English Language & Literature
The BA in English Language and Literature is a four-year, full-time, honours degree (Level 8). The programme content is situated in a real-world environment exploring real-world issues through the lens of language and literature.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | Major |
| Awarding Body | University of Limerick |
| NFQ Level | Level 8 NFQ |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) | Major | University of Limerick | Level 8 NFQ |
Duration
4 years full-time.
Specific Subjects or course requirements
Applicants are required to hold the established Leaving Certificate (or an approved equivalent) with a minimum of six subjects which must include Maths, Gaeilge or another language, and English.
Applicants must obtain:
• Grade H5 in a higher paper in at least 2 subjects
• Grade O6/H7 in four other subjects (Higher or Ordinary Level)
• Minimum grade F6 in Foundation Maths satisfies the minimum entry requirements (not reckonable for points purposes)
Leaving Certificate Vocational Progamme LCVP
QQI FET Applicants General Information
Careers / Further progression
Career Opportunities
• Administrative roles (e.g. Civil Service, Public Bodies, Sales and Marketing, Arts Administration, Human Resources)
• Communications;
• Content Design (e.g. Web Content, Blog Writing, Policy Development, Editorial Assistant, Content Executive)
• Customer Service (e.g. Webcare)
• Digital Content Creation;
• Publishing;
• Roles within IT (User Experience (UX) Design, Production Editor)
• Social Media
• Technical Writer
• Teaching Roles
Further information
If you are at least 23 years old on the 1 January of the year of entry to college, you are considered as a mature applicant. All mature applicants who make an application to the College through the CAO for MI009 will be invited to attend for an interview. Mature students who do not meet the normal minimum entry requirements will be considered for admission if, having attended for interview, they satisfy the College as to their ability to benefit from and sustain participation in the BA programme(s) applied for. Mature applicants who have completed an interview will be contacted by the College to indicate whether or not they are being considered for a place and all places will then be offered by the CAO.
GCE/GCSE APPLICANTS
For further information about minimum grades and entry requirements please contact the MIC Admissions Office at E: Admissions@mic.ul.ie
Approx. 15 places. (mature and QQI students included).
Entry 2024
Early online application (discounted): Fee €30 Closing Date: 20 January 2024 at 5pm
Normal online application: Fee €45 Closing Date: 1 February 2024 at 5pm
Late online application - restrictions apply (see page 3 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee: €60 Closing Date: 1 May 2024 at 5pm
Change of Mind - restrictions apply (see page 3 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee: Nil Closing Date: 1 July 2024 at 5pm
Exceptional online late application (see page 34 of the 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee €60 Closing Date: 22 July 2024 at 5pm
Be sure to complete any action well in advance of closing dates. You should avoid making an application close to a closing date. No extensions to closing dates will be allowed and all application fees are non-refundable.
LATE APPLICATIONS
Late Applications are those which are received after 5pm on 1 February 2024. The closing date for late applications is 5pm on 1 May 2024, subject to the restrictions listed on page 3 of the 2024 CAO Handbook. The online facility for late applications opens on the 5 March 2024 at 12:00 noon - a fee of €60 applies.
Exceptional Late Applications (Exception to the timetable)
The exceptional closing date of 22 July at 5pm applies only to applicants who are registered as an undergraduate student on 1 May 2024 in any year in any one of the participating HEIs (subject to the exclusions listed below). In order to avail of the Exceptional Late Application facility you must have entered the HEI through the CAO system. This is an exceptional late closing date and all steps must be completed by 5pm on 22 July. No changes may be made after this date.
If you did not enter your current course through the CAO system, you must first contact the Admissions Office of the HEI to which you wish to apply and they will inform you if you may submit an application direct to the institution.
Exclusions:
You may submit a late application only for entry to courses other than your existing course. If you wish to repeat the year in the same course you must arrange this within your HEI.
Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Marino Institute of Education, Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick and Maynooth University have special procedures in place in the case of current or previous students who wish to apply for entry to another course in the same HEI. Such applicants must contact their Admissions Office to determine the application procedure. However, if you are a student in another HEI and you wish to apply to any of these five HEIs, you should apply through CAO.
Refer to page 34 of the 2024 CAO Handbook on how to make an Exceptional Late Application.
Restrictions
As a CAO applicant you may experience one or more of the following restrictions based on your course choices, your category of application, or restrictions imposed by the HEIs that you wish to apply to. Please read the section on 'Restrictions' on page 3 of the 2024 CAO Handbook carefully. This section includes information on:
General Restrictions
1. Making a late application
2. Making changes to your course choices
Restricted Courses
3. Applying for a restricted course
Mature Applicants
4. Mature applicants
Supplementary Admissions Routes
5. Applying for DARE and/or HEAR
About you
You are a natural linguist, fascinated by both spoken and written language. You notice how language is used and are aware of its power. You want to know more about the role language plays in our lives. You are an avid reader, sensitive and open to many different text types and their interpretation. You are alive to the everyday poetry of language!
Why study the BA in English Language and Literature at MIC?
This degree is the only one of its kind available in Ireland. It is primarily delivered in a small group setting by internationally respected researchers of both language and literature.
Our team have specifically designed a range of bespoke modules that aim to provide access to innovative research in the field of language and literature. These modules can be used to interpret a wide range of different text types. Particular features of the BA in English Language and Literature include:
• Small group teaching with communicative, hands on, problembased teaching and learning;
• Programme content that is situated in a real-world environment exploring real-world issues through the lens of language and literature;
• Year 1 Foundation Modules in language, literature and the intersection of the two fields to give you a thorough introduction to the area;
• A range of specialist modules in both language and literature in second and final year to provide you with the tools to analyse a range of texts from poetry to sports news, from the works of Shakespeare to a visit to the hairdressers;
• A specific focus on researching language and literature using freely available, online computer tools;
• An option to take a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course as an elective in second year; and
• A one year off-campus programme with opportunities to gain valuable work experience and/ or intercultural experience though Erasmus/study abroad.
Our aim is to develop experts in text creation and analysis through establishing and fostering an open, creative and critical undergraduate research community. In addition to specific modules, we also look to develop your oral presentation, communication and writing skills, while paying close attention to enhancing your digital literacy. We especially encourage good academic citizenship through communicative teaching and learning, group work, collegiality and ethical conduct in research.
What you will study
Year 1 is designed to give you the foundational skills in both language and literature. You will study the systems and structures of the English language: the fundamentals of our sound system, how these sounds combine to form words and how these words combine to form sentences. You will be introduced to the notion of language beyond the sentence, looking at how it functions in the real world (clue: very differently to how you might think). We also look at different approaches and digital applications used in the study of language. There are two foundational modules in English literature that study (digital and performance) poetry, prose (novel and short story) and drama. Finally, two specifically designed modules bring the worlds of language and literature together in an exciting learning environment. In Semester 1 of Year 2, we aim to build on your digital and analytic skills by exploring key notions in the study of language such as style. The literature module studies 20th century novels from Ireland and beyond, allowing you to examine how features of language identify a particular author’s writing style.
In Semester 2, we use language and literature to question the dominant value systems and ideologies present in everyday written and spoken language. We explore themes in contemporary language and literature, but also pay close attention to their history through an examination of issues such as politics, imperialism and globalisation. In Year 2, you will also have an extensive selection of elective modules to choose from, including Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).
Year 3 is devoted to work placement and/or study abroad.
In Year 4, we investigate some of the major trends and advancements in language and literature in the 20th and 21st centuries including forensic linguistics, human machine interaction and ecological, racial and gender-based theoretical models. We study the applied nature of these contemporary modes of thinking through a variety of text types using a variety of methodologies. Our primary focus is on the understanding of the meaning of texts that we encounter in our everyday spoken and written lives. The second semester features the capstone module of the programme, Language and Literature 4, which is a studentled module culminating in a daylong seminar designed to provide you with first-hand experience of an academic conference, complete with plenary speaker.
YEAR 1
Semester 1
• Foundations of English: Phonology, Lexis, Syntax
• Language as Discourse
• Introduction to Literature 1
Semester 2
• Language in Context
• Digital Tools in Language Analysis
• Introduction to Literature 2
• Language and Literature 2
YEAR 2
Semester 3
• Stylistics: Language and Style
• Corpus Linguistics
• 20th Century Novel
• Language and Literature 3
• Elective*
Semester 4
• Language, Ideology and Power
• The History of English Language and Literature
• Irish Poetry and Prose
• Literature and Society
• Elective*
YEAR 3
Semester 5
• Off-campus programme 1
Semester 6
• Off-campus programme 2
YEAR 4
Semester 7
• Forensic Linguistics: Evaluating Authenticity in Texts
• Applied Corpus Linguistics
• Literary Modernism
• Interpreting Literature
• Undergraduate Research Project 1
Semester 8
• Language and Human Computer Interaction
• Pragmatics: Foundations and Applications
• Romantic Literature
• Language and Literature 4
• Undergraduate Research Project 2
*You are guaranteed a place on MIC’s TEFL electives should you choose to take it.
Dr Brian Clancy
T: +353 61 204325
E: Brian.Clancy@mic.ul.ie
W: www.mic.ie