Arts & Humanities

Master of Arts in English and Linguistics

The Master of Arts in English and Linguistics is a postgraduate programme offered at four Kenyan universities, providing advanced training in the description, analysis, and study of the English language and linguistic phenomena. The programme prepares graduates for careers in language education, research, translation, and communication.

The curriculum covers linguistic form description, English structure, sociolinguistics, field methods, discourse analysis, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, language planning, and research methodology. Students develop analytical skills for describing language structure, studying language in social context, and conducting linguistic fieldwork.

Admission requires a bachelor's degree with at least a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) in English, linguistics, or a related discipline from a recognised university. Some institutions require a minimum grade B in English and linguistics courses at undergraduate level. Applicants with a Lower Second Class Honours and relevant experience may also be considered. The programme is offered full-time and part-time over two years.

The programme is accredited by the Commission for University Education (CUE) and delivered through the schools of humanities and social sciences at Chuka University, Kenyatta University, Machakos University, and Pwani University. Kenyatta University offers the most established programme with a comprehensive curriculum.

Career prospects include roles in language teaching, linguistic research, translation and interpretation, language planning, curriculum development, publishing, communications, and academia. Graduates work in educational institutions, research organisations, government language services, publishing houses, and international organisations requiring language expertise.

The programme addresses the need for trained linguists and language professionals in Kenya, where multilingualism, language policy, and English language education are significant national concerns. With growing attention to African language documentation, language planning, and communication across diverse linguistic contexts, demand for advanced linguistic expertise continues to grow.

Skills Required

Linguistic analysis and description
Phonological and morphological analysis
Syntactic and semantic analysis
Sociolinguistic research
Discourse analysis
Linguistic field methods
English language structure description
Research methodology in linguistics
Language planning and policy analysis
Translation and interpretation theory

Key Subjects

Description of Linguistic Form
Structure of Modern English
Linguistic Field Methods
Sociolinguistics
Discourse Analysis
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics and Pragmatics
Research Methodology

Certifications

Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Membership
TESOL International Association Certification
International Phonetic Association Certification
Modern Language Association (MLA) Membership

Specializations

Theoretical Linguistics

Focuses on the scientific study of language structure including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Sociolinguistics

Examines the relationship between language and society, including language variation, multilingualism, language contact, and language attitudes.

Applied Linguistics

Applies linguistic theory to practical contexts including language teaching, translation, language planning, and communication.

Discourse Analysis

Analyses spoken and written discourse, including conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, and text linguistics.

Language Documentation and Field Methods

Focuses on documenting and describing African languages, including field methods, data collection, and language archiving.

Psycholinguistics

Studies the psychological processes involved in language acquisition, comprehension, and production.

Duration: 2 years
Public, up to: Ksh 216,000
Private, up to: Ksh 178,126
Job market: Moderate

The programme

What you study, how long it takes, and how it is delivered.

Practicalities

Study mode: Full-time, Part-time, School-based
Attachment: 0 months
Average class: 20 students
Award: Masters

What you study

10 subjects

Description of Linguistic Form
Structure of Modern English
Linguistic Field Methods
Sociolinguistics
Discourse Analysis
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Semantics and Pragmatics
Research Methodology

Modules

11 in the programme

The Description of Linguistic Form
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Foundations of linguistic analysis covering the description and analysis of linguistic forms across languages.
Structure of Modern English
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Analysis of the structure of modern English including phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Linguistic Field Methods
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Methods for collecting, analysing, and documenting linguistic data in field settings, including elicitation techniques and language documentation.
Sociolinguistics
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Relationship between language and society, including variation, multilingualism, language contact, and language attitudes.
Discourse Analysis
Year 1Semester 23 creditsElective
Analysis of spoken and written discourse, including conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, and text linguistics.
Phonology
Year 1Semester 23 creditsElective
Study of sound systems in language, including phonological theory, feature systems, and phonological processes.
Syntax
Year 1Semester 23 creditsElective
Study of sentence structure, including syntactic theory, phrase structure, transformations, and grammatical analysis.
Language as Communication
Year 2Semester 33 creditsCore
Examination of language as a communicative tool, including pragmatics, speech act theory, and communication theory.
Advanced Grammar
Year 2Semester 33 creditsCore
Advanced study of grammatical theory and analysis, including contemporary approaches to syntactic and morphological description.
Psycholinguistics
Year 2Semester 33 creditsElective
Psychological processes in language, including language acquisition, comprehension, production, and cognitive linguistics.
Thesis / Research Project
Year 2Semester 412 creditsCore
Independent research thesis or project on a linguistic topic, conducted under faculty supervision and assessed through written submission and oral defence.

Specialisations

Theoretical Linguistics
Focuses on the scientific study of language structure including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Sociolinguistics
Examines the relationship between language and society, including language variation, multilingualism, language contact, and language attitudes.
Applied Linguistics
Applies linguistic theory to practical contexts including language teaching, translation, language planning, and communication.
Discourse Analysis
Analyses spoken and written discourse, including conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, and text linguistics.
Language Documentation and Field Methods
Focuses on documenting and describing African languages, including field methods, data collection, and language archiving.
Psycholinguistics
Studies the psychological processes involved in language acquisition, comprehension, and production.

A day as a student

A typical day combines theoretical study with practical linguistic analysis. Mornings involve lectures on linguistic form, English structure, or sociolinguistics, followed by seminar discussions on language phenomena and analytical approaches. Afternoons include field methods practice, discourse analysis workshops, or phonological and morphological analysis sessions. Students at Kenyatta University have access to well-established linguistics resources and faculty. Independent reading, linguistic data analysis, and thesis research occupy significant time, with regular consultations with faculty supervisors. School-based options accommodate working teachers, with intensive sessions during school holidays.

The trade offs

In its favour

Offered at four public universities, providing choice of institution, location, and cost.
Kenyatta University offers a well-established programme with comprehensive curriculum and experienced faculty.
Wide tuition range from KES 119,000/year at Chuka to KES 246,000/year at KU, accommodating different budgets.
Full-time, part-time, and school-based study modes accommodate working professionals and teachers.

Against it

Career prospects, while diverse, may not be as financially lucrative as in business or technology fields.
Programme quality and depth may vary significantly across the four institutions.
Limited research infrastructure at smaller institutions may constrain advanced linguistic research.
Specialisation options may be limited at institutions with fewer linguistics faculty.

What it costs

Tuition at both ends of the market, and how to pay for it.

What it costs, and where

Against 188 arts & humanities courses

Public119k to 216k

119k at Chuka University216k at Kenyatta University

Private165k to 178k

165k at Kabarak University178k at Catholic University of Eastern Africa

Annual tuition in Kenyan shillings, rounded. The upright tick is the median for this field, so a bar sitting entirely to its right is an expensive programme by the standards of its own subject.

The fine print

KU 216K, Chuka 119K verified. CUEA 178K, Kabarak 165.2K total verified.

HELB offers postgraduate loans for Kenyan students at public universities. Kenyatta University may offer institutional graduate scholarships. International linguistic associations such as LSA and AILA may provide research grants and conference attendance support.

Funding options

HELB Postgraduate Loan
Kenyatta University Graduate Scholarships
LSA Research Grants

Scholarships

3 recorded

HELB Postgraduate Loan
LoanKsh 200,000Kenyan
Kenyan citizens pursuing postgraduate studies at recognised universities. Applicants must meet HELB eligibility criteria.
Kenyatta University Graduate Scholarship
ScholarshipKsh 246,000Kenyan
Kenyatta University may offer institutional graduate scholarships based on academic merit. Contact the School of Graduate Studies for details.
LSA Research Grant
ScholarshipKsh 150,000
Linguistics scholars may access Linguistic Society of America research grants for academic research and conference attendance.

Getting in

The grades, the alternatives, and who accredits the award.

What you need

KCSE mean grade: N/A (Postgraduate)
Alternative entry: Some institutions require a minimum grade B (at least 60%) in English and linguistics courses at undergraduate level. The programme is open to graduates from English, linguistics, education (with English specialisation), and related humanities disciplines. Offered full-time, part-time, and school-based over two years at Chuka University, Kenyatta University, Machakos University, and Pwani University.

How you are assessed

4 components

Continuous Assessment
Coursework40% of the mark
Ongoing assessment through linguistic analysis assignments, data collection exercises, seminar presentations, and research papers throughout each semester.
End-of-Semester Examination
Examination60% of the mark
Written examination conducted at the end of each semester for each course unit.
Thesis / Research Project
Project100% of the mark
Independent research thesis on a linguistic topic, assessed through written submission and oral defence.
Field Methods Project
Practical30% of the mark
Assessment of linguistic fieldwork skills through a project involving data collection, analysis, and description of a language.

Accreditation

The programme is accredited by the Commission for University Education (CUE), Kenya's statutory body for university quality assurance. All four offering institutions are CUE-accredited public universities.

Accredited by

Commission for University Education (CUE)
Academic accreditationRequired
Statutory accreditation required for all university programmes in Kenya. All four offering institutions are CUE-accredited public universities.
Linguistic Society of America (LSA)
Professional alignment
International academic society for linguistic research. Graduates may join LSA for professional development and research networking.

Where it leads

The roles it opens, and what you leave with.

Where graduates go

5 roles

Language Teacher
Moderate demandKsh 80,000 to Ksh 200,000
Teaches English language and linguistics at secondary schools, colleges, or universities, developing curriculum and assessing student learning.
University Lecturer in Linguistics
Moderate demandKsh 100,000 to Ksh 250,000
Teaches linguistics and English language courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, conducts research, and supervises student projects.
Translator and Interpreter
Moderate demandKsh 90,000 to Ksh 240,000
Provides translation and interpretation services for organisations, government, and international bodies requiring multilingual communication.
Language Researcher
Moderate demandKsh 80,000 to Ksh 220,000
Conducts research on language structure, use, and policy for research institutions, government, and international organisations.
Communications Specialist
High demandKsh 90,000 to Ksh 240,000
Develops and manages communications content for organisations, applying linguistic expertise to strategic communications.

Graduate outcomes

Graduates pursue careers in language teaching, linguistic research, translation, language planning, curriculum development, publishing, communications, and academia across educational institutions, research organisations, and government.

Where these fields lead

8 careers

Tools you will learn

Praat
Phonetic analysis softwarePrimary
Open-source software for phonetic analysis, including speech analysis, synthesis, and spectrogram visualisation for phonological research.
NVivo
Research softwarePrimary
Qualitative data analysis software for analysing linguistic data, discourse, and qualitative language research.
AntConc
Corpus analysis software
Corpus analysis toolkit for concordance analysis, collocation analysis, and corpus-based linguistic research.
ELAN
Language documentation software
Annotation tool for creating, editing, visualising, and searching annotations of audio and video recordings for language documentation.
EndNote
Reference management
Reference management software for organising citations and bibliographies in linguistic research and thesis preparation.

Industry links

Common misconceptions

Linguistics is just about learning languages.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language structure and use, not language learning. It analyses phonology, syntax, semantics, and social aspects of language.
English and Linguistics graduates can only become English teachers.
Graduates pursue diverse careers including research, translation, language planning, publishing, communications, speech therapy, and academia.
African languages are not relevant to linguistics study.
The programme includes African language documentation and field methods, recognising the importance of studying and preserving African linguistic heritage.
Linguistics is not practical or applicable.
Applied linguistics addresses real-world problems including language teaching, translation, language policy, communication, and language technology.
All universities offer the same linguistics curriculum.
While sharing common foundations, institutions differ in faculty expertise, available electives, and research focus, with KU offering the most established programme.
There is no career demand for linguistics in Kenya.
Kenya's multilingual context, language policy needs, education sector, and growing communications industry create demand for qualified language professionals.