BA (Hons) English Language and Literature (Placement Year)

Do you want to study a wide range of authors, genres, historical periods, literary movements, techniques and critical approaches? Would you like to combine this with discovering how the language at the heart of key literary texts actually functions? A joint English Language and Literature degree could be the answer.You’ll be taught by one of the country’s largest Linguistics and English Language departments and an English Literature department that provides a vibrant array of authors, genres, historical periods, literary movements, techniques and critical approaches. The core modules in your first year will give you a good foundation in English Language and English Literature. We’ll cover plays, films, short stories, novels and poetry from the sixteenth century to the modern day. You’ll study lexis, grammar and phonetics as well as descriptive concepts such as accents and dialects.In your second year you’ll study core modules of Stylistics and The Theory and Practice of Criticism. You’ll also be able to choose from modules ranging from British Romanticism to The Language of Advertising. In your final year you are free to specialise in genres and periods that especially interest you such as Advanced English Phonetics, Victorian Gothic or Forensic Linguistics.Our English Language and Literature degree helps you develop an analytical approach to working. It teaches the skills of data analysis, academic writing, and argumentation, and we are confident that our teaching, combined with your willingness to learn, will put you in a strong position to move forward in your career.Your placement yearYou will have the opportunity to spend Year 3 on a placement with a public, private or voluntary organisation in the UK or overseas. This experience should boost your employment prospects and help you to decide on your career direction and the kind of organisation in which you want to work once you graduate. You will be doing a real, responsible job – with all the satisfaction that brings.Applying for a placement is a competitive process and our Placements Team will support you in finding and applying for a suitable placement. The preparatory modules you will complete in years one and two are designed to give you the best chance of success in both your placement applications and the placement itself.One of the aims of the placement year is to enhance your understanding of the connections between theory and practice which could benefit your final year of study. Placements provide an exciting opportunity to build up experience and transferable skills, as well as to make contacts with potential employers, which can place you a step ahead in the graduate recruitment market.The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies or career aspirations, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills.If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.