Course summary

Do you want to study a wide range of authors, genres, historical periods, literary movements, techniques and critical approaches? Would you like to combine this with discovering how the language at the heart of key literary texts actually functions? A joint English Language and Literature degree could be the answer. You’ll be taught by one of the country’s largest Linguistics and English Language departments and an English Literature department that provides a vibrant array of authors, genres, historical periods, literary movements, techniques and critical approaches. The core modules in your first year will give you a good foundation in English Language and English Literature. We’ll cover plays, films, short stories, novels and poetry from the sixteenth century to the modern day. You’ll study lexis, grammar and phonetics as well as descriptive concepts such as accents and dialects. In your second year you’ll study core modules of Stylistics and The Theory and Practice of Criticism. You’ll also be able to choose from modules ranging from British Romanticism to The Language of Advertising. In your final year you are free to specialise in genres and periods that especially interest you such as Advanced English Phonetics, Victorian Gothic or Forensic Linguistics. Our English Language and Literature degree helps you develop an analytical approach to working. It teaches the skills of data analysis, academic writing, and argumentation, and we are confident that our teaching, combined with your willingness to learn, will put you in a strong position to move forward in your career.