You will learn about behaviour from infancy to old age, and deal with the biological, social and individual factors that affect human psychology and language use.

Studying Linguistics will enable you to learn about, understand and interpret many aspects of human language. You will study the ‘science’ behind language, including sounds (phonetics, phonology), words (morphology), sentences (syntax), and meaning (semantics).

Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, feel, think and learn. As a science and as a profession, Psychology makes a difference to people in the real world, by improving quality of life across a wide range of areas.

Linguistics is the study of how language works and how and why language is used. Linguists look at not only how people learn, understand and speak language, but also at the way different people use language differently. Linguistics has a theoretical dimension but also an applied dimension – such as language technology, language policy and language in education. You will also have the opportunity to learn about the ways in which different languages are different or similar in terms of their grammar, how society and language go hand-in-hand, and the functions and status that different languages have across the world.

In Psychology, you will study the mind, thought and behaviour, and you will learn about how to describe and explain how people live, think, socialize and develop. You will get the opportunity to find about things like: what factors govern human psychological behaviour, how our environment influences our thoughts and feelings, how children’s minds develop and change as they grow older, and about research methods and advances in the field of psychology.

Why choose Bangor University for this course?

• Teaching staff are key researchers with specialisms in areas such as bilingualism, child language acquisition and language disorders.
• You will gain a sound and scientific insight into the structure and use of language and human behaviour.
• Our facilities include, an extensive collection of books on Linguistics and English Language, recording and experimental equipment, and a language laboratory.

This course will be taught by a combination of lectures, tutorials and/or seminars, depending on the module and level. You will choose 120 credits of modules relating to Linguistics and/or Psychology each year, where you start by learning the foundational knowledge required to study in this field in the different subdisciplines, proceeding to more in-depth intermediate-level study before choosing what areas to specialize in. Modules are assessed on the basis of different kinds of coursework, including essays, reports, oral presentations, tests, exams, data analysis, etc. You will do a dissertation in your final year which represents a research project which you will undertake under the supervision of a member of academic staff.

Most walks of life benefit from having language experts on their team. As a graduate of this course you will have the knowledge and understanding needed to go into fields like the media, translation, interpreting, publishing, teaching, civil service, speech therapy, community work (e.g. related to language policy and engagement), etc. In some cases you will need further training and qualifications beyond what this course provides. A career in research is also an option, as is postgraduate study.

Studying linguistics will enable you to learn about, understand and interpret many aspects of human language. At Bangor you will study the ‘science’ behind language, including sounds (phonetics, phonology), words (morphology), sentences (syntax), and meaning (semantics).