Linguistics and Modern Languages BA (Hons)

About This Course

Studying linguistics will enable you to learn about, understand and interpret many aspects of human language. On this Linguistics and Modern Languages joint honours degree, you will study the ‘science’ behind language, including possible sounds used in speech and their combination (phonetics, phonology), how words are built up morphology), what distinguishes sentences from just strings of words (syntax), meaning (semantics and pragmatics), the effect that society, culture and norms have upon language use (sociolinguistics) and how languages change over time. You will also study the acquisition and use of language. On this Linguistics and Modern Languages course you will also develop advanced skills in a modern language, and specialised insights into the culture, society and history that go with it.

Linguistics is the study of how language works and how and why language is used. Linguists look at how people learn, understand and speak language. Linguistics has a theoretical dimension but also an applied dimension – such as language technology, language policy and language in education. You will also have the opportunity to learn about the ways in which different languages are different or similar in terms of their grammar, how society and language go hand-in-hand, and the functions and status that different languages have across the world.

Studying one or more modern languages gives you the practical skills of learning a language, while also letting you explore the cultural, historical and social aspects of speakers of different languages worldwide. In addition to the language learning that takes place in the classroom, there are lots of exciting opportunities for you to boost your language skills and increase your cultural awareness thanks to extra-curricular activities.

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

• We are a vibrant, accessible, friendly department with staff committed to high-quality teaching, excellent student experience, strong pastoral support, and the integration of current cutting-edge research and topics into your lectures throughout the duration of your studies. We are also dedicated to ensuring that our Linguistics and Modern Languages students develop excellent skills in critical thinking, data analysis, presentation and independent research to enhance their employability upon graduation.
• Our teaching staff are also active researchers in a range of applied and theoretical areas relating to Linguistics, English Language and Modern Languages - many have international reputations in the field.
• You will gain a sound and scientific insight into the structure and use of language, its history and the relationship between language and society.
• Our state-of-the-art learning facilities include a professional grade sound / recording studio (our Speech laboratory), an eye tracking laboratory, and an event-related potential (ERP) laboratory and a corpus-linguistics resource facility. We also have audio and video equipment that can be checked out for field work. Our facilities also include an extensive collection of books on Linguistics and English Language and a language library which is maintained by our undergraduate student association - the Bangor Linguistics Society (BLS).
• In your third year you will have the opportunity broaden your horizons during a year abroad.