About the course

Units you will study

• Year 1

  In year one, you will presented with a number of core and optional units depending upon your level on entry.   All students will study Spanish Advanced and Hispanic Culture and Society. The flexibility of selection of the other units may change depending upon your previous studies.

  • Core Units

    Hispanic Culture and Society

    This unit will deal with a number of topics related to Spanish and Latin American history and society and the way some of these events are represented in texts. The unit will evaluate and analyse how twentieth-century Spanish and Latin Americans responded to events and conditions in Spain and Latin America from the ‘Discovery’ to the end of the twentieth century.

    Spanish Advanced

    On completion of this unit, you are expected to have demonstrated a satisfactory level of competence in the following areas benchmarked to the level B2 of the Common European Framework. A range of topics will be covered embracing issues of contemporary relevance in Spain and Latin America.

  • Optional Units

    How Language Works

    This applied linguistics unit offers an introduction to the essential knowledge and skills base of language analysis, exploring speech sounds, words, sentences and texts. The main emphasis will be on English, with examples from other languages.
    

    This course is available as a full or half credit unit.

    Introducing European Cinema

    This unit will introduce key concepts in European Cinema and present them using a number of mostly French and Spanish films through detailed case studies.

    Introduction to Linguistics

    This unit seeks to introduce you to current trends in Linguistics where English language and, where appropriate, other languages are examined. The unit aims at enhancing your ability in analysing language and communication.

    Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

    This course is an introduction to the essential principles of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 1, with a focus on language teaching and learning of the four skills, grammar, lexis and phonology.

• Year 2

  In year two, all students will take Spanish Language 2, Power and Culture in the Hispanic World and Spanish 2 Pro.  Additionally, you will be given a number of options from which to choose a final unit.

  • Core Units

    Power and Culture in the Hispanic World

    The unit will explore how cultural realities are forged amidst contradictory power relations in the Hispanic world, and how these emerge and are negotiated at the intersections of race, class, gender and sexuality.

    Spanish 2 Pro

    Complements the core language unit by developing skills in interpreting and international business communication incorporating a range of professional contexts.

    Spanish Language 2

    This unit aims to develop your competence in Spanish language at a level equivalent to C1 level of the CEF It continues and builds on the work done in Spanish Advanced and Spanish Fast Track 1 and 2, providing a solid grounding in the essentials of Spanish lexis, grammar and syntax.

  • Optional Units

    Intercultural Communication

    This unit introduces key concepts in communication and meaning negotiation in intercultural interaction and equips students with tools for carrying out empirical research and presenting research findings.

    Intercultural Communication and Uniwide

    This unit introduces key concepts in communication and meaning negotiation in intercultural interaction and equips students with tools for carrying out empirical research.
    
    This course is a half credit unit.

    Language and its Structure 2: Syntax and Semantics

    This unit provides an overview of syntax and semantics as scientific approaches to language study and highlights the approaches that oppose generative semanticists to syntactitians.

    T.E.S.O.L. 2: Methods, Approaches and Techniques

    A practical TESOL teacher preparation unit involving teaching the language skills and systems, materials design and language awareness.

    TESOL-Linguistics 2: Language Acquisition

    A critical examination of contentious issues in TESOL, in both the classroom and the wider world. Indicative Content : Syllabus content may include criticisms of Communicative Language Teaching and other methodologies from a number of perspectives, the rôle of the native speaker, linguistic imperialism, ELT as a cultural export, corpus linguistics in ELT, critical approaches to second language acquisition, sociological and ecological approaches to ELT, and other topics from critical applied linguistics.

• Year 3

  Year Three is spent in abroad, either studying at a Spanish partner university, on an Erasmus exchange. Your period of residence abroad in will be organised by us, you will have a choice of destination and, you will receive financial support under the Erasmus scheme. You will be visited by one of your tutors to ensure that you are settling well and satisfied with your stay. You can always get in touch with the department by phone or email.

• Year 4

  In your final year you will complete a dissertation and you will be presented with additional units, both optional and core, to compliment your studies to date.

  • Core Units

    Dissertation

    A self-study unit at the end of which students submit a Dissertation on a negotiated topic.  Appropriate topics for the Dissertation will be drawn from the pool of areas supported by the teaching and research interests of staff in the Department of Languages.
    

As part of our drive to deliver the very highest quality programmes we are reviewing our undergraduate courses to ensure an up-to-date curriculum supported by the latest online learning technology. Some of the details given here may not yet reflect these improvements and information will be updated as it becomes available.

Assessment details

Coursework, presentations and formal examinations.

Career options after the course

83%* of languages and european studies graduates go straight into employment and/or further study.

Careers may include working as a market research professional, customer support advisor, events organiser, teacher, translator or cultural briefing consultant.

Expanding areas for linguists include digital subtitling, dubbing and website localising.

Graduates of this degree may also opt to proceed to postgraduate study in one of the sub-branches of linguistics.

Recent graduates have gained employment in banking, local government, cultural relations, education, manufacturing and importing.

*Source: DLHE survey 2010 for all respondents available for employment or further study and whose destinations are known.

Typical entry requirements

There’s further information for international students on our international website if you’re applying with non-UK qualifications.

Related courses

Related subject areas

• Languages
• Spanish

KIS data