About this course

On this integrated master's in German and Spanish linguistics you'll become fluent in both German and Spanish, and study contemporary culture, society, politics, history, literature and cinema. You'll specialise in linguistics and explore the structure, use and psychology of both languages. You'll also spend a year abroad in a German or Spanish-speaking country.

You’ll start at a level that matches your ability in spoken and written German and Spanish, which will help you to progress quickly. You’ll also have excellent resources to support you. Our Centre for Language Study has everything you need.

In Linguistics you'll study the nature of speech, the structure of language, phonetics, how languages are learnt and their social context. You’ll also have the opportunity to prepare a final year dissertation on a language or linguistics topic of specific interest to you, with guidance from a supervisor. The third year of the course is spent in a Spanish- or German-speaking country, giving you the opportunity to enhance your linguistic and cultural proficiency.

Most students of Spanish go to Spain, but you could spend a year in Spanish-speaking Latin America. Most students of German choose Germany, although Austria and Switzerland are also options.

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 German or Spanish

A-levels additional information

Offers typically exclude General Studies and Critical Thinking. Strong candidates with an A level in one language but with no previous knowledge of the other language may still apply for this programme. Students on this route would study accelerated language classes from beginner’s level.

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, as follows: AAB including German or Spanish

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Pass, with 36 points overall with 18 points at Higher Level, including 6 at Higher Level in German or Spanish

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 German or Spanish. Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC National Diploma plus A in A level German or Spanish. Distinction in the BTEC National Extended Certificate plus AA in A level German or Spanish and 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 German or Spanish. Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Diploma plus A in A level German or Spanish. Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus AA in A level German or Spanish and 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 German and Spanish with a wide range of options.

You'll take Linguistics modules specific to German and Spanish, but also more general topics in areas such as psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, and phonetics. This allows you to tailor your learning to suit your interests and ambitions.

Your second year also includes preparation for your year abroad in year 3, when you'll study at one of our Erasmus exchange partner institutions and complete an independent research project. In year 4 you'll be encouraged to pursue your interests, including a dissertation.

You can also take courses from different subject areas or learn another language.

Year 1 overview

You’ll develop your proficiency in speaking and writing German and Spanish with optional accelerated language modules. You'll take compulsory modules in topics such as:

the languages of the Spanish-speaking world
German linguistic studies
elements of linguistics - sound, structure and meaning
applications of linguistics

Year 2 overview

You’ll continue to improve your German and Spanish language skills and have the opportunity to concentrate on your own particular interests. There will also be a module that prepares you for the year abroad.

Options include topics such as:

language and society in the German-speaking world
Spanish linguistics
language structure
psycholinguistics
gender, race and nation in modern Latin America
sound and voice

Year 3 overview

You’ll spend a year abroad in a German- or Spanish-speaking country on a study placement at one of our specially selected partner universities.

Find out more about the year abroad.

You’ll also do an independent study project.

Year 4 overview

You’ll do a dissertation and you’ll also choose options to explore your special interests - or even consider new directions after your experiences abroad.

Module choices include:

audiovisual translation
writing and written language
developing approaches to language teaching
intercultural communication
memory in national and transnational Contexts
nation, culture and power
transnational movement in the age of globalisation

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...

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.

German 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 ...

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...

Spanish Language Stage 4

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

Applications of Linguistics

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

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...

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:

Culture, Power and Resistance in the Portuguese-Speaking World

This course is designed to expand and deepen your knowledge of the cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world, bringing together written texts, visual and conceptual art, political materials, and cinema from twentieth-century Portugal, Brazil, and Portugu...

Gender, Race and Nation in Modern Latin America

The course examines major turning points in Spanish and Portuguese America from the middle nineteenth century to the present, with a focus on how these upheavals affected and reflected the politics of class, gender and race.

Discourse Analysis

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

Ethnography of Latin America

This module uses ethnographic approaches to understand the diversity of Latin America’s peoples and cultures. Emphasizing the emergence within Latin American anthropology of focuses on everyday life through topics such as kinship and family, ritual and re...

Exploring Spanish Linguistics

The module introduces you to relevant issues and topics of contemporary Spanish linguistics and establishes the basis for future application of linguistic principles.

High, Popular, Mass Culture: Cultural Hybridity and Globalization in Latin America and Spain

This module examines high, popular and mass cultural forms in twentieth century Spain and Latin America. Attention is particularly paid to the political uses made of those different forms. The module explores the function of popular culture in predominant...

Language and Society in German-Speaking World

The main aim of this course is to explore and assess the contemporary importance of the German language, both within the so-called German-speaking countries and in the wider world. We shall identify key sociolinguistic issues as they relate to German-spea...

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...

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...

Variation and Change in English

This module takes an empirical approach to questions such as: - Are there patterns of speech and language associated with males and females in varieties of English? - What is the role of teenagers in the propagation of change in English? - After a...

Vienna and Berlin: Society, Politics and Culture from 1890 to the Present

This module will introduce you to the social, political and cultural history of Vienna and Berlin in the 20th century, German using a wide range of sources which will include literature, film and architecture. Topics covered may include the following:...

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.