English Language & Literature

English language and literature together offer a particularly rich and integrated way into the study of English. Linguistics, the scientific study of language, examines how English works as a system, how it varies across communities and contexts, how it has changed over time, and how it is acquired and used. Literary study engages with English as a creative and cultural medium, reading texts closely and situating them within their historical and social contexts.

Bringing the two disciplines together produces graduates who can both analyse the mechanics of language and appreciate the literary art that emerges from it.

At Aston University, this four-year programme develops your skills in both language analysis and literary interpretation simultaneously, and the two strands of study are designed to inform and enrich each other throughout. You will study linguistics at the level of phonology, grammar, discourse, and sociolinguistics, developing a systematic understanding of how language functions at every level. Alongside this, you will engage with literary texts across a wide range of periods, genres, and traditions, developing the capacity for close reading, contextual interpretation, and critical argument that lies at the heart of literary study.

Aston has a strong tradition in applied linguistics and language use in professional contexts, and the programme reflects that orientation alongside its literary content.

This full-time programme runs over four years and includes a year abroad, which gives you the opportunity to experience language and culture in a different setting, broadening both your personal perspective and your understanding of English in its global context. Graduates from English language and literature programmes go on to careers in teaching, publishing, journalism, communications, advertising, the civil service, law, and a wide range of roles in the knowledge economy where analytical and communication skills are valued. Further postgraduate study in linguistics, English literature, applied linguistics, or education is also a well-travelled path.