English Language

Course summary

The English Language is an interesting and widely applicable subject that most students can find rewarding, given that we are all immersed in the uses (and abuses!) of the English language in our everyday lives. Language is all around us, influencing us in all sorts of ways. English Language study will give you the skills to be able to explore how individuals, groups, and organizations use and manipulate language to communicate with those around them. During the course, we look at both written and spoken texts, exploring their construction by pulling them to pieces! You will acquire the skills to analyze all sorts of short, non-fiction texts from all sorts of angles, including improving and extending your knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and structural devices that writers and speakers use in their communications. You will also take part in some independent guided research to uncover how different groups of people use language in particular ways, and how linguists’ ideas have developed and evolved as the study of language has gained in popularity, branching into areas such as sociology, psychology, and even biology!