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Your stage 1 modules will lay the foundation for in-depth analysis and description of language. They focus on topics such as:

  • the structure of words and sentences (morphology and syntax)
  • the sounds and sound systems of language (phonetics and phonology)
  • language acquisition and language variation and change

Your language modules in the School of Modern Languages will provide you with a solid foundation in the language systems (grammar, orthography, and phonetics) of Mandarin Chinese or Japanese.

You'll develop your reading, listening, writing and speaking skills in preparation for your year abroad.

Modules

Compulsory Modules Credits
The Nature of Language 20
Introduction to the Structure of Language 1: Syntax and Phonology 20
Introduction to the Structure of Language 2: Morphology and Meaning 20
Language Variation and Change: Dealing with Data 20
Optional Modules Credits
Level A (HE Entry Level) Chinese I 20
Level A (HE Entry Level) Chinese II 20
Level B (HE Intermediate) Chinese 40
Level A (HE Entry Level) Japanese I 20
Level A (HE Entry Level) Japanese II 20
Level B (HE Intermediate) Japanese 40

You will need to select 40 credits of Japanese modules or Chinese modules.

In your linguistics modules you'll develop your knowledge of core aspects of grammar and sound patterns. You'll also work on how these apply to a range of languages.

You'll broaden your understanding of language study by exploring the social context in which languages are learned, used, and how they change over time.

In your Mandarin Chinese or Japanese modules you'll continue to develop your reading, listening, writing and speaking skills in preparation for your year abroad.

Modules

Compulsory Modules
You take the following compulsory modules.:

Phonological Theory (20 credits)
Syntactic Theory (20 credits)


If you're undertaking the Japanese stream, you must take one of the following compulsory modules:

If you're undertaking the Chinese stream, you must take one of the following compulsory modules:
 
Optional Modules Credits
Level B (HE Intermediate) Chinese 40
Level C (HE Advanced) Chinese 40
Level B (HE Intermediate) Japanese 40
Level C (HE Advanced) Japanese 40
Early English: Texts, Patterns and Varieties 20
Monsters, Misery & Miracles: Heroic Life in Old English Poetry 20
Experimental Methods in Linguistics 20
It's not what you say, it's how you say it: Prosody and intonation 20
Introduction to Second Language Acquisition 20

 

 

Your third year will be spent studying in either China or Japan.

Modules

Compulsory Modules Credits
Year Abroad Tutor Posts 100
Optional Modules
You take one of the following optional modules:

You'll continue to study advanced language modules in your chosen language, reflecting the fluency you will have gained during your year abroad.

You will also start an independent project. During this project you'll lead your own research in close collaboration with a faculty supervisor.

You can select your remaining modules from an array of choices, each of which is closely aligned with your lecturers’ active research specialisms. These currently include:

  • comparative syntax
  • phonological theory
  • second language acquisition
  • language origins and evolution
  • child language acquisition
  • language change

Modules

Compulsory Modules

If you're undertaking the Japanese stream, must take one of the following compulsory modules:

Level C (HE Advanced) Japanese (40 credits)
Level D (Further Advanced) Japanese  (40 credits)

If you're undertaking the Chinese stream, must take one of the following compulsory modules:

Level C (HE Advanced) Chinese (40 credits)
Level D (HE Further Advanced) Chinese  (40 credits)

Optional Modules

You must select one of the following optional modules:

Extended Study 1: Linguistics and English Language (20 credits)
Extended Study 2: Linguistics and English Language  (20 credits)
Dissertation (20 credits)

You must select three of the following optional modules:

Linguistic Controversies (20 credits)
Topics in Phonological Theory  (20 credits)
English Grammar through Time (20 credits)
Language in the City (20 credits)
The History of Linguistic Ideas (20 credits)
Language and Ageing (20 credits)
Comparative Syntax: English in a cross-linguistic context (20 credits)
Second Language Acquisition (20 credits)
Pragmatic Theory (20 credits)
Child Language Acquisition (20 credits)

You may replace 20 credits from the list above with one of the following modules, provided that it was not previously studied at Stage 2:

Introduction to Child and Adult Language Acquisition (20 credits)
Sociolinguistics (20 credits)
Early English: Texts, Patterns and Varieties (20 credits)
Speakers as Wordsmiths: the creation of new words in present-day English (20 credits)
Experimental Methods in Linguistics  (20 credits)
Multilingualism (20 credits)