- UCAS course code
- RR13
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA French and Italian
Gain specialist language and culture skills with a focus on France and Italy.
Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: RR13 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
Study with a language
- Typical A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL including specific subjects
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?
Residence abroad support
We offer dedicated financial support packages of up to £2,000 for residence abroad students, based on household income.
You will be automatically assessed for this, based on your Student Finance financial assessment - you just need to make sure you apply for a financial assessment in the academic year in which your residence abroad will take place.
Course unit details:
Topics in Romance Linguistics
| Unit code | ITAL32001 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 3 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This course unit introduces students to the typology and classification of the Romance languages and to their lexicon and their principal grammatical structures vis-à-vis the structures of English and other Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages. Particular emphasis is placed on smaller and lesser-studied Romance languages, their relation to a major Romance language, their distinct structural properties, and their sociolinguistic and political status. Students will “adopt” a smaller or lesser-known Romance language (students of Italian will be encouraged to adopt one of the Romance dialects spoken in Italy). They will conduct independent research on this language, investigating, on the one hand, its status in the linguistic community and, on the other hand, one feature of its grammar or a cluster of such features. In addition to traditional academic resources, students will be allowed to use social media to investigate the structures and the status of their adopted language. Students will develop a critical understanding of the principal typological properties of Romance in comparison with other language types and language families. Students will also become familiar with issues in linguistic identity, language documentation and description, and dialectology.
Pre/co-requisites
| Available on which programme(s)? | Linguistics and English Language programmes, M.A. Linguistics |
| Pre-requisite units |
None. Students who are able to read one Romance language fluently will have access to a wider range of sources. However, there are sufficient sources in English for any student to take the course. |
Aims
The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:
- To introduce the students to the Romance languages in a typological perspective.
- To enhance the students’ awareness of the subgroupings which are part of the Romance family.
- To stimulate the students’ interest in the smaller and lesser known Romance languages (with particular emphasis on the dialects of Italy), their structures and their status in the linguistic community.
- To introduce the students to issues in linguistic typology, linguistic identity, language documentation and description, and dialectology.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Know which languages constitute the Romance family, and how they are related in typological, geographical and socio-political terms.
- Know the major typological properties of the Romance language family.
- Discuss the structures and the status of at least one lesser-known Romance language.
Teaching and learning methods
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Understand the typological issues which arose in the transition from Latin to Romance and how they are resolved in synchrony.
- Describe the socio-political status and the grammatical structures of an under-represented language.
Intellectual skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.
- Engage in the discussion and critical evaluation of theories in Romance linguistics.
- Use empirical evidence to support synthetic conclusions and interpretations.
- Analyse a body of data and provide a synthesis of the most relevant findings.
Practical skills
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Extrapolate patterns from complex data sets.
- Apply skills of analysis and synthesis to practical issues and problems.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.
- Analyse linguistic data, and native-speaker judgements, and provide a synthesis of the findings.
- Deliver an oral presentation in a formal setting.
- Write a report on a piece of original research.
- Engage in group discussion (both in the class and online).
Employability skills
- Other
- The course will have particular benefits for any student interested in pursuing a career in teaching and learning, diversity and identity management, and qualitative data analysis. The course enhances skills of analysis, synthesis, oral presentation, and written reporting. The course content also encourages students to reflect upon the world outside the University, thereby providing confidence in the use of academic research in a variety of non-academic environments.
Assessment methods
Presentation - 40%
Report - 60%
Feedback methods
|
Recommended reading
- Maiden, M. & M. Parry (eds.) 1997. The Dialects of Italy. London: Routledge.
- Maiden, M., Smith, J. C. & Ledgeway, A. (eds.) 2011, 2013. The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2 vols.
- Ledgeway, A. & Maiden, M. (eds) 2016. The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Vincent, N. & Harris, M. (eds) 1988. The Romance Languages. London: Routledge.
Further reading will be recommended on Blackboard and in the class.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 22 |
| Seminars | 11 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 160 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Delia Bentley | Unit coordinator |