English Language and Linguistics

Language is the most fundamental of all human technologies, shaping thought, identity, social life and culture in ways that go far deeper than simple communication. English language and linguistics takes the study of language itself as its subject, combining the scientific analysis of how language works with an understanding of how English in particular developed historically and continues to vary and change across the many contexts in which it is spoken and written. The discipline draws on phonetics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and historical linguistics to build a rigorous and wide-ranging account of what language is and how it operates.

At the University of Westminster you will examine how languages differ and what they share across structural levels, developing a systematic understanding of the patterns that underlie linguistic diversity. You will also study the historical and cultural development of English, exploring how the language changed from its earliest recorded forms to its current global reach and the remarkable diversity of varieties it now encompasses. The programme runs full time over three years and includes a sandwich year, a year abroad and work-placement experience, giving you substantial opportunity to engage with language in professional and international settings and to develop the cross-cultural communication skills that employers consistently value.

You will build competence in linguistic analysis, critical reading, academic writing and the design and interpretation of linguistic research. The ability to think carefully about how language works and how it shapes meaning and social relations is a genuinely transferable intellectual skill.

Graduates from English language and linguistics programmes pursue careers in education, speech and language therapy (with further professional training), publishing, journalism, communications, advertising, human resources and public policy. The discipline is also excellent preparation for postgraduate study in linguistics, applied linguistics, TESOL, translation, language policy or related fields.