opinions on english language & linguistics degree?

Currently in year 12 here and I'm thinking about applying for english language and linguistics ba however I'm not sure how respected this degree is with employers and also..what job sectors can it lead me to other than the obvious tefl and speech therapy? What postgrad degrees compliment this undergrad degree?

Reply 1

choleCcarknif3r

22

Original post by bbbhabibi

Currently in year 12 here and I'm thinking about applying for english language and linguistics ba however I'm not sure how respected this degree is with employers and also..what job sectors can it lead me to other than the obvious tefl and speech therapy? What postgrad degrees compliment this undergrad degree?

How respected it is depends on what grade you get, what modules you do, what you want to do etc. According to university websites, people are using those degrees to go on to be teachers, journalists, publishing, forensic linguistics, research, local government and public service, broadcasting, law, public relations, along with the ones you mentioned. That was just from a few minutes on three university websites, so just have a look around. You could also do a postgrad degree in the same subject, or something more related to the careers above

Reply 2

The Empire Odyssey

21

If I enjoyed English Language as much as I enjoy analysing Literature, I would have done Language/Linguistics at uni as it's so interesting. But I find it so boring to read about it.

If you enjoy aspects of it; studying it, researching it on a personal and academic level, then go for it.

I think studying Language/Linguistics is far more worth it than Literature imo.

Reply 3

Erik28

11

My first choice is Linguistics BA but also had to apply for English Language & Linguistics to fill up my choices. Linguistics is more analytical and data heavy than EL&L, your employers would appreciate the more scientific approach to language.

There's plenty of room to employment, an English degree is very well respected. But it's what you want to do.

Me personally, I'm interested in pyscho-linguistics or computational linguistics, so might do a masters after. It's a long way away, but I'd quite like to work within voice recognition (Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa etc) or AI linguistics.

The analytical side of the joint degree combined with English would be good in a role where problem solving is key or working in communications or advertising.

Let us know how you get on. Where have you applied?

Reply 4

zandra22

From experience doing this degree myself, it is so so scientific and technicial. It is completely different to A-level English Language if you have experience doing that. A degree in Linguistics and English Language is less descriptive and contextual, and more based on science and data. It is often referred to as a Language Science because of this.

In terms of respectability, I think the Linguistics side is extremely well respected. As for English Language, I think it is seen as just OK.

Can go into pretty much anything with this degree.

(edited 7 years ago)

Original post by bbbhabibi

Currently in year 12 here and I'm thinking about applying for english language and linguistics ba however I'm not sure how respected this degree is with employers and also..what job sectors can it lead me to other than the obvious tefl and speech therapy? What postgrad degrees compliment this undergrad degree?

The degree is quite modern, which is why some people believe that it is less 'respected' by employers. But the degree is very interesting and very broad - modules depend on the university you go to and how their course is set out! There are many, many different areas of English language study that you could go into, so make sure to read and understand the module layout of courses that you see in prospectuses or online.

Job sectors are, again, hugely varied for those studying English language. Teaching seems like the career choice that everybody reaches to when thinking about English language, but there are also jobs in HR; PR, marketing and advertising; media and communication; journalism; creative writing, and many more, as the degree can give you many skills on top of the actual content that you learn. It can help you to be a better communicator, to be able to analyse texts and write essays and reports on them, to understand how to read and utilise research and theories, and can help you better understand people and society.

Original post by zandra22

From experience doing this degree myself, it is so so scientific and technicial. It is completely different to A-level English Language if you have experience doing that. A degree in Linguistics and English Language is less descriptive and contextual, and more based on science and data. It is often referred to as a Language Science because of this.

In terms of respectability, I think the Linguistics side is extremely well respected. As for English Language, I think it is seen as just OK.

Can go into pretty much anything with this degree.

While linguistics is certainly very scientific, an English language degree isn't necessarily too different from a-level, depending on the modules of the course. There can be a lot of theory-based modules which link very well with sociology, some which are much more historical, some psychological, some scientific and grammatical, some practical...

Personally, I would have to disagree with you that a degree in English language is less contextual - I'm in my second year and have taken many modules that revolve around context and the theories that meaning is bound to context rather than being an independant grammatical structure (but let's not get into that debate right now, there might be some Chomskians about) :wink:

Overall though, a degree is what you make of it! If you are willing to work hard in your degree and make the most of all the ways in which universities can help to improve your skills, you will do great in your degree and in the future.

Reply 6

Jannatul 123

7

Any of you completed this degree?what are you doing now?

opinions on english language & linguistics degree?

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