Course description
BA French and English
Programme
First Year
In French you will take Understanding Contemporary France, French language, and an option chosen from 20th Century French Literature and Civilisation Française. In English you will take Approaches to the Study of Literature, The Novel, and Shakespeare and his Contemporaries, OR the History of the English Language.
Written skills in French are developed through the production of small pieces of creative writing, and other activities, including the use of online language learning and satellite television. Small group oral classes are conducted by native speakers. The School of Modern Languages also offers special training for linguists with its Core Skills module for language learners. All students normally follow a three-week summer programme in France, which is heavily subsidised by the University.
Second Year
In addition to the development of language skills, you will take modules on European texts in translation and one French option chosen from a variety of cultural, linguistic and literary topics such as Interpreting, Bande dessinée, Introduction to Francophonie, Introduction to French Cinema. In English, you will take From Satire to Sensibility: Literature 1660 to 1789, Critical Theory, and Renaissance Poetry, OR The Study of Language.
Third Year*
The third year is spent in France or a Francophone country, attending approved courses in French language and culture and in English literature and/ or language at selected universities.
* It is possible, in exceptional cases, to complete this degree in three years, without a year abroad.
Fourth Year
In the final year a wide range of options allows you to specialise in areas of studies of particular appeal to you. French options could include French Cinema, Life Writing, Interpreting, Immigration and Ethnicity in Colonial and Post-Colonial France, Gender and Power in Contemporary France. You may choose to write a dissertation in place of one of your options. In English, you will study Postwar to Postmodern: Literature 1945–Present Day and will choose from a wide range of specialised options.