English Literature and Linguistics

English literature and linguistics together offer a remarkably complete picture of language: what it means, how it is used, and how it has changed across time, cultures and contexts. Literature asks you to engage closely with texts, to interpret meaning, to understand the craft of writing, and to situate works within their historical and social contexts. Linguistics takes a more scientific approach to language itself, examining its structure, its acquisition, its variation across communities, and its role in shaping thought and identity.

The two disciplines complement each other in distinctive ways, and their combination makes you unusually well equipped to think about how language works in all its dimensions.

At Queen Mary University of London, this four-year full-time programme draws on the institution's strength in both areas. You will explore literary works across periods and genres, developing skills of close reading, interpretation and critical argument. You will also study the grammatical structure of language, the social and cultural forces that shape how people speak and write, the history of English, and emerging questions about language in a changing world, including the implications of AI-generated text and shifting norms around how we express identity.

The programme encourages you to bring literary and linguistic tools to bear on the same questions, which produces a richer and more nuanced understanding than either discipline alone can offer.

Research and analytical skills are central. You will write extensively, engage with scholarship across both fields, and develop the ability to construct and defend original arguments from evidence. Seminars and discussion are important parts of the learning experience.

Graduates from English literature and linguistics degrees move into publishing, education, journalism, communications, copywriting, speech and language therapy (with further study), research, policy and a wide range of other careers that value precise thinking and strong written communication. Postgraduate study in linguistics, literature, education or language-related fields is a well-established pathway.