EKIS605 MA Thesis Seminar (5 op)

Group 1: Leila Kääntä
This seminar is for those students who are interested in research topics related to foreign/second language learning and teaching. The topics can range from general SLA topics to classroom/social interaction and/or multimodality to pragmatics. Students interested in studying content-based language teaching and learning are encouraged to join this group.
Group 2: Judit Hahn
This seminar is mainly offered for those students who are interested in discourse studies. A wide range of topics is welcome, especially if related to one of the following fields: 1) linguistic landscapes (including the study of online spaces); 2) discourse in marketing/advertising/business; 3) discourse and/or genre analysis of written and multi-modal digital media texts; 4) language policy. About six group meetings are planned per term.
Group 4: Sirpa Leppänen
This seminar is for those students who are interested in sociolinguistics and discourse studies. Their thesis work can relate to (i) sociolinguistic analysis of language diversity, (ii) discourse analysis of written and multi-modal media texts, (iii) language and gender, (iv) stylistic, literary and narrative analysis of fiction and film and (v) sociolinguistic and discourse analysis of popular cultural practices. Particularly welcome are students who are interested in investigating digital media as sites for language use, social action and cultural production (for more information, see www.jyu.fi/lgsd).
Group 5: Anne Pitkänen-Huhta and Johanna Ennser-Kananen
This seminar is for students who aim at becoming language teachers and who are interested in various issues related to language learning and teaching. Topics can include, for example, learning and teaching practices, learner and teacher identities, early language learning, multilingual education, language and culture education, social justice in language education, race, gender, and social class in language education, language education policies, or curriculum studies. It is also possible to design theoretically driven sets of teaching materials for specific groups of learners.
Group 6 is for the students who started their MA seminar in January 2019 with Anne Pitkänen-Huhta.

Group 1: Anne Pitkänen-Huhta
This seminar is for students who aim at becoming language teachers and who are interested in various issues related to language learning and teaching. Topics can include, for example, learning and teaching practices, learner and teacher identities, early language learning, multilingual education, language and culture education, social justice in language education, race, gender, and social class in language education, language education policies, or curriculum studies. It is also possible to design theoretically driven sets of teaching materials for specific groups of learners.

Group 2: Jenni Virtaluoto
This seminar is especially intended for students interested in technical communication and information design. The possible areas of research range from plain language to translation, minimalism, user guidance, documentation quality, service design, and other related issues.

Group 3: Teppo Jakonen
This seminar is primarily intended to students specializing in language learning and teaching and/or those who are otherwise interested in language and education. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, social interaction in educational settings, multimodality, embodiment, digital technology and learning, bilingual/multilingual education, content and language integrated learning (CLIL), learning materials and tasks, and code-switching/language alternation/translanguaging.

Group 4: Samu Kytölä (group starts in January 2021)
This MA seminar is intended for students interested in issues of discourse in/and society. Approaches include, broadly speaking: sociolinguistics, discourse studies, cultural studies, and diversity studies. MA theses in this group may relate to, for example,
(i) linguistic diversity and multilingualism;
(ii) language, globalization, and societal change;
(iii) language attitudes and ideologies;
(iv) ethnicity/migration/citizenship
(v) gender/sexuality/queer studies;
(vi) digital communication, digital media, online culture.
(vii) sports, popular culture, fiction, film, or other forms of art.
Multimodal / multisemiotic approaches to discourse, i.e. studies that discuss language use as one semiotic means among other semiotic means, are welcome.

Group 5: Sirpa Leppänen (group continues from spring 2020)