BA Linguistics: Degree structure and degree requirements
(for students who entered prior to September 2002)
Single Honours
Progression:
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To proceed to the second year of the degree you must have passed 3 CUs
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To proceed to the third year of the degree you have to have passed 6 CUs.
Minimal requirements:
Students normally take a minimum of
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3.5 CUs in Linguistics in year 1
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2.0 CUs in Linguistics in year 2 and
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2.0 CUs in Linguistics in year 3
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Students may not take a level 1 Linguistics course in year 3
Recommendation for degree class:
Your final degree will be graded as first class (1st), second class
division 1 (2.1), second class division 2 (2.2), third class (3rd), or
as a pass non-honours degree (P). Candidates who have pass marks, or better,
in at least 9 CUs and who fulfil the requirements given below will be awarded
a BA in Linguistics. However, the system for assigning degree classes will
allow you to benefit from any courses you pass in addition to the minimum
number, so most students take more than 9 CUs, the maximum being 12. The
marks you receive from examinations and other assessments can be thought
of as potentially going into a portfolio of marks on which the class of
your degree is based. The Board of Examiners standardly determines the
class of your degree on the basis of your marks for a total of 8 CUs. Since
most courses are in half-CU chunks (with a few exceptions) your final portfolio
will contain up to 16 separate marks. The Single Honours portfolio must
meet the requirements (1-3):
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at least 3.0 CUs taken in the third year, which must include 2.0 CUs of
Linguistics courses and cannot include any level 1 course from any department,
with the exception of LANG1001 (TEFL).
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at least 1.0 and no more than 2.0 CUs taken in the first year.
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at least 6.0 CUs of Linguistics courses overall, which must include:
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at least 2 CUs in the major core area
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at least 1 CU in each of the other two core areas
The 2 CUs in the major core area should be taken from the level 2
or 3 lists and at least 0.5 CU must be taken from the level 3 list.
Major consequences:
You will normally have 1 CU-worth of marks in place for each core area
(plus 1 CU-worth of other marks) by the end of the first year. There is a strong incentive for keeping two (or three) core areas going in the second
year:
-
If you only take one core area into the second year, then the 2 first year
CU for the other two core areas will have to go into your portfolio, no
matter how good your other first year marks are.
-
By contrast, if your level 2 mark for any core course is better than a level
1 mark in the same core area, the better mark will go into the appropriate
core slot of the portfolio, while at the same time making space for another
good mark to be included. That first year mark might be either a for non-core
course or for your major core area.
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It is not advisable to take a first year course other than LANG1001 in your final year, as it cannot go into your portfolio. Since 3 of the 8 CU in your portfolio are from your final year, it is better for all these courses to be available for your portfolio, so as to maximize your average.
Although this is already covered by the major requirements listed above,
it is worth stressing again that you must take 2 CU of Linguistics
in each year, including year 3. In fact you have to take
3.5 CU in Linguistics in year 1.
Example:
Suppose you have chosen to major in syntax and so you carry this through
the three years, and suppose you also do a level 2 course in phonology
and the mark you get for it is better than one of your first year marks
in phonetics and phonology, then
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this better mark is the one that will go into your portfolio and
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you can include a good mark for a first year option, say PLINX101 (Principles
of Linguistics), or for an option you did outside the department (say a
language course in the Language Centre).
Combined Honours
(i.e. 'X and Linguistics' where X is Italian or Philosophy)
Progression (excluding special requirements on side X):
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To proceed to the second year of the degree you must have passed 3 CUs.
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To proceed to the third year of the degree you have to have passed 6 CUs.
-
Each side may impose additional requirements, e.g. that a particular course
must be passed for progression to take place. If in doubt, check with your
personal tutor.
Minimal requirements on the Linguistics side:
Students normally take a minimum of
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1.5 CUs in Linguistics in year 1 (standardly PLINS101, PLINP101 and PLINM101)
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1.5 CUs in Linguistics in year 2 and
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1.5 CUs in Linguistics in year 3
Recommendation for degree class:
Your final degree will be graded as first class (1st), second class
division 1 (2.1), second class division 2 (2.2), third class (3rd), or
as a pass non-honours degree (P). The class of your degree is determined
jointly by the two departments. From the Linguistics side, the recommendation
will be based on a portfolio of marks based on the requirements (1-3):
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at least 1.5 CUs taken in the third year, which must include 1.0 CU of
Linguistics courses.
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no more than 1.0 CUs taken in the first year.
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at least 3.0 CUs of Linguistics courses overall, which must include at least 0.5 CUs in each of the core areas, of which 0.5 CU must come from the level 2 or level 3 list.
Major consequences:
-
It is inadvisable under these regulations to do a "minimalist"
combined degree, in which you restrict your study of the core areas of
Linguistics to just 1.5 CU in your major core area spread out over three
years (3 x 0.5 CU) and just 0.5 CU for the other two core areas in year
1. This is because the two non-major 0.5 CU in year 1 would have to go
into your portfolio, thereby exhausting the 1 CU which may be taken from
the first year. As a result, you will not be able to include any other first year linguistics marks, no matter how good. Therefore, as is the case for single honours students, it is to your advantage to
go beyond the minimal requirements detailed in the previous point. This
will make it possible for better core marks to be substituted for worse
ones.
Example:
Suppose you are majoring in syntax and that you have taken PLINS101, PLINM101, PLINP101 and PLINX101 in year 1. In year 2 you take PLINS102 and PLINM102. In your final year, you take PLINS201. Suppose your mark for PLINM101 is lower than your mark for PLINM102 and that you scored a very high mark for PLINX101. Your portfolio must include PLINS201, since it is the only 0.5 CU which is not level 1. You must also include PLINP101, since it is your only 0.5 CU in the 'P' core area. Since you can include the better mark for PLINM102, you can also include your high mark for PLINX101. If you had not taken PLINM102, you would have had to take PLINM101, thereby making it impossible to include PLINX101.
Linguistics with Cognitive Science
Progression:
-
To proceed to the second year of the degree you must have passed 3 CUs
-
To proceed to the third year of the degree you must have passed 6 CUs.
Minimal requirements:
Over the three years you are required to do 4.5 CU worth of Linguistics:
you must take at least 0.5 CU in each of the core areas and in one of these
you must take at least 1.5 CU, 0.5 CU of which must be taken from the second
year list. In addition, we normally require you to take the following 4
CU worth of Cognitive Science courses:
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COGC650 (Cognitive Science Dissertation)
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PLINC600 (Cognitive Science Project - 1.0 CU)
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PLINC202 (Cognitive Science II)
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PSYCB227 (Connectionist Models of Psychological Function)
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COMP1B50 (Introduction to Cognitive Science)
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COMPB11c (Prolog Programming)
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PSYCB001 (Introduction to Psychology)
Recommendation for degree class:
Your final degree will be graded as first class (1st), second class
division 1 (2.1), second class division 2 (2.2), third class (3rd), or
as a pass non-honours degree (P). Candidates with pass marks in 9 CU will
be awarded a degree. However, the system for assigning degree classes will
allow you to benefit from any courses you pass in addition to the minimum
number, so most students take up to 12 CU all together. The marks you receive
from examinations and other assessments can be thought of as potentially
going into a 'portfolio' of marks on which the class of your degree is
based. The Board of Examiners standardly determines the class of your degree
on the basis of your marks for a total of 9 CU. Since most courses are
in half-CU chunks (with a few exceptions) your portfolio will eventually
contain up to 18 separate marks. The portfolio for the degree of Linguistics
with Cognitive Science must meet the requirements (1-3):
-
It must contain at least 4.5 CU worth of Linguistics courses. Of these
4.5 CU you must have done at least 0.5 CU in each of the three so-called
core areas (syntax, semantics, phonology), and in one of these core areas
you must take at least 1.5 CU, of which 0.5 CU must be taken from the second-year
list.
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It must also contain PLINC202, COGC650, PLINC600 (1 CU), 0.5 CU from Computer
Science and 0.5 CU from Psychology (this totals 3.0 CU).
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The remaining 1.5 CU of the portfolio are made up of your best remaining
marks in Psychology, Computer Science and Linguistics.
Major consequences:
-
It is to your advantage to do more than what is minimally required in the
core areas, because it will give you the possibility to substitute better
marks for weaker ones.
-
Similarly you might profit from taking an additional course in Psychology
and/or Computer Science if it became necessary to keep a bad mark in these
areas out of your portfolio.
Examples:
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Suppose you are majoring in syntax and you have low mark for PLINS101 and
an ok mark for PLINS102. Then taking two second year syntax courses instead
of one could be to your advantage if both marks for these courses exceed
the mark you gained for PLINS101.
-
Suppose for some reason your first year marks for Psychology are all on
the low side. Then taking an option in Psychology in year 2 or 3 for which
you do well would allow you to put this better mark into your portfolio
instead of a first year mark.
It is impossible to cover every possible scenario
in this short document. Always see your personal tutor if you are in doubt
about what is the best way forward for you.