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BA in English Language and Literature (MI009)

Note: The 'At a Glance' section below is indicative only. Hours and assessment methods vary across semesters, years and subjects.

CAO Points 2024: 387

Duration: 4 years full-time

Places Offered: 15 approx.

Location: MIC Limerick

Lecture hours: 12 approx.

Tutorial Hours: 4 approx.

Assessment:

Mixed – includes digital text creation and analysis, oral presentations, essay and report writing, comparative analysis, and exams.

  • Programme Overview
  • Programme Content
  • Entry Requirements
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Programme Overview

The BA in English Language and Literature aims to foster critically aware and digitally-skilled graduates who are highly adept at creating and interpreting texts and content. The programme will enhance literary and professional knowledge of English by focusing on the core features of language and linguistics, as well as the core literary texts, genres and theories.

Female and two male students sitting at laptop talking.

Why study on this programme?

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, problem-based 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
  • A certified Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) optional module in second year
  • 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.

Video still for English Language and Literature programme - tutor speaking to two female students.
BA in English Language & Literature (MI009)
Bespoke modules that aim to provide access to innovative research in language and literature.

What you will study?

Year 1 is designed to give you the foundational skills in both language and literature. Students 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 (digital and performance) that study 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 two, 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, the final year, we investigate some of the major trends and advancements in language and literature in the twentieth and twenty-first 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. Semester 2 features the capstone module of the programme, Language and Literature 4, which is a student-led module culminating in a day-long seminar designed to provide first-hand experience of an academic conference, complete with plenary speaker.

Career Opportunities

English is the first language of almost 400 million people and the second language of many others. It is estimated that around 1.5 billion people worldwide are learners of English. Increasingly, companies are using English as their corporate language globally to ensure good communication and collaboration with customers, suppliers, business partners, and other stakeholders (e.g. Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, SAP, Nokia and Microsoft).

There is a global demand for graduates with cultural and critical expertise, who are highly adept at interpreting and producing texts and content and who have a high level of digital skills. Possible career opportunities include, but are not limited to:

  • 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 writing
  • Teaching

The BA in English Language and Literature is designed to address the digital demands of everyday communication. This programme will also meet a strong need to equip graduates with up-to-date applied skills in the use of technology to analyse, arrange and showcase information in English so as to optimise communication.

Off-Campus Programme

In Year 3, you will participate in an off-campus programme. This typically consists of a study abroad placement in Europe, North America, Argentina, Australia, China, or Japan and/or work placements in a wide variety of settings, in Ireland or abroad. International placements are highly valued and encouraged for the added cultural and linguistic benefits they offer. The off-campus programme provides students with a unique opportunity to discover the world and experience working environments which may also provide future employment for graduates. Typical work placement settings include educational, theatre, media, cultural, community, local government, and Gaeltacht organisations.

 

Undergraduate Entrance Scholarships

Each year, Mary Immaculate College awards up to 50 Undergraduate Entrance Scholarships across all undergraduate programmes valued at €2,000 each, on the basis of results obtained in the Irish Leaving Certificate Examination.

Further information about Undergraduate Entrance Scholarships available here.

Contact

Dr Brian Clancy, Programme Coordinator

E: Brian.Clancy@mic.ul.ie

Programme Content

Semester 1 (Year 1)
Foundations of English: Phonology, Lexis, Syntax
Language as Discourse
Introduction to Literature 1
Language and Literature 1
Semester 2 (Year 1)
Language in Context
Digital Tools in Language Analysis
Introduction to Literature 2
Language and Literature 2
Semester 3 (Year 2)
Stylistics: Language and Style
Corpus Linguistics
20th Century Novel
Language and Literature 3
*Elective
Students to select 1 of the following:
Teaching English as a Language 1
IT for Schools
Women in History
Devising Theatre
Critiquing Theatre
Cultural Policy & Administration
Development of Modern Drama
Education in Contemporary Irish Society
Semester 4 (Year 2)
Language, Ideology and Power
The History of English Language and Literature
Irish Poetry and Prose
Literature and Society
*Elective
Students to select 1 of the following:
Teaching English as a Language 2
Multimedia for Schools
Women in Contemporary Irish Society
Drama Education
Contemporary Performance Theory
Children and Young People’s Lives and Diverse Classrooms
Semester 5 (Year 3)
Off-campus programme 1
Semester 6 (Year 3) 
Off-campus programme 2
Semester 7 (Year 4)
Forensic Linguistics: Evaluating Authenticity in Texts
Applied Corpus Linguistics
Literary Modernism
Interpreting Literature
Undergraduate Research Project 1
Semester 8 (Year 4)
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.

Entry Requirements

For EU undergraduate programmes, minimum matriculation requirements are determined as follows:

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 Programme (LCVP)

LCVP link modules accepted for points purposes, but they will not qualify as a subject for matriculation purposes.

GCE/GCSE/BTEC Applicants

Further information about minimum grades and entry requirements is available here or please contact the MIC Admissions Office at E: Admissions@mic.ul.ie.

Closing date for Autumn 2024 admission has now passed.

Mature students (over 23 years on 1 January of year of entry) make an application through CAO.

If you are at least 23 years old on 1 January of the year of entry to college, you are considered as a mature applicant.

Mature applicants for MI009 must apply through CAO, and the initial closing date was 1st February 2024.

All mature applicants who make an application to the College through the CAO for MI009 will be invited to attend for an interview. Mature applicants 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 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.

Personal Statement

In addition to applying through the CAO, Mature applicants must also complete a Personal Statement.  The Personal Statement guideline can be downloaded here. It is advisable to download and save the guideline/personal statement form locally, open the saved form from your PC and then email the completed form to Admissions@mic.ul.ie by 12 May 2024

 

For details of Uversity Scholarships for Mature Applicants click here.

 

For further details on mature entry, please email Admissions@mic.ul.ie or T: 061 205137 / 204348

MIC recognises QQI Level 5 and Level 6 qualifications as pathways to this programme. Details as follows:

Special Entry Route QQI/FET/FETAC Applicants Entry Requirements (Accepted Major Awards / Essential Component Awards):

Level 5: Any major award Level 5. Within the context of the named major QQI level 5 qualification awards, students must possess distinctions (i.e., 80% or greater) in 5 modules.

Level 6: Any major award Level 6. Within the context of the named major QQI level 6 qualification awards, students must possess distinctions (i.e,. 80% or greater) in 4 modules.

TOEFL: 580 (paper-based) or 90 (internet-based)

IELTS : Minimum score of 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in any component.

ETAPP (English Test for Academic and Professional Purposes): Grade C1

GCE ‘O’ Level English Language/GCSE English Language: Grade C or above

University of Cambridge ESOL: Proficiency Certificate, Grade C or better (CEFR Level C1 or C2) or Advanced Certificate, Grade C or better (CEFR Level C1 or C2) or First Certificate Grade A (CEFR Level C1)

GCE Examination Boards: Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations - Grade C/Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate - School Certificate Pass 1 - 6

University of London: Entrance and School Examinations Council - School Certificate Pass 1 - 6

PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic: A minimum score of 61 (with no section score below 59)

Oxford English Test: Overall minimum 140. Individual skills 125.

Language Cert ESOL: B2 Communicator High Pass with no less than 33 in each skill.

Results in examinations other than those listed above may also be accepted as meeting English language requirements.

Further information about BA in English Language and Literature (International) and applying as an non-EU applicant is available here. For International Fees, click here.

You are advised to contact the MIC International Office before applying on +353 61 204988.

Fees & Grants

Fees

Tuition fees may be paid in respect of full-time undergraduate students undertaking approved programmes in eligible institutions. Details of the Free Fees criteria are listed here.

If you do not qualify for free fees, undergraduate tuition fees and other charges may apply. See Undergraduate Fees here.

Grants

Students apply for a grant through Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) and if they meet certain criteria, they may be eligible for full or partial financial support.

Before applying at www.susi.ie, please review the criteria carefully.

Contact
Programme Coordinator
Dr Brian Clancy

Ask a Question

  • Programme Overview
  • Programme Content
  • Entry Requirements
  • Ask a Question