You'll complete Waikato's Master of Arts (Applied) (MA(Applied)) by studying papers on specialist topics. Your studies will give you the skills you need to work overseas. You might already be working in a different area of language teaching in New Zealand and are thinking about heading overseas, so you'd like to gain the qualification you need to do this. Some of the topics you'll study are specific to Waikato's MA(Applied). These topics include discourse analysis and teacher cognition studies. Another distinctive topic that's increasing in importance is the theory and concepts of English for academic purposes. When you study this topic, you'll learn how to teach students who are doing higher degrees and research, so you'll develop the skills you need to teach International students doing post-graduate education. You'll be completing a degree that was the first of its kind in New Zealand - the MA(Applied) was introduced in 1992, and was the first applied linguistics degree offered here.

To be eligible to be considered for admission to the MA(Applied), a student should normally have a bachelors degree or Diploma of Teaching, and have successfully completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Second language Teaching (PGDip(SLT)) (or equivalent). Students generally need to have achieved a B average in the PGDip(SLT) (or equivalent) in order to proceed to the MA(Applied). Students whose first language is not English must have an IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 with no band lower than 6.0 or a TOEFL (paper-based) score of 600 including a Test of Written English of 5. All applications are studied by the Progamme and applicants may be asked to attend an interview and/or write an essay. Admission criteria may vary so please consult the appropriate programme Graduate Adviser for their specific admission criteria.