Hello :)

Hello Other universities high in the league tables which have English Language courses include London College University, Edingburgh and York. There are lists of different universities and ratings for different corses in The Guardian website. I hope this helps

Hello everyone
I'm Simona from Lithuania (never heard of it? Not a surprise for me )
So anyway I'm 17. Right now I'm finishin 10th grade and since we have 12 grades here I am starting to think where to study.
My dream always was and still is to study somewhere in United Kingdom (England maybe) and I want to study English language. Basicly I came here to ask everyone about their oppinions where is the best to study in UK.
Right now I'm kinda focused on Manchester university but it is just because my aunt lives near there so I am open for any suggestions
So if anyone could help this undecided girl that would be amazing for me

I have noticed that lots of Europeans study language differently, focusing on English phonology and cultural stuff, so I would clarify exactly what you mean when you say 'English language'.

The best places to study linguistics are Edinburgh, Lancaster, Newcastle and UCL in my opinion. (I quite like Huddersfield too). But slightly below this all the universities are roughly the same, including Manchester. English language and linguistics are not really big areas in British universities so few places even have decided departments; for example, you might find people with language interests stuck in literature departments instead. This seems to be the same at Manchester. It does not look like you can do English language as a single honours. You would need to do it as part of a joint honours degree.

Interesting that you think all of these are better than Cambridge. How come?

They produce better and more recognisable research as far as I am concerned. For example, I am currently doing some research on language assessment and literacy, two areas Lancaster are especially strong in.

You think that makes them better for studying at? Just curious - I studied linguistics at UCL.

You think that makes them better for studying at? Just curious - I studied linguistics at UCL.

What exactly do you want me to say?

You are unlikely to meet anyone who has studied at all of those universities to make a fair comparison between their pastoral support and teaching quality. But things like library resources and the quality of research coming out of the universities are largely quantifiable, and can be observed by anyone, not just the people studying there.

Another prospective English Language student here! What's it like studying Linguistics at UCL? Also my subject choices are geared towards humanities so I'm not sure if I'm suited...I'm also looking at King's

Also sorry op for taking over your thread! I guess it depends on whether you want to study a course which is more linguistics based or english based - Have you had a look at SOAS or King's or Birmingham?

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I'm just curious why you thought those four universities to all offer better linguistics courses than Cambridge. You said it was the quality of research, so now I'm wondering why that makes the teaching better. Besides, research quality may be quantifiable, but the universities you gave - whilst some of them beat Cambridge - don't have the best ratings for research.

You are discussing separate things now: whether research quality influences teaching and whether Cambridge's research is better than the universities I mentioned. The answers are yes and no respectively.

Who does not have the best record for research? Every university I mentioned bar Newcastle beat Cambridge in the last research assessment exercise for linguistics, in terms of average score per submission and the amount of submissions they made. So did Manchester for what it is worth. (Huddersfield are not listed because their linguistic staff are part of their English department I think, but I was not necessarily discussing them).

Newcastle's average score is dragged down because they submitted the third highest amount of research just behind Edinburgh and Lancaster, who all miles ahead of the rest. You have to balance these things out otherwise you are led to believe that Queen Mary is the best university in the UK for linguistics (i.e. it achieves the highest average score, but that is because its submission rate is very low). But I do not think anyone would suggest Newcastle is anything other than an excellent department. The same can be said of its School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences (i.e. where linguistic research crosses into cultural and educational contexts as well as pure speech and language therapy research).

I will admit that it may be the case that the areas I am interested just so happen to be the ones where Cambridge do not specialise, but that does not explain their mediocre RAE scores compared to the departments I mentioned.

Hello everyone
I'm Simona from Lithuania (never heard of it? Not a surprise for me )
So anyway I'm 17. Right now I'm finishin 10th grade and since we have 12 grades here I am starting to think where to study.
My dream always was and still is to study somewhere in United Kingdom (England maybe) and I want to study English language. Basicly I came here to ask everyone about their oppinions where is the best to study in UK.
Right now I'm kinda focused on Manchester university but it is just because my aunt lives near there so I am open for any suggestions
So if anyone could help this undecided girl that would be amazing for me

Studying linguistics at UCL was one of the most intellectually rewarding things I've ever done. What is it that you want out of a linguistics degree, though? Different universities approach it very differently. I can tell you that my year was roughly split down the middle between people who did languages and humanities and those who did more sciences.

Well, they don't have the best records. Queen Mary does, according to the ratings, and many others have research scores that are similar to your selected universities (or better in some cases - Newcastle's isn't great). I agree that the numbers can be deceptive, but that aside why pick a litmus test that not all four succeed on? This is why I wondered what research quality has to do with it, and I'm still wondering!

I really enjoy English Language at A Level but I enjoy the humanity aspect of it more than anything else. I had a look at UCL and absolutely love the place but I don't know if the course would be too scientific for my interests. Having looked at the course structure, it seems to be more 'logical' i.e. more suited to those studying subjects such as maths. What strikes me though is the fact you said your year is 'evenly' split, would you say there are modules which are equally suited to people with a 'creative' mindset?

Also what's the workload like as opposed to other unis? I've noticed that UCL has more modules than other unis offering the course. Are you in your final year or have you graduated? I was wondering what graduates from Linguistics at UCL also go on to afterwards, I would quite like to work in social media

Sorry, what? They do have the best records. That is not up for debate whatsoever. Nor did I ever suggest numbers can be deceptive. If you do think Cambridge produces better research than the universities I mentioned then academic opinion across the whole UK goes against you (this is not some silly newspaper ranking, it is the academics themselves saying who produces the best research). I was merely explaining how the data itself could be interpreted.

For instance, Queen Mary has the highest average score for research produced, but it is clear that they are not the best university for linguistics for a number of reasons. Firstly, they have few submissions which means they are unlikely to have a dedicated department or strength in depth (less than 5% of their full-time staff submitted something). Secondly, their research scores are mixed. Most is nationally leading (3*), but they are - despite being top - the only university in the top ten which has unclassified research (i.e. not very good quality at all). Ironically, Cambridge in 11th are the next to have any unclassified research. It is clear that they are only top because of the way the table was measured. On the other hand, Edinburgh come second and submit a much higher proportion of research. They also come second in another relevant sub-panel (English Language and Literature), which suggests they have strength in depth across relevant subject areas.

It is called context. Newcastle came below Cambridge in linguistics because of the way the table is measured. I know they are a better department. Likewise, Cambridge come 13th in the English Language and Literature sub-panel. Now the research in this sub panel is all excellent and submission rates are much better in linguistics. The only thing bringing Cambridge down is their proportionally higher research submission rate (70%). Oxford come joint third but 93% of their staff submitted research to be assessed. Lots of people quite rightly preference that over decimal differences.

There isn't much room for creativity on the linguistics modules - that's not what linguistics is about. There are some modules which are more formal - these tend to be the core ones and you'd have to do them anywhere - and others less so. The ones which are less formal tend to be focused on sociological aspects of language, or on its development in (or acquisition by) children, for example. However, you're not limited to modules within linguistics. I did a philosophy module in my final year.

I've graduated. I myself am now doing a fast-track law degree, with a view to becoming a solicitor.