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English Language with Mandarin BA (Hons)

The English language is one of the most widely spoken across the world. This programme will enrich your understanding of the form, culture and function of today’s use of the English language, alongside teaching you Mandarin from beginner or post-beginner level.

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Block teaching designed around you

You deserve a positive teaching and learning experience, where you feel part of a supportive and nurturing community. That’s why most students will enjoy an innovative approach to learning using block teaching, where you will study one module at a time. You’ll benefit from regular assessments - rather than lots of exams at the end of the year - and a simple timetable that allows you to engage with your subject and enjoy other aspects of university life such as sports, societies, meeting friends and discovering your new city. By studying with the same peers and tutor for each block, you’ll build friendships and a sense of belonging.

Read more about block teaching

Overview

English Language with Mandarin is a stimulating, thought-provoking course designed to make you analyse and reflect on how language in general, and English in particular, functions in the world today. You will examine the origins of English and how it could evolve in an era of global change and technological innovation. You will discover how the importance and impact of language in a variety of contexts, both as a complex system for embodying ideas, emotions, and beliefs, and as a means of influencing, persuading, and moving others.

You will develop a set of linguistic and analytical skills which will help you become a highly effective communicator. This is a course about how language shapes your world – by learning and understanding how language works, we can help the world open up to you.

Alongside your English language curriculum, you will study Mandarin from either beginner level or post-beginner level. You will develop your linguistic skills and gain an understanding of social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Key features

  • You will analyse the structure and mechanics of how language functions with a wider study of the cultural and social aspects of language and communication.
  • Set yourself apart with a recognised competence in Mandarin. Study Mandarin at a level and pace that really suits you and your needs, alongside developing your knowledge of the country, the society, the culture and the people.
  • You will be taught by experienced practitioners who, thanks to their experience, ensure that the skills you develop are relevant to professional practice and the sector.
  • Evolve a range of transferrable skills that are valuable to a variety of career paths. Our graduates have gone on to work at Meisei University in Tokyo, the Department of Transport, communications agencies, and schools in the UK and overseas.
  • Visiting lecturers have included forensic linguistics expert Dr John Olsson, while organised trips to professional events have seen students visit the London Language Show.
  • Gain workplace abilities and experience by putting your research, reasoning, and communication skills into practice on a placement or extracurricular internship.
  • Benefit from Education 2030, where a simplified ‘block learning’ timetable means you will study one subject at a time and have more time to engage with your learning, receive faster feedback and enjoy a better study-life balance.

More courses like this:

Creative Writing, English Language, English Literature and History

  • UK
  • EU/International

Institution code: D26

UCAS course code: Q311 

Duration: Three years full-time, four years full-time with a placement. Six years part-time.

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for UK students: £9,250

Find out more about tuition fees and available funding.

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Duration: Three years full-time, four years with placement

Fees and funding: 

2024/25 tuition fees for international students: £15,750

Additional costs: Here at DMU we provide excellent learning resources, including the Kimberlin Library and specialist workshops and studios. However, you should be aware that sometimes you may incur additional costs for this programme.

Entry criteria

Typical entry requirements

  • 104 points from at least 2 A'levels
  • BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
  • International Baccalaureate: 24+ Points or
  • T Levels Merit

Plus five GCSEs grades 9-4 including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above.

  • Pass Access with 30 level 3 credits at Merit and GCSE English (Language or Literature) at grade 4 or above.

We will normally require students have had a break from full-time education before undertaking the Access course.

  • We also accept the BTEC First Diploma plus two GCSEs including English Language or Literature at grade 4 or above

Interview required: No

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each band (or equivalent) when you start the course is essential.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and throughout the course if you need it.

 

Structure and assessment

 

Course modules

Teaching and assessments

 

First year

Block 1: Approaches to Reading and Writing

Block 2: Words in Action

Block 3: Beginner OR Post-Beginner Mandarin

Block 4: Topics in Linguistics: Theory in Practice 

Second year

Block 1: Structure and Meaning

Block 2: Research Methods for Linguists

Block 3: Post-Beginner OR Intermediate Mandarin

Block 4: Pragmatics, Theory and Practice 

Third year

Block 1: Yearlong: Dissertation

Block 2: Language Acquisition and Expression

Block 3: Intermediate OR Advanced Mandarin

Block 4: Communication, Control and Resistance

Overview

This degree aims to make you a highly skilled, articulate communicator in not one, but two languages. It will develop your ability to analyse and understand how written and spoken language work, and also to operate effectively in a language and in cultures which are not your own.

From your first year, you will be combining theoretical knowledge and practical skills to help you understand how language works, and acquiring a knowledge of the history and cultures where English and Mandarin are used. You will have Mandarin classes throughout the year as this continuous approach is recognised as the best way to learn a language, with the majority of teaching taking place in Block 3. 

There is a varied mix of assessment including: reports, essays, blogs, wikis, tests and oral presentations. The assessments are designed to build on each other as you progress in your studies and you will have opportunities to receive feedback on your work throughout. With a variety of different assessment methods, you can build on your individual strengths as well as develop a range of skills in creativity, project management, team work, verbal communication, writing for a variety of audiences and the use of different technologies. For the Mandarin  language modules, assessment is focused on evaluating your competence in the four key skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Hearing and your knowledge of the cultural, social, and historical context.

You will be taught by staff who are experts in fields as diverse as online communication and identity, language and globalisation, semantics and meaning, and propaganda and counter-terrorism. You will benefit from a range of visiting speakers throughout the course. Previous guest lecturers have included world experts in subjects such as forensic linguistics. 

Contact hours
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. In your first year you will normally attend around 10 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 25 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

 

Facilities and features

Library and learning zones

On campus, the main Kimberlin Library offers a space where you can work, study and access a vast range of print materials, with computer stations, laptops, plasma screens and assistive technology also available. 

As well as providing a physical space in which to work, we offer online tools to support your studies, and our extensive online collection of resources accessible from our Library website, e-books, specialised databases and electronic journals and films which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose. 

We will support you to confidently use a huge range of learning technologies, including the Virtual Learning Environment, Collaborate Ultra, DMU Replay, MS Teams, Turnitin and more. Alongside this, you can access LinkedIn Learning and learn how to use Microsoft 365, and study support software such as mind mapping and note-taking through our new Digital Student Skills Hub. 

The library staff offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching, reference management and assistive technology. There is also a ‘Just Ask’ service for help and advice, live LibChat, online workshops, tutorials and drop-ins available from our Learning Services, and weekly library live chat sessions that give you the chance to ask the library teams for help.

More flexible ways to learn

We offer an equitable and inclusive approach to learning and teaching for all our students. Known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), our teaching approach has been recognised as sector leading. UDL means we offer a wide variety of support, facilities and technology to all students, including those with disabilities and specific learning differences.

Just one of the ways we do this is by using ‘DMU Replay’ – a technology providing all students with anytime access to audio and/or visual material of lectures. This means students can revise taught material in a way that suits them best, whether it's replaying a recording of a class or adapting written material shared in class using specialist software.

Campus Centre

The home of  De Montfort Students' Union, (DSU) our Campus Centre offers a welcoming and lively hub for student life. Conveniently located at the heart of campus, it includes a convenience store, a Subway and a Starbucks. Here you can find the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and DSU’s shop, SUpplies, selling art supplies, stationery and clothing, and printing and binding services. The building is also home to the DSU officer team. 

Opportunities and careers

Find the people who will open doors for you

DMU's award-winning careers service provides guaranteed work experience opportunities DMU Careers Team
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Placements

Insight into the professional world is a valuable opportunity to enhance and build on your knowledge in a real-world setting, preparing you to progress onto your chosen career.  

Previous students have taken up placements in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including some international posts, across a range of companies including public relations agencies and local schools. For instance, our students have worked as teaching assistants in schools, supported children with special educational needs through speech and language therapy, assisted with Digital Humanities research projects at DMU’s Centre for Textual Studies, worked in local publishing, at the Leicester Mercury and for the BBC.  

Students on the #DMUglobal trip to New York

DMU Global

Our innovative international experience programme DMU Global aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons, helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world. Through DMU Global, we offer a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK-based activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.

Students on this course have previously been on DMU Global trips to explore ekphrastic writing and themes of oppression in Berlin, as well as visited media organisation TED’s headquarters TED HQ and key literary locations in New York. 

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Graduate careers

Our graduates have strong linguistic, reasoning and analytical skills, making them highly sought-after by many employers. We develop our students’ information analysis and presentation skills to produce articulate, adaptable, professional communicators who can operate with ease in any setting and with any group of people.

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