Course overview

The world has changed dramatically in our lifetime. If you’re looking to understand these changes while immersing yourself in other languages, societies and cultures, then this is the course for you.

You can choose from: French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish and English as a Foreign Language. Combined Modern Languages is a rich and diverse course that combines the study of two (or more, if you wish) languages with a study of the history, politics, society, culture and economy of the countries in which the languages are spoken. You will also have the opportunity to take a number of comparative and European courses. You may also take a beginner's course in a third language as part of your course if you so wish: we offer Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and British Sign Language in this format.

A unique feature of the Combined Modern Languages course at Portsmouth is that, if your languages are French and Spanish, the course covers not only mainland France and Spain: the study of the French and Spanish speaking worlds is an integral part of the course.

You will spend the third year abroad, in the countries where the languages you are studying are spoken. If you are taking French, you may spend your period abroad in France or Belgium; or Portsmouth offers you the unique opportunity to take a combined work and study placement in a French-speaking African country, at the University of Dakar (Senegal). If your language is Spanish, you may choose to travel to Spain or Latin or Central America, and if it is German you may choose between placements in Germany or Austria. Students taking Italian spend time in Italy. View these videos to give you an idea of what you can expect on your period abroad.

Your lecturers will be experts in the field with a wide range of specialist knowledge. They are members of the University’s internationally-recognised Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR), which is the largest centre of its kind in the UK. The cutting-edge research conducted by CEISR members ensures that you will only be taught the most up-to-date, innovative and original material. Portsmouth’s excellent location on the south coast means you are only a short trip away from exploring other European cultures.

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.

Course content

In the first year, you will consolidate the knowledge you have of your existing foreign language, and follow an intensive course in your other language, if you do not already have an A2 or AS Level in that language. Alongside the language courses, you will also be able to take course units that provide you with an understanding and appreciation of the language areas you are studying. This is what we call 'area studies': the study of the history, society, culture and politics of the country or countries in which you are interested. The focus of these courses is mainly on recent history or contemporary issues and there are several comparative courses which enable you to study your chosen countries from a European or international perspective.

The first year consists mainly of core courses to ensure that you have a firm foundation for further study. There is a wide range of course units to choose from in the second year. In the final year, there is again a wide range of area studies options to choose from. In addition, a substantial proportion of the year is given over to preparation of the dissertation, which is a major piece of work that you carry out on a subject of your choice.

Options

You will choose from the area studies options that relate to the languages you are studying, from a range including:

Year 2

• Language for professional communication
• Business and markets in global environment
• Nation, language & identity
• Managing across cultures
• France from the colonial exhibition to the liberation 1931-1945
• Politics in post war Germany 1949-90
• Golden Age Spain 1469-1700
• Representation of Italian national identity
• France, 1945-1995: liberty, equality, fraternity?
• German unity & its consequences
• Revolution, repression & resistance in contemporary Spain
• 20th & 21st century Chinese history, politics & society
• Text analysis & translation

You may also take a beginner's course in a third language as part of your course if you so wish: we offer Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and British Sign Language in this format.

Final year

• France Contemporaine
• Nazi Germany
• The Spanish Civil War & the Franco regime
• Italian cinema in the movies
• Colonialism & the end of empire in black Africa: France & West Africa
• City & nation: the Latin American urban experience
• Translation: theory & practice
• France in the world: global actor or global maverick?
• Coming to terms with the Nazi past: 1945-today
• Political & economic development in 20th century Spain
• China & East Asian economies
• Colonialism & end empire in north Africa: France & Algeria
• Transitional justice & human rights in Latin America
• Interpreting

Please note that some options may not be available in every year.

Study abroad

Students on this degree programme have the opportunity to live and work or study abroad as they spend time 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 West Africa and Latin America.

For study placements in Europe, 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 do a placement in Central or Latin America.

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

Languages graduates are very employable. They are flexible, adaptable, good at setting and meeting targets and above all, good communicators. This means that a very wide range of jobs are open to you when you graduate.

Perhaps the most obvious job is teaching languages, but in fact this represents only a small proportion of the career pathways taken by languages graduates. Other areas where our graduates have found employment include administration and management, marketing and sales, banking, commerce and insurance, tourism and leisure, journalism and the media and international organisations.

Language graduates are amongst the most successful in finding jobs after graduation.

Facilities and features

The School is located in Park Building, just behind the Guildhall in the centre of the city. Park Building houses two very large modern lecture theatres, a number of smaller lecture theatres and seminar rooms, three computer suites, three language laboratories, the Learning Resource Centre and a cafeteria. All teaching for language courses takes place in this building.

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

For more details about the School of Languages and Area Studies and its facilities, visit www.port.ac.uk/slas.

Entry requirements

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