Bachelor of Arts (BA)

BA Modern Language and Business & Management (French)

Gain specialist knowledge of French culture and global business issues.
  • Duration: 4 years
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: NR11 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Study abroad
  • Study with a language

Full entry requirementsHow to apply

Course description

The BA Modern Language and Business and Management (French) course gives you a thorough grounding in the language and culture of the French world, as well as the principles of business and management and their application in global workplaces.

Language study offers more than just language fluency. You will explore diverse aspects of the culture, society, history, politics and literature of French-speaking countries, helping you to develop intercultural awareness and communication skills - both highly valued by employers.

You can vary the focus on either Business and Management or French Studies from year to year after Year 1 to tailor your degree to your interests.

You will benefit from excellent teaching, student support, cutting-edge facilities, and the vibrancy and cultural diversity of Manchester itself, Western Europe's most multilingual city.

Studying abroad at partner universities and in professional environments in the French-speaking world gives you an unforgettable and invaluable experience.

The course unit details listed below are those you may choose to study as part of this programme and are referred to as optional units. These are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this programme.

Although language units may show here as optional, they are a mandatory part of your modern languages degree and you will take the units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.

It is compulsory to study language at all levels of your modern languages degree.

Special features

Develop your leadership skills

Get the edge in today's globalised business environment on the Manchester Leadership Programme , which includes local volunteering and guest visits from international business managers.

Residence abroad

You can study and/or work for up to a year in a country relevant to your chosen language(s) to improve your language skills in a native-speaker environment.

Collaborations and partnerships

We have links with language and cultural institutions across the city, including:

  • Confucius Institute - a hub for Chinese culture.
  • Instituto Cervantes - a centre for Spanish culture.
  • HOME - international and contemporary art, theatre and film.
  • Alliance Française - home of French language and culture.

Societies

Join the Francophone Society and benefit from French classes, discussion groups, cheese and wine nights, film screenings, themed socials and a yearly trip to Paris.

There are over 30 international and language-related student societies offering cultural activities and experiences.

Teaching and learning

You will learn through formal lectures, seminars and tutorials, spending 12 hours a week in formal study sessions.

For every hour of university study, you will need to complete a further 2 to 3 hours of independent study.

This could be spent reading, producing written work, revising for examinations or working in the University's Language Centre.

Language learning

You will be trained in modern spoken and written French by following a high-level core language course.

From Year 1, you will discover how the language really works by learning about its morphology, syntax, phonology and phonetics.

You will develop your French language skills by working with oral and written French texts and engaging in discussions in French. Most of this language instruction takes place in French and is predominantly taught by native speakers.

Independent, monitored self-study will reinforce your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.

Coursework and assessment

You will be assessed through:

  • written and oral examinations;
  • presentations;
  • coursework (including web-based and library research, linguistic fieldwork and data collection);
  • a dissertation based on a research topic of your choice.

Course content for year 1

Your time will be divided equally between your language and culture and business and management studies.

Core units introduce finance, management, microeconomics and macroeconomics, and develop transferable skills. You choose two further options across management, finance and economics units.

Year 1 equips you with skills such as linguistic expertise, the ability to read and analyse material, presentation, group work and independent language learning.

Course units are broad-based at this level and cover a range of topics from the medieval period to aspects of contemporary French and Francophone culture.

You will take only the language units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.

Course units for year 1

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Fundamentals of Management BMAN10011 10 Mandatory
Fundamentals of Finance BMAN10552 10 Mandatory
Microeconomics 1 ECON10221 10 Mandatory
Macroeconomics 1 ECON10252 10 Mandatory
Fundamentals of Technological Change BMAN10252 10 Optional
Business Economics BMAN10612 10 Optional
Fundamentals of Financial Reporting B BMAN10621B 10 Optional
Fundamentals of Management Accounting BMAN10632 10 Optional
An Introduction to Development Studies ECON10002 10 Optional
Introductory Mathematics ECON10061 10 Optional
Advanced Mathematics ECON10071A 10 Optional
Advanced Statistics ECON10072A 10 Optional
Computing for Social Scientists ECON10151 10 Optional
Introduction to Mathematical Economics ECON10192 10 Optional
French Cultural Studies FREN10070 20 Optional
French Language 1 FREN51011 20 Optional
French Language 2 FREN51022 20 Optional
French Language 3 FREN51030 20 Optional
Exploring Enterprise MCEL10001 10 Optional
Entrepreneurial Skills MCEL10002 10 Optional
Introductory Statistics for Economists SOST10062 10 Optional
Displaying 10 of 21 course units for year 1

Course content for year 2

You continue with an even distribution between business and management and French studies.

Alongside one core unit, you tailor your business studies by choosing from a range of options.

You have the chance to study Leadership in Action with national leaders as part of the Manchester Leadership Programme. You can also put your learning into practice with local charities and social enterprises by participating in the Manchester Enterprise Challenge.

Year 2's core language course prepares you for the linguistic challenges of your year abroad, including dedicated sessions on writing CVs and cover letters for job applications in French.

The other Year 2 course units fall under literature, history and popular culture, and linguistics and translation, including:

  • French art;
  • modern French literature;
  • French linguistics;
  • colonisation;
  • translating novels and bande-dessinée (comics);
  • cinema.

All of these include a research component that encourages you to develop your skills of analysis and information-gathering, working independently or in a group.

Course units for year 2

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Firms and Management in Comparative Perspective BMAN22000 20 Mandatory
Work Psychology for Career Success BMAN20022 10 Optional
Investment Analysis BMAN20072 10 Optional
Introduction to Corporate Finance and Financial Instruments BMAN20242 10 Optional
Technology, Strategy and Innovation BMAN20792 10 Optional
New Product Development and Innovation BMAN20821 10 Optional
Marketing BMAN20832 10 Optional
Global Contexts of Business and Management BMAN21012 10 Optional
Financial Reporting and Accountability BMAN21020A 20 Optional
Intermediate Management Accounting BMAN21040A 20 Optional
Foundations of Finance B BMAN23000B 20 Optional
Creativity, Design & Entrepreneurship BMAN24241 20 Optional
Operations Management and Strategy BMAN24291 10 Optional
Organisations and Employment BMAN24521 10 Optional
Managerial Economics I ECON20001 20 Optional
Advanced Mathematics ECON20071 10 Optional
Advanced Statistics ECON20072 10 Optional
Mathematical Economics I ECON20120 20 Optional
Introduction to Mathematical Economics ECON20192 10 Optional
Economic History ECON20212 10 Optional
Quantitative Methods ECON20222 20 Optional
Microeconomics 2 ECON20232 10 Optional
Macroeconomics 2 ECON20262 10 Optional
Development Economics: Growth, Capital Accumulation and Structural Change ECON20321 10 Optional
Development Economics: Understanding Poverty ECON20332 10 Optional
Economics for Public Policy ECON20431 10 Optional
Art in France FREN20271 20 Optional
Temptations of the Tragic: Love and Death in French Literature FREN20682 20 Optional
Media, Performance, & Digital Culture in Contemporary France FREN21212 20 Optional
Stardom in France FREN21771 20 Optional
French Language 4 FREN51040 20 Optional
French Language 5 FREN51050 20 Optional
Pragmatics: Meaning, Context, and Interaction LELA20291 20 Optional
Tools and Techniques for Enterprise MCEL30001 10 Optional
Tools & Techniques for Enterprise MCEL30002 10 Optional
Leadership in Action Online Unit UCIL20032 10 Optional
Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset UCIL21331 10 Optional
Entrepreneur: Innovator and Risk-Taker UCIL24002 10 Optional
Displaying 10 of 38 course units for year 2

Course content for year 3

Year 3 is spent abroad in approved study or work in a French-speaking country.

Course content for year 4

There is a broad range of specialised units available in business, management, accounting and finance, economics and entrepreneurship.

You can take up to two-thirds of your units in either business and management or language and cultural studies.

You will continue your core language course and choose additional more specialised units, building on Year 2 study.

Language study is centred on essay-writing, translation and oral work involving discussion of texts, debates and presentations.

Year 4 course units cover topics closely related to the research interests of staff. As part of your final-year work, you can write a dissertation on a theme of your choice related to one of your course units.

Course units for year 4

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
French Language 6 FREN51060 20 Mandatory
Management of Knowledge and Innovation BMAN30010 20 Optional
Marketing BMAN30021 10 Optional
Strategy BMAN30022 10 Optional
Human Resource Management BMAN30042 10 Optional
Share Prices and Accounting Information BMAN30071 10 Optional
Financial Derivatives BMAN30091 10 Optional
Advanced Corporate Finance BMAN30111A 20 Optional
Corporate Governance in Context BMAN30211 10 Optional
Financial Engineering BMAN30242 10 Optional
Corporate Contracting and Managerial Behaviour BMAN30702 10 Optional
Investment Economics and Innovation BMAN31212 10 Optional
People Management and Change BMAN32091 10 Optional
Consumers and Markets BMAN32161 10 Optional
Topics in Inequality & Poverty ECON30041 20 Optional
The Chinese Economy ECON30102 10 Optional
Mathematical Economics II ECON30290 20 Optional
Mathematical Finance ECON30382 10 Optional
Topics in Development Economics ECON30451 20 Optional
Topics in Economic History ECON30542 20 Optional
Advanced Econometrics ECON31031 20 Optional
Climate Change Economics and Policy ECON32111 10 Optional
Behavioural Economics ECON32151 20 Optional
Introduction to Professional Translation ELAN31182 20 Optional
Art, Culture and Activism in France in the Age of Social Media FREN30732 20 Optional
History and Memory in Francophone Cinema FREN30832 20 Optional
Wild and Tamed: Nature in French Culture and Politics FREN30841 20 Optional
Dissertation in Modern Languages and Cultures LALC30000 40 Optional
Tools and Techniques for Enterprise MCEL30001 10 Optional
Tools & Techniques for Enterprise MCEL30002 10 Optional
Advanced Technology Enterprise MCEL30011 10 Optional
Advanced Technology Enterprise MCEL30012 10 Optional
Interdisciplinary Sustainable Development MCEL30022 10 Optional
Enterprise Strategy and Marketing MCEL30051 10 Optional
Enterprise Feasibility MCEL30052 10 Optional
Enterprise in Healthcare MCEL30122 10 Optional
Climate Change and Society UCIL33201 10 Optional
Climate Change and Society UCIL33501 20 Optional
Displaying 10 of 38 course units for year 4

Facilities

The University Language Centre is home to language resources, including a new interpreting suite and purpose-built recording rooms.

The Centre also offers multilingual word processing, language learning software, off-air recording and AV duplication, multilingual terrestrial and satellite TV, and extensive support and advice for learners.

Learn more on the Facilities page.

Disability support

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk