The University of Essex offers supervision for their MPhil Applied Linguistics in the area of second language acquisition and learning.

Within this field, Essex has expertise in: second language syntax, explicit and implicit knowledge and learning, vocabulary learning and use, individual differences in second language learning, language testing, figurative language and discourse processing. Examples of research projects which students have undertaken include the acquisition of the English article system by native speakers of Korean and Spanish, the relationship of working memory and self-correction behaviour in instructed second language learners’ speech, and second language acquisition mediated by a CALL environment.

Many of Essex’s former students work in higher education institutions around the world, as teachers and/or as academic researchers. Other career paths former students have taken include publishing, social work, administration, and retail.