Program Overview

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Our BA English Language and Linguistics (including foundation year) is open to Home and EU students. It will be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entrance requirements for the three-year version of this course and you want a programme that increases your subject knowledge as well as improves your academic skills. This four-year course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three years of study. During your Year Zero, you study four academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module. You are an Essex student from day one, a member of our global community based at the most internationally diverse campus university in the UK. After successful completion of Year Zero in our Essex Pathways Department , you progress to complete your course with the Department of Language and Linguistics . Foundational modules in the first and second year will teach you how to analyse linguistic sound systems, word structure, sentence structure, meaning and language use, and apply your knowledge to the analysis of English. You will then be able to make informed choices about areas of English or Linguistics you want to study in greater depth through study options, such as:

• Varieties of English
• Phonetics
• Language, Mind and Communication
• Conversation and Social Interaction
• Child Language Acquisition
• American Languages

We are 1st in UK for research impact in modern languages and linguistics (Grade Point Average, Research Excellence Framework 2021). You have an opportunity to study different kinds of linguistics from structural linguistics to applied and experimental linguistics. Why we're great.

• In your final year, all your modules are optional so you can tailor your degree to suit your interests and career goals.
• You are taught by lecturers who are internationally recognised for their language and linguistics research.
• You'll have the opportunity to study a certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language as part of your degree.

Our expert staff

We have some of the best teachers across the University in our Essex Pathways Department, all of whom have strong subject backgrounds and are highly skilled in their areas. 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, Rebecca Clift, 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 applied linguistics, Karen Roehr-Brackin and Adela Gánem-Gutiérrez focus on the learning of second and further languages, whilst Tracey Costley, Christina Gkonou, Neophytos Mitsigkas and Nasser Jabbari focus on issues to do with the classroom teaching of English as a foreign language. In psycholinguistics, Claire Delle Luche and Laurie Lawyer use experimental techniques such as eyetracking and EEG to understand how children learn language, how adults process language, and what happens when language ability is impaired by brain disorders or other factors (e.g. hearing impairment). In all of these areas, we combine a theoretical approach with high-level, qualitative and quantitative, empirical and experimental technique; in particular, we have a strong interest in recent developments in inferential statistics.

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Specialist facilities

By studying within our Essex Pathways Department for your foundation year, you will have access to all of the facilities that the University of Essex has to offer, as well as those provided by our department to support you:

• We provide computer labs for internet research; classrooms with access to PowerPoint facilities for student presentations; AV facilities for teaching and access to web-based learning materials
• Our new Student Services Hub will support you and provide information for all your needs as a student
• Our social space is stocked with hot magazines and newspapers, and provides an informal setting to meet with your lecturers, tutors and friends

In our Department of Language and Linguistics you also have access to:

• 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
• 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

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.