Discipline of Linguistics and Languages

Thinking of applying to be a research student?

We welcome applications from students wishing to complete an MA or PhD in Linguistics or Applied Linguistics. The route to a research degree is generally through a taught Postgraduate Diploma. Please see the relevant pages for further details of the taught programmes.

  • Look through our priority research areas to see which types of project we particularly encourage. You might also like to look through the profiles of current and former research students below.
  • Look at the profiles of staff members in Linguistics and Languages, to identify a potential supervisor in your area of interest, and find out more about their own research. Get in touch with them via email to discuss your interests at least one semester before you hope to begin your research programme.
  • Through informal discussions with a potential supervisor (usually involving at least one face-to-face or zoom meeting), you will shape your ideas into a research proposal. This process can take up to six months.
  • Submit a completed application for admission (postgraduate), which includes your research proposal, along with a CV, transcripts and other important documents. Please check that you enclose all the necessary documents when applying and ensure you submit your application well before the deadline.

If you are an English teacher who would prefer to do an MA by coursework (without a research component), you may be interested in the MA in English Language Teaching & Leadership. See the postgraduate taught programme pages for further details.

Research programmes in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

MA by Supervised Research Project

This is the most common route to obtaining an MA in Linguistics or Applied Linguistics, as it combines two further 400-level courses after completion of the PG Diploma (including the research methods course) with a ‘shorter’ research thesis (of approximately 20,000 words). The two 400-level courses may come from Linguistics or another approved discipline that is relevant to the research interests.

The MA by SRP can be completed in 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time (following completion of the PG Diploma).

Students must have completed a relevant PG Diploma at USP, usually with a GPA of 3.0 or above, in order to enrol in the MA by Supervised Research Project. In addition, they must have a viable research proposal and an available supervisor able to take them on.

MA by Thesis

Students who wish to pursue a more in-depth study at Master’s level may enrol in the MA by thesis, in either Linguistics or Applied Linguistics, which is examined by a thesis of up to 50,000 words.

The MA by thesis can be completed in 2 years full-time or 4 years part-time.

Students must usually complete a PG Diploma at USP (or equivalent from another university), with a GPA 3.0 or above, before enrolling in the MA by thesis. In addition, they must have a viable research proposal and an available supervisor able to take them on.

PhD

High-scoring students who have successfully completed a Master’s in either Linguistics or Applied Linguistics may have the opportunity to continue to a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). This degree is examined by a thesis of up to 100,000 words and an oral defence.

To be accepted for a PhD programme, students must have:

  • completed an MA that contains a research component (SRP or thesis) or completed a Directed Research Project (DRP) in lieu of this requirement.
  • written an outstanding research proposal for a study, in collaboration with a research supervisor who confirms their availability and willingness to supervise the project.

Current research students

Tupou Waiyanu Ratuva is working on a PhD in Linguistics. She is exploring the linguistic choices that multilingual families make when raising their children. She is supervised by Dr Fiona Willans and Dr Akevai Nicholas.
Peter Sasabule has been awarded a PSERI scholarship to pursue his PhD in Linguistics. He is continuing his research from his MA studies on his own language, conducting language documentation of Roviana from the New Georgia region of the Western Solomon Islands. He is supervised by Dr Harriet Sheppard.
Sandhya Kumari is working on her PhD in Linguistics. She has been awarded an N-POC PhD Scholarship for her project titled “Displacement past and future: Documenting the ocean knowledge in the language of the Rabi Island (Banabans), Kiribati (Gilbertese) and Tuvalu (Nui) speakers and constructing resilient and sustainable island nations”. Her study builds on the work conducted for her MA research on lexical  variation between the languages spoken on Rabi Island and in Kiribati. She is supervised by Dr Apolonia Tamata and Dr. Jon Henrik Ziegler.
Evangeline Christina Narayan is working on her PhD in Applied Linguistics, investigating the way children in lower primary levels in Fiji acquire the language of Mathematics, recognising that this is typically done through a second language, English. She is audio-recording class discussion in classrooms from Years 1 to 4, and then conducting follow-up interviews with target children from the classes. She analyses all transcripts to examine the usage of Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), following the work of Jim Cummins, and attempts to contextualise this language development within a socio-culturally appropriate pedagogy, following Russell Bishop and others. She is supervised by Dr Fiona Willans and Dr Sashi Sharma.
Rajendra Prasad is carrying out research for his PhD in Linguistics. He is analysing Fiji Hindi verb phrases as his main focus, using a corpus elicited from speakers of the language. He is supervised by Dr Candide Simard.
  Augusta Marau is enrolled on an MA by SRP in Education. She is conducting a questionnaire-based survey of as many primary teachers as possible in Vanuatu, aiming to investigate the practicalities of implementing the current national policy to teach through the vernacular in the early years, before progressively adding English and/or French to the repertoire. She is supervised by Dr Fiona Willans.
John Francis Mamani is working on a Directed Research Project that investigates language use in the primary classrooms of the Solomon Islands. He plans to use video recorded data from one classroom in Honiara to develop an analytic framework through which a much larger data set can later be analysed as a full PhD study. His interests are in multilingualism and code-switching, and how these phenomena play out in education. He is supervised by Dr Fiona Willans.
Lyric Williams is focusing her MA by SRP on listener attitudes towards various accents heard at the University of the South Pacific. She is supervised by Dr Fiona Willans and Dr Micah Ahmad.

Former research students

Research theses completed in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics since 2000

Year Student Programme Theses Supervisor
2025 Tiito Kaeka MA SRP Linguistics Lexical variation in dialects: a case study in the Kiribati Language Dr Candide Simard
2025 Reuben Tarihehe MA SRP Applied Linguistics Implementation of Vanuatu’s vernacular language policy: Insights from lower primary schools in West Ambae, Vanuatu Dr Fiona Willans
2025 Ariteti Botibara MA SRP Applied Linguistics Implementation of the revised English curriculum materials in Year 7 and 9 classrooms in a junior secondary school in South Tarawa, Kiribati Dr Fiona Willans
2025 Peter Sasabule MA Linguistics Language documentation of Roviana, New Georgia in the domains of Vetu (traditional house), Tomoko (war canoe) and seke-batu (ritualistic headhunting) Dr Candide Simard
2025 Roshila Singh PhD Applied Linguistics Academic literacies and English language support practices of lecturers at the
University of the South Pacific: a case study of English medium Instruction		 Dr Fiona Willans
2025 Jim Gure MA (SRP) Linguistics Lexical innovations in Raga, Vanuatu Dr Marie-France Duhamel
2024 Yogita Mala MA (SRP) Linguistics ‘Who says what?’ Genderlects in Fiji Hindi on a popular Radio Navtarang programme Dr Candide Simard
2024 Pritima Singh MA (SRP) Linguistics Attitudes towards Fiji Hindi, Shudh Hindi and English via a matched guise test Dr Nikhat Shameem
2024 Sandhya Kumari MA Linguistics Lexical variation in the Kiribati and Banaban dialects Dr Candide Simard
2024 Tupou Ratuva Singh MA Applied Linguistics How learners in Years 5 to 8 in Fiji acquire (or don’t acquire) verb forms in English: A systematic analysis of learner writing Dr Fiona Willans

Dr Candide Simard
2024 Virendra Prasad MA (SRP) Linguistics Phonetic variation and convergence of Hindi-speaking users of English in Suva Fiji, Fiji’s northern region, and India Dr Candide Simard
2024 Purnima Din MA (SRP) Applied Linguistics Dynamics of teacher feedback discourse in English as a Second Language students’ academic essays in Ba secondary schools, Fiji Islands Dr Nikhat Shameem
2023 Shaleshni Prasad MA Applied Linguistics Improving the oral English fluency of students at the University of the South Pacific: A case study of English for Academic Purposes students studying in face-to-face mode at Lautoka Campus Dr Fiona Willans

Dr Robert Early
2023 Vimal Kumar MA (SRP) Applied Linguistics Readability and Lexical Coverage of Texts: An Analysis of EMI Texts in the Fiji Context Dr Fiona Willans
2023 Sadia Shainaaz MA (SRP) Linguistics Language attitudes of Indo-Fijian mothers and their children towards English, Fiji Hindi and Shudh Hindi Dr Nikhat Shameem
2021 Svetlana Kiseleva Afuhaˈamango MA Linguistics Uniqueness of emphatic possessives in Tongan Dr Candide Simard
2021 Evangeline Narayan MA (SRP) Applied Linguistics In search of principles of second language acquisition in the design and unpacking of Fiji’s English syllabus Dr Fiona Willans
2021 Bhagirati Bhan MA (SRP) Linguistics Codeswitching between Standard Hindi and Fiji Hindi (in formal religious settings in Navua) Dr Candide Simard
2020 Wilfred Fimone MA Linguistics Variation and change of glottal stop deletion in Rotuman Prof Miriam Meyerhoff, Dr Fiona Willans, Dr Paul Geraghty
2018 Romina Singh MA Linguistics Sketch grammar and sociolinguistic topics in Bua Fiji Hindi Dr Paul Geraghty, Dr Fiona Willans, Dr Robert Early
2018  Lose Jenner Helu MA Linguistics Talanoa Ki Uvea: Translations and commentary (A linguistic analysis of evidence of Uvean influence on Tonga) Dr Robert Early
2017 Alice Aluta Rore MA (SRP) Linguistics Grammar sketch of Sulagwalu Dr Paul Geraghty Dr Robert Early
2017 Rajendra Prasad MA (SRP) Linguistics Grammar sketch of Nasinu Fiji Hindi Dr Paul Geraghty Prof Jeff Siegel
2016

 

 Carol Aru MA Linguistics A short grammar of Duidui: A language of West Ambae in Northern Vanuatu Dr Robert Early
2015 Zakia Chand PhD Linguistics Language learning strategies of Fiji students and correlations with academic language proficiency Dr Robert Early

Dr Rajni Chand

 
2013 Ana Kitolelei MA Linguistics The Fijian of part-Europeans: a case study of Wainunu-i-caxe Dr Paul Geraghty
2013 David Healey PhD Linguistics A grammar of Maskelynes: the language of Uluveu island, Vanuatu Prof John Lynch

Dr Robert Early
2012 Barbara Gillian Green PhD Linguistics Pacific English: what is it, why is it and its implications

 

 Dr France Mugler

Dr Robert Early
2011 Hannah Vari-Bogiri

 

 PhD Linguistics Phonology and morpho-syntax of Raga, Vanuatu Dr Robert Early
2009 Sébastien Lacrampe MA Linguistics Possession in Lelepa, a language of Central Vanuatu Dr Robert Early
2008 Roshila Singh MA Linguistics Language Use for Interethnic Communication among Urban Fijians and Indo-Fijians in Suva strengthening ties for a Common Identity Dr France Mugler
2007 Setsuko Wakabayashi PhD Linguistics FL Listening comprehension Dr Patrick Griffiths
Dr France Mugler
2007 Apolonia Tamata PhD Linguistics The Glottal Stop in Nasorowaqa Fijian and other Oceanic Languages Dr Paul Geraghty
2005 Mohammed Sameer MA Linguistics Teacher talk in Fijian English classrooms Dr France Mugler
2001 Jane Kanas MA Linguistics Tu kaen Bislama? Wan lukluk long nasonal langwis blong Vanuatu blong soem se i gat tu kaen Bislama we ol i toktok long hem long Vila taon Prof John Lynch