Program Overview

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How does age, gender, social background and regional origins affect the way we use language? How do languages change over the course of time, and why? How do children learn to talk? Why do some languages appear so different from others? Linguists study these and other questions to gain insight into what it means to “know a language”. An understanding of our language enhances our self-awareness, inspiring us to address fundamental questions about our communication as human beings. Linguistics is an increasingly important subject, impacting on areas in psychology, philosophy, education and artificial intelligence. It has real-world applications in such diverse fields as human rights, computer-assisted language learning, and the study of institutional language in settings like doctor-patient interactions, interviewer-interviewee dialogues, and courtroom exchanges. Our course offers you a solid grounding in linguistics, while still allowing for a large amount of personal choice. You explore a wide range of core topics in linguistics, mastering key concepts in phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, and also investigate specialist areas including:

• Multilingualism
• Language and Gender
• Language and the mind
• Conversation and Social Interaction

We are 1st in UK for research impact in modern languages and linguistics (Grade Point Average, Research Excellence Framework 2021). Essex is ranked in the top 150 globally, and 11th in the UK for Linguistics in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2023). You have an opportunity to study different kinds of linguistics from structural linguistics to applied and experimental linguistics. If you want a global outlook, are interested in human communication, and want to study for a degree with real-world practical value in a world-class department, welcome to Essex. Why we're great.

• In your final year, the majority of your modules are optional so you can tailor your degree to suit your interests and career goals.
• Ranked 11th in the UK for Linguistics in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2023)
• You'll have the opportunity to study a certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language as part of your degree.

Study abroad

Your education extends beyond the university campus. We support you in expanding your education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of our partner universities. The four-year version of our degree allows you to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course. Studying abroad allows you to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. If you spend a full year abroad you'll only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year. You won't pay any tuition fees to your host university

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Placement year

On a placement year you can gain relevant work experience within an external business, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. You will be responsible for finding your placement, but with support and guidance provided by both your department and our Employability and Careers Centre. If you complete a placement year you'll only pay 20% of your usual tuition fee to Essex for that year.

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Our expert staff

Our staff maintain excellent student-staff ratios with capped language-specific seminars. In theoretical linguistics, Kyle Jerro and Hannah Gibson work on the structure of words and sentences, focusing on English and other languages. Scott Lewis and Nancy Kula work on sound structure. In sociolinguistics, Enam Al Wer, Ella Jeffries and Amanda Cole all work on different aspects of how language varies, and investigate which factors cause such variation. In Conversation Analysis, Rebecca Clift works on interaction, with particular interest in the intersection of talk and embodiment.

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Specialist facilities

The study of linguistics provides the opportunity for plenty of hands-on experience as well as theoretical work. You might be?listening to interviews, studying language processing, or analysing sounds, so we provide extensive facilities to allow you to fully engage with a wide variety of linguistic methods:

• Our ‘Visual World’ Experimental Lab records response times and eye movements when individuals are presented with pictures and videos
• Our Eye-Tracking Lab monitors eye movement of individuals performing tasks
• Our Psycholinguistics Lab measures how long it takes individuals to react to words, texts and sounds
• Our Linguistics Lab has specialist equipment to analyse sound
• Our EEG Lab is used for recording brain activity during reading, listening, or watching video of language materials
• An exciting programme of research seminars and other events
• Our Albert Sloman Library houses a strong collection of books, journals, electronic resources and major archives
• Our Languages for All programme offers you the opportunity to study an additional language alongside your course at no extra cost
• Meet other language enthusiasts through our student-run Linguistics Society

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Your future

Enhance your degree and demonstrate your quantitative skills with Q-Step . By following the Q-Step pathway of modules within your existing course, you will graduate from Essex with a qualifier award at the end of your degree, signalling to employers your capability in highly sought after quantitative research skills. Studying language and linguistics allows you to develop your research and IT skills by collecting and analysing linguistic data using state-of-the-art technology, and a combination of team-work and independent projects enhances your communication, problem-solving, and management skills. Graduates of our department have gone on to have careers in a wide variety of fields, including teaching (in the UK and abroad), journalism, branding, advertising, marketing, travel, communications, publishing, speech and occupational therapy, interpreting, translating and media. Other graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of high-profile companies including:

• The British Council
• English in Action
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Macmillan Publishers
• Cambridge University Press
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Decisive Media Ltd

We also work with the University’s Student Development Team to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.