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English and Hispanic Studies BA (QR34)

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Learn more about our English and Hispanic Studies degree at Warwick

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QR34

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Bachelor of Arts (BA)

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4 years full-time, normally including a year abroad

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44830

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Modern Languages and Cultures

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University of Warwick

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A modern languages degree equips you with excellent communication, research, critical and evaluative skills, all of which are highly sought after by employers.

Our English and Hispanic Studies (BA) degree is designed for those who wish to begin or pursue a study of Spanish language and literature while continuing to study the English tradition.

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This degree explores two rich and diverse literary and cultural traditions, with a core Spanish language module in every year of study.

The first year will introduce you to Hispanic literature and culture, English literature, and comparative literature though core and optional core modules.

In your intermediate and final years, all English and Hispanic optional modules are open to you, spanning topics from history, politics, film and literature.

In your final year, you can choose to write a dissertation on comparative Hispanic and English literature. You will also normally spend your second or third year of study abroad.

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In your first year, you will take language classes designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of written and spoken Spanish (either Modern Spanish Language 1 or Modern Spanish Language 1 Beginners). You will also take a core module (Modes of Reading) which focuses on questions of approach, critical practice, and reading strategies.

You will choose one additional module in Hispanic Studies which will provide you with the foundation to study further aspects of Hispanic culture in the later stages of your degree (either Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World or Icons and Representations of the Hispanic World).

You will additionally choose one English module in your first year, from a list of three: Epic into Novel; Medieval to Renaissance Literature; and Modern World Literatures.

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We employ a variety of teaching styles within the School of Modern Languages including:

Lectures
Seminars (consisting of around 15 students and focussing on student participation)
Written and spoken language classes in small groups

You will spend the rest of your time:

Studying independently
Preparing for classes
Reading
Analysing materials set for study
Writing essays
Working on your language skills

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Seminars generally involve around 15 students.

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You will have around 12 hours of contact time per week.

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We will track your progress through:

Assignments
Essays
Presentations
e-Portfolio submissions
Examinations (written and oral)

On some modules, you have the option of engaging in more creative assessment, such as making short films, creating a wiki page, or writing sonatas.

To help you improve your skills you will receive detailed and personalised feedback throughout your course.

Your intermediate- and final-year marks each contribute 50% of your final degree classification.

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Study abroad

We strongly recommend that you take a year abroad as part of your modern languages degree, if they are able to. If you are unable to take a year abroad you will move to a three-year degree. You will be required to complete further language reinforcement work. You will also be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.

You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:

Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
On a work placement

Find out more about flexible Year Abroad options.

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A level typical offer

AAB to include a modern or classical language and either English Literature or English Language and Literature (combined).

A level contextual offer

We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is ABB including B in a modern foreign language or Latin/Ancient Greek and B in English Literature/Language and Literature. See if you’re eligible.

General GCSE requirements

Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.

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IB typical offer

36 to include 5 at Higher Level in English Literature and 5 at Higher Level in a modern or classical language.

IB contextual offer

We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 34 including grade 5 in Higher Level English and 5 in a Higher Level modern foreign language/Latin/Ancient Greek. See if you’re eligible.

General GCSE requirements

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We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside an A level in a modern or classical language and A level English Literature (or English Language and Literature combined).

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Year One

Modern Spanish Language 1

Do you have A level or an equivalent in Spanish and want to consolidate, extend and refine your skills to advanced level? This module will equip you with sound grammatical and linguistic foundations, with the aim of increasing your confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. You'll use authentic resources in a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, including books, articles, newspapers, television, music, and podcasts , as well as taking part in our virtual language exchange with students at the Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Colombia, a fantastic way to expand the language and intercultural skills outside the classroom. During the module, students will develop their skills through a combination of classroom sessions, guided learning activities and appropriate self-study resources. Weekly classes will cover reading, language in use, grammar and functional aspects of Spanish such as translation, extended writing and oral expression, which are reinforced through complementary activities on Moodle, our multimedia VLE.

Modern Spanish Language for Beginners

As a beginner in the acquisition of the Spanish language, you’ll gain a keen grammatical awareness, a sound understanding of cultures and societies across the Hispanic world, and most of all, confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. Using authentic resources, including newspapers, television and radio, you are expected to end your course able to sustain everyday conversations in Spanish, read authentic texts, follow the gist of TV extracts and write at an intermediate level in Spanish. You'll also work on basic translations to and from Spanish as a means of consolidating your knowledge.

Modes of Reading

What is a reader? How is our understanding and perception of a text formed? What does it mean to think critically when we read? This module allows you to explore these questions by putting a spotlight on the question of critical thinking in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By studying a series of literary texts in relation to some of the most influential literary and cultural theorists of the last hundred years, you will take your own position on everything from Marxism, queer and feminist theory to ecocriticism and postcolonial critique.

Choose one option in English:

Epic into Novel

Tracking the transition from the epics of the ancient world to the novels of modernity, this module introduces you to some of the most influential and formative works of world literature. You will study central texts of the classical world, such as Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid; the ancient Indian epic The Mahābhārata; Milton’s Paradise Lost; as well as novels like Henry Fielding’s bawdy comedy Tom Jones and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s novel of decolonising Kenya, A Grain of Wheat. Reading across history and cultures, between languages and genres, you will develop the skills to analyse narrative, character, and style.

Medieval and Early Modern Literature

Taking you from the mythical court of King Arthur to the real world of ambition, intrigue, and danger in the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, this module introduces you to early literature written in a range of genres (romance, epic, fabliau) and poetic forms. You will study texts like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Thomas More’s Utopia, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and Shakespeare’s sonnets to explore some of the period’s highest ideals—‘trawthe’ or integrity—as well as some of humanity’s darkest impulses: greed, deception, revenge, and desire.

Modern World Literatures

This module introduces you to the defining concerns, styles, and contexts of modern world literature from 1789 to the present. You will encounter concepts like Romanticism, modernity, gothic, and postcolonialism through novels, short stories, poetry, and drama from revolutionary France to Meiji era Japan, industrial Britain to the decolonizing Caribbean. Your reading might include Mary Shelley’s gothic novel Frankenstein, Lu Xun’s story of China in transition 'Diary of a Madman', or Clarice Lispector’s haunting meditation on life in Rio de Janeiro The Hour of the Star. You may also replace this module with a language module.

And one option in Hispanic Studies:

Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World

How has the Spanish language travelled around the world and what happens when it co-exists with other languages? How do writers use language to explore identity, and what happens when they work between two (or more) languages? What skills do we need as readers to interpret the nuances of texts that travel between languages? This module will equip you with an understanding of the cultural and sociolinguistic diversity of the Hispanic world, and a strong grounding in the literary and cultural analysis of texts that address this diversity. The module explores the different varieties of Spanish spoken around the world, along with some of the principal languages that share its territory. It also reads a variety of texts that negotiate national and gender identities across linguistic and cultural borders, with a focus on those that travel between non-hegemonic Hispanic contexts and the Anglosphere.

Icons and Representations of the Hispanic World

Have you ever wondered where the familiar stereotypes of Spain and Latin America come from? How have they circulated and been received at different times and in different places? And how have Spaniards and Latin Americans represented themselves to travellers, tourists, artists, and even invaders? This course introduces you to a wide range of written and visual icons and representations of the Hispanic world, in both Spanish and English. We investigate topics which, in different ways, pose important questions about studying other languages and cultures.

Intermediate Year

Modern Spanish Language 2

On this module, you'll extend your competence in Spanish. You'll deepen your understanding of advanced grammatical and linguistic structures, increase the range and sophistication of your vocabulary, and refine your use of register in authentic spoken and written discourse. You'll use resources from a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, and take part in our virtual language exchange with students in Latin America and Spain. At the end of the course, you should have sufficient mastery to discuss different topics, report on your independent reading and support your opinions with solid arguments.

Modern Spanish Language 2 (Post-beginners)

This module for post beginners follows the first year Module HP102 and seeks to consolidate the language skills gained in students’ first year of study. The aim of this module is to further extend and refine competence in modern Spanish. It covers the main linguistic (oral, aural, written, spoken) skills, and seeks to promote the continued acquisition of grammatical awareness and essential communicative competences. At the end of the course, you will be able to understand discourse about concrete and abstract topics, to give presentations about different topics, to report on the results of your independent reading and research, and to state your point of view and support it with solid arguments.

A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (30 credits) and in English and Comparative Literary Studies (60 credits)

Final Year

Modern Spanish Language 3

This module will consolidate your linguistic skills acquired in the intermediate year and extend them through translation, writing, reading, speaking and listening activities. A range of assessments will be offered for students to track and reflect on their progress through the provision of regular feedback. Students will also be provided with complementary autonomous learning and grammar activities and directed to appropriate activities for self-study in order to develop independent learning strategies.

The aim of this module is to refine fluency in spoken and written Spanish, working towards a C2 standard of the CEFR. Emphasis will be placed on sophisticated translation and writing, as well as oral and comprehension skills, using an appropriate range of complex linguistic structures, vocabulary, register and style.

A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and in English and Comparative Literary Studies

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There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.

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A languages degree will equip you with skills applicable to a wide variety of different jobs and career paths. Our students often go on to careers using their languages after graduation. They also develop transferrable communicative and analytical skills that are highly sought after by employers. Graduates from Modern Language courses have gone on to work for employers including: • Amazon • British Airways • Civil Service • Grayce Consulting • HM Revenue and Customs • HSBC • Ipsos Mori • Lidl • NBC Universal • Save the Children International • The Department for International Trade

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Our School has a dedicated, professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events to boost your employability. Previous examples of workshops and events include: • What are you doing after Warwick? Career planning for final-year language students • Careers in the Public Sector • Warwick careers fairs throughout the year • Completing effective CVs and Application Forms for students from the School of Modern Languages • Reflecting on Your Year Abroad • Languages Alumni Evening [Find out more about careers support at Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/services/careers/careers_skills]

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