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French and Linguistics

Entry Year: 2024

Key information

Degree
BA (Hons)
Duration
4 years
Start
September 2024
UCAS code
RQ11
Institution code
Q50
Typical A-Level offer
Grades BBB at A-Level. Excludes General Studies.
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
Home fees
£9,250
Overseas fees
£23,350
Funding information
Paying your fees

Year abroad cost

Finances for studying abroad on exchange

View details

Overview

Combine in-depth study of French language and culture with learning how language itself works.

Your first year introduces you to various aspects of French studies, and you’ll move your spoken and written language to a new level. You’ll learn the foundations of linguistics, focusing on both the nature of language (its structure and how it connects to thought and to sound) and its use (how it varies from person to person and situation to situation).

You could find yourself recording dialect speakers, working out the rules of an endangered language or learning how to write down a sneeze.

The programme is flexible, with a wide choice of modules in each subject. You can study French literature, art, thought and society; and specialist areas of linguistics from sociolinguistics to grammatical theory to the philosophy of language. No prior knowledge of French language is required.

You’ll spend your third year studying or working in France or a French-speaking country, immersing yourself in its language and society.

Structure

Year 1

Compulsory

  • Culture and Language
  • French language module (streamed according to entry level)
  • French I

Choose from a range of modules including

  • 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

  • French II

Choose from a range of modules including

  • The Sounds of French
  • Explaining Grammatical Structure
  • History of English
  • Language and Mind
  • 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

  • French III

Choose from a range of modules including

  • Advanced Oral Competence in French
  • Language and Society in the French-speaking World
  • Lovers and Libertines: 18th century French Fiction
  • Modern Languages Research Project
  • Bilingualism and Multilingualism
  • Formal Semantics
  • Unfamiliar Languages

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.

Our French-speaking partner institutions are:

  • Aix-Marseille d’Avignon Université
  • Université de Genève
  • Université Catholique de Lille
  • Université Catholique de Louvain
  • Université François Rabelais
  • Université Paris-Sorbonne
  • Université de la Réunion.

Teaching

Teaching and learning

You'll receive approximately eight to 10 hours of weekly contact time, in the form of lectures, seminars and language classes.

You will 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, including 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), German, Japanese, Bengali, Catalan, Italian or Spanish.

Entry requirements

A-LevelGrades BBB at A-Level. Excludes General Studies.
IBInternational Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 30 points overall, including 5,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects.
BTECSee our detailed subject and grade requirements
Access HEWe 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. Applications are considered on a case by case basis. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not make offers of study purely on the basis of meeting grade requirements.
GCSEMinimum 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

Our standard contextual offer: Grades BCC. This must include at least one essay based A-Level in a humanities or social sciences subject. Excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking.

Our enhanced contextual offer (for care experienced students, refugee/asylum seekers or students who have completed Realising Opportunities or Access to Queen Mary): Grades CCC. This must include at least one essay based A-Level in a humanities or social sciences subject. Excludes General Studies, Critical Thinking.

More information on how this information is used for a contextual offer can be found on our contextualised admissions page.

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

See our general undergraduate entry requirements.

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

Fluency in French is an advantage on the job market, whether in the UK, in Europe 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.

Course data

The Discover Uni dataset (formerly Unistats)

About the School

The School of Languages, Linguistics and Film explores global culture and communication through a vibrant interdisciplinary environment with five distinct but interconnected areas of academic excellence. Our multilingual community brings together brilliant minds from across the world to share a wealth of expertise – from practical film-making and contemporary literature to experimental neurolinguistics and 11 different modern languages – so that students can become truly global citizens.

Our School’s five Departments are united by the common threads of communication and culture, opening the doors to new worlds of opportunity. Both a single and richly varied entity, our School’s work enables creative thinking that goes beyond national, linguistic and cultural boundaries. We combine research excellence with an unrivalled commitment to social justice and social mobility, true to the Queen Mary spirit, achieving the previously unthinkable through our School’s unique mix of bright minds.

 

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