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English Language and Linguistics with Mandarin BA (Hons)

Enhance your cultural and historical understanding by studying English language and linguistics, while also learning Mandarin at beginner or post-beginner level.

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Block teaching designed around you

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments - rather than lots of exams at the end of the year - and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging.

Read more about block teaching

Overview

*This course was previously called English Language with Mandarin.

Explore the nature and functions of language to gain a deeper understanding of human communication. You will develop skills and knowledge that help you understand how communication works and how to use language more effectively. Exposure to various theoretical approaches will enable you to apply these perspectives to your own communication.

Your studies will have real-world applications. English, with its cultural, political, and economic influence, is a valuable tool, and mastering it in different contexts is crucial for employability. In addition to English Linguistics, you will develop Mandarin language skills and explore social, cultural, political, and historical topics. This interdisciplinary approach provides marketable vocational and transferable skills.

After completing your studies, you will benefit from enhanced employment opportunities, combining expertise in both English linguistics and Mandarin. Our graduates have gone on to further research in areas such as Forensic Linguistics and the language of coercive control, and have built successful careers in media, publishing, teaching, the Civil Service, and marketing.

Key features

  • Study the richness of human language, with a focus on English as the first truly global language. Explore English as a spoken, written, and digital language while developing skills in analysing and producing digital communication.
  • Gain a competitive edge with recognised competence in Mandarin. Study at a pace that suits your needs, while expanding your knowledge of the language, culture, society, and people of China.
  • As a graduate, you can enjoy enhanced employment opportunities with broadened horizons, allowing you to pursue roles that require both English linguistics and Mandarin skills.
  • Learn from active researchers whose work in areas like pidgin and creoles, gender and sexuality, language teaching, pragmatics, and information warfare directly informs your studies.
  • Engage in diverse teaching activities and experience various assessment methods to keep your learning dynamic and to develop a broad skill set - not just ‘chalk and talk’ and ‘death by PowerPoint’.
  • Enhance your employability with opportunities to study, work, and travel abroad through the Turing Program, international partner institutions, and DMU Global.
  • Benefit from block teaching, where most students study one subject at a time. A simple timetable will allow you to really engage with your learning, receive regular feedback and assessments, get to know your course mates and enjoy a better study-life balance.

 

More courses like this

English Language and Linguistics

English Language and Linguistics with TESOL

English Language and Linguistics with Education Studies

 

  • UK
  • EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: Q311 

Start date: September

Duration: Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees and funding: 

2025/26 fees: £9,535* per year 

*subject to the government, as is expected, passing legislation to formalise the increase.

Find out more about tuition fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

How to apply

Submit a study-related enquiry

Start date: September

Duration: Three years full-time, four years with placement

Fees and funding: 

2025/26 tuition fees for international students: £16,250

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

How to apply

Application guidance document

Submit a study-related enquiry

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements

  • 104 points from at least 2 A levels
  • BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
  • International Baccalaureate: 24+ Points or
  • T Levels Merit

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

  • Pass Access with 30 level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above.

We will normally require students have had a break from full-time education before undertaking the Access course.

  • We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

Interview required: No

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

 

Structure and assessment

 

Course modules

Teaching and assessments

 

First year

Block 1: Structure and Nature of Language

Block 2: Journeys and Places

Block 3: Mandarin Beginner OR Mandarin Post-Beginner

Block 4: Words in Action

Second year

Block 1: Language in Use

Block 2: Exploring Work and Society

Block 3: Mandarin Post-Beginner OR Mandarin Intermediate

Block 4: Language and Linguistic Diversity

You also have the option of studying abroad or pursuing a work placement in your second year, by taking one of the following year-long modules.

Student Exchange Year Abroad

Placement Year

Enterprise Placement Year

Third year

Third year students on this programme write a dissertation over the course of the year. This is linked to the year-long module:

Blocks 1-4: Year-long Dissertation

Block 2: Language, Identity, and Culture

Block 3: Mandarin Intermediate OR Mandarin Advanced

Block 4: Hardware/Software: Language, Mind and Culture 



See detailed module information


Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

Overview

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, group tutorials, and student-led seminars. Teaching sessions may include discussions, film screenings, or work in computer labs. You will be expected to complete reading and research in advance and participate in discussions with your tutor and fellow students. All students are supported by a personal tutor and have access to specialist guidance on writing and study skills. Individual tutorials with module tutors are available during weekly office hours, where you can discuss any aspect of your course or receive help with assignments.

In the first year, you will expand your knowledge of key elements in general linguistics, such as phonetics, morphology, and syntax, as well as the history and development of English as a global language. The second year broadens your understanding of language domains and the distinction between pure and applied linguistics. In the third year, you will pursue your own interests within the taught modules and your dissertation—a substantial independent project on a linguistic topic of your choice.

You will experience varied forms of assessment, including essays, presentations, podcasts, blogs, class tests, fieldwork, simulation exercises, peer evaluations, creative work, and a dissertation. This range of assessments will enable you to develop a wide range of communication and technological skills, along with the ability to think critically, independently, flexibly, and creatively.

You will have Mandarin language classes throughout the year as this continuous approach is recognised as the best way to learn a language. For the Mandarin language modules, assessment is focused on evaluating your competence in the four key skills of reading, writing, speaking, and hearing and knowledge of the cultural, social, and historical context.

Contact hours

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, workshops, group work and self-directed study. You will normally attend around 8-10 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures, seminars, and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 30 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

 

Facilities and features

Placements

Library and learning zones

On campus, the main Kimberlin Library offers a space where you can work, study and access a vast range of print materials, with computer stations, laptops, plasma screens and assistive technology also available. 

As well as providing a physical space in which to work, we offer online tools to support your studies, and our extensive online collection of resources accessible from our Library website, e-books, specialised databases and electronic journals and films which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose. 

We will support you to confidently use a huge range of learning technologies, including the Virtual Learning Environment, Collaborate Ultra, DMU Replay, MS Teams, Turnitin and more. Alongside this, you can access LinkedIn Learning and learn how to use Microsoft 365, and study support software such as mind mapping and note-taking through our new Digital Student Skills Hub. 

The library staff offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching, reference management and assistive technology. There is also a ‘Just Ask’ service for help and advice, live LibChat, online workshops, tutorials and drop-ins available from our Learning Services, and weekly library live chat sessions that give you the chance to ask the library teams for help.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Campus Centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team. 

Opportunities and careers

Find the people who will open doors for you

DMU's award-winning careers service provides guaranteed work experience opportunities DMU Careers Team
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Placements

During this course you will have the option to complete a paid placement year, an invaluable opportunity to put the skills developed during your degree into practice. This insight into the professional world will build on your knowledge in a real-world setting, preparing you to progress onto your chosen career.  

Our Careers Team can help to hone your professional skills with mock interviews and practice aptitude tests, and an assigned personal tutor will support you throughout your placement. 

Our students have participated in a variety of placements across several countries, from university study in Ireland to two students who spent a year studying and teaching English in South Korea. Bladimie Germain, who studied English Language and Creative Writing, visited Meisei University in Japan through a DMU Global experience. This exposure to a completely different culture inspired him to pursue an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at DMU. He is now a lecturer at the Centre for English Communication at Reitaku University in Japan.

Students on the #DMUglobal trip to New York

DMU Global

Our innovative international experience programme DMU Global aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons, helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world. Through DMU Global, we offer a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK-based activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

Students have been on DMU Global trips to explore ekphrastic writing and themes of oppression in Berlin, as well as visiting TED HQ and key literary locations in New York.

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Graduate careers

Our graduates are highly employable due to their advanced cultural competency, strong communication and reasoning skills, and their ability to work both independently and collaboratively. They go on to pursue careers in a variety of fields, including: journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing and forensic linguistics. Additionally, many graduates progressed to teaching languages at university level and teaching in UK primary and secondary schools.

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