The joint honours degree in English language and philosophy provides you with the opportunity to specialise in two subjects. Many students find this stimulating and rewarding as they are able to observe both similarities and differences between the two subjects.

English Language at Cardiff has a distinctive character. As would be expected of any good course, you will be provided with a rigorous grounding in the analysis of the language.

You will learn such essential linguistic tools as phonetics, grammar and discourse analysis from those who are helping develop those fields. Since we take a broad approach to language, you will also learn how to analyse the types of multimodal texts (for example combining word, image and sound) that predominate in contemporary media.

Language analysis, though, is just the starting point. What makes Cardiff special is our focus on the intersection of language with culture, society, politics and mind.

Philosophy at Cardiff is distinctive for its strong emphasis on ethics, politics, and philosophy of mind and its equal attention to ‘analytic’ and ‘continental’ styles of Western philosophy.

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 recent research.

We offer a challenging course of modules in each subject, supported by a friendly atmosphere and excellent staff-student relationships.

Distinctive features

The distinctive features of the course include:

• core modules that guarantee a solid base for all, but then allow you, with advice from your personal tutor, to carve out a programme that will best fit your interests and career aspirations
• research-led teaching enabling you to engage with new ideas that are helping to shape the future of English language studies
• a strong emphasis on ethics, politics, and philosophy of mind