Completion of the Master’s Programme in Language and Intercultural Communication leads to the award of either a Master’s degree, 60 credits (= one-year master's) or a Master’s degree, 120 credits (= two-year master's). If you are interested in applying for the programme you may take a look at the diagnostic test available in Canvas.

Short Summary

The Master’s Programme in Language and Intercultural Communication combines advanced language skills and intercultural communication, preparing you for a broad labour market. The main fields of study are African languages, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. You will develop the linguistic tools you need to explore, interpret, and understand linguistic and cultural expressions and draw conclusions about how discourses on culture and cultural differences influence communication between and about cultures.

About the Programme

Mobility and migration come with a mixing of linguistic and cultural phenomena. It is becoming increasingly important to be able to interact with people from diverse backgrounds, and to handle issues, contradictions, and frictions that may arise due to linguistic and cultural factors.

Interpreting and Understanding

The Master’s Programme in Language and Intercultural Communication allows you to develop the linguistic tools you need to explore, interpret, and understand a range of linguistic and cultural expressions and to draw conclusions about how discourses on culture and cultural differences can influence communication between and about different cultures. This capacity to analyse and discuss communicative manifestations of culture gives you a global education in languages and a cultural competence that is extremely useful for working in international milieus and handling intercultural encounters and opportunities.

Broad labour market

Language skills, general analytical abilities, and knowledge of cultural differences along with strong communication skills are highly valued by employers. Potential occupations and fields of work include positions within tourism, nongovernmental organizations, communications, commissions of inquiry, public relations, human resources, and migration and integration issues, to name a few. In other words, the potential labour market for graduates of this programme is very broad and the potential employers are many.

Language Skills

You do not need to have studied languages at university level in the past, but you must have strong reading and writing skills in the language in which you plan to take your degree. The programme has an interdisciplinary structure, which means that you will study together with students specializing in other languages as well, not just the language that you have selected. This structure creates an intercultural learning environment and prepares you for work in international contexts.

Exchange and Internship Possibilities

During the first half of the fourth semester, you have the opportunity to complete either an internship or field studies in languages, in Sweden or abroad. Please contact the study counsellors at the Department of Languages and Literatures if you have questions about internship or field studies.

Structure and Content

The first semester consists of four courses:

Language and Intercultural Communication, SIK220
Research Methods in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, SIK225
Language and Society, SIK221
A course within the main field of study

The second semester consists of three courses:

Academic writing, SPL230
An elective course
Advanced Research Essay, SIK230

The third semester consists of four courses:

Intercultural and Contrastive Semantics and Pragmatics, SIK222
Translating Languages and Cultures, SIK223
Discourses, SIK224
An course within the main field of study

You may choose to take the whole fourth semester to write a master’s thesis for 30 higher education credits, SIK241, or you can choose to write a 15 credits thesis, SIK240, and combine it with one of three options:

Language in Practice, SPL250
Field Studies in Languages, SPL270
Two elective courses

After Graduation

Graduates of the programme receive a Master of Arts in their main field of study.

Exchange studies and practical placements can lead directly to job offers. For example, one student was offered a job as administrator at the Swedish Embassy in Dar es Salaam following exchange studies in Tanzania; another was offered a position at the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society in Stockholm following a practical placement; and another works as a research assistant at Chalmers University of Technology after collaborating with them during thesis work and developing an app that facilitates communication between Swedish government agencies and Arabic-speaking people.

Other alumni have worked in places such as:

United Nations, New York;
University of Gothenburg;
SOAS University of London;
Volvo;
Sahlgrenska University Hospital;
Swedish Migration Agency, Stockholm;
and the Swedish Embassy in China.