History and a Modern Language (BA)

Learn through lectures, seminars, language classes and workshops that help you build knowledge, strengthen your skills and grow in confidence throughout your degree.

Lectures introduce key ideas, themes and approaches, providing a foundation for further study and independent research. Depending on the module, you'll learn through a mix of in-person teaching and digital resources.

In seminars, you'll discuss ideas, analyse evidence and explore different perspectives through debate, group activities and presentations, deepening your understanding of complex topics.

Language classes are interactive and practical. Through regular practice, you'll develop your reading, writing, listening, speaking and mediation skills while building confidence and cultural understanding.

Independent study plays an important role in your learning. You'll complete readings, research projects and language activities that help you become a more confident and independent learner.

Alongside subject knowledge, you'll develop sought-after skills in critical thinking, communication, teamwork, research, project planning and problem-solving, preparing you for a wide range of careers. 

How will I be supported?

You'll have access to a wide range of academic, practical and wellbeing support throughout your degree.

Your personal tutor will help you navigate university life, providing academic guidance and regular opportunities to discuss your progress. You can also seek advice from teaching staff through dedicated office hours.

If you spend a year abroad, a dedicated member of our team will stay in touch throughout your placement, offering guidance and helping you stay connected to the University.

Each module has its own online learning environment, giving you easy access to lecture materials, learning activities, language resources, assessment information and digital library content.

The student Hub can help with everyday questions related to your academic and student experience.

You'll also have access to a range of student services and support, co-located in the Centre for Student Life. This includes services relating to Advice and Money, Student Futures, Counselling, Health and Wellbeing, the Student Disability Service, Academic Study Skills and Student Mentoring.

How will I be assessed?

Our assessments help you build knowledge, skills and confidence throughout your degree. You'll learn to think critically, engage with complex ideas and communicate your arguments clearly in both English and your chosen language.

You'll be assessed through a range of formats, including essays, exams, presentations, oral assessments, your final-year dissertation and creative projects such as podcasts, blogs, portfolios and digital media.  Language assessments develop your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, while History assessments help you analyse sources, conduct independent research and engage with historical debates. Many assessments reflect real-world contexts, giving you opportunities to collaborate, create public-facing work and apply your knowledge in new ways.

Alongside subject expertise, you'll develop valued skills in critical thinking, creativity, communication, teamwork and problem-solving, preparing you for a wide range of careers.

Feedback is a central part of your learning experience. You'll receive individual feedback on assessed work, as well as guidance from tutors to help you track your progress and continue developing your skills.

Regular formative activities, including quizzes, presentations and project planning exercises, give you opportunities to practise, receive feedback and build confidence before completing summative assessments. 

What skills will I practise and develop?

On successful completion of your programme, you’ll be able to:

Knowledge & Understanding:

KU1 Speak, write, and understand a modern foreign language to degree standard.  

KU2 Understand the structures, registers and varieties of the language you are learning and use them flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes, as appropriate.

KU3 Critically analyse aspects of the cultures, histories and societies of the countries in which your language is spoken by drawing on a range of materials and approaches. 

KU4 Demonstrate an in-depth, critical knowledge, awareness and understanding of the similarities and dissimilarities of cultures and societies other than your own.

KU5 Apply an in-depth intercultural understanding including specific knowledge of other cultures, to navigate and mediate between more than one culture.

KU6 Engage critically and conceptually with the changing assumptions and methods that historians use to explain the past.

KU7 Demonstrate systematic knowledge and understanding of the complexity and diversity of the past in relation to a geographic, thematic or textual context.

KU8 Demonstrate a critical awareness of the limits of disciplinary knowledge and the evolving nature of that knowledge and understanding.

Intellectual Skills:

IS1 Communicate clearly, concisely and effectively to diverse audiences, in writing and speech, in English and in a modern foreign language.

IS2 Adopt a range of strategies to initiate and undertake analysis of information.

IS3 Formulate conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of views and arguments, justifying these with sound reasoning and detailed interpretations of source material.

IS4 Critically evaluate ideas and arguments, through the coherent presentation of information and ideas using a plethora of written and oral skills. 

IS5 Draw on relevant and effective research techniques to plan and write or deliver academic texts (essays, presentations, audio-visual texts) using evidence and the correct referencing conventions.

IS6 Utilise knowledge and appropriate skills and methods to identify and critically evaluate historical and cultural change.

IS7 Formulate and justify arguments about a range of historical issues, problems and debates using historiographical and/or literary ideas and methods.

IS8 Identify appropriate primary sources, reflect upon their nature and analyse them critically to address questions and solve problems.

Professional Practical Skills:

PS1 Use digital media effectively as a source of information, a means of communication and as an aid to learning. 

PS2 Apply enhanced linguistic skills in a professional setting. 

PS3 Identify and describe problems and work collaboratively towards their resolution.

PS4 Demonstrate resilience, adaptability and independence through time spent in immersive modern language contexts.

PS5 Demonstrate critical thinking, reasoning and the ability to assimilate and summarise complex information and ideas though the independent selection and critical analysis of an appropriate range of evidence.

PS6 Ask cogent and focused questions and pursue answers to these questions through structured enquiry, selecting and interrogating an appropriate range of evidence.

PS7 Summarise and critically appraise the relative merits and demerits of alternative views and interpretations and evaluate their significance.

Transferable/Key Skills:

KS1 Employ critical thinking and reasoning to analyse and evaluate diverse and complex texts and ideas. 

KS2 Apply practical research skills. 

KS3 Generate original ideas and apply creative, imaginative and innovative thinking in response to identified needs and problems   

KS4 Learn from constructive feedback and incorporate its insights.

KS5 Be resourceful and take responsibility for your own guided and independent learning and professional development.

KS6 Utilise a range of employability and enterprise skills, such as creativity, initiative, organisation, time management, independent and team working.

KS7 Act as a global citizen, engaging with and valuing cultural difference through practical experience of other countries.  

KS8 Demonstrate leadership, teamwork and self-management skills.