English Literature and Linguistics BA(Hons)

How this course is delivered

We've made some changes to the way our courses are taught to keep everyone safe, connected and involved in university life.

At the moment, students have a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that provides lots of opportunities to interact and engage with lecturers and other students.

Year 1

In year 1, you learn about the different approaches to literary analysis. You also cover the essential topics in linguistics, as you explore language acquisition, meaning and context through the Introduction to Pragmatics module, and word formation and sentence structure through the Morphology and Syntax module.

Modules

• Narrative and Narratives

  This module acts as a bridge from your earlier experiences of reading narrative texts and will encourage you to reflect on those early experiences. You will be introduced to a variety of narrative texts and genres (including early forms such as fairy-tales and myths) and to key issues in narrative theory. The module offers you an awareness of narrative as central to being human and allows you scope to explore narratives in creative and personal as well as critic always in a journal.

• English Poetry in Context

  This module will enable you to build on your earlier educational experiences of poetry and to extend your appreciation of and critical confidence with the mode. You will examine a diverse range of British poetry, analysing poetry and its responses to socio-historical contexts.

• Literature and Theory

  This module will introduce you to the key philosophical and theoretical approaches to the reading of literary texts, and situates that knowledge within a historical overview of literary criticism. By the end of the module you will be able to apply theoretical vocabulary and knowledge of critical concepts in the interpretation of literary works.

• General Linguistics 1: Phonetics and Phonology

  In this module you will develop your understanding of phonetics and phonology. In phonetics, you will study physical properties of speech sounds and of the articulatory mechanisms used in speech production and perception. In phonology, you'll study the systematic use of sounds in language. By the end of the module you will be able to describe phonetic and phonological processes from a variety of the world’s languages, as well as undertake basic phonetic and phonological analysis in a range of languages, and transcribe a wide variety of sounds.

• General Linguistics 2: Morphology and Syntax

  In this module you will develop your understanding of morphology and syntax. Descriptive analysis in the two branches of linguistics will enable you to examine how different natural languages can be, by illustrating a range of morphological and syntactic features.

• Introduction to Pragmatics

  This module is an introduction to the study of meaning in linguistics. You will explore the key concepts in pragmatics – the study of language in use. These concepts include: the nature of context and the difference between context-dependent and context-independent meaning; Gricean non-natural meaning and ‘saying versus ‘implicating’; generalised conversational implicatures; speech act theory; non-literal language and tropes; relevance theory; contextualist approaches, pragmatics and mental architecture.

Year 2

Year 2 enables you to further explore the links between the two subject areas. For example, you will have opportunities to work with nineteenth and twentieth century literary texts while considering how spoken and written texts vary in their form and message.

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

At the end of your second year you will have the opportunity to study abroad for a year extending your degree to four years.

Modules

• The Nineteenth Century in Literature
• British Literature and Twentieth-century History
• Mind and Language
• Deconstruction: Language, Theory, Society

Options*

Two from:

• Studying Travel Writing
• Twentieth-century Literary Experiments
• Early Modern Literature
• Literature in Practice
• Sign Language Linguistics
• Regional Englishes
• Introduction to Journalism
• Television Studio Production
• Image and Text: The Language of Comics and Graphic Novels
• American Literature 1850–1960
• Creative Writing: Process and Craft
• Multilingualism
• Writing for Stage, Radio, Screen
• Introduction to Journalism
• Photography: From Painting with Light to Zeroes and Ones
• Documentary Filmmaking: Theory and Practice
• Contested Stories

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.

Placement 

In your second year you can choose the Literature in Practice or Media in Practice placement modules which will allow you to gain professional experience in a relevant workplace environment. Students undertake a placement with local publishers, radio stations, social media marketing departments, PR firms, charities etc.

In year 3 you can choose the Community Placement – Theory in Practice placement module, again aimed at building on your work with professional experience.

Final year

In your final year you can choose from a range of literature and linguistics modules according to areas of personal interest.

Modules

• Dissertation

Options*

Four (at least one literature-related and one linguistics-related module) from:

• Pragmatics, Meaning and Truth
• Language, Philosophy, Mind
• Non-truth-conditional Semantics
• Russian Literature and Culture
• Literature and the World Wars
• Conflict, Migration, Borders
• Women's Writing and Feminist Theory
• Restoration Dramas
• Gothic: Texts and Contexts
• Victorian Sexualities
• Brighton Rocks: The City in Literature and Film
• Writing the Contemporary
• Post-war American Literature
• Postcolonial Literatures
• European Literatures and Film
• Adaptations
• (Re)viewing Shakespeare
• Literature and Philosophy
• Apocalypse, Utopia, Dystopia
• Culture Wars: Revisiting the Great Divide
• Community Placement: Theory in Practice
• Creative Writing Project
• English Language Teaching
• Public Journalism
• Popular Culture
• From Script to Screen
• Media, Ethics and Conflict
• Approaches to Study of Meaning
• Language, Culture and Ideology
• Language of Gender and Sexuality
• Conversation Analysis
• Language in the Law
• Language Policy and Planning
• Images of War
• The Camera and I: Personal Documentary

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.

Hear what our students have to say about their experiences of the Community Placement module.

International requirements and visas

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

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in the fee, while studying a course in the School of Humanities are listed here.

• For a number of courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits. These are optional and are not required to pass your course but under normal circumstances we would expect a budget of approximately £150 per year will cover the costs of particular trips. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.
• You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
• In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget up to £150 per year for printing.
• Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £200 to buy your own copies.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships, as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2021–22.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

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