Work placement in a research laboratory or a company

Teacher(s)

Hambye Philippe (coordinator);

Language

French

Main themes

During the placement, the student will specialise in one specific subject area. Before beginning the placement, he/she will increase his/her knowledge in this area by conducting personal research and by doing background reading.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

Over the course of a placement (lasting between 150 and 210 hours) in linguistics and its applications, to be completed in a company or a research centre, the student will acquire the following skills: he/she will be in charge of or will directly contribute to the development of a project with a significant linguistic component (language teaching, language policy, language testing, pedagogical materials design, dictionary making, etc.); he/she will put into practice the broad knowledge and varied skills acquired during the Master's programme, will learn the requirements of applied linguistics project development and will establish contact with professionals in business or research. The student will be supported by the local team (research unit, private or public company) and will work under the direct supervision of a placement supervisor appointed in the company or research centre.

Evaluation methods

The internship will be assessed based on a detailed internship report between 8,000 and 10,000 words in length (about 20 pages). This report will be written in one of the languages taught in the student’s programme and will be assessed both by a UCLouvain teacher identified by the academic coordinator for Master’s in Linguistics internships and by the internship supervisor; the latter’s assessment will take into account the quality of the work performed during the internship. The final grade is determined by the UCLouvain teacher. The report must include:

• a relevant and well-documented summary of the company or laboratory in which the internship was completed,
• a presentation of the internship’s objectives and the tasks completed by the intern,
• a critical examination of the difficulties encountered during the internship, the way in which the intern was able to put the knowledge and skills acquired during his/her course to good use in the internship, and what the student has learned from their internship experience.

The assessment will focus on: the student’s compliance with these instructions, the quality and relevance of the presentation of information and of the analysis, and the quality of the written language.

Other information

The work placement must be carried out in the academic year in which it is included in the student's annual programme.
Under no circumstances may it be carried out during the months of July and August preceding the academic year in which the student registers for the EAP.

Faculty or entity

> ELAL