Course summary

The course allows you to combine two subject areas, developing your understanding and skills in the related areas of English Language and Linguistics, and offering you a thorough understanding of the concept of 'language'. At the same time this course prepares you for a wide range of possible jobs, both related to the content covered on the course and the skills you develop in applying that content. In English Language we take a close look at the development of English as a global language, at the prospects for its future and cultural aspects of communication. We also examine the structure of the language and at the way it is used to varying effects in different texts. In addition, students have the opportunity to learn in detail how to teach English to speakers of other languages and to undertake creative writing for personal development. In Linguistics we explain how the communicative system that we all have in our minds is structured and how it is used. We also examine how we learn languages as a child or as an adult, and at how we make language work for us in everyday social activities, for example, in the courtroom, or in conversations between doctors and patients, or in advertisements or comic strips. Finally, we address the fact that languages are constantly changing, in large part due to the social and cultural contexts in which we use them. Taken as a whole, the course gives an introduction to many different areas of language, and offers the opportunity to build on these beginnings to gain in-depth knowledge of specific aspects such as discourse analysis, second language acquisition, the teaching of English, bilingualism, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, language change, onomastics, rhetoric and creative writing.