BA English Language and Language Development

Example structure
Studying at Essex is about discovering yourself, so your course combines compulsory and optional modules to make sure you gain key knowledge in the discipline, while having as much freedom as possible to explore your own interests. Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.
For many of our courses you’ll have a wide range of optional modules to choose from – those listed in this example structure are just a selection of those available. The opportunity to take optional modules will depend on the number of core modules within any year of the course. In many instances, the flexibility to take optional modules increases as you progress through the course.
Our Programme Specification gives more detail about the structure available to our current first-year students, including details of all optional modules.
Please note that in your second year you choose between Child Language Acquisition and Language Disorders and Second Language Learning. You do not take both.
Year 1
Sounds
Skills for Linguists
Language Variation and Change
Psycholinguistics I - Language Development
Psycholinguistics II - Language Processing
Words and Sentences
Discovering Psychology: The Science Behind Human Behaviour (optional)
Careers and Employability Skills for Languages and Linguistics
Year 2
Phonology
Analysing the structure of English
Language Development throughout the Lifespan
Research methods for language and linguistics
Psycholinguistics
Semantics and Pragmatics
Multilingualism (optional)
Phonetics (optional)
Careers and Employability Skills for Languages and Linguistics
Final year
Varieties of English (optional)
Phonological Development (optional)
Sentence Processing (optional)
CA I - Conversation and Social Interaction (optional)
Project: Linguistics (optional)
Careers and Employability Skills for Languages and Linguistics
Year abroad
On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree. Our Programme Specification gives more detail about modules on your year abroad.
Teaching
Teaching is arranged to allow freedom in how you organise your learning experience
Examples of practical work include digitally recording dialect speakers in a small traditional fishing community, or scouring digitised child language databanks
Other teaching methods include lectures, demonstrations and learning by teaching others
Assessment
You are assessed through a combination of coursework (assignments, essays and tests) and end-of-year examinations
Weighted 50% coursework and 50% examinations
In your final year, you conduct research on a topic chosen with one of your lecturers, for your dissertation. Your lecturer supports you throughout your project and is an expert in the research area.
Other methods of assessment include graded participation in seminars and classes, presentations, or group work
Previous
Next