Course overview

If you think you might want to use your languages in a multilingual professional environment, then this course is for you. You will study at least two languages from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin or English as a Foreign Language. You must have at least one of these at A2 Level, but you can start the second language from scratch. In the second year, you can also start a third language, which could be another European language from those mentioned above, or British Sign Language, Arabic, Mandarin, Portuguese or Japanese.

The Applied Languages programme has a strong vocational element and it allows you to explore how your language skills can be used in the world of work. For example, you can take units in business related subjects, in translation and interpreting or in teaching EFL. We offer students on our Applied Languages course the opportunity of obtaining the Trinity College London Certificate in TESOL, which is an internationally recognised qualification in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Your final year dissertation could have a practical component such as translating a document or subtitling a film.

We are keen to promote students’ employability by increasing their opportunities for using their language skills in a professional context. Alongside your general language units, you can take Language for Professional Communications units that will give you opportunities to learn more about how language is used in a range of professional contexts including business, tourism, and finance, in addition to becoming familiar with the cultural practices of the countries in which their languages are spoken.

Placements

This course allows you to take the Learning From Experience (LiFE) option, which lets you earn credits toward your degree for work / research placements, volunteer roles or internships undertaken alongside your studies.  The option gives you the opportunity to enhance your employability skills, to reflect on the ways in which you've done so, and to learn to express this to potential employers.

One of the UK's top universities for Languages and European Studies

In 2011's National Student Survey results for European Languages and Area Studies, Portsmouth came joint top nationally. Students’ responses show that they particularly appreciate staff availability and the pastoral support provided by staff in the School of Languages and Area Studies.

For further details on all language courses offered, visit the website of the School of Languages and Area Studies (SLAS). If you are interested in this course and would like further information please contact us (details below). You can also view a virtual tour of the School.

In the third year, you will spend time in each of the countries of your major languages. View these videos to give you an idea of what you can experience on your period abroad.

 

Course content

All students study compulsory language units in two languages throughout the degree programme. In addition, you will follow foundation courses in linguistics (learning how languages function) in Year one as well as courses that describe contemporary society.

In Year two you'll continue with the study of linguistics and are introduced to communication study. With all other students in the School, you'll take units in career development, research management and preparation for the year abroad. Optional units from year two onwards include a third foreign language or Business Cultures. You will also have the option of taking units in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (for which you will receive a Cert TESOL from Trinity College London).

Students on this degree programme have the opportunity to live and work or study abroad in each country where the languages they are taking are spoken. Normally students will pursue a course of study at one of our partner universities in the host country. We have well-established links with universities in France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium and Italy, as well as in West Africa and Latin America. For study placements within the EU, students receive a grant from the EU. Alternatively, with the University's approval, students may arrange work placements or work as English language assistants while abroad. Students taking French may also opt to do a combined university study/work placement in Dakar (Senegal) and students doing Spanish may opt to do a placement in Central or Latin America.

Students who choose to study at one of our partner universities within the EU will do so as part of the EU Erasmus ‘student mobility’ programme. This means that you will not have to pay fees (they are waived) and that you will receive a grant from the EU (covering living costs). In addition you will benefit from an intensive language course at the beginning of your stay, which is in many cases provided free of charge as part of the Erasmus programme.

In the final year of your degree, you'll write up your dissertation and select from a range of units such as Translation: Theory and Practice or Communication Theory.

Options

Options include:

Year 2:

• Language for Professional Communication
• Analysing Discourse
• Forensic Linguistics
• Managing Across Cultures
• Learning from Experience

Final year:

• Using technology in ELT
• Translation: theory & practice
• Communication theory: theories & systems
• Creative activities in the language classroom
• Interpreting

Please note that not all options or special subjects will be available at any given time.

Teaching and assessment

We provide a varied, creative and stimulating learning environment. Our aim is to enable you to become an independent thinker equipped with skills that will continue to influence your experiences beyond your time at university.

Our staff are highly motivated and research active, ensuring that you are taught by enthusiastic specialists in their subjects. Many language teachers are native speakers. They will enthuse you about their specific fields of expertise, from Latin American Development to German History to Applied Translation Theory, provide advice and guide you to appropriate learning resources.

Blended learning means that through Moodle, your University interactive Intranet site, you will be given opportunities to develop and support your knowledge and skills acquired via traditional class contact. Classes include general lectures and seminars (i.e. interactive teaching with small groups of students). Most of our seminar teaching is undertaken in small groups so that students acquire skills and confidence in their analytical skills and are encouraged to ask questions and develop arguments and debates. Students are encouraged to work in small teams analysing primary documents and debating contemporary issues so that all students learn from a range of opinions and interpretations and increase their academic abilities in a genial environment. Emphasis is placed not just on what the student can take from the seminar but what they can bring to the experience and how they interact and learn from their peers.

Classes may also take the form of hands-on skills development sessions where you learn how to access electronic resources. Language is taught using the MELISSI multimedia digital classrooms (they are much more than ‘language laboratories!) or via small oral practice classes with Language Assistants.

Our assessment methods are varied, with relatively few formal examinations. The emphasis is on continuous assessment, with assessments designed to measure the learning outcomes of your various units. Most assessment is done through submission of essays, reports, case studies, book reviews or other pieces of written work. Some units are assessed by means of projects, which can be particularly useful to build up your career profile. Some language-based tests are oral presentations to measure your progress in oral communication.

Career prospects

Your time at University of Portsmouth will help you to develop a wide range of skills in analysis, criticism and argument. Students on our degree programmes often have a worldview and study experience abroad, which makes them flexible and adaptable and highly employable. During your course, you will have the opportunity to develop a range of capabilities that are valued by prospective employers. You will have many opportunities to develop transferable key skills such as:

• communication
• research
• time management
• team working
• problem solving

These transferable skills are used in many careers across the private, public and voluntary sectors. Allied with intellectual and academic development, they will provide a sound preparation for the world of work or further study.

The period spent abroad enhances students’ intercultural awareness, which is a quality increasingly appreciated by employers in a globalised economy.

Career paths

The Applied Languages degree programme aims to prepare you for a wide range of employment possibilities both at home and abroad. Some past students have become contracts managers in the tourism industry or marketing professionals, teachers of English as a foreign language, export assistants, managers and translators.

Facilities and features

Why study at Portsmouth?

Portsmouth is unique in that the University is based in a campus that is in the heart of the city and also by the sea. The School of Languages and Area Studies is situated in the heart of the city campus and it has an excellent reputation for teaching languages. In 2005, the Sunday Times wrote, 'Languages is one of Portsmouth's greatest strengths'. Our research is also of international excellence, which is proven by the fact that we were awarded top mark in the last research assessment exercise.

With the School's wide range of options excellent teaching, state-of-the-art facilities and resources, plus the opportunity to visit other institutions abroad, why would you want to study anywhere else?

Facilities and resources

The School is located in Park Building, just behind the Guildhall in the Centre of the city. Park Building houses two large modern lecture theatres, a number of smaller lecture theatres, seminar rooms and three computer suites. The Learning Resources Centre provides facilities for independent study.

You will also have access to the University library, which has recently undergone an £11 million extension, housing more study room, IT spaces, a new café and space for an extra 60,000 volumes.

Entry requirements

View all the entry requirements for BA (Hons) Applied Languages for the academic year 2013/14 (opens in new window).