BAEnglish Language and Literature

Study location	United Kingdom, Birmingham
Type	Bachelor courses, full-time
Nominal duration	3 years
Study language	English
Awards	BA

Entry qualification	High school / secondary education (or higher) Grade A in A level English Literature or A level English Language and Literature is required.

Language requirements	English Accepted proof of proficiency: FCE or CAE, IELTS 6+ or TOEFL 79+

Other requirements	At least 1 reference(s) should be provided.

More information	birmingham.ac.uk/..age-and-literature.aspx

Overview

Interested? To learn more about this study programme, entry requirements and application process, please contact one of our consultants in a country nearest to you.

Programme structure

First year

First-year language modules cover the essentials of English Language for undergraduate study. These will provide you with a good grounding in the technical and conceptual analysis of language, social and political issues of language, and the ways in which language is taught and learned. Another core first year module introduces you to key skills in carrying out language research, with a theoretical and practical introduction to its objectives and methodologies. These modules combine to create an excellent foundation for your study and research in subsequent years.

The first-year literature modules introduce you to a range of genres and periods. By studying core modules on ‘Poetry’, ‘Prose’ and ‘Plays and Performance’, you will develop the close reading skills needed to analyse all kinds of texts, from medieval plays and early modern poetry to nineteenth-century novels and contemporary drama.

As a key feature of the first year, you will have the opportunity of combining the study of English Language and English Literature in the module ‘Language for Literature’. This module will enable you to appreciate how these disciplines enrich each other.

Second year

On the Language side, you could develop your technical linguistic skills with modules in ‘Phonology and Morphology’ and ‘Grammar’, or you could build on your interests in ‘Language Acquisition and Literacy’, ‘Sociolinguistics’, or the ‘History of the English Language’. A core module in this second year is the research skills module in which you will investigate and present projects of your own choosing.

On the Literature side of your course you will be able to choose between modules in ‘Histories of Literature’ to deepen your knowledge and understanding of all literary periods from medieval to the present day.

You will also have the opportunity to engage with Shakespeare’s work in two exciting modules taught in collaboration with Birmingham’s world-leading Shakespeare Institute, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, and working closely with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Alternatively, you will have the option of exploring one of our ‘Themes in Literature’ modules, from ‘Gothic Fiction’ to ‘Theatre of the Absurd’ or ‘North American Cinema’.

Final year

In your final year you will undertake independent research which will be the culmination of your development as an undergraduate researcher. This can either be a 20-credit Language Investigation and a 20- credit Literature Extended Essay, or you can choose to complete a 40- credit Dissertation in one discipline.

Apart from this, your final year modules are entirely optional and you can choose from a wide range of modules, e.g. ‘Language, Gender and Identity’, ‘Ordinary Creativity’, ‘English Language Teaching’, ‘Language and the Mind’, ‘Words’, and many more. Literature module topics range from ‘Chaucer: Pre-Modern Writing and Post-Modern Reading’, to studies of contemporary American fiction.