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Core courses [50.0]
The study program (blocks 1 and 2) listed below is based on the latest reform of the Master's degree in linguistics, and applies to students enrolling for the first time in September 2025 in the 1st year of the Master's degree in linguistics.
Students enrolled in the 1st year of the Master's program during the 2024-2025 academic year who have not acquired all the credits in their annual program will follow a program adapted by the jury according to the credits acquired.
Students who began their course before September 2025 will follow the old program, but with content adjustments following the reform. The adapted program for these students will be drawn up by the jury on the basis of the teaching units already taken and passed.Further information on the transition program: https://uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/elal/programmes-de-transition.html
Master's Dissertation
(30 credits)
Students choose either a dissertation with an integrated work placement or a research dissertation.
Master's Dissertation with integreted internship
The dissertation with integrated internship aims at combining research work and professional experience. This formula is particularly recommended for students who choose the professional focus in Natural Language Processing, for whom the internship of minimum 7 weeks will be part of the dissertation.
FR
q1 or q2
10
credits
Research Dissertation
The Research Dissertation is based on an empirical study requiring the collection and exploitation of new data. The study may lead to an oral presentation at a conference.
Methodology Courses
(20 credits)
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List of focuses
Students choose one of the following focuses:
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Professional Focus : Natural Language Processing [30.0]
This professional focus trains students in language industry tools (spell-checking, speech recognition, machine translation, document management, etc.). With its strong business focus, this specialization welcomes guest researchers (from academia and business).
For further information: https://uclouvain.be/fr/instituts-recherche/ilc/cental
Content:
Computer studies
(10 credits)
Automatic Language Processing
(20 credits)
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Professional Focus: Empirical Linguistics Research [30.0]
Content:
Students choose 3 of the 4 units.
EN
q1+q2
30h
10
credits
> French-friendly
Teacher(s):
> Sylvie De Cock
> Barbara De Cock
> Costantino Maeder
> Ferran Suner Munoz
> Kristel Van Goethem
LLING9995
Work placement in a research laboratory or a company (150 to 210 h)
The language of the internship and of the internship report depends on the location of the internship and is subject to the approval of the academic supervisor.
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Options
Irrespective of the final destination, the programme must contain 40 credits of electives and courses to choose from, including :
- at least one main option, with at least 15 course credits within that option
- a maximum of 30 course credits within a single option
-
Linguistic diversity in society
Content:
-
Digital humanities
-
Computational Linguistics and Computer Science
Content:
Prerequisite in computing
These courses are recommended for students who have not undergone equivalent training.
Optional activities
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Second language acquisition [15.0]
Content:
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Translation studies
Content:
(15 credits)
-
Modern language linguistics
Content:
The minimum level required to take part in these courses is B2.
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Interdisciplinary Program in Entrepreneurship - INEO [30.0]
INEO is an option offered in 30 Master programmes, in 9 faculties of UCLouvain. It involves the completion of an interfaculty dissertation (in teams) on a business creation project. Access to this option (as well as to each of the courses) is limited to students selected by application. All information on https://uclouvain.be/en/study/ineo.
Content:
Prerequisite
This course is compulsory for students who do not have any management prerequisites. Students who have taken the minor in Management or the minor in Entrepreneurship do not have to take this course.
Compulsory courses
(20 credits)
Additional courses
(5 credits)
Students who do not have to take the LINEO2021 prerequisite choose 10 credits from the following courses:
-
Optional courses
Students complete their program with courses from the above options.
Content:
-
International mobility
As part of their studies, students are encouraged to :
- spend a semester (30 credits) studying at one of our many partner universities. Information on these programs can be found at https://www.uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/etudiant-fial-en-echange- take one or more courses (maximum 3) offered by FIAL partners abroad. This internationalization of training takes place :
· either through mobility (stay at a partner university),
· or by taking these courses online,
· or by taking a course at UCLouvain which is offered by the faculty to a wider, international audience, as well as to its own students.
The list of courses offered in this way can be found on the https://www.uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/je-fais-une-mobilite-courte page.
Students can add these courses to their curriculum throughout the academic year, within the limits set out in the regulations.
Content:
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Preparatory Module
(only for students who qualify for the course via complementary coursework)
To access this Master, students must have a good command of certain subjects. If this is not the case, in the first annual block of their Masters programme, students must take supplementary classes chosen by the faculty to satisfy course prerequisites.
What is a preparatory module?
It is a set of supplementary classes (courses, practical works, seminars, etc.) from the first cycle (see the non-exhaustive list below). The complementary module (maximum 60 credits) is tailor-made by the jury according to the student's educational background and added to the Master’s programme in order to acquire fundamental knowledge to then pursue the 120 credits of the Master’s programme.
Who is it for?
- Students from a non-university higher education institution
- Candidates admitted with additional training
- Candidates admitted on the file with additional training
All the explanations are in this document (in French).
General Training
LFIAL1131M
Understanding language: an introduction to linguistics - MOOC
for non-French-speaking students
ENq1 or q2 30h 5 credits
French linguistics
English linguistics
Cours complémentaires
