How do we create meaning from the air we breathe and from marks on a page? How has language been exploited now and throughout history for effect, self-expression, and story-telling? In English Language & Linguistics we study the most intricate, powerful, and beautiful parts of our most valuable human asset - language.

In three strands this course explores in detail how newspapers, adverts, and politicians all try to persuade us; how linguistic meaning and structure are key to making ourselves understood; and how the 1500-year history of English tells us about who we are and where we came from.

*Course content subject to change