- UCAS course code
- QR17
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Linguistics and Russian
Investigate the science of language and develop skills to thrive in a Russian-speaking environment.
- 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
Scholarships and bursaries are available to eligible Home/EU students, this is in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.
- Find out more from Student Finance
- International student? Check your country page
- Interested in a student internship?
Course unit details:
Experimental Phonetics
Unit code | LELA32021 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This course unit is a hands-on exploration of the production and perception of speech sounds, with a focus on experimental methodology. We’ll cover the basic principles governing the relationship between articulation and acoustics, looking at the source of sound waves in the larynx and how that sound source is shaped by the vocal tract. Students will learn how to measure a variety of acoustic properties of speech, and how those measurements can be used as a tool to investigate questions in phonology, sociolinguistics, and second language acquisition. We’ll also explore how speech sound are perceived, and what factors influence the relationship between the acoustic signal and what the listener hears.
Pre/co-requisites
Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Phonology | LELA20012 | Pre-Requisite | Recommended |
Quantitative Methods in Language Sciences | LELA20231 | Pre-Requisite | Recommended |
The Sounds of Language | LELA10322 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
Aims
The aim of this course unit is to:
- Provide a strong foundation in the techniques involved in phonetic analysis.
Students will acquire an understanding of:
- The main concepts employed in the acoustic analysis of speech sounds.
- The design of phonetic experiments.
- The use of phonetic analysis as a tool to answer broader research questions.
Syllabus
Representative examples of topics covered:
The Larynx
Stops and Fricatives
The Source-Filter Model
Vowel Quality
Liquids and Nasals
What is Sonority?
Categorical Perception
Coarticulation
The Phonology-Phonetics Interface
Phonetics in Neurolinguistics
Forensic Phonetics
Teaching and learning methods
Integrated lecture and seminar content, focusing on a discovery-based approach to the material.
Readings, software tutorials, and additional exercises on Blackboard.
Individual meetings with project groups to provide additional support.
Knowledge and understanding
- Understand the relationship between articulation, acoustic signal, and perception of speech sounds.
- Understand the relationship between phonetic measurements and hypotheses in phonology, sociolinguistics, and second language acquisition.
Intellectual skills
- Pose well-formed research questions.
- Read and interpret scientific articles.
- Answer theoretical questions using scientific evidence and sound reasoning.
Practical skills
- Measure the acoustic properties of speech relevant for answering research questions in linguistics.
- Design and carry out scientific experiments.
- Analyse and interpret experimental data.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Pose well-formed research questions.
- Perform basic quantitative analysis and visualisation of data.
- Write a scientific report.
Employability skills
- Group/team working
- In addition, students will have gained experiencing carrying out a multi-step project as a team, including navigating group dynamics and dividing workload equitably.
- Other
- By the end of the semester, students will have gained experience designing and carrying out a scientific experiment and interpreting and writing up the results. Understanding how to ask questions, and how to go about finding the answers to those questions, is a fundamental skill for almost any professional-level job.
Assessment methods
Assessment Task | Formative or Summative | Weighting |
Reading Reports | Formative or Summative | 20% |
Practical Exercises (Portfolio) | Formative or Summative | 30% |
Group Project | Summative | 50% |
Feedback methods
Optional written feedback on practical exercises (prior to portfolio submission) | Formative |
Written feedback on portfolio | Formative and summative |
Written feedback on project proposal | Formative |
Written feedback on project report | Summative |
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
---|---|
Lectures | 33 |
Independent study hours | |
---|---|
Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
---|---|
Wendell Kimper | Unit coordinator |