Linguistics BA(Hons)

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Year 1

In the first year you take six modules. You'll look at language as a social phenomenon, as well as the human and animal communication systems and the frameworks which describe and explain them. 

Modules

• Language in the Social World

  This module introduces issues around language and society. You will develop an understanding of language as a social phenomenon, including the interplay of individual linguistic choices and social structures. You'll also expand your abilities to synthesise materials, think critically and communicate effectively about the relationship of language and society.

• Approaches to Language and Communication

  This module introduces human and animal communication systems and the frameworks which describe and explain them. You'll examine the relationship between language and communication and explore notions from key-thinkers to discuss philosophical, sociological and cognitive views of linguistic communication.

• Understanding Language

  This module introduces the study of language (linguistics) and its main branches of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. It will enable you to carry out analysis of real language data using different linguistic frameworks. You'll be encouraged to be more critical of your own language ability and to develop and hone communication skills whilst also developing your written work.

• Intercultural Communication

  This module explores intercultural communication in a technologically connected world. Through examining communication in national and individual-level communities and groups, you'll investigate how different narratives and positions emerge. You will explore the challenges and opportunities of intercultural communication in a complex, interconnected and inequitable world shaped by technology and other global forces.

• Investigating Language

  This module provides a solid foundation in research methodologies and methods. It will develop your abilities in reading, processing and critically assessing analytical research. It will also build your skills in investigating language and linguistic patterns.

• Understanding Culture

  This module introduces the relationship of language and culture through the discipline of linguistic anthropology. You'll build skills in key areas such as linguistic determinism and relativism, the ethnography of communication and communicative competence. Through this intellectual framing (a concept introduced in the module), you will be able to make connections about your own cultural experience of language use.

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 Student View.

You'll also look at the study of language (linguistics) and its main branches of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics; intercultural communication in a technologically connected world; and the relationship of language and culture through the discipline of linguistic anthropology.

Year 2 

In your second year you will look more deeply into the areas you explored in your first year, engage with formal descriptions of language and examine a range of theoretical issues. Your grammatical knowledge will be deepened by focusing on a small range of phenomena in great detail and you will be introduced to the relationship between language and the mind (psycholinguistics) and language and society (sociolinguistics).

From year 2, you'll also be able to choose whether to stay with the broad-based Linguistics BA, or whether to specialise in policy and planning, or intercultural communications.

Core modules

Linguistics BA

• Multilingualism
• Mind and Language
• Deconstruction: Language, Theory, Society
• Linguistics and Grammar: Concepts and Analyses

Policy and planning pathway

• Multilingualism
• Mind and Language
• Deconstruction: Language, Theory,  Society
• Language Minoritisation and Revitalisation

Intercultural communication pathway

• Multilingualism
• Mind and Language
• Linguistics and Grammar
• Intercultural Communication in the Workplace

Options*

• Researching English Language Use
• Power and Persuasion
• Image and Text: The Language of Comics and Graphic Novels
• Linguistics and Grammar: Concepts and Analyses**
• Deconstruction: Language, Theory, Society**
• Language Minoritisation and Revitalisation**
• Intercultural Communication in the Workplace**

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

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

**if not taken as a core module

Final year 

In your final year, you will continue to follow the pathway you have chosen. You'll have opportunities to critically evaluate linguistic theories in your areas of interest through writing an extended dissertation on a topic of your choice. This piece of work will be a culmination of your undergraduate experience and a reflection of your newly acquired expertise in linguistics.

You will write your dissertation on a chosen topic in linguistics which you will have had an opportunity to study in depth throughout your degree. This piece of work will be a culmination of your undergraduate experience and a reflection of your expertise in linguistics.

Modules

Linguistics BA

Core modules

• Language and Emotion
• Approaches to the Study of Meaning
• Dissertation

Options*

• Approaches to the Study of Discourse
• World Englishes
• English Language Teaching
• Global Social Policy
• Care and Ethics Policy

Policy and planning pathway

Core modules

• Care and Ethics Policy
• Global Social Policy
• Language and Emotion
• World Englishes
• Dissertation (focus on policy and planning)

Options*

• Approaches to the Study of Discourse
• English Language Teaching

Intercultural communication pathway

Core modules

• Approaches to the Study of Meaning
• Approaches to the Study of Discourse
• English Language Teaching
• Dissertation (focus on intercultural communication)

Options*

• Language and Emotion
• World Englishes
• Global Social Policy
• Care and Ethics Policy

Options for all pathways*

• Language of Gender and Sexuality
• Language, Law and the State: The Politics of Force
• Analysing Big Data: Quantitative Methods in Language Research

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

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

Specialise in policy and planning

At the end of your first year you can choose to continue with the broad study of linguistics with the Linguistics BA(Hons) or to specialise in one of two areas, policy and planning or intercultural communication.

Linguistics with Policy and Planning BA(Hons)

There are 7,000 languages in global use but at current rates, 90% of these will become extinct in the next century. This pathway provides you with the skills and knowledge to become a leader in addressing this endangered language crisis.

You will learn about language policies and how governmental decisions concerning language policy affect cultures and communities. You will gain highly sought-after employability skills including project design, data analysis and policy writing. You will also learn how to develop and implement language policies that achieve greater equity and contribute to positive social transformation.

As a graduate of this pathway, you will have the disciplinary grounding and skills to enter careers where you can be at the foreground of transformational social change in roles such as language officer, policy development, community organising, publishing and teaching

Specialise in intercultural communication

At the end of your first year you can choose to continue with the broad study of linguistics with the Linguistics BA(Hons) or to specialise in one of two areas, policy and planning or intercultural communication.

Linguistics with Intercultural Communication BA(Hons)

Effective intercultural communication skills are integral to the success of organisations working within a global business context, helping to build welcoming, inclusive and diverse societies. This pathway will enable you to navigate and lead communications in complex and challenging international contexts.

As a graduate of the pathway in intercultural communication, you will have the disciplinary grounding and employability skills to enter a wide range of careers and postgraduate training. These include: speech and language therapy, contrastive natural language processing, forensic linguistics, teaching (PGCE or EAL), logistics, publishing, technical writing, speech writing, marketing, user experience, health and social care, organisational psychology and content creation.

Lab facilities

Mithras House is home to all our School of Humanities and Social Science courses. It has a series of ‘labs’, which may be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work.

Life lab
A comfortable space with lounge furniture intended for qualitative research with larger groups. Due to its relaxed layout and naturalistic environment, the space is suited to research using focus groups, research using observation-based methods and child research.

The space is also used for teaching on some social science courses, as well as for dissertation research for projects.
 
City lab
A space designed for collaborative student learning. It is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme, our collective mission to contribute towards solutions to tackling the pressing issues facing our world.

Design lab
A space housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses. It has the space and equipment to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.

Stats lab
A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab is accessible as a study space to students on psychology courses. 

It is also available to students studying courses involving video and audio recording and editing, such as politics degrees and our creative writing programmes. The stats lab contains eight soundproof booths for recording or transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research.  

VR and eye tracking lab
This lab is used for psychological research, specifically eye-tracking research and virtual reality research. Equipment includes an electroencephalography (EEG) headset and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) equipment.

Meet the team 

Dr Federica Formato, course leader

Federica is interested in language in connection with gender and sexuality in Italian. She is published on violence against women in sentencing remarks in England and Wales (with Dr Amanda Potts) and on constructions of hegemonic and subordinate masculinities in YouTube comments (with Dr Mandie Iveson). Her first monograph Gender, Discourse and Ideology in Italian was published in 2019 (Palgrave) and her second will have the title Feminism, corpus-assisted research and language inclusivity. Read Federica's full profile.

Other staff who teach on the course include: Dr Tim Wharton, Simon Wilkinson, Dr Vy Rajapillai, Dr Barbara Chamberlin, Dr Chrystie Myketiak, Dr Joseph Ronan. 

Read a Q+A with lecturer Dr Chrystie Myketiak about her linguistics career and how her research on politics, sexuality and gender informs her teaching.

Course fees

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2024–25.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or RPI (whichever is higher).

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate and postgraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• About the university’s fees by checking our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

Campus where this course is taught

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