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English Language and Linguistics

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,C-B,C,C

104-112 points, to include a minimum of 2 A levels.

106-112 Tariff points from the Access to HE Diploma.

Cambridge Pre-U score of 44-46.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

3 GCSEs at grade C or above to include English and Mathematics/3 GCSEs at grade 4 or above to include English and Mathematics.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

25

25 points from the IB Diploma, to include 3 Higher Level subjects.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H3,H3,H3,H4,H4-H3,H3,H3,H3,H4

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

104-112 Tariff points to include a minimum of 2 Advanced Highers.

Acceptable when combined with other qualifications.

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

104-112

104-112 points, to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent.

104-112 points from the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate including 1 A level, plus the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.

About this course


This course has alternative study modes. Contact the university to find out how the information below might vary.

Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Other options

4 years | Sandwich | 2024

Subject

English language

**This is a Connected Degree**

Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

**Overview**

Language shapes our experience of the world – from our social and emotional lives, to our experience of society, work, politics and culture. Immerse yourself in the nature of spoken and written language, and how it's used in everything from digital communication to forensic investigation.

You'll study how language works, including the relationships between language, the mind, and society, and how language varies through time, place, culture and identity. You'll explore the different ways people use language and what they use it for. Discover methods for analysing spoken and written language, how we learn language and how we teach it.

You'll develop sought-after skills including communication, creativity and critical thinking. You'll be taught by expert researchers and study alongside students within the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics – bringing opportunities to learn from the latest research and build intercultural relationships.

**Course highlights**

- Discover how the use of language affects perceptions of important contemporary issues, such as gender, sexuality, education and globalisation

- Learn the linguistic skills to spot how language persuades and prejudices people – from what drives social movements on social media, to relationships in the workplace

- Develop the skills employers want, including analysis, criticism, negotiation, argument and problem solving

- Tailor your degree to suit your career ambitions, including options that equip you to work internationally, such as intercultural communication and teaching English as a second language

- Learn from dedicated, expert researchers from the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics

- Have the opportunity to build skills in ‘corpus linguistics’ analysis – essential skills in a world where working with 'big data' is the future

You can choose to customise your degree depending on your interests and ambitions, by specialising in English literature or teaching English as a foreign language.

**Careers and opportunities**

You’ll graduate with specialist expertise in language and linguistics, plus sought-after employability skills including:

- analytical techniques and reasoning

- communicating clearly to diverse audiences

- data collection and interpretation

- developing persuasive, evidence-based arguments

- problem solving

If you decide to pursue a career that’s closely related to your studies, you could apply for jobs in writing, editing or publishing. Or employ your research and analysis skills to go on to postgraduate study, in areas such as speech therapy, communication studies, law and marketing.

Further study in forensic linguistics could open up possible careers in law enforcement, criminal justice or legal firms. You could also develop your linguistic talents to work as a speech therapist or train actors to master different dialects.

You could work in any of the following areas:

- advertising

- education

- communication

- media

- marketing

- publishing

- technical writing

- teaching English

Graduate destinations

Previous graduates have gone onto further training and work in various fields, including:

- accountancy

- the armed forces and police

- banking

- research

- journalism

- law

- local government

- health services

- public relations and marketing

- publishing

- speech and language therapy

- teaching

After you leave the University, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.

Modules

Year 1
Core modules in this year include:
- How Language Works
- Investigating Language Practices
- Language, Learning and Teaching
- Language, Society and Mind: An Introduction to Linguistics
- Working with Texts

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2
Core modules in this year include:
- English Forms And Functions
- Meaning In English

Optional modules in this year currently include:
- Clinical Linguistics
- Empire and its Afterlives in Britain, Europe and Africa
- Engaged Citizenship in Humanities and Social Sciences
- Forensic Linguistics
- Global Security
- Intercultural Perspectives on Communication
- Language in Literature: Stylistics
- Managing Across Cultures
- Marketing and Communication
- Modern Foreign Language
- Modernity and Globalisation
- Nationalism and Migration: Chaos, Crisis and the Everyday
- News, Discourse and Media
- Principles of Economic Crime Investigation
- Professional Experience
- Second Language Acquisition
- Space, Place and Being
- TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
- Transitional Justice and Human Rights
- Trinity Certificate Teaching Practice
- Wildlife Crime: Threats and Response

Placement Year (optional)
On this course, you can do an optional work placement year between your 2nd and 3rd years to get valuable experience working in industry. We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year. Due to changing circumstances as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may need to make changes to courses to ensure your safety and to ensure compliance with Government guidelines. We'll provide you with as much notice as possible of any such changes. Your course leader will inform you of these. Changes may include things such as modules being taught in teaching block 2 instead of teaching block 1 and teaching activities occurring in smaller group sizes.

Year 3
Core modules in this year include:
- Dissertation / Major Project

Optional modules in this year currently include:
- Creativity in the Language Classroom
- English Through Time
- Englishes in the World
- Gender, Language and Sexuality
- Introduction to Teaching
- Language and Social Media
- Professional Development: Recruiters and Candidates
- Professional Experience L6
- Researching English Vocabulary
- Spoken Discourse in the Workplace
- Study Abroad
- Written Discourse in the Workplace

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

Assessment methods

You’ll be assessed through:

examinations
essays
reports
case studies
book reviews
written work
projects

You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.

You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:

Year 1 students: 15% by written exams, 8% by practical exams and 77% by coursework
Year 2 students: 28% by written exams, 3% by practical exams and 69% by coursework
Year 3 students: 10% by practical exams and 90% by coursework

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,250
per year
International
£17,200
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Portsmouth

Department:

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

86%
English language

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

English language

Teaching and learning

79%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
75%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
80%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

85%
Library resources
88%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
86%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

59%
UK students
41%
International students
24%
Male students
76%
Female students
70%
2:1 or above
13%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
D
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

English language

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
16%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
10%
Artistic, literary and media occupations

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

English language

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£18k

£18k

£22k

£22k

£26k

£26k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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