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- Make note of the Queen Mary institution code: Q50
- Make note of your chosen course UCAS code:
Hispanic Studies and Linguistics
- RQ41 — BA (Hons)
- Click on the link below:
Have further questions? How to apply | Entry requirements
Hispanic Studies and Linguistics
Key information
- Degree
- BA (Hons)
- Duration
- 4 years
- Start
- September 2021
- UCAS code
- RQ41
- Institution code
- Q50
- Typical A-Level offer
- Grades BBB at A-Level. This must include at least one essay based A-Level in a humanities or social sciences subject. Applicants will also be expected to have a GCSE in a language or have experience of learning a language other than your mother tongue. Excludes General Studies.
Full entry requirements - UK fees
- £9,250
- International fees
- £19,250
Funding information
Paying your fees
Overview
Combine learning Spanish and exploring Hispanic culture with studying the way language itself works.
From the regions of Spain to the diverse countries of Latin America, Hispanic Studies covers the history, politics, sport, literature and film of several nations. As the second most widely spoken language in the world, Spanish is an important tool for intercultural communication. No prior knowledge of Spanish is required. You can also choose to learn Portuguese or Catalan.
Linguistics is the study of human language. You’ll be looking at questions like: how did language develop? How is it able to create infinite new meanings? How is it learned? How is it represented in the brain? How do people use it? How does it change over time?
You could find yourself recording dialect speakers, working out the rules of an endangered language or learning how to write down a sneeze.
You’ll spend your third year studying or working in a Spanish-speaking country, immersing yourself in its language and society.
Structure
The Spanish language modules you take will depend on your entry level. We offer separate classes for beginner, post-GCSE, post-A-level and native speakers.
Year 1
Compulsory
- Culture and Language
- Foundations of Linguistics
- Spanish language module (streamed according to entry level)
Choose one or two from
- English in Use
- Introduction to English Syntax
- Introduction to Phonology
- Language Acquisition
- Language in the UK
- Languages of the World
- Sounds of English
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 2
Compulsory
- Spanish language module (streamed according to entry level)
Choose one or two from
- Brazilian Cinema: The Social Tradition
- Catalan Literature: An Introduction
- Colonialism and Culture in Latin America
- Cuban Poetry and Fiction: Post 1980
- Culture and Society in Medieval Spain: Christian, Jews and Muslims
- Introduction to Translation Studies: Catalan, Spanish, English
- Introductory Catalan
- Introductory Portuguese
- Literature, Dictatorship and Cultural Memory in the Hispanic World
- Modern Spanish Fiction
- The Spanish Inquisition
Choose up to four from
- Aspects of Meaning
- Describing Prosody
- Explaining Grammatical Structure
- Historical Linguistics
- History of English
- Language and Ethnicity
- Language and Mind
- Language and the Media
- Linguistic Typology and Grammatical Theory
- Sociolinguistic Variation and Change
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 3
- Year abroad
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 4
Compulsory
- Research Methods in Linguistics
- Research Project in Linguistics
- Spanish language module
Choose one or two from
- Bilingualism
- Formal Semantics
- Language and Life in London
- Less Familiar Languages
- Philosophy of Language
- Pidgins and Creoles
- Structures of Spoken Language
- Syntactic Theory
Choose one or two from
- Advanced Oral Competence in Spanish
- Catalan II Intensive
- Cervantes and the Nature of Fiction
- Languages in the Classroom: Teaching Spanish
- Modern Languages Research Project
- Portuguese II Intensive
- Slavery, Colonialism and Postcolonialism in African Cinema
- Spanish Translation: Theory and Practice
- Subversive Humour in Modern Spanish and Latin American Literature and Film
- The Mexican Revolution and its Aftermath
- War, Humour and Love in Medieval Spanish Literature
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year abroad
You have three options for how to spend your year abroad:
- teaching English as a foreign language assistant
- attending university
- in the professional world, either on a work placement with our support, or independently with our approval.
We have partner institutions in Spain (Almería, Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Seville, Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia, and Vigo), Latin America (Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico) and Colombia (Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá).
Teaching
Teaching and learning
You'll receive approximately 10 to 16 hours of weekly contact time, in the form of lectures, seminars and language classes.
You'll spend up to five hours per week in language classes – in small groups of no more than 20 for classroom or language lab teaching, and no more than 10 for oral and aural work.
For every hour spent in class, you'll complete a further two to three hours of independent study.
Assessment
Assessment typically includes a combination of research diaries, poster presentations, class tests and exams. In your final year, you will do a research project, working on real data, using cutting-edge theoretical ideas, which will bring together everything you have learned.
Resources and facilities
The School offers excellent on-campus resources to aid your studies, including:
- the Queen Mary library
- the Multimedia Language Resource Centre, equipped with digital labs and resource rooms, teacher and student workstations, interactive whiteboards, and software for viewing live international satellite TV broadcasts
- a phonetics laboratory, equipped with a soundproof recording studio
- subscriptions to foreign newspapers and journals
- language clubs and social activities, including film screenings, discussion groups and debates
- Ling Lunch talks and guest speaker seminars, which allow you to hear from academics, researchers and experts from institutions in Europe and North America.
Learn another language
If you’re interested in learning another language, you can sign up for a course at Queen Mary’s Language Centre, where you can choose from Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German or Japanese.
Entry requirements
| A-Level | Grades BBB at A-Level. This must include at least one essay based A-Level in a humanities or social sciences subject. Applicants will also be expected to have a GCSE in a language or have experience of learning a language other than your mother tongue. Excludes General Studies. |
| IB | International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 30 points overall, including 5,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects. This must include an essay based humanities or social sciences subject at Higher Level. |
| BTEC | See our detailed subject and grade requirements |
| Access HE | We consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall, with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. For programmes with French, applicants must have studied French to at least GCSE level. For all other single and joint honours language programmes, experience of learning a language other than your mother tongue, and a demonstrable aptitude for language study are required. Applications are considered on a case by case basis, and we may request an interview. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not make offers of study purely on the basis of meeting grade requirements. |
| GCSE | Minimum five GCSE passes including English at grade C or 4. |
| EPQ | Alternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq |
| Contextualised admissions | We consider every application on its individual merits and will take into consideration your individual educational experiences and context. More information on how academic schools and programmes use this information as part of the admissions process, can be found on our contextualised admissions pages. |
Non-UK students
We accept a wide range of European and international qualifications in addition to A-levels, the International Baccalaureate and BTEC qualifications. Please visit International Admissions for full details.
If your qualifications are not accepted for direct entry onto this degree, consider applying for a foundation programme.
English language
Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.
You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.
Further information
Funding
Loans and grants
UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for tuition fee and maintenance loans from Student Finance England or other government bodies.
Scholarships and bursaries
Queen Mary offers a generous package of scholarships and bursaries, which currently benefits around 50 per cent of our undergraduates.
Scholarships are available for home, EU and international students. Specific funding is also available for students from the local area. International students may be eligible for a fee reduction. We offer means-tested funding, as well as subject-specific funding for many degrees.
Find out what scholarships and bursaries are available to you.
Support from Queen Mary
We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.
Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:
- additional sources of funding
- planning your budget and cutting costs
- part-time and vacation work
- money for lone parents.
Careers
Spanish is the second-most widely spoken language in the world, with 400 million native speakers across South, Central and North America, as well as Africa and Europe. Fluency is this major world language is an advantage in the job market, whether in the UK or internationally.
Studying linguistics will give you a highly desirable collection of skills: analytical ability, research skills, precision and numeracy. A knowledge of linguistics is also particularly useful for teaching languages.
Some graduates apply their degree knowledge directly, entering careers such as journalism, interpreting and education. Others transfer skills gained during study into the arts, finance, business or IT.
Recent graduates who combined a modern language with linguistics have been hired by:
- Embassy Language School
- the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
- London School of Economics
- Tanzania Education and Skills Trust
- Teach First.
Career support
The School runs regular careers events, including opportunities for current students to meet alumni.
The Queen Mary careers team can also offer:
- specialist advice on choosing a career path
- support with finding work experience, internships and graduate jobs
- feedback on CVs, cover letters and application forms
- interview coaching.
Learn more about career support and development at Queen Mary.
Unistats data
About the School
The School of Languages, Linguistics and Film is friendly and collaborative, bringing a vibrant range of disciplines together. We teach and research on subjects from practical filmmaking to postmodern literature, and from experimental neurolinguistics to Brazilian Portuguese.
This year, Russian and French students have produced plays in their language, linguistics students have presented their research at conferences and film students have directed, shot and edited many short films.
Our work engages the local community through workshops, research projects and public events. We are visited by poets, novelists and outside experts, and we make the most of our location, forging strong links with London’s cultural institutions.
In the 2017 National Student Survey, French and Hispanic Studies received overall satisfaction ratings of 100 per cent – top in the UK. Satisfaction among linguistics students was at 92 per cent. German was ranked first in London and Hispanic Studies and Russian in the top five by the Complete University Guide 2018.
