French and Psychology

French

France lies at the heart of much of Europe's history and civilisation. From the French Revolution to the European Union, the country's influence in shaping the political face of modern Europe has been immense. Today France rivals Britain as Europe's second largest economy. The French language is the key to understanding continental Europe. Whether for the purpose of business, government or cultural understanding, French is an essential ingredient.

Psychology

Psychology as a formal scientific discipline emerged in Europe about 130 years ago as the science of mind and behaviour. The focus of psychology is people what and how they think and feel and how they relate to others. Psychology is a research discipline and uses the experimental methods of traditional science as well as an increasingly wide range of other research methods.

Our programme investigates theories of psychology and their applications in contemporary society. We emphasise human rather than animal behaviour, and the applications of psychology. The degree programme integrates theoretical psychology, techniques of psychological investigation and the major areas of applied psychology. Our programme will provide you with a thorough grounding in theory, research and practice in contemporary psychology, a high-level practical and research experience, specialist professional skills and expertise, and a broad intellectual training.

Key benefits

French

Aston is committed to the study of language in use in a wide range of contexts. Develop near-native proficiency and a high level of communicative skills (written and spoken) through your study of the history, politics, culture and economics of contemporary France and French-speaking countries.

To equip the international communicators of the future.

To enable students to communicate effectively in French, by instilling a deeper understanding of the French language, institutions and cultural affairs and therefore a fuller appreciation of how the French-speaking community lives and functions.

The excellence of teaching on our French degree is reflected in the Guardian Modern Languages league table position of 12th.

At Aston University, students can study French in combination with a range of other subjects offered. Some popular combinations are Business, Public Policy & Management (Aston Business School), Psychology (Life and Health Sciences) or Mathematics (Engineering and Applied Sciences).

Psychology

The Human Psychology degree has been taught at Aston University since 1972 and is highly regarded. The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) awarded Aston's Psychology programmes a score of 22 to of 24 in the most recent round of assessments, which places us in the excellent category. Aston is also outstandingly successful in graduate employment. In 2003, 88% of Aston graduates entered employment and in Psychology 75% entered employment compared with 72% nationally.
Teaching and assessment

French

You will experience a wide variety of learning and teaching methods, including:

• lectures, tutorials and seminars

• French exercises and case studies

• group and individual project work

• use of our extensive computing facilities
• corporate investigation and analysis

Students will be assessed in individual modules by end-of-semester (January & May/June) examinations and by assignments conducted and submitted during each session. Each module has its own method of assessment. Assessment methods include written exams, essays, presentations and projects.

Psychology

You will experience a wide variety of learning and teaching methods, including:

• lectures, tutorials and seminars

• exercises and case studies

• group and individual project work

• use of our extensive computing facilities

• corporate investigation and analysis

Students will be assessed in individual modules by end-of-semester (January & May/June) examinations and by assignments conducted and submitted

Personal development

French

The placement year at Aston has an enviable reputation. This year provides the opportunity to not only develop professional skills by spending a year in paid employment it will allow students to develop fluency in French by spending their year in a French speaking country.

Students may choose to work in a well-known and established company, as a Teaching Assistant in a school abroad, or follow a university programme at one of our ERASMUS partner institutions.

The School of Languages and Social Sciences has a full-time placement Officer, who is dedicated in assisting students with finding and obtaining suitable placements. In recent years, students have had places in the European Parliament as assistants to MEP's for example and with European business organisations as well as in UK-based institutions working on European issues and programmes.

Aston has one of the best records for graduate employment in the UK. The course ensures that students gain academic knowledge as well as developing a wide range of skills that are valued by employers.

Aston's French graduates offer potential employers strong communication and problem solving skills and have a proven record of securing lucrative, varied and stimulating positions after completing their studies at Aston University.

Psychology

You can choose between a 3 year, full time and a 4 year sandwich Combined Honours degree with Human Psychology. You will have the option to set your studies in context by taking a psychology or related professional placement. The placement year is one of the key factors in Aston's employment success and its educational value was highly praised by the QAA inspectors. Recent psychology placement employers include North Birmingham Mental Health Trust, Birmingham Childrens Hospital, and the Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA).

Many students also take business placements, often in human resource management, where a psychology degree is highly valued. A years work will improve your employment prospects and prepare you for your future career. A placement year can also transform your academic progress, as you return to study refreshed from seeing the practical relevance of psychology in action.

Our emphasis on applied and Human Psychology provides an excellent springboard for careers in diverse professions. The decline in manufacturing and the growth of the service sector puts psychology graduates at a premium-they have insight into motivation and behaviour and know about people, relationships and group dynamics, have excellent communication and teamwork skills, are trained the critical and analytic and can design, conduct and analyse and evaluate research, all of which are valued by employers.

Combined Honours Psychology Graduates go on to pursue a very wide range of career paths. Graduates can enter business and commercial careers, caring and social careers, teaching and local government careers and many others. Progression rate to a first job is very high for Aston students and career prospects are good.

Career prospects

French

Britain's increased involvement with the European Union has led to an ever-increasing demand for top-quality graduates with practical, near-native language skills and an in-depth knowledge of other countries and their business and communication cultures. They require an expertise in contemporary, social, economic and political issues as well as the ability to work comfortably and competently in a variety of media. As one of our graduates you will match these criteria fully. Recent graduates have entered careers in UK and international business/marketing, the languages and communications professions, education, European institutions and research. Career prospects for languages graduates in the UK are proven to be better than those studying IT, Business, Management and Economics degrees. Most UK languages students enter careers in areas such as Business, Marketing, Administration, Banking and Retail Management.

Psychology

Combined Honours Psychology Graduates go on to pursue a very wide range of career paths. Graduates can enter business and commercial careers, caring and social careers, teaching and local government careers and many others. Progression rate to a first job is very high for Aston students and career prospects are good. For example, employment destinations for Combined Honours Psychology students in 2003 included Lloyds TSB, NHS, Xerox UK Ltd and Vodafone.

Objectives
Programme Aims

Aston is committed to the study of language in use in a wide range of contexts. Develop near-native proficiency and a high level of communicative skills (written and spoken) through your study of the history, politics, culture and economics of contemporary France and French-speaking countries.

• To equip the international communicators of the future.

• To enable students to communicate effectively in French, by instilling a deeper understanding of the French language, institutions and cultural affairs and therefore a fuller appreciation of how the French-speaking community lives and functions.