BA Linguistics: Degree structure and degree requirements
(for students who entered prior to September 2002)

Single Honours


Progression:


Minimal requirements:

Students normally take a minimum of


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):

  1. 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).
  2. at least 1.0 and no more than 2.0 CUs taken in the first year.
  3. at least 6.0 CUs of Linguistics courses overall, which must include:
  4. 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:


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

Combined Honours

(i.e. 'X and Linguistics' where X is Italian or Philosophy)

Progression (excluding special requirements on side X):


Minimal requirements on the Linguistics side:

Students normally take a minimum of


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):

  1. at least 1.5 CUs taken in the third year, which must include 1.0 CU of Linguistics courses.
  2. no more than 1.0 CUs taken in the first year.
  3. 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:


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:


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:


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):

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. The remaining 1.5 CU of the portfolio are made up of your best remaining marks in Psychology, Computer Science and Linguistics.


Major consequences:


Examples:



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.