compulsory elective component of the curriculum, you are able to advance your technical and interdisciplinary skills in the program. Students who chose the cognitive media linguistics area of focus use the theoretical and methodological framework of cognitive linguistics to investigate:

•   How language through its double function as a cognitive system of knowledge and instrument of communication conveys content of consciousness, for example in political communication,

•   How media reporting controls opinion formation processes,

•   How language awakens persuasive greediness (for example in advertising) and

•   How language conveys or fuels emotional prejudices such as racism, extremism, and antisemitism.

In the applied communication and linguistics area of focus you concentrate on the causal fabric of oral communication in the audiovisual media world. You learn to analyze the effects of voice and way of speaking from a psychological and phonetic perspective. Research into the effect of spoken language also includes everyday communication in non-public spaces. You are able to use voice and speech analyses to investigate speakers’ emotional states and their personality traits.

The diverse methods skills you gain equip you with a great degree of flexibility in the work you pursue. Areas and professions graduates can work in include:

•   Linguistic consulting in radio and television as well as a speech coach,

•   Public relations, for example as a press officer

•   The analysis of speech effects in political and operational communication as well as opinion research institutes,

•   International business and cultural communication and cultural administration,

•   As an expert in language signal processing in telecommunications,

•   Forensic science (speaker identification)

•   Machine language processing

•   Software companies and publishers (teaching materials, lexicons)

•   Organizational and editorial tasks in media organizations, for instance (newspaper) publishers, television and radio stations, news agencies, online editorial teams,

•   Political communication,

•   Corporate communication,

•   Communication training,

•   Social media management,

•   Media-specific project management and media-specific idea and concept development,

•   Opinion research,

•   Scientific institutions

Guidance and choosing the right degree program: Academic Advising Service

Questions about the degree program: Course Guidance

General questions: Student Info Services

Application and enrollment: Office of Student Affairs - Graduate Admissions

Recognition of previously acquired credits: Examination Board

Further information about the Master's program