BA Linguistics / Course details

Our BA Linguistics course will enable you to delve into the science of language - an everyday phenomenon which impacts our lives on an individual and a global scale. Through our course, you will explore the sounds and structure of languages across the globe, studying topics such as:

• how languages change over time;
• how children acquire their first language;
• how language varies between different groups of people and across regions;
• how we communicate as individuals and within groups;
• what languages across the world have in common and how they differ;
• what happens when speakers of different languages come into contact.

With its diverse local communities, Manchester is an ideal site for carrying out research on linguistic variation and multilingualism.

We conduct empirical and theoretical research and particularly a combination of the two.

You'll have access to one of the largest holdings of linguistics texts in the UK, and the opportunity to conduct research using English manuscripts held in our prestigious Special Collections.

We have two laboratories, where you'll have the chance to use ultrasound imaging, laryngography and eye tracking technology.

You'll also be able to learn quantitative methods and use large language corpora skils which you'll then be able to apply to other fields throughout your life.

Linguistics at Manchester is unrivalled in its breadth of subject areas and theoretical approaches.

Our strengths include, among others, phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and child language acquisition, forensic linguistics, field linguistics and quantitative corpus-based approaches.

Placement year option

Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.

Study abroad

You may apply to study abroad during Year 2.

We have partnerships with many institutions throughout Europe and across the globe.

Study an additional subject

Flexible Honours may allow you to study an additional arts, languages or cultures subject.

Get involved with interesting projects

Our students are encouraged to take an active role in funded teaching-enhancement projects, whose outputs benefit them individually and collectively.

For example, some of our students have developed an online atlas of dialect variation in the UK and storyboards for the use in fieldwork.

You'll be taught through a mixture of:

• formal lectures;
• tutorials;
• one-to-one supervision.

You'll spend approximately 12 hours each week in formal study sessions and further time in independent study.

In your independent study time, you may be reading, producing written work, revising for examinations, or working as part of a team of students.

You can also study a modern language.

Our courses are assessed in various ways - for example, written examinations, oral presentations, and different types of coursework.

Coursework may include library research, linguistic fieldwork and data collection, or web-based research.

In your final year, you'll have the option to write a 12,000-word dissertation.

You'll undertake research on a topic of your own choice under the supervision of a member of staff in English Language and Linguistics.

You will access resources to enhance your learning, including an extensive collection of linguistics texts and our psycholinguistics and phonetics laboratories, with facilities for:

• signal analysis;
• speech synthesis;
• laryngography;
• electropalatography.

Find out more on the facilities page.