Corpus Linguistics (Online)

Take your Postgraduate Certificate in Corpus Linguistics in one of the best Linguistics Departments in the world. We are placed 3rd in the QS World Rankings 2024.

Lancaster’s Postgraduate Certificate in Corpus Linguistics (Distance) is a one-year online programme, whose main aim is to equip you with core skills that will allow you to collect, analyse and visualise large amounts of linguistic data (corpora) using cutting-edge computational technology. You will also learn about real-life applications of corpus linguistics methods across different social sciences and domains of society.

Course information

Lancaster University, with a specialised corpus research centre - The ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science, CASS - is one of the world leaders in corpus linguistics. We build corpora such as the British National Corpus 2014 and the Trinity Lancaster Corpus, and develop innovative corpus tools such as #LancsBox, Lancaster Stats Tools online and CQPweb. In 2015, Lancaster University was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for innovative corpus linguistic research.

During your studies, you will learn from experts in the field and will be given access to a wealth of corpus resources. You will be able to acquire core skills in corpus linguistics and data analysis, which will help you grow professionally.

After completing the course, you will have the option to continue onto the MA in Corpus linguistics by taking specialisation courses and writing a dissertation.

Taster webinar and free lectures

You are invited to get a taste for the subject and some of the Department's specialisms by viewing our taster webinar and free lectures.

Have you studied our MOOC?

If you are currently studying Corpus linguistics and new technologies: data, language and society MOOC on the edX platform, or if you actively participated and completed the course within the last three years (the course ran previously on the FutureLearn platform) you are eligible to apply for our MOOC entry route for this programme. Through this route, the MOOC is recognised in place of the core module, Fundamentals of Corpus Linguistics, and there is a fee discount of £500. Evidence of completion of the MOOC and achievement of the learning outcomes will be required.