Linguistics involves the study of one the most important foundations of all human interaction: language. This module introduces you to a variety of different approaches to the study of human language, including not only aspects of language sounds, words, structures and meanings, but also questions such as how writing systems developed, how children acquire language, and why different social groups use different language varieties.​

Linguistics is concerned with the study of language as such and you will learn to apply linguistic principles not only to the English language, but also to any other languages that you already speak or are still learning to speak. The module enables you to fully appreciate how language works and therefore forms an indispensable foundation for further training in the main language professions, including text editing, translation and interpreting; it is also useful in other professions in which language plays an important role, such as teaching, publishing, journalism and advertising.