English Language with Mandarin

English language is a stimulating, thought-provoking course designed to make you analyse and reflect on how language in general, and English in particular, functions in the world today. You will examine the origins of English and how it could evolve in an era of global change and technological innovation. You will discover how the importance and impact of language in a variety of contexts, both as a complex system for embodying ideas, emotions, and beliefs, and as a means of influencing, persuading, and moving others.

You will develop a set of linguistic and analytical skills which will help you become a highly effective communicator. This is a course about how language shapes your world – by learning and understanding how language works, we can help the world open up to you.

Alongside your English language curriculum, you can choose to study French, Mandarin or Spanish from either beginner level or post-beginner level. You will develop your linguistic skills and gain an understanding of the social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics from the Francophone, Chinese or Hispanophone world.

Key features

• You will analyse the structure and mechanics of how language functions with a wider study of the cultural and social aspects of language and communication.

• Set yourself apart with recognised competence in a foreign language. You will study your chosen language at a level and pace that really suits you and your needs, alongside developing your knowledge of the country, the society, the culture and the people.

• You will be taught by experienced practitioners who, thanks to their experience, can ensure that the skills you develop are relevant to professional practice and the sector.

• Evolve a range of transferrable skills that are valuable to a variety of career paths. Our graduates have gone on to work at Meisei University in Tokyo, the Department of Transport, communications agencies, and schools in the UK and overseas.

• Visiting lecturers have included world-renowned expert of forensic linguistics Dr John Olsson, while organised trips to professional events have seen students visit the London Language Show.

• Gain workplace abilities and experience by putting your research, reasoning, and communication skills into practice on a placement or extracurricular internship during your degree.

• Benefit from Education 2030, where a simplified ‘block learning’ timetable means you will study one subject at a time and have more time to engage with your learning, receive faster feedback and enjoy a better study-life balance.

If you are interested in advanced entry into Year 3 of this course, please visit the DMU website for the course details: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/pre-edu-2030/english-language-with-modern-languages-ba-degree/english-language-with-modern-languages-ba-degree.aspx

First year
Block 1: Approaches to Reading and Writing
Block 2: Words in Action
Block 3: Beginner OR Post-Beginner in French, Mandarin, or Spanish
Block 4: Topics in Linguistics: Theory in Practice

Second year
Block 1: Structure and Meaning
Block 2: Research Methods for Linguists
Block 3: Post-Beginner OR Intermediate in French, Mandarin, or Spanish
Block 4: Pragmatics, Theory and Practice

Third year
Block 1: Yearlong: Dissertation
Block 2: Language Acquisition and Expression
Block 3: Intermediate OR Advanced in French, Mandarin, or Spanish
Block 4: Communication, Control and Resistance

We want to ensure you have the best learning experience possible and a supportive and nurturing learning community. That’s why we’re introducing a new block model for delivering the majority of our courses, known as Education 2030. This means a more simplified timetable where you will study one subject at a time instead of several at once. You will have more time to engage with your learning and get to know the teaching team and course mates. You will receive faster feedback through more regular assessment, and have a better study-life balance to enjoy other important aspects of university life.

Structure
This degree aims to make you a highly skilled, articulate communicator in not one, but two languages. It will develop your ability to analyse and understand how written and spoken language work, and also to operate effectively in a language and in cultures which are not your own.

From your first year, you will be combining theoretical knowledge and practical skills to help you understand how language works, and acquiring a knowledge of the history and cultures where English and your chosen modern foreign language are used. You will have French, Mandarin or Spanish language classes throughout the year as this continuous approach is recognised as the best way to learn a language, with the majority of teaching taking place in Block 3.

There is a varied mix of assessment including: reports, essays, blogs, wikis, tests and oral presentations. The assessments are designed to build on each other as you progress in your studies and you will have opportunities to receive feedback on your work throughout. With a variety of different assessment methods, you can build on your individual strengths as well as develop a range of skills in creativity, project management, team work, verbal communication, writing for a variety of audiences and the use of different technologies. For the French, Mandarin or Spanish language modules, assessment is focused on evaluating your competence in the four key skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Hearing and your knowledge of the cultural, social, and historical context of your chosen language.

You will be taught by staff who are experts in fields as diverse as online communication and identity, language and globalisation, semantics and meaning, and propaganda and counter-terrorism. You will benefit from a range of visiting speakers throughout the course. Previous guest lecturers have included world experts in subjects such as forensic linguistics.

Contact hours
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. In your first year you will normally attend around 10 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 25 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.