Spanish and Psychology

Spanish

Spanish is spoken by 400 million people worldwide and is the official language in 23 countries. The use of Spanish in Latin America and in the US is increasing rapidly. This, and the growing study of Spanish as a second language, is producing a significant, vibrant, global Spanish-speaking population.

Spanish history and culture are recognised for their distinctive character as being amongst the most fascinating in the world. Both Spain and Latin America have produced rich varieties of literature, art and cinema.

The Spanish economy has seen unprecedented growth since the country's entry into the EU. This, coupled with the resources of Latin America and Spanish investment in that region, means that the Spanish language is very important in terms of commercial exchanges and careers in business.

The Spanish programme at Aston is designed to equip our students with the tools, skills and knowledge necessary to operate effectively in a multilingual and multicultural world. Like with all our language programmes, we are committed to the study of Spanish in context. We believe that languages are products of social, historical, political, cultural and economic processes. This means that along with near native proficiency in written and spoken Spanish, students also graduate with in depth understanding of Spanish culture and society.

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

Spanish

Our Spanish programme is contemporary, applied and intellectually stimulating. It is based on an understanding of contemporary Spanish (history, politics and culture) and the acquisition of a high level of proficiency in the Spanish language.

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

Spanish

Practising speaking, listening, reading and writing in Spanish from the beginning of your degree. The course is carefully structured to ensure that the development of your language skills is fully integrated with core modules on the contemporary politics, history, linguistics, culture and society of the Spanish speaking world. You can take elective modules which enable you to specialise in a particular area of interest, especially in the Final Year.

Throughout your degree you benefit from a variety of teaching and learning styles including lectures, seminar classes, individual study and small group sessions.

All teaching methods are tailored to ensure that you get the most from your in-class tuition. For example, written and spoken language classes take place in a small group format to encourage confidence and participation. Assessment is through a combination of written and oral examinations, coursework, essays and presentations.

Psychology

You will experience a wide variety of learning and teaching methods, including:lectures, tutorials and seminars,Laboratory experiments,Pod and vodcasts of lectures, individual and group project work, computer-assisted learning.

Assessment is by a combination of continuous assessment (approximately 40%) and exams (approximately 60%). Degree clarification is based mainly on final-year performance.

Personal development

Spanish

The placement year at Aston has an enviable reputation. It provides the opportunity to develop professional skills by spending a year in paid employment in a Spanish speaking country. Through gaining first-hand experience, the students raises levels of fluency, accuracy and confidence and increases knowledge, awareness and understanding of the society and its language.

Students can choose from three options for a full year placement; work placement, university study, teaching assistant-this is particularly interesting if a student is interested in working with young people and is considering a career in teaching.

Inter-disciplinary students are encouraged to seek university or work placements to involve their expertise in their other subject. However, support and assessment for the year abroad is linked to the programme of Spanish studies.

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

Spanish in combination with other Inter-disciplinary subjects provides a good basis for a wide variety of work.

Graduates with native-speaker language competence are much sought after in today's competitive global environment, for their intercultural awareness , excellent communication skills and analytical thinking. As a global language spoken by some 400 million speakers, Spanish is a vital asset to a graduate profile.

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

Spanish

Graduates with native-speaker language competence are much sought after in today's competitive global environment, for their intercultural awareness, excellent communication skills and analytical thinking. As a global language spoken by some 400 million speakers, Spanish is a vital asset to a graduate profile.

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.