English Language and Literature BA (Hons)

The BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature at Bedford is the ideal choice for students who are equally interested in the language and literature strands of their previous studies and who appreciate the natural synergies between the two subjects. The course is designed to give you an insight into the complexity and scope of language and literature in different cultural, professional and historical contexts. It also provides you with an awareness of competing theoretical approaches to the study of language / linguistics and literary / popular texts.
A degree in English Language and Literature is especially relevant if you are planning a career where high-level analytical skills and abilities in professional and creative communication are needed. There are many vocational and educational applications for the kind of expertise in linguistics and literature with which this course will equip you.
The first year provides a grounding in structures, levels and discourse functions of the English language, as well as a knowledge development of English literature in a range of different cultural contexts from the Middle Ages to the present day. The second year builds on this knowledge, offering significant opportunities for you to choose options that enable you to tailor your course to suit your own individual academic and professional interests. At this stage, the course becomes more detailed and looks at accents, dialects, pronunciation and sentence structure, as well as historically contingent and context-dependent literary styles. Critical and creative thinking skills are also honed as the research focus becomes sharper, developing your skills as a linguistic and literary researcher. Following workshops on research strategies, information literacy and data collection and analysis, you will be encouraged to select your own language, literary or creative writing topic for your final year dissertation.
You will be studying in a department which has an excellent track record of high-quality teaching and is prominent in subject league tables and National Student Surveys. The course is taught by experts in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) and literature. Our prolific and successful Centre for Research in English Language Learning and Assessment (CRELLA) has a world-class reputation for its work in English Language Testing, while the English literature staff have research expertise in seventeenth and eighteenth-century literature of dissent; Victorian literature and culture; modernist writers; Irish, American and world literatures; and childrens, young adult and crossover literature. Units

• An Introduction To Linguistics And Phonetics (LNG) Compulsory
• Literature In History (ENG) Compulsory
• Practising Ideas (PAE) Compulsory
• Sounds, Words And Grammar (LNG) Compulsory
• Applying Linguistics (LNG) Compulsory
• Creative Writing (ENG) Compulsory
• Exploring Grammar (LNG) Compulsory
• Language, Ideology And Power (ENG) Compulsory
• Medieval And Renaissance Literature (ENG) Compulsory
• The Sounds Of English (LNG) Compulsory
• American Journeys (ENG) Optional
• Nineteenth Century Writings (ENG) Optional
• Poetry And Poetics (ENG) Optional
• Restoration And Eighteenth Century Literature (ENG) Optional
• The Meaning Of Meaning (LNG) Optional
• Dissertation (English Literature) (ENG) Compulsory
• Dissertation In English Language And Linguistics (LNG) Compulsory
• Psycholinguistics (LNG) Compulsory
• World Literature (ENG) Compulsory
• Children'S Fiction (ENG) Optional
• English Syntax (LNG) Optional
• Forensic Linguistics (LNG) Optional
• Language, Literacy & Cognition (LNG) Optional
• The Modern Age (ENG) Optional