Why study MA Intercultural Communication and Education at Exeter?
An interdisciplinary programme that will develop your intercultural awareness and competence, and give you an understanding of the theory and practice of intercultural communication, skills highly valued by employer in today’s global world.
Develop an in-depth understanding of the complexities of communication in a globalised world, the ability to apply the acquired discipline specific skills to address challenges and implement positive and sustainable solutions, and the ability to conflate others’ perspectives to navigate complex relationships locally and globally.
Gain an understanding of key aspects of linguistics and learning theory and their influence on the teaching of English to speakers of other languages and manage multilingualism in educational settings.
Taught by experts in the field of intercultural communication, discourse analysis, language and globalisation, multilingualism and education, and multilingualism and migration, international education and TESOL.
Join a vibrant research community and develop your research skills through a series of structured practical seminars supporting you in the planning, design, implementation and presentation of your research.
There are two other pathways available for the MA Intercultural Communication, depending on interest: Migration or International Business
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Entry requirements
We will consider applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree or above in a social science* or humanities subject. While we normally only consider applicants who meet this criteria, if you are coming from a different academic background which is equivalent to degree level, or have relevant work experience, we would welcome your application.
The University of Exeter offers a wide range of scholarships to support your education, with £7 million available for international students applying to study with us in the 2026/27 academic year, including our prestigious Exeter Excellence Scholarships. We also provide awards for sport, music and other achievements, as well as regional and partner scholarships with organisations such as Chevening, The Beacon Trust and the British Council. For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship
We are pleased to offer the University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship, a scholarship for University of Exeter alumni beginning a standalone postgraduate programme in 2026/27 with us a scholarship worth 20% of the cost of your first year tuition fees.
Core modules explore key concepts, such as culture, identity, acculturation, prejudice and othering, issues, debates, and critical approaches to intercultural communication from a global perspective that goes beyond Eurocentric or western perspectives.
You will also develop your research competence and critical reflection on the process of planning, designing, implementing, and presenting of research in preparation for your dissertation.
In one of the optional modules, Sustainable Development Goals Challenge, you join a team of international students and address a real-life sustainable development goal challenge. This ground-breaking module will help you gain first-hand experience in intercultural interactions.
The modules below provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
Please note that the module information displayed here is subject to change.
Overall you must take 180 credits - 150 compulsory and 30 optional credits.
Compulsory modules
From Compulsory Choice Group 1 - choose 60 credits
From Education Pathway Compulsory Choice group - choose 60 credits
Optional modules
Optional - choose 30 credits
Compulsory modules
Code
Module
Credits
Compulsory
Intercultural Communication: Key Concepts and Theories
30
Compulsory Choice
Dissertation
60
Consultancy Project
60
Education Pathway Compulsory Choice
Bilingual and Multilingual Perspectives on Language Learning and Teaching
15
Issues in English Language Teaching
15
Education for Diversity
30
Perspectives on International Education
30
SMLM087: Intercultural Communication: Key Concepts and Theories
This Intercultural Communication module provides you with an in-depth understanding of the complexities and challenges of communication across cultural boundaries. The module covers a range of contexts, including business, education, and migration. Through interactive lectures and individual fieldwork, you will develop intercultural competence and practical skills for communicating effectively in diverse cultural contexts. The module aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the complexities of intercultural communication in a globalised world.
The aim of this module is to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of intercultural communication, its theoretical foundations, and its practical applications in various social and cultural contexts. It will explore the complexities of communication across cultural boundaries, as well as the role of language, power, identity, and discourse in shaping intercultural interactions. You will gain an understanding of concepts such as culture, identity, language, culture shock, acculturation, prejudice and othering, verbal and non-verbal communication. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to collect first-hand data on specific intercultural settings for analysis and discussion.
This module will prepare you for undertaking the most substantial piece of work of your MA. In the first part of the module you will learn to plan and design your research project, to collect data following research approaches and methods in intercultural communication, and critically analyse data. You will have the chance to conduct a small-scale pilot study that will help you refine your dissertation project. In the second part of this module, you will have the opportunity to research a topic of your own choosing and to produce a piece of independent research.
The aims of this module are to help you:
critically examine the available theories of intercultural communication enquiry with a view to a research enquiry;
design an appropriate enquiry and select suitable methods for the enquiry and justify these in theoretical terms;
carry out a small-scale enquiry within the filed intercultural communication at Master's level;
interpret evidence and discuss its relevance to existing enquiry;
develop a critical understanding of the ethical issues associated with intercultural communication enquiry;
acquire communication skills that will allow you to present your research effectively.
The consultancy project, available only to MA Intercultural Communication students, serves as an alternative to the dissertation (SMLM088). The consultancy project enables you to showcase your research skills and critical thinking through practical work while fostering a mutual exchange of knowledge between you and an external partner within the field of Intercultural Communication. You will be responsible for initiating contact with the external partner, with support from the module convenor. In collaboration with the external partner, you will design and undertake a 6 to 10-week consultancy project that applies the knowledge of relevant theories and transferrable skills gained throughout your course.
This module aims to support you in making the most of a work experience in which you will connect theory with practice through experiential learning and design thinking methods. It aims to enhance your current and future employability skills by providing opportunities to apply your knowledge in professional settings. You will conduct relevant research, analyse data, and present your solution/recommendations in the form of a report (which may include a deliverable, e.g. toolkit, educational materials, etc.) and accompanying critical reflection on your work.
EFPM292: Bilingual and Multilingual Perspectives on Language Learning and Teaching
May (2013) and Conteh and Meier (2014) argue that we have been witnessing the 'multilingual turn' in languages education. And there is a call for multilingual TESOL. In this module you will have an opportunity to reflect on and study language hierarchies and status (politics of language) that we sometimes take for granted, evaluate multilingual approaches to teaching and learning (bi-/multilingual teaching methods) as a response to personal and societal multilingualism in globalised societies, and to what extent bi-/multilingual approaches can be applied in a classroom through mini lessons (application to practice). This is suitable for students who have an interest in international and multilingual educational settings
This module aims to enable you to
Critically explore and evaluate politics of language in a specific educational setting and its relevance to bi-/multilingualism in education.
Reflect on personal and societal bi-/multilingualism in a specific educational setting and its relevance to language education.
Explore and develop a critical understanding of the scope of bi-/multilingual approaches to language learning and teaching, and the relevant emergent theoretical framework.
Develop awareness and understanding of possible bi-/multilingual educational approaches and methods, and evaluate their feasibility in a specific educational setting.
Critically evaluate and design practical ways of applying multilingual approaches in a classroom.
Explore an issue emerging from experience or a context you are familiar with, working collaboratively, examine and present a critical review of this through the lens of bi-/multilingual perspectives.
This module addresses a number of current critical issues in TESOL that arise from the varied nature of English teaching in different global and social contexts. On this module you will explore the implications of the use of English as a Lingua Franca and a means for global communication, as a foreign, second or additional language, and as a medium of instruction for content subjects. You will examine how issues such as cultural factors and differences in learners all contribute to a complex field in which language teachers need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding. Issues pertinent to your own contexts will also be addressed.
This module aims to enable students to:
explore and develop a critical perspective on current debates relating to the role of English as a Lingua Franca and the relationship between TESOL, power and ideologies;
critically review and contribute personal views on current approaches to the teaching of culture in the language classroom;
examine characteristics of Content and Language Integrated Learning;
develop knowledge of and personal perspectives on individualization, differentiation and mixed ability teaching; examine and evaluate perspectives and pedagogical models which reflect authenticity of text and task in the classroom;
explore current and personal views on the use of critical materials;
This module explores diversity and issues of identity in education from a range of theoretical and practical perspectives. It draws on an intersectional framework (gender, social class, disability, race, culture etc.) that is organised around important and timely issues in education. Your study will involve a critical examination of a wide range of different ideas and theories associated with identity and diversity, such as intersectionality, post-colonial theory, critical race theory, feminist theory, inclusion, and social justice, which are considered to shape, and be shaped by, education. There are no pre-requisites for this module
The principal aims of this module are:
To enable you to explore, and build a sound knowledge base, from which to critically evaluate issues of diversity in education
To explore these key issues from different identity perspectives, e.g., gender, social class, disability, race, culture etc. and from an intersectionality perspective
To introduce you to a range of theories, methodologies and research projects which are considered central to understanding diversity in education, and to critically evaluate their utility
To encourage you to critically consider the role which education might play in creating a more diverse, just, equitable and sustainable world
To offer you the opportunity to examine the linkages, fragmentations and tensions which might exist in theory and practice and consider the ramifications which these might have for education
To enable you the opportunity to explore the links between your own educational experiences and develop empathy for and understanding of the experiences of other people
We live in an increasingly complex, ever-changing and interconnected world where we face tensions that directly affect the ways we understand education. We will critically explore this complexity as part of this module.
The module will offer you a unique opportunity to consider education in terms of its local and global dimensions, as well as to explore connections and tensions between them. Your study will involve critical examination of a wide range of social, economic, cultural, political and environmental factors which are considered to shape, and be shaped by, education. There are no pre-requisites for this module.
The principal aims of this module are:
To enable you to explore, and build a sound knowledge base, from which to critically evaluate a selection of key global educational issues
To critically consider a range of theories, methodologies and research projects which question and unpack ideas about international education and its different manifestations.
To encourage you to critically consider the role which education might play in creating a more just, equitable and sustainable world
To offer you the opportunity to examine the linkages, fragmentations and tensions between the global and local and to consider the ramifications which these might have for education
To enable you the opportunity to reflect on your own cultural ideas and background and explore similarities and differences with different societies across the world in the context of education.
Future 17: Sustainable Development Goals Challenge
15
Through the Language Lens: the Relationship between Language, Culture and the Mind
15
Migration and Multilingualism
15
BEP3172: Future 17: Sustainable Development Goals Challenge
Future17 is designed to develop the skills needed to collaboratively tackle 21st Century global challenges and to work with professionals to create pathways towards innovative solutions to real-world issues that relate to one or more of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Future17 enables students to collaborate with learners from a consortium of global partner universities in international, interdisciplinary and multicultural teams to tackle challenges through projects defined by third-party organisations (businesses, charities, NGOs etc.). Students will first undertake an online induction programme that will develop skills for collaborative, challenge-based and inter-cultural learning, which promotes forms of Design Thinking for tackling global challenges. They will then work with academic and third-party mentors to diagnose a sustainable development challenge and develop an approach for developing one or more solutions. They will be assessed on the basis of a 1500 project report and presentation to a panel including representatives of the third-party organisation that set the challenge and academic staff from the partner universities along with other student groups at a showcase event.
SML3013: Through the Language Lens: the Relationship between Language, Culture and the Mind
Language encapsulates the way we experience the world. But how exactly do we construe that experience? What mechanisms are used in the categorisation process? In this module you will discover how principles and aspects of general cognition can be used to analyse the grammatical structure of language. You will also understand how the human bodily experience is a fundamental source of meaning and how it may be shaped and filtered by cultural practices.
This module aims to introduce you to a new perspective on language, i.e. the relationship between language and cognition and language and culture. The module will focus on how cognitive mechanisms like categorisation, attention and imagery are used in the production and understanding of language and how humans convey meaning through embodiment, i.e. how language conveys the human bodily experience of the world and how this may be shaped by culture. You will have the opportunity to analyse the language(s) you study according to principles of general cognition.
If you need credits towards a specific language, you must focus your assessment on that language.
Around two-thirds of the world's migrant population is multilingual and due to migration a high level of linguistic diversity is now the norm in our society. In this module, you will explore the link between migration and languages, learn how migrant communities use and maintain their languages, as well as their attitudes and ideologies, through a wide variety of real-life case studies. You will learn how individual migrants or immigrant communities use their languages, how and why some languages are maintained, how the use of languages among migrants varies according to several factors such as different communicative situations, the migratory trajectory, speakers' attitudes towards the languages and shared ideologies.
You will be introduced to sociolinguistic concepts and means of analysis for the study of multilingualism in the context of migration. This module is interdisciplinary with no pre-requisites and will benefit students across language streams. If you need the module to count for credits towards a specific language, you must engage with material relevant to that language in your assessment.
Associate Professor in Language, Cognition and Society
Dr Birgül Yilmaz
Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Communication
Dr Susana Afonso
Associate Professor in Language, Cognition and Society
Susana Afonso is Associate Professor of Language, Cognition and Society. Her research specialism is in Cognitive Linguistics and Construction Grammar. She has conducted a number of studies on language variation from a Cognitive Sociolinguistics perspective, in particular in relation to Portuguese as a global language. She also engages in interdisciplinary collaboration with researchers in Education in non-formal contexts, investigating the how the use of language in science museums between museum educators and audience may enable co-production of meanings or maintain well-established power dynamics.
Dr Birgül Yılmaz is a Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Communication. She leads the core module of SMLM087 and SMLM088 on the MA in Intercultural Communication and creates optional modules based on her over a decade long ethnographic fieldwork gained internationally.
Dr Yılmaz is a Critical Sociolinguist and Applied Linguist, specialising in the areas of sociolinguistics of forced migration, humanitarianism, ethnography, critical/ discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, and linguistic practice in institutional and precarious settings such as refugee camps. Her teaching is social justice oriented and builds awareness on everyday intercultural communicative inequalities.
She is a member of the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC), the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL), the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), and the Linguistic Ethnography Forum (LEF).
You will be taught by experts in the field of intercultural communication, discourse analysis, multilingualism and education, and multilingualism and migration, as well as International Education and TESOL. You will learn collaboratively with other students and the wider postgraduate research community.
Research in Modern Languages and Cultures is characterised by world-leading and internationally excellent research centres, which span a wide range of sub-disciplinary fields including:
You will be equipped with skills highly valued by employers such as communication in multicultural environments, understanding the complexities of communication in a globalised world, analytical and presentation skills, critical thinking and research-oriented skills, including planning skills and time management
Careers
Professionals with the ability to work in diverse cultural and linguistic settings are required in a range of organisations. Career paths include NGOs, international development, multilingual schools, and universities. Alternatively, you may undertake PhD research and an academic career.
The majority of students are based at our Streatham Campus in Exeter. The campus is one of the most beautiful in the country and offers a unique environment in which to study, with lakes, parkland, woodland and gardens as well as modern and historical buildings.
Located on the eastern edge of the city centre, St Luke's is home to Sport and Health Sciences, the Medical School, the Academy of Nursing, the Department of Allied Health Professions, and PGCE students.
Our Penryn Campus is located near Falmouth in Cornwall. It is consistently ranked highly for satisfaction: students report having a highly personal experience that is intellectually stretching but great fun, providing plenty of opportunities to quickly get to know everyone.
