Program Description
How do we learn a second language? Why can it be so hard to become fluent in a language we learn later in life? By understanding how we learn language, we can understand how to teach it.
Through this BA English Language with English Language Teaching students will learn about the English Language but they will also learn about teaching English as an integral part of their course. And students will be taught by research-active academics working in cutting-edge areas such as language and gender, formulaic language, corpus studies, bilingualism, bilingual processing and codeswitching.
This combined programme of English Language and English Language teaching will give students an excellent grounding if them plan to teach English as a foreign language following postgraduate teacher training. Alternatively they could be teaching children in primary or secondary schools whose second language is English.
In your first year, alongside core English Language modules, you’ll study language and mind, where you’ll analyse child speech transcripts and consider language acquisition. You’ll also explore the diversity of use of the English language including regional variants, pidgin and creole English, language and ethnicity, and slang and street English. In addition, you’ll take two English Language Teaching (ELT) modules each year.
Core modules in your second year focus on English grammar and the sounds of English. You can explore theories of how and why language developed and also have the option to take a language competencies module leading to a work placement. This could involve field work or observing teaching and learning methods in a college setting.
In your final year you can follow modules in different topics, including child language and communication, clinical linguistics, gender and language, and formulaic language, informed by our academics’ own research specialisms. In addition, you’ll study Global Englishes and take a compulsory project looking at a particular aspect of English Language teaching.
