Practitioner and transferable skills

Communications skills

Language is central to just about any corporate, social or educational setting, and eloquence is valuable. When this is combined with insight, high level descriptive and analytical skills you easily see how graduate employers favour such abilities.

Critical reasoning and rhetoric

Career planning is embedded within the programme: voluntary positions and work placements are woven into the course structure. Language is about using words to represent meanings and interpreting intentions, useful skills in any context.

Effective presentation and interview skills

The practical application of this specialist knowledge is fundamental at the University of Bedfordshire. The skills you develop from the first year have immediate relevance to your professional and personal life through the combination of theoretical and practical assessments.

You will know how to prepare and deliver effective presentations and respond to the challenge of the interview process.

If you are aiming for a career in teaching you will have practical teaching experience as part of the course. If you have another career in mind, you’ll soon see how a wide range of careers welcome graduates with a degree in English Language and Linguistics.

Personal and professional development

Integrated reflexivity and introspection

Linguistics is the scientific study of language, what it means and how it’s used. Soft skills are increasingly important in graduate careers, and effective communication is key.

At the University of Bedfordshire, you’ll explore the nature of English, its users and the ways it is manipulated in a wide range of contexts from the playground to the negotiating table.

Learning outcomes linked to career aspirations

The course naturally imbues high levels of literacy, fluency and sensitivity to language use: skills that are central to your professional persona, and personal relationships alike. Some assessments require you to apply critical, self-evaluation techniques on yourself, which helps you identify your own strengths.

Portfolio experience

The range of topics we offer includes aspects of communication and culture, psychology, history, and rapport as well as language fundamentals such as syntax, semantics, phonetics, and phonology.

The nature of our subject requires an open mind and we encourage you to take aspects of the course that interest you most and develop a career accordingly, whether at home or abroad.

Varied assessments and introduction to research

Through studying rhetoric and discourse, we help you develop your critical reasoning and analytical skills. A range of different assessments helps you prepare for your research project in your final year.

We pride ourselves on the community spirit we in our subject area and you’ll find the teaching team are encouraging, experienced and approachable.

Professional recognition and endorsement

A popular career choice is education, teaching at home and abroad or indeed developing teaching or examination materials.

We are an institutional member of IATEFL, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) is particularly attractive as it allows graduates to travel the world and teach English to people who are keen to learn.

TEFL units informed by British council accreditation values

The nature of our TEFL units is largely determined by the professional values of the British Council/English UK Accreditation Scheme.

The entry-level teaching qualification within the TEFL industry is covered within the curriculum of the TEFL pathway at University of Bedfordshire.