Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Language and Linguistics

at University of Hertfordshire - De Havilland Campus United Kingdom

What is it for sounds, gestures and marks on paper to have meaning? What are the various uses to which we can put language, and how does it manage to have the effects it has? How do we learn language? And how does the language we use reflect society, the nature of our thoughts, and what we take reality to be like?

Our BA Philosophy and English Language degree allows you to examine the nature of language, through two distinct approaches. You’ll develop a range of skills in analysing the structure of the English language and how it is used in a variety of situations, while exploring and challenging the assumptions about the nature of language, its limits and how it functions.

In your first year, alongside core linguistics modules, you’ll learn to think critically by examining how language may be used – and misused – in reasoning and persuasion. You’ll also study social and political philosophy, covering topics such as freedom of speech, and examine the nature of mind and reality.

All our philosophy lecturers are active researchers, so you’ll share the excitement of doing original work in a supportive and highly-rated academic community. Our Philosophy team is in the top 15 in the Guardian League Table 2019 and rates as one of the 100 best Philosophy departments worldwide in the 2017 QS rankings.

Our English language lecturers are research-active academics working in cutting-edge areas such as language and gender, formulaic language, corpus studies, bilingualism, bilingual processing and codeswitching.

Core modules in your second year focus on English grammar and the sounds of English. You can explore theories of how and why language developed and study language-related real-life problems such as plagiarism and crime investigation in forensic linguistics. In Philosophy, you may explore a wide variety of topics, including the option to learn some languages of logic.

One final-year option is corpus studies in English language, which will develop your research skills through your use of Sketch Engine, a text analysis tool that allows you to search vast samples of language, or corpora. In Philosophy, there is the option to study more advanced contemporary themes and theories in the philosophy of language, and also to take a module which focuses in particular on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s influential work on the nature of language.

• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
• Stimulating, innovative courses that allow you to make rewarding connections between two disciplines
• CV-building potential through extra-curricular activities

Building on our successful composition and technology courses, this degree focuses on the technical and creative aspects of being a successful songwriter. You’ll explore a range of songwriting techniques, composing and recording songs and building up your studio skills to a professional standard. With access to instruments, electronic equipment, cutting-edge software and venues to perform live, you’ll develop your own musical language and explore how your means of self-expression connect with your cultural surroundings.You’ll also study the business aspects of commercial music making, pursue work experience and build the skills and experience to become a creative and entrepreneurial musician.

Indicative course structure
A business degree is a powerful, career-launching qualification, and if you’re interested in a career in business, combining two subjects will give you sought-after skills, exciting experiences and a whole world of future career opportunities.

We’ve designed our course to get your career off to an incredible start. You’ll be able to study product innovation, consumer buyer behaviour, and marketing planning as well as key modules on managing media and communications and market and social research. Marketing is creative, strategic and hugely dynamic, spanning a whole range of jobs in advertising, social media, consumer insights, communications, market research, public relations, sales, brand management, product innovation, retail services and the creative industries.

• Open the door to a broad spectrum of careers in industry, commerce and the public sector.
• Develop your knowledge in a broad range of business areas.
• Learn the key elements of marketing and put theories into practice.

This course gives you the latest skills needed to work in the cutting-edge field of sports therapy. You’ll learn how to assess injuries, apply treatments (such as sports massage, electrotherapy and joint mobilisation), learn pitch-side injury management and design injury prevention and rehabilitation programmes.

You’ll also study the underpinning theory of practice: anatomy, clinical biomechanics, exercise physiology, sports nutrition and psychology. Our students enjoy access to specialist labs and high-tech facilities, such as our dedicated sports injury clinic, and take valuable clinical placements in a diverse range of sport and exercise environments.

• The degree in Sports Therapy is an ideal course for those who wish to train in the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of sporting injuries.
• We offer a sandwich year enabling you to go on a full year placement to gain invaluable clinical experience with professional sports teams, either within the UK or overseas.
• We have specialist labs for: Physiology, Biomechanics and Sports Therapy. You can also make use of the University’s Hertfordshire Sports Village at the de Havilland campus. 

Additional opportunities include

• Visits to observe human dissections,
• Massaging at events such as the London Marathon
• Presenting research at national conferences.
• First aid cover at events such as the Women’s Rugby World Cup and Various sports events
• Pre-season testing with Saracens and Northampton Saints
• Sandwich Year and Work Placement opportunities
• Specialist paramedic input onto sports trauma modules
• Personal tutor scheme
• HSE First Aid at Work
• Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing
• Opportunities to support research

Modern media is becoming more and more influential in every aspect of our society, from politics and economics to the way we communicate with our closest friends. The way language is used varies for different media, but you can also look at how language reflects society, and how it changes over time.

Our BA English Language and Media degree introduces you to the scientific study of the English Language and allows you to examine human communication in different media contexts. You’ll explore the theory, historical contexts and modern practices that make up our global media landscape. You’ll examine the emergence of new media in an increasingly media-centric world, discovering the different ways the media communicates, how its industries are connected and how it influences us as individuals and societies.

In your first year you’ll be introduced to media communications in general as well as consider the relationship between media and society alongside core English Language modules. You’ll also explore the diversity of use of the English language including regional variants, pidgin and creole English, language and ethnicity, and slang and street English.

Core modules in your second year focus on English grammar and the sounds of English. You can explore theories of how and why language developed and study language-related real-life problems such as plagiarism and crime investigation in forensic linguistics. You’ll develop an in-depth knowledge of specialist areas such as public relations, advertising and digital media, as well as broader transferable skills like the ability to critically analyse media content.

In your final year you can follow modules in different topics, including child language and communication, clinical linguistics, gender and language, and formulaic language, informed by our academics’ own research specialisms. You’ll also have opportunities to work with fellow students to create media products, go on a work placement, hear from industry speakers and build a network of contacts.

This highly practical and participatory course will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need for a career in legal governance. The two compulsory modules – Legal Risk Management, Governance and Compliance, and Corporate Governance – offer a solid grounding on which you can build with a range of optional modules to suit your own unique requirements.

The Legal Risk Management, Governance and Compliance module introduces you to the basic concepts of project management in the context of risk management. It provides an in-depth understanding of some of the core challenges faced by businesses in this area, as well as knowledge of the relevant regulatory frameworks. In the Corporate Governance module, topics such as corporate governance theories, law and practice are covered. You can then build on this foundation with two additional modules from the range of optional modules on offer, to fit your own needs and preferences. Alternatively, you can combine it with other complementary study routes, and graduate with a named joint pathway.

Why choose this course?

• In the fast-moving corporate world, skilled, knowledgeable legal practitioners are always in demand. The University of Hertfordshire is well known for its strong links with industry and its high-quality staff, all of whom are specialists in their fields. You can therefore be sure that the teaching is always up to date, relevant and supported by cutting-edge research and practice.
• The complementary pathways that are available mean that you can shape your study route according to your personal career goals and ambitions, which will also further enhance your attractiveness to potential employers.
• Hertfordshire Law School has helped graduates forge successful careers for 40 years. You’ll benefit from our reputation for being forward thinking, innovative, and responsive to the world around us.
• The innovative, flexible and practical teaching methods will enable you to develop the intellectual, transferable interpersonal and practical skills you will need for your career in the professional, commercial, business, or academic sectors. 

What will I Study?
The focus of this course is on active, practical learning to develop the skills required for employment. Class seminars are supported by group work, which are fantastic opportunities to pool knowledge and resources and to work collectively on problem-solving and real-world scenarios. Role plays, debates and discussions will enhance your skills of negotiation, persuasion, presentation, leadership and teamwork. A peer support and mentoring scheme is also available, which will further enhance all these vital skills and abilities.

As a learning disabilities nurse, you’ll have the challenging yet rewarding job of caring for people with a range of special needs. This pre-registration course gives you the knowledge, skills and attitudes to enhance a person’s health and wellbeing, and improve or maintain a range of complex developmental, physical, psychological and mental health needs. You’ll work in partnership with people with learning disabilities, their families, carers and other health and social care professionals. Ultimately, you’ll help people with learning disabilities to live a life that’s as fulfilling as possible. As with our other nursing courses, you’ll take a variety of clinical work placements.

The Learning Disability Nursing degree pathway offers students the opportunity to take up the challenge of ensuring that the health care needs of people with learning disabilities are addressed using using a holistic approach, both within mainstream and specialist services.

• Enhance the person's health and well-being.
• Improve or maintain a range of complex developmental, physical, psychological and mental health needs.
• Work in partnership with people with a learning disability, their families / carers and other health and social care professionals.
• Reduce barriers to disability and promote social inclusion.
• Support people with a learning disability to achieve a life which is as fulfilling as possible by maintaining their rights, choice and independence.

• Each student on the programme has their own studio space within the shared PG Art studio area. You will be able to work alongside fellow students in Photography, Fine Art, Contemporary Textiles and Contemporary Crafts, as well as students across the School.
• The School has excellent facilities accessible to all students – darkrooms, print and textiles studio, 3d workshops (including glass, ceramics, jewellery, 3d printing), equipment loan store, and computer suites.
• All the teaching staff are creative practitioners/artists who have national or international standing and expertise. Invited speakers, artists/creatives, curators and theorists, also add to the creative mix. The teaching staff are passionate about the work we make and the work you make!

MA Contemporary Crafts is an award that sits within the PG Art Programme at the School of Creative Arts. Within this masters programme there is strong emphasis on professional practice and the real-world applications of art and design. You will develop key research skills and gain a good understanding of the work of other practitioners in your field.

The aim of the programme is to equip you with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to practice at an advanced level, to foster your creativity and enhance your employment opportunities. You will work alongside artists and designers who are involved with a wide variety of media and forms. Induction, seminars and social events for students and staff mean that you will be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community, which also includes film makers, musicians and professionals working in new media. Senior research staff and internationally renowned artists work with postgraduate students, helping you to develop original and challenging work.

Contemporary Crafts is an area of creative practice that has a growing reputation through the recent heightened public exposure via the media. On this course, you will explore and challenge the boundaries of your practice and, through discussion and debate with other students, explore some of the key ideas and concepts that inform contemporary applied arts practice.

We focus on helping you develop the entrepreneurial skills you need to further your career and explore funding opportunities and employment in the creative and cultural spheres. You may develop and exploit your talent across a wide range of activities and develop a practice as a maker of individual objects, a designer of batch-produced products, an artist working to commission or establish a mixed portfolio career.

You are encouraged to challenge the materials you use through practical research and sampling and refine your professional practice through the application of process, development of technical skill, material understanding and conceptual underpinning. You have the opportunity to specialize in one area or work across a wide range of disciplines and materials - jewellery, textiles, ceramics, glass, printmaking - and be actively involved in sharing ideas and taking part in critical debate.

Through working alongside artists and designers on other postgraduate courses you will explore the possibilities for the applied artist today, questioning conventions and refining your practice and design capabilities by working with and understanding materials. Our staff are experienced in research and professional practice, and you will also benefit from contributions from visiting artists, designers, makers and other arts and design professionals, as well as from involvement with our international exhibitions programme and gallery environment.

Philosophy explores and challenges the assumptions that frame the way we think, act and see the world around us. Film is one particularly powerful medium in which this can be achieved. Further your skills with a unique film course which combines the study of film as an art form with learning the practical skills of film making whilst engaging with a variety of deep philosophical issues.

In your first year, you’ll be introduced to film criticism, genre and style. In your philosophy modules, you will be introduced to a variety of philosophical issues ranging from the nature of reality, knowledge and mind, to questions about how we should live, what we should value, and what would be the best way of organizing society. There is also a philosophy module dedicated to exploring the scope and limits film and what it can represent about reality.

All our philosophy lecturers are active researchers, so you’ll share the excitement of doing original work in a supportive and highly-rated academic community. Our Philosophy team is in the top 15 in the Guardian League Table 2019 and rates as one of the 100 best Philosophy departments worldwide in the 2017 QS rankings.

In your second year, you’ll be able to select areas on which to focus, such as on influential works of philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, and social and political philosophy. There is also a philosophy of art module, which tackles the question of the relation between artistic representations (in various media) and reality. In your film modules, you’ll also gain knowledge of film production and you’ll think more about European or US cinema.

In your final year, you’ll have the opportunity to make your own video essay as one of your film modules, and will delve deeper into more specialist areas of philosophy, such as the philosophy of language, the philosophy of psychology, or feminist philosophy.

• A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
• An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
• Stimulating, innovative courses that allow you to make rewarding connections between two disciplines
• CV-building potential through work placements and extra-curricular activities. Previous students in this department have had year long paid placements at Warner Brothers in London, Hatfield House and local museums.
• An expert film team with in-depth knowledge of the film industry plus the opportunity to get involved with local cinemas and our own bespoke film club.

This dynamic course gives you the sound knowledgeable and placement experiences to become a skilled, contemporary Physiotherapist. Covering anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, biomechanics, Physiotherapy practice and electrotherapy, the course hones your skills and provides opportunities for you to work with other healthcare professionals. You will carry out a two-week practice placement in Semester A and a four-week placement at the end of the first year in Semester C.  During the second year there are two, five-week practice placements and in the final year you will carry out three, five-week practice placements By adding an additional short course to your degree, you can gain level 2 and 3 qualifications with PD:Approval and gain entry to the Register of Exercise Professionals, boosting your employability.

• The BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy course offers a dynamic approach to the study of Physiotherapy and provides you with the problem-solving abilities to become a competent professional Physiotherapist.
• Approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)
• You will gain a solid knowledge base and placement experiences appropriate to cope with contemporary Physiotherapy practice
• Excellent career prospects in the NHS, private sector, independent and charity sectors
• 100% of our Physiotherapy graduates went on to employment or further study within 6 months according to the latest national Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.