English Language BA (Hons)

During this course, you will study the structures and theoretical principles of English and language in general, and use them to understand and analyse spoken and written English discourse in context.

This may include investigating sounds, word meanings, sentence structures, discourse analytical principles, child language acquisition, and language variation and change.

You will be offered a variety of assessment types, including standard essays, presentations, data collection projects, exercises, transcriptions, dissertation and even blogs. This will equip you with the academic experiences you need to make the most of employment opportunities following your undergraduate degree and/or postgraduate study.

The course has been repeatedly praised by external examiners, who have noted the unusually broad range of expertise provided by the teaching team. This covers some of the most cutting-edge subjects in English language and linguistics, such as Corpus Linguistics (computer-assisted discourse analysis) and Cognitive Stylistics (how readers' minds process literary and non-literary discourse). Staff also have considerable expertise in the areas of sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, child language acquisition, models of grammar, critical discourse analysis, dialectology and comparative linguistics.

The English Language course contains core modules at each level of study, with a focus on language in use.

At Level 4, students are introduced to the building blocks of language (morphology, grammar and phonetics), theories of language and discourse analytical principles.

Level 5 builds upon this foundation with more complex learning, which enables students to collect and/or analyse linguistic data relating to a variety of topics which may include:

• child language acquisition
• the power of language in formats like political speeches, charity appeals and advertisements
• and popular culture which includes TV, music and film.

At Level 6, students will complete a dissertation on a topic of their choosing, integrating all the knowledge and skills acquired throughout their studies. There will also be the opportunity to study linguistic debates and controversies as well as forensic linguistics.

As part of the course, students will learn about the history of English as well as the skills of analysis from a single text to large databases. They will also gain experience working with historical databases, specialist speech-analysis software and large-scale corpora. 

This course is delivered in three terms of ten weeks each. In each term students study up to 40 credits. 

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the course that will take the form of either core or option modules and should be used as a guide. We review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects. If during a review process, course content is significantly changed, we will contact you to notify you of these changes if you receive an offer from us.

This course shares a common first year with students on English, English Literature, and Creative Writing courses.

This means that you’ll learn alongside students studying a similar discipline, helping to broaden your knowledge and exposure to other concepts, perspectives and professions in the first year of your degree.

As you learn and collaborate with students from other courses, you'll not only widen your social and professional network but also learn new skills that will set you up for success in your industry.

In your second and third years, you will progress to studying more specialist modules within English Language, developing your skills to become a World Ready graduate.

Job prospects

Graduates in English Language typically secure employment in professions such as teaching, publishing, the media and communications, speech therapy, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), advertising, public relations, journalism, librarianship, management and administration, and personnel work. Many students have gone on to postgraduate study in the discipline. 

Progression options

• English Language and Linguistics MA
• PGCE Secondary (including Lead School Partner Route) with QTS
• PGCE Primary (5-11) PGCE with QTS

Careers service

The University has an award-winning Careers and Employability service which provides a variety of employability-enhancing experiences; through the curriculum, through employer contact, tailored group sessions, individual information, advice and guidance.

Careers and Employability aims to deliver a service which is inclusive, impartial, welcoming, informed and tailored to your personal goals and aspirations, to enable you to develop as an individual and contribute to the business and community in which you will live and work.

We are here to help you plan your future, make the most of your time at University and to enhance your employability. We provide access to part-time jobs, extra-curricular employability-enhancing workshops and offer practical one-to-one help with career planning, including help with CVs, applications and mock interviews. We also deliver group sessions on career planning within each course and we have a wide range of extensive information covering graduate jobs and postgraduate study.