In this programme, you will study half of your modules (60 credits) in English Language and half in English Literature (60 credits).

First year

English Language: In two linked modules, Language Works, you will be introduced to a range of topics in English Language study, including the phonology (sound system) of English, its morphology (word formation) and grammar; children’s language development; discourse analysis, both spoken and written; and social issues, such as attitudes towards language and its role in education. You will also learn how to carry out research on English language topics.

English Literature: The first-year literature modules introduce students to a range of kinds and periods of literature and a lively variety of critical and theoretical approaches. 

•  Literary Aesthetics after 1800 (20 credits) introduces some key notions of form, style and genre in literary texts written after 1800. You will study three major focal texts (or groups of shorter texts) of different genres, and will develop skills in the close analysis of passages and in essay writing.

•  Literary Aesthetics before 1800 (20 credits) introduces key notions of form, style and genre in texts written before 1800. You will study three major focal texts (or groups of shorter texts) of different genres, for example, Malory, Morte D’Arthur; revenge tragedies of the 16^th and 17^th centuries; and selected verse satire of the 18^th century.

•  The Critical Practice module (10+10 credits) focuses on the key knowledge and skills central to English Studies. You will be introduced to strategies for engaging with primary and secondary sources for literary study, methodologies in literary criticism, and the extensive resources Birmingham provides for English students. This module is closely related to Literary Aesthetics after 1800 and Literary Aesthetics before 1800.

Second year

English Language: In this year you can choose to take either two linked modules, which, following on from first-year work, provide a thorough grounding in technical aspects of the language, concentrating on English phonology and morphology, and then English grammar; or you can choose two modules from a range including History of the English Language; Talk and Text, which provides in-depth analyses of different kinds of spoken interaction; and Language Acquisition, Variation and Change, which studies how these processes happen and what enables them. In addition, you will take the module Research Skills in English Language, which is designed to develop your group and individual research skills by guiding you in such tasks as carrying out a literature review, collecting and analysing data, and presenting your results orally, as well as reporting on your research in writing.

English Literature: In this year, you take modules that address topics in three major periods of English literature, and which are informed by theoretical as well as textual and historical approaches. You will study:

• One Option module in Medieval/Early Modern literature (20 credits) chosen from a list of options.

• One Option module in Modern literature (20 credits) chosen from a list of options. Examples might include Writing and the World in the Nineteenth Century or Victorian and Decadent Literature: The Modern, the Aesthetic, and the Gothic or Making it New: Modernism and Literary Innovation in the Early Twentieth Century or Literature in Britain Since 1945.

• One Transhistorical Literature Option (10 + 10 credits). Examples may include Satire or Colonial and Postcolonial Literature or Hacking the Book.

Third year

English Language: You will now be able to choose from a wide range of optional modules on such topics as The Politics of English; Discourse and Society; English Language Teaching; Linguistic Theory; Narrative Analysis, Ordinary Creativity, and Words. Your degree builds to a final-year dissertation, a research project which you will carry out independently but under supervision: you will select your own topic for research, collect data, assimilate relevant literature and construct a substantial report on the project, showing judgement and persuasiveness.

English Literature: In the final year you choose two from a number of special option modules, taught by experts in those specialisms, and also undertake a dissertation in which you demonstrate sophisticated understanding of the issues in literature that you have been studying over the last two years. You will study:

• Literature Dissertation (10 + 10 credits). You will write a 5,000 word dissertation on a subject of your choice.

• One choice from Literature Options (all 20 credits; see below)

• Either Shakespeare (10+10 credits) This course, running through the whole of your final year, allows you the opportunity to think widely across all Shakespeare’s texts in their historical, cultural and theatrical contexts; it is taught in a collaboration between English staff and colleagues from the University’s Shakespeare Institute, and students are encouraged to draw on the resources of the Shakespeare Institute Library.

• Or a further Literature Option (20 credits)

Literature Options available to final-year students have recently included: Ben Jonson; Chaucer: Pre-modern Writing and Post-modern Reading; Contemporary Irish Writing; English Reformed; Fantasy and Fandom; Gossip, Scandal, and Celebrity; Hardy and Wilde; Law and Literature; Literary Modernism; Literature and Politics in the 1930s; Literature, Sexuality, and the Body; Lyrical Ballads; Medieval Manuscripts; Paradise Lost: Text and Context; Shakespeare’s Afterlives; Viragos, Coquettes and Prudes; Voicing Women; Victoria’s Secrets: Literature and Secrecy in the Nineteenth Century; The Works of T. S. Eliot; Utopia and its Discontents.

Dissertation

As a Joint Honours English Language and English Literature student, you will be writing two dissertations in your final year, one on a linguistic topic, and one on a literary topic. However, subject to special permission, you can instead choose to write a single double-length dissertation, or ‘Research Project’ (40 credits), on an approved topic in either English Language or English Literature (or in their combined study).

How will I be taught?

As a Birmingham student, you will be taught by world-leading experts in both language and literature. Throughout your studies, you will be encouraged to become an independent and self-motivated learner and to thrive on challenge and opportunities to think for yourself.  This involves developing some ways of working that may be very different from those with which you are familiar from school or college. Our first-year courses are designed to help you make a smooth transition to studying at university, and you will be able to draw on an excellent range of sources of support throughout your studies.

Support available

Personal Tutor

From the outset, you will be assigned your own Personal Tutor who will get to know you as you progress through your studies, provide academic and welfare advice, encourage you, and offer assistance in any areas where you may feel you need extra support to make the most of your potential and your time here at Birmingham.

Academic Writing Advisory Service
The Academic Writing Advisory Service (AWAS) will provide you with individual support from an academic writing advisor. You will receive guidance on writing university-level essays and dissertations which can be quite different from your previous experiences of writing.  Support is given in a variety of ways, such as small-group workshops, online activities, and feedback through email and tutorials.

Peer-Assisted Study Support Sessions

You will have the opportunity to attend Peer-Assisted Study Support or PASS sessions, which are weekly study groups run by established students who have already successfully completed the module you are studying. 

Learning settings

Lectures explore a particular text, topic or context, often involving brief factual descriptions and outlining major questions and interpretations. Their main purpose is to challenge and stimulate, encouraging you to come to your own conclusions based on further reading and seminar debates.

Seminars are usually small groups of between ten and twenty-five students. They often run alongside lectures, addressing any individual questions you may have, and allowing you to consolidate lecture material, to engage in student- and tutor-led discussion and to expand your understanding.

Workshop-based skills sessions help you to make the transition from school or college to university and support our small-group seminars.

Supervised independent study. In your final year you will undertake two dissertations, pieces of independent research chosen and structured according to your own interests. You will be supported in this through one-on-one supervisions with tutors.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). For each module you study the VLE gives you access to extensive resources and information. It allows you to share thoughts on assignments with other students via the discussion group facilities, and even to submit your work electronically.

Studying for a Joint Honours English Language and English Literature degree at Birmingham is an unparalleled opportunity, not only to engage with both the literary and the linguistic dimensions of the discipline of English, but also to develop skills in intellectual analysis, critical thinking and articulate expression – skills that last a lifetime and qualify you for many possible careers. You will also be encouraged to acquire practical skills that you will find useful in your future career, including oral presentation, professional documentation, time management, teamwork and the uses of information technology.

50% of vacancies advertised for new and recent graduates do not specify a degree subject, and English Language and Literature graduates enter a wide range of careers including advertising, journalism and media, government, law, publishing and teaching. About 25% of English graduates pursue postgraduate study to specialise in an academic area or prepare for careers such as law and teaching.

English graduates from the University of Birmingham have excellent prospects after graduation. 90% of our English graduates go into work or study within six months of graduation. This is above the national average and puts the University of Birmingham well into the top ten universities for graduate employability in this subject. Our graduates have started careers with employers including media companies, educational institutions, local councils, publishers, charities and a wide range of large commercial organisations, and take up roles such as marketing coordinator, editorial assistant, creative advertising account executive, recruitment consultant and parliamentary caseworker.

Whether you have a clear idea of where your future aspirations lie or want to consider the broad range of opportunities available once you have a Birmingham degree, our Careers Network can help you achieve your goal. This is a unique careers guidance service tailored to your academic subject area, offering a specialised team who can give you expert advice. This includes individual careers advice and events to give you insight into the professions and employers of interest to arts graduates. The ‘Creative Careers’ series is always popular with our students, featuring events with employers and professionals from areas such as advertising, PR and communications, journalism, publishing and writing, and the theatre.

Our Careers Network also holds events covering careers in teaching, events management, and marketing and working with charities. They are developing links with local arts organisations to create some amazing opportunities for students; and you can even apply for the ‘Global Challenge’ to work overseas on an expenses-paid placement during your summer vacation. We also encourage all our students to apply their skills in the workplace by undertaking internships in the summer; the work experience bursary scheme enables students to apply for funding for those career areas where placements are unpaid.

Extra-curricular activities

To enhance your career prospects even further, you will need to think about engaging in some extra-curricular activities while you're at university to broaden your skills and your network of contacts. This can include the many societies at the Guild of Students and also the many voluntary opportunities offered with local arts organisations. Our employer-endorsed award-winning Personal Skills Award (PSA) recognises your extra-curricular activities, and provides an accredited employability programme designed to improve your career prospects.

Our College of Arts and Law undergraduate research scholarship scheme enables interested students to work on a current academic research project being run by one of the College's academic researchers. Undergraduate research scholars gain work experience over the summer after their first or second year and have the chance to develop skills in both collaborative and independent research.

Cultural Internships

Our innovative Cultural Internships offer graduates the opportunity for a six month paid internship at a leading cultural institution in the West Midlands. These internships are a unique opportunity to learn fundamental, transferable business and interpersonal skills, through experience of real work in an established cultural institution. Our current partners include Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust and the Library of Birmingham. We have plans to expand the scheme to include our own major cultural assets, such as Winterbourne House, the Lapworth Museum, and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts. This scheme will give you professional experience to set you apart in a competitive graduate market.