Course overview

Our three-year Linguistics BA Honours degree focuses on developing your understanding of how language works, how we communicate, and the growth of language in the brain. You'll explore linguistics in the context of English alongside other languages. You'll build a firm base of skills and knowledge to pursue many career paths - from journalism or data science to teaching or further postgraduate study.

In your first year you’ll study a foreign language, modern or ancient, alongside Linguistics. Throughout your degree, you'll also follow a cutting-edge degree programme shaped by the research specialisms of our world-leading staff. This ensures your studies explore the latest ideas and most exciting areas of linguistics, such as:

• computational linguistics
• language variation and change
• psycholinguistics
• theoretical linguistics

You'll become a confident and competent professional by learning about fundamental topics in linguistics, such as; phonetics, grammar and sound patterns and the social contexts in which languages are learnt.

Teaching methods

You can normally expect to spend around 10 hours per week attending lectures, seminars, workshops and film screenings, plus weekly study groups.

You also spend around 25 hours per week on class preparation, reading, writing and other forms of independent research recommended by your tutor.

Work placement

During your degree you’ll have multiple opportunities to undertake a meaningful work placement. In your second and third years you may choose to take the Career Development Module which offers academic credit for 50 hours of placement. You can choose to carry out your placement via part-time work, volunteering or in a local school. You will be assessed through a mixture of written work, presentations and professional skills assessment.

In addition you'll have the option to spend 9 to 12 months on a work placement with University support from our dedicated Careers team to help you secure your dream placement in the UK or abroad. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice and developing your professional expertise. Previous placements have been in a range of sectors, including:

• Journalism and Broadcasting
• Sustainable Energy
• Politics
• Digital Media and Marketing
• Education
• Finance
• Museum and Heritage
• Travel and Tourism

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year. Placements are subject to availability.