Course summary

A Combined Honours degree at Chester gives you the opportunity to study two subjects. You will spend a fairly even amount of time studying each subject area, with possible opportunities to declare a major – minor towards the end of your studies. Chinese Immerse yourself in the fascinating culture, history and language of one of the world’s most powerful countries, on a course that offers two placements abroad. Whether you start as an absolute beginner or with a Pre-U, this course will give you the opportunity to develop all your language skills to a very high level, as well as study a range of cultural and historical contexts. You will also develop strong communication and presentation skills, the ability to work autonomously and in groups, analytical and critical discernment and resilience developed during placements abroad. Our Languages For All programme allows you to also study one of eleven languages at a range of levels in addition to your degree. Fees are fully reimbursed on completion of the course. You will also have the opportunity to take a module in Teaching English as a Second Language which includes the Cambridge CELTA qualification. Languages and Area Studies courses at Chester received a 91.55 overall satisfaction rating in the 2022 National Student Survey, well above the national average for the subject. English Language Unlock the power of words through the investigation and analysis of the fundamental structures and theoretical principles of English language and linguistics. 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. Established first as a Combined Honours course in 2009, English Language at Chester has been repeatedly praised by external examiners, who have noted the unusually broad range of expertise provided by the teaching team, which 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. NSS 2019 results have placed the English Language course high above the sector average in terms of lecturers' ability to explain things (100%), opportunities to explore concepts in depth (97%), and advice and guidance offered by staff (96%). Students comment positively upon how approachable the teaching staff are (100%), and how they feel that staff value students’ opinions (96%). As part of a Combined Honours course, English Language can be combined very fruitfully with numerous other subjects across the University, including education, psychology, journalism, modern languages, politics, religious studies, and many more.