About this course

In this integrated master's, you'll become fluent in a major international language, deepen your understanding of linguistics and spend a year in a French-speaking country. You’ll develop a deep understanding of the cultures and histories of French-speaking nations worldwide.

What you learn will prepare you for work across the world. French is native to France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and the French Caribbean, and it’s an official language in much of Africa and Asia.

You’ll start at a level that matches your ability in spoken and written French, which helps ensure rapid progress. You’ll also have excellent resources to support you. The Centre for Language Study at Southampton has everything you need.

A module in year 2 prepares you for the following year abroad. You can spend your year abroad in countries such as:

France
Switzerland
Belgium
Canada
Guadeloupe
Martinique
La Réunion

We have partner universities in the Erasmus exchange programme across France and Switzerland.

You’ll write a final year dissertation with guidance from a supervisor.

Course location

This course is based at Avenue.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.

Entry requirements

A-levels

AAA including French

A-levels additional information

Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking.

More information about A-levels

A-levels contextual offer

We are committed to ensuring that all applicants with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise an applicant's potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Pass, with 36 points overall with 18 points at Higher Level, including 6 at Higher Level in French

More information about International Baccalaureate Diploma

International Baccalaureate contextual offer

We are committed to ensuring that all learners with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply to study with us. The additional information gained through contextual data allows us to recognise a learner’s potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. Applicants who are highlighted in this way will be made an offer which is lower than the typical offer for that programme.

International Baccalaureate Career Programme (IBCP) statement

Offers will be made on the individual Diploma Course subject(s) and the career-related study qualification. The CP core will not form part of the offer. Where there is a subject pre-requisite(s), applicants will be required to study the subject(s) at Higher Level in the Diploma course subject and/or take a specified unit in the career-related study qualification. Applicants may also be asked to achieve a specific grade in those elements. Please see the University of Southampton International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) Statement for further information. Applicants are advised to contact their Faculty Admissions Office for more information.

BTEC

Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC National Extended Diploma plus A in A level French Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC National Diploma plus A in A level French Distinction in the BTEC National Extended Certificate plus A in A level French and A in one further A level

RQF BTEC

Additional information

The University aims to recruit students from a wide range of backgrounds who we believe have the potential and motivation to succeed on our challenging programmes. We are committed to fair admissions and strive to ensure we give equal consideration to all applicants who possess the necessary knowledge and skills.

More information about BTEC

QCF BTEC

Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Extended Diploma plus A in A level French Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Diploma plus A in A level French. Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus A in A level French and A in one further A level

Other requirements

UK students

International students

Other ways to qualify

GCSE requirements

Applicants must hold GCSE English language (or GCSE English) (minimum grade 4/C) and mathematics (minimum grade 4/C)

Got a question?

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000

Course structure

Each year combines compulsory modules to build your mastery of French and Linguistics with a wide range of options. This allows you to tailor your learning to suit your interests and ambitions. You can also take courses from different subject areas or learn a different language.

To give you the best possible start, we use our system of 7 language levels to work out your proficiency in French. We can then make sure our teaching develops your skills as effectively as possible.

Year 1 overview

You’ll develop your mastery of French and can choose from options such as:

Modern French Culture
Applications of Linguistics
Elements of Linguistics - Sound, Structure and Meaning
The Making of Modern French

Year 2 overview

You’ll develop your listening, reading, writing and other academic skills. You’ll also take a module preparing you to study and work abroad in year 3.

Options include:

Conflicts, Crisis and Identities in the Francophone Context
Globalisation: Culture, Language and The Nation State
Psycholinguistics
Syntax: Studying Language Structure
Exploring French Linguistics

Year 3 overview

You’ll spend a year abroad at a university in a French-speaking country either:

as an English language assistant
studying on a university course
on an approved work placement

You’ll also take the Research Skills module. This will provide you with the ability to:

demonstrate originality of thought and approach
undertake independent information collection work
engage with theoretical approaches applicable to your chosen areas of study
make relevant connections between different critical methodologies and use

Find out more about the year abroad.

Year 4 overview

After returning to the UK, you’ll take Masters-level modules and can focus on areas of interest you've developed during your studies.

You’ll write a Modern Languages dissertation exploring a topic of particular interest to you in greater depth.

Module options include topics such as:

Audiovisual Translation
Developing Approaches to Language Teaching
Transnational Movement in the Age of Globalisation
Translation: Theory and Practice
Intercultural Communication
Writing and Written Language
Second Language Learning

Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.

Modules

Changes due to COVID-19

Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2022 to 2023. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.

Find out more on our COVID advice page.

For entry in Academic Year 2022-23

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

You must study the following modules in year 1:

Academic Skills for Modern languages and Linguistics students

This module is designed to ease the transition from A-level to the first year of a single or combined honours degree programme by setting out clearly what we expect of you at undergraduate level and equipping you with the resources to be able to operate a...

Applications of Linguistics

This unit will introduce you to the main areas relevant to applied language studies.

Elements of Linguistics - Sound, Structure and Meaning

This module provides an introduction to linguistic approaches to sound, structure and meaning in the branches of linguistics known as phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

French Language Stage 4

The aim of every language course at the University is to enable you to communicate in your target language (TL) at that particular level and in your particular area of interest. We use the word ‘communicate’ in its widest sense, meaning that you will not ...

Introduction to French and Francophone Studies

This module is designed to provide you with a broad introduction to the culture, history and language of France and Francophone countries. By studying various types of primary and secondary sources, you will become familiar with a wide range of themes, e...

Language Acquisition

You may have asked yourself how children learn their first language or whether some animals can speak just like humans do. People often wonder whether there are any lifelong benefits of bilingualism as well. This module introduces you to the field of lang...

Language, Ideologies and Attitudes

This module explores language in its social context. The main aim of this module is to introduce you to key research approaches to the study of language attitudes and ideologies and to encourage you to reflect on how attitudes and beliefs about language e...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 1:

Understanding Culture

This introductory course will give you an overview of some approaches to, and topics within, cultural and literary studies. You will spend time on close textual reading, as well as on broader cultural analysis. It aims to encourage you to experiment in c...

Understanding History and Society

This module will introduce you to studying questions of history, society and culture through the prism of Southampton in order that you can apply those approaches to the study of cities in the French, Spanish and German-speaking world.

You must study the following module in year 2:

Languages for Academic Study

This module will take a practical approach to developing the listening, reading, writing and other academic skills necessary for successful study in the relevant target language country. It will make a point of taking a comparative approach to academic st...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 2:

Conflicts, Crisis and Identities in the Francophone Context

How do writers and filmakers grapple with the difficulties of remembering events that many would rather forget? How do they seek to represent events that seem to defy representation? In tackling these questions, this module provides you with a fascinating...

Discourse Analysis

This module highlights and analyses the link between language structure and its situation of occurrence.

Exploring French Linguistics

This module explores various aspects of the French language from the perspective of modern linguistics: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis

Globalisation: Culture, Language and The Nation State

This module will problematize the concept of globalisation and explore and develop an understanding of its meaning in economic, political and cultural terms. Furthermore, we will examine the ideological struggle between competing forces over the nature an...

Immigration, Race and Ethnicity in France

What developments led to the headscarf and the so-called ‘burka ban’ in France? Why has ‘multiculturalism’ been a taboo subject? To what extent have anti-racism associations been a success in combating racism? This module offers you the opportunity to gai...

Learning about Culture: Introduction to Ethnography

Multilingualism

This module will introduce you to the notion of ‘Multilingualism’, how this is understood and represented in different ways, and why it matters to you. You will explore how people become multilingual, and whether it makes a difference if multilinguals are...

Post-War French Thought and Culture

This module is designed to explore in detail the key areas of feminism, postcolonial theory, and cultural semiotics i.e. the analysis of cultural signs, whether in visual culture, such as advertising, political culture, or based in cultural practices. Th...

Psycholinguistics

This module examines three areas of psycholinguistics which help to understand what the relationship between language and the human mind might be.

Sound and Voice

This module builds on the basic concepts of articulatory phonetics introduced in the first year, and introduces theory and methodology of acoustic science for the study of the production and perception of speech sounds.

Syntax: Studying Language Structure

This module will provide introduce you to the study of syntax within current linguistic theory.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

This module will introduce you to key issues, concepts and methods in teaching English as a second/foreign language.

The EU and European Identity

The course seeks to provide an overview of the evolution of the European Union (EU) from its early stages to the present. In so doing, it examines the ideas and history of the EU, the institutions of the EU, examples of specific issue areas and the presen...

You must study the following modules in year 4:

Dissertation MLANG

The dissertation is an extended piece of work of 10,000 words which results from independent research. The dissertation gives you the opportunity to explore a topic of particular interest to you in greater depth than is possible within the scope of a taug...

Research Skills (Dissertation Preparation)

The purpose of this module is to help you prepare your Masters dissertation in Languages & Cultures or Translation & Professional Communication Skills, including the oral presentation that forms part of its assessment. The emphasis is on skills required f...

Seeing and Being Seen. Period Abroad re-entry

This module is designed to accompany you as you resume your programme of studies in Southampton and grapple with the challenges of re-entry. We will support you as you reflect upon your experience of study abroad, enable you to articulate those experience...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 4:

Analysing Language for ELT/TESOL

This module encourages you to reflect on the analysis of the structure of language and its relationships to language teaching. It will demonstrate the kinds of analytic processes employed in linguistic analysis and identify the relationships between gramm...

Approaches to Languages and Cultures

This module provides a comprehensive introduction to the analytical frameworks at the heart of the MA Languages and Cultures programme. Through guided weekly readings, discussion-based seminars and reflective short assessments, you will develop the skills...

Audiovisual Translation

This module will introduce you to the different types of audiovisual translation and the various kinds of subtitles produced nowadays. You will learn about the interaction between text and image and the technical issues and constraints involved in creatin...

Developing Approaches to Language Teaching

This module builds on your knowledge of language teaching methodologies developed in LING6022. It will focus on current issues in language teaching methodologies and address more specialised areas taking both a synchronic and diachronic which will comple...

English as a World Language

This module explores the rise of English to its current dominant status.

Language and Intercultural Communication

This module will combine a theoretical understanding of intercultural communication with reflections and evaluations of your own intercultural experiences and applications of this to pedagogic settings and other practical settings.

Language in Society

This module will introduce you to ways of exploring the reciprocal relationship between language and society from contemporary sociolinguistic perspectives.

Memory in National and Transnational Contexts

Whether in the form of monuments, stories or rituals a desire to remember seems to be everywhere in most if not all contemporary nation states. In some respect this has been fuelled by the continually evolving international situation, which has posed a se...

Narrative, Place, Identity

This module investigates how cultural narratives have been produced, disseminated and consumed across national boundaries since the mid-twentieth century. Through examination of a range of narrative forms, including fiction, essay, memoir, film and photog...

Nation, Culture, Power

This module offers an in-depth exploration of three concepts that have shaped the modern world: nation, culture, and power. Drawing on staff expertise in cultural and critical theory, the module will investigate the key questions that worldwide thinkers a...

Second Language Learning

This module introduces the different theoretical approaches which have been adopted for studying the acquisition of language, and examines and assesses current theories of first and second language acquisition in the light of empirical evidence.

Teaching Foreign Languages to Younger Learners

This module will address the implementation and adaptation of language teaching methodologies to address the unique challenges inherent in instructed, early foreign language (FL) learning. The novel aspect of the module will lie in its systematic explorat...

Translation: Theory and Practice

Translation plays a major role in the exchange and circulation of practical information and culture production. This means that even if they do not enter the translation profession, in a society that is increasingly global, Modern Linguists are frequently...

Transnational Movement in the Age of Globalisation

The module investigates transnational approaches to migration and global mobility. It combines a theoretical emphasis in the first part with one based on specific empirical case studies and methodological issues in the second.

Writing and Written Language

The module examines the techniques of process, product, context, and instruction of writing in a second language. The first deals with composing and the writer in relation to the text; the second deals with the text produced, its structure and organisatio...

Fees, costs and funding

Tuition fees

Fees for a year's study:

UK students pay £9,250.
EU and international students pay £19,300.

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and all examinations.

Find out how to:

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.

If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

Get in touch for advice about student money matters.

Scholarships and grants

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant to help fund your studies.

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from under-represented backgrounds.

Support during your course

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.