English is the world’s lingua franca. Digital innovations are created, science is advanced, and business is conducted in English all over the world. But English is also the language of the British Isles and its rich histories, literature, migrations and identities. In this degree, you will explore the kaleidoscope of English variation – its regional dialects, storytellers, and ways of looking at the world – with our global leaders and discover how English works.

You will read the greats of English literature, as well as the voices that history has overlooked. From ancient myth to the contemporary graphic novel, you’ll explore a host of different literary forms, develop your critical voice, and discuss your reading and ideas with widely published scholars.

Why Lancaster?

Learn from experts who are world renowned for their research in literacies, English dialects, forensic linguistics, Shakespearean language, the language of politics and media, and more; and with scholars working in all periods of literature from classical civilisation and the Middle Ages through to the twenty-first century, as well as many literatures from beyond Britain

Explore the English language from a range of perspectives, drawing on subjects such as history, psychology and politics, and study a wide range of genres from both ancient and modern literatures

Benefit from the latest language research technologies, including those used to study past and present forms of English or to investigate and solve crimes

Develop your own critical (and even creative-critical) voice

Enhance your professional skills by getting involved with our student-run literary journals: Cake, Lux, Flash, and Errant

Be part of Literary Lancaster - a vibrant community of critics and writers

Enjoy our rich programme of free literary events both on campus and in the city’s historic Castle Quarter

Enhance your professional skills with internships allowing you to work with members of staff on a ground-breaking English language research project, or residential positions at Wordsworth Grasmere in the heart of the English Lake District

Understanding the English language

Understanding where English came from, how it works, how it is used, how it varies now and how it has changed and continues to change over time is key to understanding our societies, identities, institutions and practices.

You will study fundamental issues including:

The history and development of English

The accents and dialects of English in the UK and beyond

The way English is connected to ideas of gender and ethnicity

Creative uses of English in areas like politics, media, advertising and literature

Explore the broader theories that make the study of English possible

In order to answer questions about the English language, and to understand how it is used in literary writing, you need to understand something about language more generally. Explore why people use English the way they do, why you may interpret English differently from others, how English reflects identity and how it is used to persuade and manipulate. Familiarise yourself with the theories and models that make this possible.

Ancient to contemporary

Literary study at Lancaster offers a rich engagement with the very best of literature, from the classical and medieval to the modern and contemporary. You will have the chance to study all the great names, as well as voices that have been forgotten or overlooked. You’ll also explore a wide range of literary forms—from ancient myth to slave memoir, Gothic fiction to dystopian narrative, and Shakespearean drama to the contemporary graphic novel.

Acts of reading

We believe that reading is not passive but active. It is something that acts upon both the texts that we read and the world in which we live; and neither those texts nor the world are left the same.

We are pioneers in experimental or creative forms of literary criticism, as well as encouraging established forms of literary scholarship, such as archival work, historicism, close reading, stylistic analysis, and literary theory.

We enable our students to read widely, closely, and deeply, experiencing literature in a host of new and immersive ways.

Literature and language in the world

At Lancaster, study is not just an academic pursuit—it is also an opportunity to connect with history, culture, and the many ways literature and language shape our world.

Your studies will not only deepen your understanding of language and literature but also reveal their connections to other realms such as politics, ecology, philosophy, psychology, theology, and the arts.

You will have the chance to expand your literary horizons and cultural sensitivity by studying works in translation from other languages, such as Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French, German, Spanish, and Palestinian and Egyptian Arabic.

Cultural community

We run many special literary events, often in spectacular locations such as Lancaster’s medieval Castle, the awe-inspiring Priory, or the archive-rich Wordsworth Grasmere in the Lake District. These events include:

Talks from visiting scholars and authors

A study day in the Lake District

Social events such as the October Lecture and May Gathering

These events develop a sense of community and help you to establish friendships through your studies. You will also have the opportunity to be involved in organising, marketing and hosting some of these events.

Develop widely sought after skill sets

English Language and Literature is not just a fascinating area of study, but also an opportunity to gain a skill set that opens doors to a range of exciting and rewarding careers. Throughout your study you will be developing skills that are vital to employers, such as clarity of writing, persuasive argumentation, and critical thinking. Transferrable skills include an ability to gather, organise and analyse large quantities of data, and an aptitude for developing new and innovative ideas.

You will have the chance to develop specialist skills in the lexical and grammatical analysis of English, the use of technology to track trends in the way English is used, and crafting language for creative industries.

If you are interested in writing, publishing, and editing you could choose to get involved in one of our four student-run literary journals: Cake, Flash, Lux and Errant. You might also volunteer to help at Litfest, Lancaster’s annual literature festival which attracts well-known authors from around the world (including some of our own author-tutors).

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Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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Our degrees open up an extremely wide array of career pathways in businesses and organisations, large and small, in the UK and overseas. Your skills will be valued by a range of sectors -- from the public to private sector, including large multinationals and small local enterprises.

A degree in English Language and Literature will give you valuable skills such as data analysis, evaluating evidence and persuasive argumentation. These skills can be deployed in a multitude of career paths. New and exciting opportunities are emerging in creative and cultural industries such as museums, heritage and the arts, literary tourism, podcasting, game-writing, blogging, film, television, and social media.

Our students have gone on to careers including:

Marketing and advertising professionals in large corporations and small businesses

Journalists for national outlets as well as local newspapers

Teachers from primary level to university level

Speech and language therapists

PR and communication specialists

Authors and copy-writers

Publishers

Computer programmers and game writers

Financiers

Civil servants and policy analysts

Librarians and archivists

Studying English Language and Literature at Lancaster equips you with the foundation to progress onto further study, with many graduates going on to pursue a master’s or PhD. It’s also possible to enter a variety of professional careers such as teaching, law and social work via postgraduate programmes.

Careers and employability support

Whether you have a clear idea of your potential career path or need some help considering the options, our friendly team is on hand, offering expert language and literature-specific careers advice to help you explore a host of relevant graduate destinations.

We run a paid internship scheme specifically for our arts, humanities and social sciences students, supported by a specialist Employability Team. The team offer individual consultations and tailored application guidance, as well as careers events, development opportunities, and resources.

Research internships are available in English Language, paid opportunities in which students work closely with academic members of staff on active research projects. These opportunities will allow you to gain advanced research skills that are valuable to employers and apply your academic knowledge in real world situations. Recently, our students have worked as interns on the following projects:

Accent variation in historic north Lancashire

Discourses around vaccinations during the Covid-19 pandemic

En Clair: Forensic Linguistics, Literary Detection, and Language Mysteries podcast

You could also apply for one of our residential internships at Wordsworth Grasmere.

Lancaster is unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which recognises activities such as work experience, community engagement or volunteering and social development. A valuable addition to your CV!

Find out more about Lancaster’s careers events, extensive resources and personal support for Careers and Employability.

Entry requirements

These are the typical grades that you will need to study this course. This section will tell you whether you need qualifications in specific subjects, what our English language requirements are, and if there are any extra requirements such as attending an interview or submitting a portfolio.

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A levels

Access to HE Diploma

36 Level 3 credits at Distinction plus 9 Level 3 credits at Merit

Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales

We accept the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales in place of one A level, or equivalent qualification, as long as any subject requirements are met.

BTEC Extended Diploma

BTEC in combination with A levels

A level at grade B plus BTEC(s) at DD, or A levels at grade AB plus BTEC at D

International Baccalaureate

35 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 HL subjects

Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

We are happy to admit applicants on the basis of five Highers, but where we require a specific subject at A level, we will typically require an Advanced Higher in that subject. If you do not meet the grade requirement through Highers alone, we will consider a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers in separate subjects. Please contact the Admissions team for more information.

T levels

Distinction overall

GCSE requirements

English Language grade 4/C.

We will also look at your overall GCSE profile when considering your application as a whole.

We do have flexibility when considering GCSE requirements. Go to our GCSE information for more details.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, we require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component for this programme. English language qualifications for undergraduate study.

Help from our Admissions team

If you are thinking of applying to Lancaster and you would like to ask us a question, complete our enquiry form and one of the team will get back to you.

We also have more details on our website about:

Other qualifications we accept

International qualifications

How to apply and what happens afterwards

International foundation programmes

Delivered in partnership with Lancaster University International Study Centre, our one-year tailored foundation pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University degrees. Visit the Lancaster University International Study Centre for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.

Contextual admissions

Contextual admissions could help you gain a place at university if you have faced additional challenges during your education which might have impacted your results. Visit our contextual admissions page to find out about how this works and whether you could be eligible.

Course structure

We continually review and enhance our curriculum to ensure we are delivering the best possible learning experience, and to make sure that the subject knowledge and transferable skills you develop will prepare you for your future. The University will make every reasonable effort to offer programmes and modules as advertised. In some cases, changes may be necessary and may result in new modules or some modules and combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research. Where the course offers optional modules, they may not all be available every year.

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Literature in Time

Tracing the evolution of literature over time and in time, you will engage with an array of literary genres including plays, films, short stories, novels, poetry, essays and the graphic novel. You will encounter a wide range of literature - from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century, moving from Chaucer, through Shakespeare and Milton, to Virginia Woolf. You’ll also study contemporary writers such as Alison Bechdel and Paul Muldoon, and many others.

Foundations of Language

In order to ask questions about the way language works in society, how it connects with the mind/brain or how it is acquired by computers, you first need to know something about the foundational elements of language. This module will introduce you to the building blocks of human language.

You will learn about sounds in language, how they are pronounced and how they can be combined to form words. We will teach you about the way words themselves are structured. You’ll also explore how language puts words together to build sentences of different types and how sentences express meaning, in isolation and in context.

By the end of the module, you will be familiar with the essentials of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. This knowledge will enable you to study those areas in more detail, as well as other areas of linguistics or English language studies which build on them.

English across Space and Time

The English language is not set in stone. It has changed over time and it differs depending on who is speaking it and where it is spoken. These facts are often ignored in the many myths surrounding its ‘proper’ form and use. This module will give you the knowledge to challenge those misconceptions by examining the history and varieties of English and attitudes toward it.

You will gain an insight into the way English became standardised and into the complex role that prescriptivism has played in shaping it. You will come to appreciate that English is ever-changing as its grammar and vocabulary continue to evolve in new directions.

You will also explore how and why the places where English is spoken – in the UK and around the world – and the people who speak it influence the many forms it takes.

English in Use

Explore how English is used in real-world contexts by examining how people rely on common conversational routines – such as being polite – in everyday communication.

You will be introduced to the role of English in media, investigating how it shapes news, what it looks like in advertising and online, and why it looks that way. You will also study creative uses of English, such as literature, and learn how to analyse the figurative language and style of texts.

English is a language that is learnt by many people around the world. This module will address this special position of English and investigate the essentials of teaching it as an additional language.

By the end, you will have a deeper understanding of the different ways English is used by a variety of people, for various purposes and in a range of settings.

World Literatures

Look beyond the boundaries of traditional courses in English Literature and explore a wide and exciting range of literatures in English and translation from antiquity to the present day. Discover texts that have influenced the development of literary English, from the Bible and classical figures such as Ovid and Homer, through Medieval and Early Modern authors such as Dante and Rabelais to contemporary world authors in translation such as Kafka and Rushdie.

English Grammar

Gain a deeper understanding of how English grammar works, how it has been studied and how it varies across different contexts as you study the parts of speech that make up the English language and the problems faced in defining them.

You will examine the grammatical structure of English at the levels of the noun phrase, of the verb group and of the sentence, paying attention to issues such as transitivity, adverbials and subordination. Exploring prescriptive and pedagogical approaches to English grammar, you will learn how it varies in dialects around the world, in spoken versus written language, and across different genres.

Introducing you to modern methods of studying the grammar of the English language, this module will allow you to do your own investigation on real examples of English grammatical structures.

Critical Theory

Explore literary criticism as it is now and what it may yet become. You will have the opportunity to consider a whole range of major theoretical and philosophical concepts, such as:

The body

Violence

The animal

You will study a range of fascinating modern thinkers, ranging from Marx, Freud and Nietzsche, through to more recent figures such as Simone Weil, Walter Benjamin, Jacques Derrida, Judith Butler, Fred Moten, Cornel West and Sara Ahmed.

Discourse Studies

Explore how language is used to interact with others, form social groups and shape society. In this module, you will examine how communication functions socially, from the persuasive language used by politicians and advertisers to the way social organisation is reflected in and reinforced through casual conversations among friends.

You’ll draw on different models in linguistics to explore the way language is used and organised to achieve social goals. This includes:

Using principles of systemic functional grammar to identify who is represented in texts and how,

Conversation analysis to uncover the structure and management of conversation

Methods of visual analysis to consider non-linguistic meanings

By the end of this module, you will become more confident in analysing texts and understanding their functions. You will see everyday texts, such as a phone call with a family member or a letter from your GP, in different light because you will understand the features and structures of language that help to organise society.

Critical Practice

Reflect on what it means to do criticism in a post-theoretical age. This module asks what happens to literary interpretation after all its many theoretical upheavals – from Marxism and feminism to postcolonialism and queer theory. Is it time to get back to the close reading of literature? Is there still room for pleasure, appreciation and creativity in the practice of criticism? We might question whether literature, in the traditional sense, even exists anymore.

You will pose these questions in relation to a range of traditional and non-traditional texts.

Optional

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Language and Pedagogic Practice

Learning requires language. That makes pedagogic practice language work, and the design of talk and text a crucial dimension of a professional educator's practice.

You will explore talk between teachers and students to better understand what makes for effective classrooms. You will analyse genres that students read and write, and how teachers unpack densely organised information to provide students access and control. You will consider how digital technologies, multilingualism and the growing influence of visual communication can inform teaching. You will work with authentic classroom data while examining what current research says about language and teaching.

By the end of this module, you will have newfound insights into the complex ways in which talk, text and image shape processes of meaning-making in educational settings. Although our primary focus is on the classroom, the insights we provide are equally valuable in any setting where people gather to learn and collaborate.

Professional Communication

Soon, you will find yourself in a professional job in a company, school, charity, medical centre, local government or other place of employment. Although very different, such organisations are all held together by language – the language of meetings, client or investor interactions, team leadership and/or crisis management.

You will explore linguistic concepts such as (im)politeness, narrative, and metaphor and consider their implications for multilingual communication and using English as a lingua franca. You will develop your knowledge of how professional communication is organised and how language is used to both reflect and influence wider discourses. The module distinguishes between professional communication and business/workplace language and includes attention to difficult professional communication such as delivering bad news and responding to bullying.

By the end of the module, you will be able to read and assess studies of professional communication, drawing on a range of linguistic approaches and using frameworks to analyse real-life data.

Medieval to Early Modern Literature

Explore a wide range of literature and drama from the medieval and early modern periods. The module situates medieval and early modern literature in its relevant historical and cultural contexts.

You will develop skills in the close reading of medieval and early modern texts.

Authors studied may include Chaucer, the Gawain poet, Margery Kempe, Mary Wroth, Sir Philip Sidney and Christopher Marlowe.

Literary Adaptation

Exploring the adaption of literature to film and other media, this module focuses on the adaptation of literary texts to such forms as theatre, graphic novel, film, television, song, and game.

You will be invited to reflect on adaptation as a powerful and complex cultural process, one that interprets literature as well as adapts it.

Throughout the module you will normally complete either a critical essay on adaptation OR a creative project (plus short essay) that enables you to produce your own work of adaptation. This may take many forms -- written, (audio) visual, musical, digital, or three-dimensional and/or take the form of a game, production or performance, etc.

Postcolonial Literature

Explore postcolonial literature across a wide historical span. Your study will move from the explosion of new national literatures in the era of decolonisation through to contemporary writing that interrogates the legacies of racism and imperialism in our globalised world.

You’ll read exciting major writers who defined the emergence of African, South Asian and Caribbean literature in English in the middle of the twentieth century. You’ll also encounter today’s new voices, grappling with the afterlives of empire.

Cutting through all our thinking will be the question of how literature serves, in Ngugi wa Thiongo’s phrase, as a means of 'decolonising the mind'.

English Phonetics

Why does English sound the way it does? How does English vary across different accents? And how do listeners perceive that variation? This module will explore these questions, applying the methods of articulatory and acoustic phonetics to the study of spoken English.

The module will begin with the anatomy of the vocal tract, examining how its muscles work together to produce distinctive patterns of movement. This will provide a system for describing variation in speech. You will then focus on the acoustic characteristics of speech and on the computer-based and experimental analysis of real speech data. You will apply this knowledge to chart sound change in English, describe new varieties of spoken English and explore the perception of different English accents.

By the end of the module, you will have developed skills in technical analysis relevant for speech therapy and voice-assisted technologies, whilst acquiring the foundations for advanced studies in phonetics.

Language and Creativity in Advertising

How many advertisements have you already seen today? From moving billboards to advertisements between games on your phone - advertising is everywhere.

How many advertisements have you already seen today? From moving billboards to advertisements between games on your phone, advertising is everywhere.

In this module, you will learn how advertisers use language, visuals, sound and music to influence behaviour. You will discover how to differentiate advertising from marketing by examining hard and soft selling, influencer advertising and the role of “prosumers” on social media. You will explore consumer research to ask what makes a good advertisement. Rich examples show how advertising has borrowed from prose, poems and plays.

You will explore aspects of language including:

Phonetics (sounds in a language)

Stylistics (linguistic analysis of literary texts)

Pragmatics (meaning in context)

By the end of this module, you will be able to analyse the creative use of language in advertisements, understanding the role that advertising plays in wider marketing efforts and reflecting on its uses in your future professional and personal lives.

American Literature

What we call ‘American Literature’ and how we define America and ‘the American experience’ depends on who is writing and to whom. In this module you will encounter many different voices, many conflicting and contrasting views, a diversity of complex experience and a great range of writing in form and style.

You will explore such questions as: What role do different literary forms play in narrating the self? How does American writing seek to establish a new way of looking at the world? And how and why does literature help shape forms of protest and new critiques of modernity?

Victorian Literature

The years of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901) saw great social, political and cultural transformation. Changing social conditions, extraordinary scientific breakthroughs and the emergence of new technologies all altered the ways in which Victorians thought about themselves and their environment. The literature of the period responded resourcefully to the turbulent circumstances from which it emerged.

In this module, you will examine a wide range of Victorian writing, including novels, short fiction, poetry, drama and non-fictional prose and will explore and interrogate all the complexities of the Victorian age.

Work Based Learning Year

This module will allow you to spend the year working in a graduate-level placement role in the industry or sector that interests you most. Throughout the year, you will build an awareness of what is required in the professional workplace whilst developing a range of transferable skills.

During the module you will reflect on and critically analyse: your own career readiness, the ongoing development of your self-awareness in terms of skills and professional knowledge, and your understanding of current workplace practices and professional etiquette.

Our Careers and Placements Team will support you during your placement with online contact and learning resources.

Language and Social Identities

How is language connected to who we are, how we see ourselves, and how others see us? This module explores the idea of identity and how it relates to language.

You’ll investigate how accents and other language varieties are perceived in society and how they can reflect or reinforce social identities and inequalities. You’ll also explore areas such as language and gender and learn how identity shows up in the way we speak and write.

You will also look at how people choose to use language in different contexts, in multilingual England and beyond, and the reasons behind this, as well as why people choose to learn new languages. Throughout the module, you’ll think about how these issues are shaped by and help shape power and inequality.

By the end of the module, you’ll have gained useful skills in critical thinking as well as a deeper understanding of how language works in the real world.

Language Variation and Change in English

Explore present-day English to discover how it varies and how it has evolved, within and beyond its heartland. This module will deepen your insight into the English language by examining the (socio)linguistic dimensions along which it varies and the (extra)linguistic processes that have changed it over time.

From Old English to the present and from British dialects to emerging World Englishes, you will explore how variation in English is driven by factors such as gender and class and how it has been shaped by contact with other languages. You will discover how cultural shifts have changed the way English is used and consider whether we can make predictions about its future.

You will be introduced to key research in variationist and historical linguistics. The module will also encourage you to apply these insights to new data and to undertake data collection yourself.

Contemporary Literature

What is the contemporary? When did the present cultural moment start and how might it end. How do writers respond to the challenge, excitement, pressure and novelty of the ‘now’? And how is imaginative writing faring in the digital age?

You will consider these questions in relation to the work of such major authors as Ali Smith, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Colson Whitehead

Romanticism

Study key texts and contexts from a short but remarkably intense period of literary history. Encompassing the work of writers such as Wordsworth, Blake, Keats and Shelley, you will explore the role of nature, the imagination and the sublime. You will also consider the emergence of the Gothic tradition and examine the interactions between literary and politics in a turbulent era of revolution and change.

Literature and Environment

Examining a wide range of texts and authors from early periods to the age of the climate crisis, this module will explore the many and various ways in which the non-human world is celebrated, championed and exploited by the literary imagination.

You will explore questions such as:

What do we mean by the ‘the environment’?

What experiences, meanings and values do we take from, or discover in our surroundings?

How have writers characterised the environment and in what ways might the literary imagination be significant for contemporary environmental concerns?

Special Topics in Theory

What is critical theory? Why is it one of the most controversial areas of contemporary culture today? And to what extent do theoretical ideas about power, race, gender and identity change the way we think about the world?

On this module you will explore a range of classic and contemporary themes, trends and topics in critical theory from the 1960s to the present. You’ll take a deep dive into key thinkers like Foucault, Deleuze and Agamben and key concepts like biopolitics, globalisation and animal studies.

Artistic Fusions (Discovery module)

What happens when radically different forms of art meet? How do these fused forms change our understanding of the world? We will draw on material from different periods and continents, to explore works of art where, for example, film meets history, poetry meets philosophy, fine art meets sociology, religion meets fiction, and theatre meets politics.

Cognitive Linguistics

Now one of the most important paradigms in contemporary linguistics, this module introduces you to principles of Cognitive Linguistics and the alternative view of language it presents compared to other approaches.

You will explore the cognitive structures and processes that underpin language, including radial categories, frames, image schemas and mappings. You will learn how these things relate to aspects of language like word meaning, grammatical structure and metaphor. You will also explore the idea that much more of language than just idioms is stored in the mind in whole chunks.

Cognitive Linguistics is largely theoretical. However, you will learn how it has recently integrated methods from psycholinguistics and gesture studies as well as how it is applied to social contexts like politics, health and more.

Language and Media

Our media environment is constantly changing and has never been more diverse. The way different media approach events or issues - i.e. the language they use to describe and discuss them - varies enormously. Consequently, there are important theoretical and methodological challenges involved in making sense of this environment.

In this module, you’ll examine social and broadcast media in their changing forms to consider how each contributes to our current media ecology. You will apply frameworks including discursive news values, corpus linguistics, framing analysis and multimodal discourse analysis which are useful in future media careers and as a citizen.

Throughout, you will explore media talk, ideology in news selection and presentation, fake news and mis/disinformation.

English Literature Dissertation

The final-year Dissertation is your opportunity to devise, research and explore a topic of your own choice through a programme of directed independent study. You will be helped to begin your thinking at the end of your second year and then, through your final year, you will develop your research, thinking and writing, as you build toward a substantial, self-directed project.

Almost anything is possible; for example, you could choose to explore famous literary names or themes, or research obscure figures and unusual topics. You might draw on the University Library’s special collections, or venture way beyond Lancaster to develop your research. Perhaps you will be inspired by the medievalism of historic Lancaster or the Romanticism of nearby Lake District or be drawn to the far textual shores of the digital world.

You can focus your work towards a professional career or build towards postgraduate study at master’s level. Finally, you can opt to write in classic literary critical styles or push the boundaries of literary study in new and startling ways.

Austen and the Brontës

Study the work of four giants of nineteenth-century British fiction: Jane Austen, Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë.

Focusing on questions of class, gender, power, environment and artistic technique, you will explore the tensions between Austen and the Brontes (south vs north, Regency vs Victorian, realism vs Gothic) and trace the imaginative continuities between them.

Gothic and Science Fiction

Both the Gothic and science fiction emerged in response to the 18th century ‘age of reason’ and the Western world’s investment in logic and progress. The Gothic explores the terrors of the past and its return while science fiction imagines alternative futures; in doing so, both voice the concerns of the present.

You will study both classic literary texts and contemporary film and other media. Exploring what the Gothic and science fiction each do, rather than what they each are, you will consider how these genres address some of the most pressing questions facing contemporary Western culture.

Shakespeare

Ben Jonson claimed of Shakespeare ‘he was not of an age but for all time.’ This module, however, examines Shakespearean drama and poetry in its own time and as a platform in which early modern debates about agency and government, family and national identity, were put into play. The stage was and is a place in which questions of gender, class and race, gain immediacy through the bodies and voices of actors.

By examining texts from across Shakespeare’s career, you will explore their power to shape thoughts and feelings in both their own age and in ours. You will consider how, in the past and in the present, Shakespeare’s texts exploit the emotional and political possibilities of poetry and drama.

The assessment of this module normally concludes with either an essay OR a creative engagement (e.g. reading, performance, artwork) plus critical reflection.

Modernism

The early 20th century explosion of literary experimentation known as Modernism was a movement informed by the catastrophe of the First World War, the convulsion that was the Russian Revolution and a host of dramatic developments in art, music, cinema, philosophy, theology, politics and science.

Alongside reading the literature of the time you will also consider various related artistic movements such as Dadaism, Surrealism and Vorticism. Authors covered typically include T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys and W. B. Yeats.

Linguistics and English Language Dissertation

Would you like to learn more about a specific topic in Linguistics or English language? Would you like to research and work independently on a study that matters to you? The final-year dissertation module provides this opportunity.

With support from a supervisor, you’ll build on what you’ve learned in previous modules and carry out your own research project. You’ll gain valuable skills in designing a study, asking research questions, and collecting and analysing data.

This module is especially useful if you’re thinking about postgraduate study or a career in research. It’s also a great opportunity to focus on topics relevant to future careers, such as language teaching or speech and language therapy. You'll also develop your ability to work independently and grow as a writer and learner.

Language, Culture and Cognition

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like in other languages? Or what connects language, cognition, culture and ecology? These are the fundamental questions addressed in this module, which explores the latest developments in language-related cognitive science.

You’ll explore what all human languages have in common, as well as how they can differ, and how language, thought, culture, and the environment are linked. You’ll also look at how we communicate using sign and gesture and think about how language forms connect to meaning.

As you continue through the module, you will consider how things like space, time, colour and numbers are talked and thought about in different cultures. With a strong focus on anthropology, you’ll explore the language and culture of several Indigenous communities, such as those living in Papua New Guinea. To help unlock the evolution of language, you’ll also explore culture and communication in non-human populations including chimpanzees and ancestral homo species.

The module emphasises experimental methods. You will work in groups to design, implement and present the results of a language experiment. Together, you will gain an enriched understanding of the linguistic and cognitive diversity of humankind.

Psycholinguistics

On this module, you will study the psychology of language. You’ll explore how the brain helps us learn languages and how language experience can shape the brain itself.

You will examine what happens when specific brain regions are damaged and how this affects things like semantic vs. syntactic knowledge, memory and inhibition. Throughout the module, you will investigate links between language processing and cognitive and social-cognitive skills while discussing specific topics such as autism, aphasia, Williams Syndrome and bilingualism.

You will learn about neurolinguistic and psycholinguistic methods, including eye-tracking, EEG, and neuroimaging, and discuss appropriate measurement of cognitive and linguistic skills. You will also investigate how empirical data can inform practice in speech and language therapy or diagnosing and supporting children with developmental disorders.

Pragmatics

Language is much more than linguistic structure. Language is the means through which we pursue social goals and the primary means through which we infer the goals of others. This module will explore how our language use impacts our social and institutional identities, our interpersonal relationships and our impact on the perceptions of others.

You will examine how conventions and norms across contexts and cultures drive the way we interact with others and how deviations from expected behaviour can be perceived negatively. Pragmatics is at the core of Cognitive Science and one of the most exciting disciplines driving the technological and social cognition advances of the 21st century.

As you go through the module, you will develop the theoretical and methodological tools to analyse verbal behaviour in politics, intercultural communication, law, AI and more. You will investigate how communicative behaviour changes alongside neuro-cognitive factors; for example, in first language acquisition, across the autistic spectrum or in dementia.

You will learn how our linguistic behaviours mirror evolutionary patterns in our closest relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos. Human interaction is a fundamental tool for ‘social’ survival and how language use can improve our social gains.

Fees and funding

Our annual tuition fee is set for a 12-month session, starting at the beginning of each academic year.

Our Undergraduate Tuition Fees for 2027/28 are:

International

Fees and funding information

Additional fees and funding information accordion

Additional costs

Additional costs for this course

You will be able to borrow many books free of charge from the university library, however most students prefer to buy their own copies of at least some of the texts. Costs vary depending on whether these are bought new or second hand.

There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.

Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.

College fees

Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small college membership fee which supports the running of college events and activities. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.

For students starting in 2026 or 2027, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses. Students on some distance-learning courses are not liable to pay a college fee.

Computer equipment and internet access

To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.

The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.

Study abroad courses

In addition to travel and accommodation costs, while you are studying abroad, you will need to have a passport and, depending on the country, there may be other costs such as travel documents (e.g. visa or work permit) and any tests and vaccines that are required at the time of travel. Some countries may require proof of funds.

Placement and industry year courses

In addition to possible commuting costs during your placement, you may need to buy clothing that is suitable for your workplace and you may have accommodation costs. Depending on the employer and your job, you may have other costs such as copies of personal documents required by your employer for example.

What is my fee status?

The fee that you pay will depend on whether you are considered to be a home or international student. Read more about how we assign your fee status.

Fees in subsequent years

Home fees are subject to annual review, and are liable to rise each year in line with UK government policy. International fees (including EU) are reviewed annually and are not fixed for the duration of your studies. Read more about fees in subsequent years.

Fees for study abroad and work placements

We will charge tuition fees to Home undergraduate students on full-year study abroad/work placements in line with the maximum amounts permitted by the Department for Education. The current maximum levels are:

Students studying abroad for a year: 15% of the standard tuition fee

Students taking a work placement for a year: 20% of the standard tuition fee

International students on full-year study abroad/work placements will also be charged in line with the maximum amounts permitted by the Department for Education. The current maximum levels are:

Students studying abroad for a year: 15% of the standard international tuition fee during the Study Abroad year

Students taking a work placement for a year: 20% of the standard international tuition fee during the Placement year

Please note that the maximum levels chargeable in future years may be subject to changes in Government policy.

Scholarships and bursaries

You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.

You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status:

Fee status:

Any fee status

Home students

International students

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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.

Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.

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Important information

The information on this site relates primarily to the stated entry year and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

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We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. Find out more about our Charter and student policies.

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