BA English Language and Literature (For students entering from September 2023 onwards)

Programme overview

Entry requirements

• A-level AAB with A in English (Language, Literature, or Language & Literature) excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking
  
• International Baccalaureate: 35 points overall with 17 at Higher Level including 6 in English at Higher Level.
  
• Applications welcome from mature students with Access qualifications and from students with international or other non-A-level qualifications.
  
• IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component.

Programme specification

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme from September 2023. For students who entered the programme before September 2023, you can find the details of your programme: BA English Language and Literature



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 fields, facilitated either through the choice and pursuit of res tated either through the choice and pursuit of research-led option modules or via the planning and production of a dissertation.

At Level 3, all students will take a 40 credit capstone project appropriate to their degree programme. Alongside the capstone projects, students will be able to take 80 further credits of optional specialist modules (selection of typical options shown below).

Year 1

(For students entering from September 2023 onwards)

[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.

Compulsory Modules

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)

Optional Modules

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

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.

Year 2

(For students entering from September 2023 onwards)

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

Compulsory Modules

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)

Optional Modules

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)

Discovery Modules

L2 students may take 20 credits of discovery modules in place of one of the Basket modules.

Year 3

(For students entering from September 2023 onwards)

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

At Level 3, all students will take a 40 credit capstone project appropriate to their degree programme. Alongside the capstone projects, students will be able to take 80 further credits of optional specialist modules (selection of typical options shown below).

Compulsory Modules

Choose one FYP from:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3005	Textual Editing Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ENGL3022	English Language Dissertation	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ENGL3041	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

Up to four optional modules to be chosen from an indicative list:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ENGL3024	Modern Literature	20	Not running in 202526
ENGL3026	Contemporary Literature	20	Not running in 202526
ENGL3027	Shakespeare	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL3031	Sex and Suffering in the Eighteenth-Century Novel	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ENGL3032	Tragedy: Classical to Neo-Classical	20	Not running in 202526
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)
ENGL3100	Digital Englishes	20	Not running in 202526
ENGL3208	Arthurian Legend: Chivalry and Violence	20	Not running in 202526
ENGL32111	Gender, Culture and Politics: Readings of Jane Austen	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ENGL32153	Refugee Narratives	20	Not running in 202526
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)
ENGL32167	Language of the Media	20	Not running in 202526
ENGL32169	Contemporary South African Writing	20	Not running in 202526
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)
ENGL3314	Imagining Posthuman Futures	20	Not running in 202526
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 202526
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)
ENGL3402	Home Bodies: Domestic Animals in Contemporary Literature	20	Not running in 202526
ENGL3680	Postcolonial London	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Plus up to 20 credits of Discovery Modules

Discovery Modules

Last updated: 07/06/2024 15:35:29

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