English Language and Linguistics BA(Hons)

International equivalencies

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Why study with us?

• You’ll study at our Falmer campus situated on the edge of Brighton and the South Downs. You’ll benefit from outstanding modern facilities and easy access to the city centre, with its well-established arts and social scene.

• You’ll be part of a vibrant, research-active programme where our talented teaching team create a dynamic and supportive environment.

• Options mean that you can tailor your degree to your individual interests or career ambitions and create a unique pathway to suit you.

• You'll gain vital transferable skills including personal organisation, independent research, team working, communication and presentation that you can use throughout your career.

• You have the opportunity to undertake a year abroad in year three, extending your degree to four years. We have Erasmus agreements in place with universities across Spain, Belgium, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Austria.

• The course is delivered through lectures, seminars and workshops, small group or individual tutorials. You will have plenty of opportunity and time for independent study and to make use of the university’s online learning environment.

• This degree provides good grounding for many different industries including publishing and journalism, but equally provides a solid foundation for further study or research. 

Year 1

In your first year, you will develop an understanding of the basic concepts and modes of linguistic analysis focusing particularly on the four structural approaches to linguistics: phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax. In addition, you will also gain an insight into the processes by which children acquire and develop their first language.

Your first year also provides you with an essential introduction to the study of English language at degree level. The core English language modules will enable you to develop the meta-language to describe language features and their use in different genres. You will also explore the historical perspective of the development of the English language.

Modules

• The Structure and Grammar of English
• Perspectives on the History of the English Language
• Introduction to Pragmatics
• General Linguistics 1: Phonetics and Phonology
• General Linguistics 2: Morphology and Syntax
• Language Acquisition and Development

Our courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis in order to make sure that what you learn with us is relevant and that your course enables you to develop appropriate skills. When you apply to study with us, we will inform you of any new developments in your chosen programme through our applicant portal.

Year 2

In year 2, linguistics modules will introduce you to the study of meaning and different approaches to describing and analysing grammatical structures. The second year also provides an essential grounding in understanding language in society and how it varies according to both context and the user. The focus of several year two modules is also on enabling independent study and research in preparation for the skills required for your year 3 dissertation or creative project.

Modules

• Language, Identity and Power
• Researching English Language Use
• Linguistics and Grammar: Concepts and analyses
• Semantics

Options*

• Creative Writing
• Studying Travel Writing
• Queer Writing
• Literature in Practice
• Literature and Art History
• American Literature 1850–1960
• Multilingualism
• Sign Language Linguistics
• Mind and Language
• Image and Text: The language of comics and graphic novels
• Regional Englishes
• Media in Practice
• Introduction to Journalism
• Photography: From painting with light to zeros and ones
• Documentary Filmmaking: Theory and practice
• Writing for Stage, Radio and Screen
• Television Studio Production
• Contested Stories
• Deconstruction: Language, theory, society

You can also choose option modules from across our humanities and arts subjects.  

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In your final year, you will examine the content and explanatory potential of a number of theoretical frameworks that have been proposed to explain language use in context.

Building on the knowledge developed over the first and second year, you will study different approaches to analysing how different types of discourse are constructed. Finally, you will write a dissertation on a topic of your choice in which you can explore and investigate particular aspects of language use. 

In your third year, you study two core modules, one in linguistics and one in English language; two options, and a dissertation.

Modules

• Dissertation

Options*

One from:

• Approaches to Analysing Discourse
• World Englishes

One from:

• Pragmatics, Meaning and Truth
• Language, Philosophy, Mind
• Non-truth-conditional Semantics

Two from:

• From Script to Screen
• Creative Writing Project
• Adaptations
• English Language Teaching
• Women's Writing and Feminist Theory
• Russian Literature and Culture
• Gothic: Texts and contexts
• Victorian Sexualities
• Literature and Philosophy
• Post-war American Literature
• Apocalypse, Utopia, Dystopia
• (Re)Viewing Shakepeare
• Postcolonial Literature
• Writing the Contemporary
• European Literatures
• Culture Wars: Revisiting the great divide
• Popular Culture
• Approaches to the Study of Meaning
• Images of War
• Language, Culture and Ideology
• Language of Gender and Sexuality
• Community Placement: Theory in practice
• Television Broadcast Journalism
• Autobiography and the Screen
• Media Ethics and Conflict

You can also choose option modules from across our humanities and arts subjects. 

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Staff profile 

Dr Tim Wharton, course leader

Tim, linguistics lecturer  and course leader of the English Language and Linguistics BA(Hons) also leads our linguistics research. 

Most people share the intuition that what a speaker says may fall short of what they mean, or that by saying one thing a speaker might mean something else entirely. But have you ever stopped to wonder how hearers bridge the gap between what speakers say and what they mean? Are we, in a sense, mind-readers? My work begins with the assumption that we are.

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Falmer campus