English Language

English language as an academic discipline studies language itself as a system, a social practice, and a historical phenomenon. It asks how language is structured at the levels of sound, word, and sentence, how meaning is constructed and communicated, how language varies across social groups and geographical regions, and how English has changed from its Anglo-Saxon origins to its contemporary global forms. Unlike degrees focused on literature, English language is concerned primarily with the workings of language as an object of scientific and humanistic inquiry.

At Liverpool Hope University, this full-time programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement opportunities, providing both a supported academic starting point and substantial professional and international experience. Liverpool itself provides a rich and vibrant environment for studying language, with its distinctive accents and dialects, its bilingual communities, and the Viking linguistic influences still traceable on Merseyside, all of which give the study of language an immediacy and local relevance. You will explore the structures, histories, and uses of language, developing both the theoretical understanding and the analytical skills that the discipline demands.

The typical entry tariff is 104 UCAS points.

Graduates from English language programmes are well placed for careers in education, publishing, copywriting, communications, speech and language therapy (typically requiring further postgraduate training), journalism, and the civil service. The analytical understanding of language that the degree develops is valued in any role that involves working carefully with text, communication strategy, or language in professional settings. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in linguistics, applied linguistics, language teaching, speech and language therapy, or education, while others move directly into professional roles where precision with language is valued.