Program Overview
The BA English Language and Literature program at Reading University combines the study of English language and literature, providing a deep understanding of the global language and its diverse literary heritage. Students gain proficiency in research, problem-solving, and data analysis, preparing them for careers in fields such as publishing, media, education, and the public sector. The program emphasizes the practical application of theory and offers optional modules in areas like creative writing, publishing studies, and children's literature, enabling students to tailor their studies to their interests.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
On our BA English Language and Literature programme, develop your understanding of English as a living and dynamic global language whilst exploring a diverse range of literary texts from Britain, America and beyond. Our teaching in English language places a strong emphasis on applying theory to real-life situations, and on transferable skills such as problem-solving, team-working and data-analysis. You will learn about how to research issues in the social sciences and how to conduct fieldwork. You will enhance your knowledge of grammar and phonetics as well as learning about how language is used in different social settings, how language is acquired by children and adults, and how our uses of English are being re-shaped by the media. Reading’s Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics has nearly 60 years of excellence in the field, and we’re in the top 150 universities in the world for these subjects (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024). You will study the same number of modules in English literature as in English language. You will read more of major authors like Shakespeare and Dickens, Sylvia Plath and Samuel Beckett, but you will also be able to explore the most exciting contemporary writing in English from around the globe. Whether your interests are in creative writing, publishing studies or children’s literature, you will be able to develop your own interests with expert help. 94% of students in the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics said that their course challenged them to achieve their best work very often or fairly often (National Student Survey, 2023).
Outline:
Year 1
- Poetry in English
- Theory and Practice of Writing
- Sounds, Grammar and Meaning
- English Language and Society
- Optional modules:
- Introduction to Drama
- Modern American Culture and Counterculture
- Shelf Life
- Globalisation and Language
- Optional Language Modules
- What is Comparative Literature?
- Thinking Translation: History and Theory
Year 2
- English Grammar and Phonology
- Sociolinguistics
- Optional modules:
- Myth, Legend and Romance: Medieval Storytelling
- Early Modern Literature
- Enlightenment Revolution and Romanticism
- Victorian Literature
- Contemporary Fiction
- Language and Gender
- Analysing Speech
- Modernism in Poetry and Fiction
- Writing in the Public Sphere
- Optional Language Modules
- The Business of Books
- Introduction to English Language Teaching
- Critical Thinking
- Writing America: Perspectives on the Nation
Year 3
- Language in Professional Communication
- Optional modules:
- Dissertation in English Language and Linguistics
- Dissertation in English Literature
- Lyric Voices, 1340-1650
- British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present
- Child Language Development
- Literature and Mental Health
- Issues in Bilingualism
- Optional Language Modules
- Teaching the Language Skills
- James Joyce
- From Romance to Fantasy
- Language and Migration
- Multilingualism and Impairment Across the Lifespan
- Writing Women: Nineteenth-Century Poetry
- Placing Jane Austen
- Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s
- Children's Literature
- Modern and Contemporary British Poetry
- Virginia Woolf
Careers:
The interdisciplinary scope of this degree prepares you for a wide variety of professions. As an English graduate, you will enter the job market with highly developed research and communication skills. You will have the critical and cultural awareness necessary for working in the public sector and the media. Our innovative placement modules will ensure that you have the complete package that employers are looking for: a good degree, workplace skills and experience. In the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21, 95% of our leavers are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2023, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21; includes first degree English Literature responders). Our graduates work in publishing and the media, (the BBC and ITV). They also work as communication experts in large organisations like the NHS, in banks and in government; others are now working as teachers in the UK and as teachers of the English Language in China and Japan (among other places). Many of our students decide to continue their studies at postgraduate level too.
New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250 New international students: £22,350
