The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme in 2022/2023 or before. For students entering the programme from September 2023 or after, you can find the details of your programme: BA English Language and Literature(For students entering from September 2023 onwards)
This is one of the country's most prestigious degrees in English, in one of the UK's most highly rated English departments. There is a large academic staff (over 40 full time), and an annual intake of over 200 students to the Single Honours Programmes).
The Single Honours English Language and Literature programme is distinguished by the wide range of subject areas to which students are exposed, across the whole spread of English Studies. After a compulsory Level 1, the programme allows students a high degree of choice within a structure which ensures that all students are exposed to a range of periods of and genres within English literature, and a range of topics in English Language study. The programme meets the benchmarking requirements for English and English Language. The School enjoys close links with the excellent Brotherton Library and its Special Collections resources, many of which are directly supportive of the study of English Language and Literature.
Students may apply for transfer to a European or an International Degree. The opportunity to apply for a work placement degree is also available. Those students who are accepted may participate in one of our Erasmus/Socrates schemes or go to one of a range of universities with which the University of Leeds has established links.
Programme Aims:
At the end of the programme students should:
In English Language, be able to demonstrate awareness of the following:
- the internal structure of contemporary English, including knowledge of its phonetics and phonology (sound system), morphology, syntax, semantics, lexis and pragmatics;
- have a basic knowledge of the structure of English, and how to apply concepts relating to the structure and history of English to the analysis of texts;
- some of the main ways of analysing English text and discourse, including for example conversation analysis, aspects of stylistics and discourse analysis (including critical discourse analysis);
- some of the main theories of meaning and how meanings are influenced by context and negotiated by speakers;
- the history of English, including its ongoing development;
- key geographical and social determinants of variation in English, including a number of the main regional varieties of English in the British Isles;
- the role of language within the broader field of communication, including its role in constructing individual and group identities;
- how language produces and reflects cultural change and difference;
- the implications of language choices, for example in constructing particular registers and styles;
- the application of these approaches to a range of text types and language contexts.
In English Literature, be able to demonstrate:
- Overall (i.e. skills which run across both English Language & Literature modules, and produce useful dialogue between them) be able to demonstrate:
- an awareness of the basic concepts, information, practical competencies and techniques which are standard features of English studies;
- use basic generic and subject-specific qualities, ie, present a structured and coherent simple argument
- have some knowledge of critical terminology
- have some knowledge of linguistic terminology;
- develop critical skills;
- develop analytical skills;
- demonstrate a critical knowledge of the social, political cultural contexts of the English language as a medium for literature; and of how to discuss the style of a literary work in terms of grammar, lexis, and sound;
- demonstrate a critical knowledge of particular and specific literary and language f
of particular and specific literary and language fields, facilitated either through the choice and pursuit of research-led option modules or via the planning and production of a dissertation.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students are required to study a total of 120 credits at Level 1.
A maximum of 20 credits may be taken in modules outside the School of English.
General overview of Level 1:
1. Students must take FOUR COMPULSORY CORE modules (80 credits).
2a. Students can choose 40 credits of OPTION modules.
OR
2b. Students can choose 20 credits of OPTION modules and 20 credits from outside the School from a selection of DISCOVERY modules.
3. No more than 70 credits can be taken in one semester.
At Level 1, candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL1016 | English Structure, Style, Genre | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL1017 | English Variation, Creativity and Use | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL1055 | Writing Matters | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL1065 | Reading Between the Lines | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL1070 | Drama: Text and Performance | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL1221 | Modern Fictions in English: Conflict, Liminality, Translation | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL1261 | Poetry: Reading and Interpretation | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL1855 | Race, Writing and Decolonization | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| LING1065 | Languages of the World | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| LING1100 | Language: Meaning and Use | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| MODL1060 | Language: Structure and Sound | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Discovery modules:
Students may opt to take a MAXIMUM of 20 credits from a suite of modules available across the University from outside the School of English which are known as DISCOVERY modules.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
At Level 2, candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL2023 | Power of Language | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL2024 | Language in Society | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL2030 | Writing Environments: Literature, Nature, Culture | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL2045 | Body Language: Literature and Embodiment | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Candidates will be required to study 2 modules from the following optional modules, but may not choose 2 from the same basket.
Basket 1:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL2029 | Renaissance Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL2065 | Postcolonial Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL2085 | Medieval and Tudor Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL2090 | Modern Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL32154 | Prose Fiction Stylistics and the Mind | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3233 | Forensic Approaches to Language | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL32997 | Keywords: The Words We Use and The Ways We Use Them | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Basket 2:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL2055 | American Words, American Worlds | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL2080 | Contemporary Literature | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL2095 | Other Voices: Rethinking Nineteenth-Century Literature | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL2096 | The World Before Us: Literature 1660–1830 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32155 | Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Cultures, Media | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32763 | Children, Talk and Learning | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3284 | Trial Discourse - The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32941 | ‘Global English’: Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Decolonisation | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Basket 3:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOAH2020 | Towards the Future: Skills in Context | 20 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | |
| HIST2260 | Digital Methods for History, Art and Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
L2 students may take 20 credits of discovery modules in place of one of the Basket modules.
[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable
Students are required to study a total of 120 credits in level 3, with no more than 70 credits in one semester.
A maximum of 20 credits may be taken in modules outside the School of English.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF LEVEL 3:
1. 40 credits of Final Year Project, Textual Editing Project or English Language Dissertation
2. 20 credits of Literature option modules
3. 20 credits of Language option modules
4. EITHER:
(a) 20 credits which must be in Language modules (if chosen English Literature FYP or Textual Editing Project)
OR
(b) 20 credits which must be in Literature modules (if chosen English Language Dissertation)
5. 20 credits which may be in Language, Literature or Discovery modules
NB: Students are not eligible to take Level 1 modules in Level 3 (with the exception of up to a maximum of 20 credits in Special Skills modules modules – these can be identified by the code ‘skd’ in the online module catalogue).
Students are required to take ONE of the following modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL3005 | Textual Editing Project | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| ENGL3022 | English Language Dissertation | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
| ENGL3041 | Final Year Project | 40 | Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) | PFP |
Students are required to take ONE of the following modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL3004 | The Writings of Graham Greene | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3008 | Writing Modern Sexualities | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3027 | Shakespeare | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3031 | Sex and Suffering in the Eighteenth-Century Novel | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3033 | Writing and Gender in Seventeenth-Century England | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3034 | Romantic Lyric Poetry | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3036 | Speech Acts: Contemporary Approaches to Text and Performance | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3046 | Parts, Periodicals, Newspapers: Literature and the Nineteenth-Century Press | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3061 | Heart Disease in Contemporary Literature | 20 | Not running in 202425 | |
| ENGL3062 | Charles Dickens Then & Now | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3063 | Haunted Hinterlands: Wyrd Works and Folk Horror Fictions | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3065 | Page, Publication and Audience | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3114 | Forming Victorian Fiction | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3153 | Refugee Narratives | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3163 | Milton | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32111 | Gender, Culture and Politics: Readings of Jane Austen | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3268 | Transformations | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3321 | Angry Young Men and Women: Literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3365 | Theatricalities: Beckett, Pinter, Kane | 20 | Not running in 202425 | |
| ENGL3386 | Telling Lives: Reading and Writing Family Memoir | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3391 | September 11 in Fact and Fiction | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3394 | Bowie, Reading, Writing | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3396 | Fictions of the End: Apocalypse and After | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3406 | Home Bodies: Companion Animals in Contemporary Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3407 | Shakespeare and Global Cinema | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3461 | Imagining the United States: Citizenship, Domesticity and Slavery | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3579 | Law and Literature: Transgression, Justice, and Interpretation | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3680 | Postcolonial London | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| FOAH3001 | Global African Writing | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Students are required to take ONE of the following modules:
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL32154 | Prose Fiction Stylistics and the Mind | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL32155 | Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Cultures, Media | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3233 | Forensic Approaches to Language | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL32763 | Children, Talk and Learning | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3284 | Trial Discourse - The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3294 | The Politics of Language | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32941 | ‘Global English’: Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Decolonisation | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32997 | Keywords: The Words We Use and The Ways We Use Them | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3408 | Digital Discourse: language and social media | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) |
Students will be required to study 20 credits (one module) from the previous lists but can choose to take up to 40 credits (two modules).
If you have chosen to undertake the Final Year Project in Literature or the Textual Editing Project (i.e. not the English Language Dissertation) you must choose AT LEAST ONE ENGLISH LANGUAGE module from this list.
If you have chosen to undertake the English Language Dissertation (i.e. not the Final Year Project in Literature or the Textual Editing Project) you must choose AT LEAST ONE ENGLISH LITERATURE module from this list.
This list is subject to change and is not exhaustive.
| Code | Title | Credits | Semester | Pass for Progression |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL3004 | The Writings of Graham Greene | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3008 | Writing Modern Sexualities | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3027 | Shakespeare | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3031 | Sex and Suffering in the Eighteenth-Century Novel | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3033 | Writing and Gender in Seventeenth-Century England | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3034 | Romantic Lyric Poetry | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3036 | Speech Acts: Contemporary Approaches to Text and Performance | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3046 | Parts, Periodicals, Newspapers: Literature and the Nineteenth-Century Press | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3062 | Charles Dickens Then & Now | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3065 | Page, Publication and Audience | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3114 | Forming Victorian Fiction | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3153 | Refugee Narratives | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3163 | Milton | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32111 | Gender, Culture and Politics: Readings of Jane Austen | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32154 | Prose Fiction Stylistics and the Mind | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL32155 | Crime Fiction Stylistics: Crossing Languages, Cultures, Media | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3233 | Forensic Approaches to Language | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3268 | Transformations | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL32763 | Children, Talk and Learning | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3284 | Trial Discourse - The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913 | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3294 | The Politics of Language | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32941 | ‘Global English’: Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Decolonisation | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL32997 | Keywords: The Words We Use and The Ways We Use Them | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3321 | Angry Young Men and Women: Literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3386 | Telling Lives: Reading and Writing Family Memoir | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3391 | September 11 in Fact and Fiction | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3394 | Bowie, Reading, Writing | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3396 | Fictions of the End: Apocalypse and After | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3406 | Home Bodies: Companion Animals in Contemporary Literature | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3407 | Shakespeare and Global Cinema | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) | |
| ENGL3408 | Digital Discourse: language and social media | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3461 | Imagining the United States: Citizenship, Domesticity and Slavery | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3579 | Law and Literature: Transgression, Justice, and Interpretation | 20 | Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) | |
| ENGL3680 | Postcolonial London | 20 | Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) |
Candidates may study up to 20 credits of Discovery modules outside the School of English.
Students are not eligible to take Level 1 modules in Level 3 (with the exception of up to a maximum of 20 credits in Special Skills modules – these can be identified by the code ‘skd’ in the online module catalogue).
Last updated: 14/02/2025 14:58:53
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