Welsh and English Literature (BA)
The BA English Literature and Welsh is an opportunity to study two honours courses at University.
Course overview
By combining Welsh and English Literature, you will gain a wealth of transferable skills and knowledge, opening the doors to a variety of career paths. The joint honours degree offers you the opportunity to pursue an advanced course of study, dividing your modules between Welsh and English Literature.
The Welsh course is relevant to contemporary Wales and delivered by a school noted for its research quality and impact. The course aims to produce graduates with a thorough academic and practical understanding of the Welsh language, its literature and culture, a high level of skill in written and spoken Welsh and well-developed employability and creative skills relevant to modern Wales. It offers core and optional modules to give you a grounding in language and literature as well as the opportunity to specialise in areas of personal or career interest.
The English Literature curriculum offers access to the whole span of English literature, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the 21st century. Nor is the curriculum restricted to the printed word – we are intrigued by the connections between literature and film, art, music, history, language and popular culture, and our teaching reflects these interests. While the English Literature course has no compulsory modules, you will gain experience of a wide range of literary texts, periods, movements and genres.
As a joint honours student, you will find that often there are complementary issues and perspectives that link subjects, be they critical analysis, historical contexts or academic approaches.
Distinctive features
The distinctive features of the course include:
- the opportunity to follow a degree course that develops skills relevant to both the academic world and the workplace
- a core module which focuses on employability skills and which offers a period of work experience
- a range of core and optional modules in English Literature, Welsh language, literature and culture as well as the opportunity to specialise in areas of personal and career interest
- the emphasis on practical research skills, that will benefit you throughout your career
- the emphasis on independent learning in a supportive environment
- the involvement of research-active staff in teaching
- the experience of being taught by staff who will recognise you as an individual
- a strong tradition in creative writing, taught by writers making their mark on today’s culture
- a reputation for theoretically informed reading, bringing texts from all periods into dialogue with contemporary concerns about gender, identity, sexuality, nationality, race, the body, the environment and digital technology
| UCAS code | QQ53 |
|---|---|
| Next intake | September 2020 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Mode | Full time |
| Typical places available | The School of Welsh typically has 30 places available. |
| Typical applications received | The School of Welsh typically receives 100 applications. |
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School of English, Communication and Philosophy
John Percival Building
Colum Drive
Cardiff
CF10 3EU
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John Percival Building
Colum Drive
Cardiff
CF10 3EU
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Bute Building
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff
CF10 3NB
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Arts and Social Studies Library
Arts and Social Studies Library
Colum Drive
Cathays
Cardiff
CF10 3EU
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Library Wing
Aberdare Hall
Corbett Road
Cardiff
CF10 3UP
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Bute Building
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff
CF10 3NB
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Bute Building
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff
CF10 3NB
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Videoconference suite, Ty Dewi Sant
Ty Dewi Sant
University Hospital of Wales
Heath Park
Cardiff
CF14 4XN
Contact
Entry requirements
ABB including Welsh First or Second Language and English Literature and Language or Creative Writing. Please note, General Studies and Critical Thinking will not be accepted.
Extended Project Qualification: Applicants with grade A in the EPQ will typically receive an offer one grade lower than the standard A level offer. Please note that any subject specific requirements must still be met.
The Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A-Level (at the grades listed above), excluding any specified subjects.
D in BTEC in Humanities and Social Science subjects plus Grade B at A-Level in Welsh First or Second Language and Grade B in English Literature, English Literature and Language or Creative Writing.
665-655 in 3 HL subjects including 6 at HL in English Literature, English Language and Literature or English Liteature and Performance, plus a Welsh Language qualification.
Alternative qualifications may be accepted. For further information on entry requirements, see the School of English, Communication & Philosophy and School of Welsh admissions criteria pages.
IELTS (academic)
At least 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each sub-score.
TOEFL iBT
At least 90 with minimum scores of 17 for writing, 17 for listening, 18 for reading and 20 for speaking.
PTE Academic
62 with a minimum of 51 in all communicative skills.
Trinity ISE II/III
II: at least two Distinctions and two Merits.
III: at least a Pass in all components.
Other accepted qualifications
Please visit our English Language requirements page for more information on our other accepted language qualifications.
You will require GCSE English or Welsh Language at grade C or grade 4. Alternatively, IGCSE English First Language or English Second Language will be considered at grade C.
Tuition fees
UK and EU students (2020/21)
Please see our fee amounts page for the latest information.
Students from outside the EU (2020/21)
Please see our fee amounts page for the latest information.
Additional costs
Course specific equipment
You will not need any specific equipment.
Accommodation
We have a range of residences to suit your needs and budget. Find out more on our accommodation pages.
Course structure
This is a three-year, full-time course, consisting of 120 credits a year. You’ll study six 20-credit modules a year, split equally between the subjects.
The modules shown are an example of the typical curriculum and will be reviewed prior to the 2020/21 academic year. The final modules will be published by September 2020.
Year one
You will take 120 credits in all. There are two routes in the first year, one for students who have studied Welsh as a first language and the other for students who have studied Welsh as a second language. First-language Welsh students will take 60 credits in Welsh and 60 in English Literature, while second-language students will take 80 credits in Welsh and 40 in English Literature.
The emphasis in year one Welsh is on developing key skills (linguistic, analytical, creative and employability) in the fields of language and literature, and all students follow a set number of modules with an appropriate number of contact hours. The School will also provide additional arrangements for second language students to develop and practise their language skills.
Normally, students who have studied A-level Welsh as a second language follow the second-language route, but we will consider your linguistic skills, both oral and written, before deciding which route you will follow.
For the first-language route the core modules are:
- Iaith ac Ystyr [Language and Meaning]
- Awdur, Testun a Darllenydd [Author, Text and Reader]
- Y Gymraeg yn y Gymru Gyfoes [The Welsh Language in Contemporary Wales]
For the second-language route the core modules are:
- Sgiliau Llafar [Oral Skills]
- Defnyddio’r Gymraeg [Using Welsh]
- Astudio Llenyddiaeth [Studying Literature]
- Y Gymraeg Heddiw [The Welsh Language Today]
Year one English Literature is a foundation year designed to equip you with the skills for advanced study and to give you an overview of the subject that will enable you to make informed choices from the modules available in years two and three.
| Module title | Module code | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Reading and Critical Writing | SE2146 | 20 credits |
| Module title | Module code | Credits |
|---|
| Module title | Module code | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Sgiliau llafar | CY1500 | 20 credits |
| Defnyddio'r Gymraeg | CY1501 | 20 credits |
| Y Gymraeg Heddiw | CY1508 | 20 credits |
| Astudio Testunau Llenyddol | CY1512 | 20 credits |
| Iaith ac Ystyr | CY1600 | 20 credits |
| Awdur, Testun a Darllenydd | CY1601 | 20 credits |
| Y Gymraeg yn y Gymru Gyfoes | CY1602 | 20 credits |
| Drama: Stage and Page | SE2139 | 20 credits |
| Star-cross'd Lovers: the Politics of Desire | SE2140 | 20 credits |
| Transforming Visions: Text and Image | SE2142 | 20 credits |
| Transgressive Bodies in Medieval Literature | SE2147 | 20 credits |
Year two
You will take 60 credits in Welsh and 60 credits in English Literature.
In year two Welsh, you will build on the skills and knowledge acquired in year one. The core linguistic elements of the course focus on language skills within both an academic and a vocational context, and include a period of work experience in a workplace in which Welsh is used on a daily basis.
Alongside these core elements, the Welsh course offers optional modules in years two and three in Welsh language, literature and culture, including several with direct relevance to specific fields of employment, such as language planning, scriptwriting and translation.
There are no compulsory modules for English Literature in year two. You may select from a range of modules based on period, genre or theme in which you will be reading a variety of texts in their historical and cultural contexts.
These might include modules such as Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama, The Novel in the Romantic Age, Welsh Fiction and Poetry, as well as Ways of Reading, the American South in Literature and Film or Creative Writing.
| Module title | Module code | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Yr Iaith ar Waith | CY2205 | 20 credits |
| Module title | Module code | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Sgiliau Academaidd Uwch | CY2210 | 20 credits |
| Llenyddiaeth Plant | CY2310 | 20 credits |
| Theori a Beirniadaeth Lenyddol | CY2330 | 20 credits |
| Ysgrifennu Creadigol | CY2360 | 20 credits |
| Bywydau Llên | CY2425 | 20 credits |
| Tafodieitheg | CY2450 | 20 credits |
| Sosioieithyddiaeth | CY2530 | 20 credits |
| Treftadaeth a Thwristiaeth | CY2665 | 20 credits |
| Style and Genre | SE1416 | 20 credits |
| Fiction of the Indian Subcontinent | SE2283 | 20 credits |
| Children's Literature: Form and Function | SE2447 | 20 credits |
| Introduction to Romantic Poetry | SE2450 | 20 credits |
| African-American Literature | SE2451 | 20 credits |
| Imaginary Journeys: More to Huxley | SE2457 | 20 credits |
| Modernism and the City | SE2463 | 20 credits |
| Gothic Fiction: The Romantic Age | SE2468 | 20 credits |
| Romanticism, Politics, Aesthetics | SE2469 | 20 credits |
| Modern and Contemporary Women's Poetry | SE2474 | 20 credits |
| Visual Victorians | SE2475 | 20 credits |
| Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Women Writers | SE2476 | 20 credits |
| Shakespeare's Tragedies and Histories | SE2477 | 20 credits |
| Wild West: Literary and Cinematic Westerns | SE2479 | 20 credits |
| Contemporary Poetry: Tradition and Innovation | SE2481 | 20 credits |
| Girls | SE2482 | 20 credits |
| Experimental Elizabethan Drama | SE2492 | 20 credits |
| Portraits of the Artist | SE2493 | 20 credits |
| Object Women in Literature and Film | SE2494 | 20 credits |
| Coming of Age Fiction: Society and the Creative Voice | SE2495 | 20 credits |
| Epic and Saga | SE2496 | 20 credits |
| Renaissance Poetry, Prose and Drama: The Principal Genres, Issues and Authors | SE2497 | 20 credits |
| Decadent Men, 1890s-1910s: Wilde to Forster | SE2498 | 20 credits |
| ENCAP Employability Module | SE6255 | 20 credits |
Year three
You will take 60 credits in Welsh and 60 credits in English Literature.
By year three you will have gained experience of a variety of literary periods, topics, genres and approaches, developing your critical faculties and your skills in analysing texts and contexts. You will therefore be in an excellent position to choose between a range of more specialised English Literature modules that engage with current issues in research and scholarship in relation to authors and texts both well-known and possibly less well-known to you.
In Welsh, it is compulsory to choose one of the following modules:
- Blas ar Ymchwil [Research Taster]
- Ymchwilio Estynedig [Extended Research]
You will have a choice of an essay or project for of 5,000 words (20 credits) or 9,000 words (40 credits), to be completed under the direction of a member of staff who is an expert in the relevant field. This may lead to further research or provide an effective showcase for potential employers. You will also choose more optional modules.
| Module title | Module code | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Llenyddiaeth Plant | CY3310 | 20 credits |
| Theori a Beirniadaeth Lenyddol | CY3330 | 20 credits |
| Ysgrifennu Creadigol | CY3360 | 20 credits |
| Bywydau Llên | CY3425 | 20 credits |
| Tafodieitheg | CY3450 | 20 credits |
| Sosioieithyddiaeth | CY3530 | 20 credits |
| Yr Ystafell Ddosbarth | CY3660 | 20 credits |
| Treftadaeth a Thwristiaeth | CY3665 | 20 credits |
| Cyfieithu Proffesiynol | CY3705 | 20 credits |
| Blas ar Ymchwil | CY3900 | 20 credits |
| Ymchwilio Estynedig | CY3905 | 40 credits |
| The Robin Hood Tradition | SE2367 | 20 credits |
| The Illustrated Book | SE2395 | 20 credits |
| Modern Welsh Writing in English | SE2448 | 20 credits |
| Fictive Histories/Historical Fictions | SE2467 | 20 credits |
| Dissertation | SE2524 | 20 credits |
| Hitchcock | SE2544 | 20 credits |
| Modern Drama: Page, Stage, Screen | SE2551 | 20 credits |
| Utopia: Suffrage to Cyberpunk | SE2581 | 20 credits |
| Second-generation Romantic Poets | SE2582 | 20 credits |
| Bluestockings, Britannia, Unsexed Females: Women in Public Life, 1770-1800 | SE2588 | 20 credits |
| Gothic Fiction: The Victorians | SE2589 | 20 credits |
| Postcolonial Theory | SE2593 | 20 credits |
| Visions of Past and Future in Children's Literature | SE2595 | 20 credits |
| Military Masculinities in the Long Nineteenth Century | SE2597 | 20 credits |
| Island Stories: Literatures of the North Atlantic | SE2598 | 20 credits |
| American Poetry after Modernism | SE2606 | 20 credits |
| The American Short Story | SE2609 | 20 credits |
| Renaissance Drama | SE2610 | 20 credits |
| Apocalypse Then and Now | SE2611 | 20 credits |
| Criminal Shakespeare | SE2612 | 20 credits |
| Scandal and Outrage: Controversial Literature of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries | SE2613 | 20 credits |
| Writing Nature from Romanticism to the Present | SE2614 | 20 credits |
| The High Drama of Work: Taskscapes in Early Modern Plays | SE2615 | 20 credits |
| Representing Race in Contemporary America | SE2616 | 20 credits |
Learning and assessment
How will I be taught?
We offer a supportive learning environment, where you are enabled to acquire a range of skills and a wealth of specialist knowledge. Our courses foster intellectual skills, such as critical thinking, close analysis, evaluating evidence, constructing arguments, using theory and the effective deployment of language in writing and in debate. We also help you gain experience in team working, independent research and time management.
You will be taught both by lecture and seminar. Lectures provide an overview of the key concepts and frameworks for a topic, equipping you to carry out independent research for the seminars and to develop your own ideas. Seminars provide an opportunity for you to explore the ideas outlined in the lectures.
Seminars usually consist of about 15 students and the seminar leader (a member of the teaching team). Seminars may take various formats, including plenary group discussion, small-group work and student-led presentations. For Welsh, there is also an important role to be played by tutorials, workshops and language classes (especially for students following the second language route).
Year 1
Scheduled learning and teaching activities
27%
Guided independent study
73%
Placements
0%
Year 2
Scheduled learning and teaching activities
null%
Guided independent study
null%
Placements
null%
Year 3
Scheduled learning and teaching activities
null%
Guided independent study
null%
Placements
null%
How will I be supported?
As well as having regular feedback from your personal tutor in each course, you will have a reading week each semester for guided study and a chance to catch up on assessed work, reading and revision. These weeks are also used by staff to visit students on their year abroad.
You will have access through the Learning Central website to relevant multimedia material, presentations, lecture handouts, bibliographies, further links, electronic exercises and discussion circles.
The University offers a range of services including the Careers Service, the Counselling Service, the Disability and Dyslexia Service, the Student Support Service, and excellent libraries and resource centres.
Feedback
We’ll provide you with frequent feedback on your work. This comes in a variety of formats including oral feedback during tutorials, personalised feedback on written work, feedback in lectures and seminars, generic written feedback and feedback on tutorial performance.
Coursework will be marked by your module tutor and your tutor will give you written feedback on your work. You will also have a feedback class after each assessment. Students will be given general feedback in relation to examinations following the May/June examination period and you will be able to discuss your overall performance with your personal tutor as part of the monitored student self-assessment scheme.
How will I be assessed?
A range of assessment methods are used, including essays, examinations, presentations, portfolios and creative assignments.
Essays and examinations are used not only for assessment purposes but also as a means of developing your capacities to gather, organise, evaluate and deploy relevant information and ideas from a variety of sources in reasoned arguments. Dedicated essay workshops and individual advice enable you to produce your best work, and written feedback on essays feeds forward into future work, enabling you to develop your strengths and address any weaker areas.
The optional final-year dissertation provides you with the opportunity to investigate a specific topic of interest to you in depth and to acquire detailed knowledge about a particular field of study, to use your initiative in the collection and presentation of material and present a clear, cogent argument and draw appropriate conclusions.
Assessment methods (2017/18 data)
Year 1
Written exams
25%
Practical exams
8%
Coursework
67%
Year 2
Written exams
null%
Practical exams
null%
Coursework
null%
Year 3
Written exams
null%
Practical exams
null%
Coursework
null%
What skills will I practise and develop?
As a result of engaging fully with this course, you will acquire and develop a range of valuable skills, both those which are discipline specific and more generic ‘employability skills’. These will allow you to:
- grasp complex issues with confidence
- ask the right questions of complex texts
- have an imaginative appreciation of different views and options and analyse these critically
- identify and apply relevant data
- develop practical research skills
- propose imaginative solutions of your own that are rooted in evidence
- communicate clearly, concisely and persuasively in writing and speech
- work to deadlines and priorities, managing a range of tasks at the same time
- learn from constructive criticism and incorporate its insights
- work as part of a team, developing a collaborative approach to problem-solving
- use IT programmes and digital media, where appropriate
- take responsibility for your own learning programme and professional development
Careers and placements
Career prospects
We provide our students with a highly satisfying academic experience that assists their development as critically-minded, culturally-aware citizens whose high analytic skills, powers of expression and progressive self-reliance make them extremely attractive to employers.
The demand for Welsh speakers means that a degree in Welsh can be highly valuable for jobs and roles that require bilingual speakers. Many of our graduates are now following careers in areas such as law, politics, media, performing arts, administration and education, or engaged in postgraduate study.
English literature graduates have excellent analytic and communication skills that fit them for a full range of professions and further training. Their cultural expertise and intellectual abilities are valued in the public and private sector, and in contexts as varied as the classroom, the law courts or the media.
In 2016/17, 91% of graduates from the School of Welsh who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating, while 95% of the School of English, Communication and Philosophy’s graduates who were available for work reported they were in employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.
Placements
Year two includes a period of work experience in a workplace in which Welsh is used on a daily basis. This period of work experience is part of a programme of events designed to focus on developing employability and career skills.
Studying in Welsh
Up to 56% of this course is available through the medium of Welsh. Please contact the Admissions tutor for more information.
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