English Language and Linguistics/ Spanish

English language and linguistics takes language itself as its subject, asking how languages are structured, how they are acquired, how they vary across communities and over time, and what their use reveals about human cognition and social life. It is a discipline that combines the rigour of a science, applying systematic methods to analyse linguistic data, with the interpretive depth of a humanity, examining how language shapes culture, identity, and power. Combining it with Spanish gives you fluency in one of the world's most widely spoken languages alongside a scholarly understanding of how language works.

At Glasgow this five-year programme includes both a sandwich year and work placement opportunities, connecting your academic study with professional experience. Glasgow's staff cover a wide range of topics within linguistics, from phonetics and syntax to sociolinguistics and language acquisition, and the Spanish component gives you the opportunity to work with native speakers from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world, exposing you to the genuine diversity of a language that is spoken across dozens of countries and communities. You will study the structure and history of English and Spanish in parallel, examining questions of variation, change, and the social contexts in which languages operate.

Research methods are central to the programme, and you will develop the ability to collect, analyse, and interpret linguistic data independently.

The combination of linguistic expertise and Spanish language proficiency is a distinctive one. You will graduate with strong analytical and communicative skills and a sophisticated understanding of how language functions, both in general and in the specific contexts of English and Spanish-speaking communities.

Graduates from English Language and Linguistics with Spanish work in education, translation, publishing, speech and language therapy, computational linguistics, communications, and international organisations. The linguistic training is also excellent preparation for postgraduate study in linguistics, language teaching, or speech and language therapy.