Linguistics and Language
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, one of the most distinctively human capacities. It examines how language is structured at the levels of sound, word, sentence, and meaning; how language is acquired and used; how it varies across social groups and geographical communities; and how languages change over time. Combining linguistics with the serious study of a modern language, whether French, German, Italian, Japanese, or Spanish, creates a powerful double focus, applying the analytical tools of linguistics to a language you are also learning to use fluently.
At Birkbeck College, this part-time BA allows you to develop high proficiency in a modern language alongside an advanced understanding of how language works in general. You will engage with the core areas of applied linguistics, including phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics, as well as sociolinguistics and the study of language in use. The language element develops practical communicative competence in your chosen language through all four skills, supported by an understanding of why language behaves as it does.
Birkbeck's part-time model means the degree is designed to fit alongside work and other commitments, opening up degree-level study to people who could not pursue it full-time. The programme prepares you well for a wide range of professional opportunities in multilingual and multicultural contexts.
Graduates from linguistics and modern language programmes are well placed for careers in translation and interpreting, language teaching, publishing and editorial work, speech and language therapy (typically requiring further postgraduate training), communications, international organisations, and the civil service. The combination of practical language skills and analytical understanding of language makes graduates particularly valuable in roles that require working across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Postgraduate study in linguistics, applied linguistics, language teaching, translation studies, or a related modern language provides a natural continuation for those who wish to specialise further.