- UCAS course code
- QT12
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Early clearing information
This course is available through clearing for home and international applicants
If you already have your exam results, meet the entry requirements, and are not holding an offer from a university or college, then you may be able to apply to this course.
Contact the admissions team
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Linguistics and Japanese
Investigate the science of language and develop skills to thrive in a Japanese-speaking environment.
Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: QT12 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Study with a language
- Typical A-level offer: ABB
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Course unit details:
Study of Meaning
| Unit code | LELA10332 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 1 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This course unit will provide an introduction to the conceptual, empirical and formal foundations of the study of meaning. We will look at how sentence meaning is composed from the meanings of the words it contains and how it relates to the situations in the world it describes. We will learn about the structure of the lexicon, lexical meaning relations, and the role of metaphor and metonymy in meaning extension. In addition, we will look at how context contributes to the resolution of lexical and structural ambiguity and the reduction of vagueness Students will also be introduced to empirical approaches to the study of meaning.
This unit is a prerequisite for LELA2028X Semantics and LELA2029X Pragmatics.
Aims
Syllabus
The course covers the following areas: The Introduction situates the study of meaning within linguistics and introduces the conceptual foundations of the study of meaning, most notably the principle of compositionality, the distinction between object and meta language, and the relationship between language, the world, and the mind. Students will then be introduced to relations between sentences such as entailment, synonymy, tautology, and contradiction and basic set theory as a tool for investigating the meaning of the major lexical categories of English. This approach will be compared with more cognitive approaches to the study of meaning such as prototype theory.
Students will be introduced to phenomena such as referential and quantificational noun phrases, negative polarity items, context dependency, and vagueness, lexical and structural ambiguity, as well as metaphor and metonymy as cognitive processes for meaning extensions.
Teaching and learning methods
One 2hr lecture per week plus 1hr seminar per week
E-Learning: All course material, including lecture slides, exercise sheets, and links to electronically available readings, and course and assessment information will be made available on the University's VLE. Students will be able to discuss all aspects of the course with their peers and the lecturer on the discussion board
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual skills
Students will develop intellectual skills of:
- Accuracy of analysis
- Distinguishing between different dimensions of meaning
- Identifying logical relations between sentences.
Practical skills
Students will develop practical skills of:
- Identifying different types of meaning in texts
- Using different sources of data
- Providing concise and precise argumentation orally and in writing
Transferable skills and personal qualities
Students will develop transferable skills of:
- Awareness of the communicative impact of word choice and choice of expressions
- Argumentation using empirical evidence
- Awareness of cross-linguistic differences
Employability skills
- Other
- The ability to discuss meaning differences between individual words and between utterances is relevant to a range of professions including language teaching, speech and language therapy, law, journalism, and any other career involving written texts, spoken argumentation, or intercultural communication. The analytical and problem solving skills developed in this class are a life skill that will be useful in any job.
Assessment methods
Assessment Task | Formative or Summative | Weighting |
Two assignments, consisting of a mixture of multiple choice and short answer questions | Summative | 25% x 2 = 50% |
Written Exam | Summative | 50% |
Feedback methods
Feedback Method | Formative or Summative |
Comments on students’ solutions to seminar exercises and their contribution to the seminar discussions | Formative |
Feedback during individual consultation hours | Formative and summative |
Written feedback on assignments and exams | Summative |
Recommended reading
- Nick Riemer (2010),Introducing Semantics.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- James R. Hurford, Brendan Heasley & Michael B. Smith (2007), Semantics: A Coursebook, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
- Sebastian Löbner (2013), Understanding Semantics, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge).
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Assessment written exam | 1.5 |
| Lectures | 22 |
| Seminars | 11 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 165.5 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Martina Faller | Unit coordinator |