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Languages with Business (MA)
Course Overview
The MA Languages with Business is the only course in Ireland that allows students to study two languages (with at least one at advanced level) and business. It prepares its graduates to work in various positions of multinational companies and other fields and organisations that require both language expertise and a basic understanding of economics, marketing and business needs.
The programme is aimed at Arts graduates with 2 languages (besides English), seeking a qualification that will help them to secure employment with internationally operating companies; multilingual graduates from other fields including Commerce, seeking to improve their employment prospects by improving their linguistic competencies; and graduates interested in pursuing PhD research in Applied Linguistics or Translation Studies. Students who are already in work can use this course to upskill to add to their professional competencies.
The objective of the MA Languages with Business is to equip students with theoretical knowledge and applications in practice of business communication in the multilingual realm: the rhetoric of sales pitches, professional translation, multilingual negotiations.
All students take one language at advanced level and can choose to take an additional language at advanced level or take modules in a language that they haven’t studied before (beginners Spanish, German or Italian). The programme is completed with a work placement – either locally or internationally—that gives students the opportunity to use their language skills in a professional setting.
Applications and Selections
Applications are made online via the University of Galway Postgraduate Applications System.
Who Teaches this Course
- All of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Requirements and Assessment
Assessment will include a mixture of project work, assignments, and examinations. Language proficiency will be assessed continuously throughout the year and examined in a written examination.
Key Facts
Entry Requirements
2.2 undergraduate degree, or equivalent, with a 2.1, or equivalent, in a relevant component. Degree-level competence in at least one of the languages taught on the programme.
Additional Requirements
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Duration
1 year, full-time
Next start date
September 2023
A Level Grades ()
Average intake
25
QQI/FET FETAC Entry Routes
Closing Date
Please view the offer rounds website.
NFQ level
Mode of study
ECTS weighting
Award
CAO
Course code
MA-LWB
Course Outline
This course is made up of 60 credits of taught modules over two semesters. These are divided equally between the advanced language module (2 modules of 10 credits each) and 20 credits of Business modules (4 modules of 5 credits each) and the option to study either a second language at advanced level or a language at beginners level (one 15 credit module and one 5 credit module). Options available for selection include:
At School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures:
- Advanced Language Skills I French
- Advanced Language Skills II French
- Advanced Language Skills I German
- Advanced Language Skills II German
- Advanced Language Skills I Italian
- Advanced Language Skills II Italian
- Advanced Language Skills I Spanish
- Advanced Language Skills II Spanish
- Teanga na Gaeilge Teanga, Coimhlint agus Cumhacht
- Language and Intercultural Communication
- Beginners German Language
- Skills for Studying German (Beginners)
- Intensive Beginners Spanish Language and Culture
- Mundo Hispanico—An Introduction to the Hispanic World
- Italian Language and Culture
- Italy at the Movies
At School of Business:
- Negotiations
- Information Systems Management
- Accounting for Management
- Strategic Management
- Economics of Health and Health Care
- Climate Change Economics
- Economics and the Global Economy
(This list is updated annually)
Assessment in these modules will include a mixture of project work, assignments, and examinations. Language proficiency will be assessed continuously throughout the year and examined in a written examination.
Following this, students complete a placement either in a local or an international company where their language skills will be put to use. This placement is worth 30 credits, which will be awarded on the basis of the students’ own report on their activities and the report of their placement supervisor.
Why Choose This Course?
Career Opportunities
This programme equips graduates to work in a national or global business setting where one or two additional languages are required. Roles can include sales, marketing, HR management with languages, public service, diplomatic corps, SaaS (Software as a Service with language), cloud Services, hospitality.
Who’s Suited to This Course
Learning Outcomes
Transferable Skills Employers Value
By the end of this course, students are expected to have acquired the following skills:
- Knowledge of one or two languages at an advanced level.
- Ability to communicate in two languages.
- Intercultural Communication skills
- Negotiation skills and the ability to have difficult conversations
- Project management skills
- Record-keeping, documentation and communication
- Adaptability – flexibility – learning on the job
- Using foreign language skills in the workplace
Work Placement
Study Abroad
Related Student Organisations
Course Fees
Fees: EU
€8,640 p.a. 2023/24
Fees: Tuition
€8,500 p.a. 2023/24
Fees: Student levy
€140 p.a. 2023/24
Fees: Non EU
€18,140 p.a. 2023/24
Postgraduate students in receipt of a SUSI grant – please note an F4 grant is where SUSI will pay €4,000 towards your tuition (2023/24). You will be liable for the remainder of the total fee. An F5 grant is where SUSI will pay tuition up to a maximum of €6,270. SUSI will not cover the student levy of €140.
Find out More
Dr Tina-Karen Pusse
T: +353 91 495 874
E: tina-karen.pusse@universityofgalway.ie
Dr Catherine Emerson
T: +353 91 493 801
E: catherine.emerson@universityofgalway.ie
