About this course

Develop strong language skills on this Spanish and Portuguese degree and gain a deep understanding of both cultures. You'll improve your fluency and employability skills by spending a year living and working abroad.

We'll make sure you start at a level that matches your ability in written and spoken Spanish and Portuguese. This means, if you’re a strong student, you can start one of these languages from scratch - and make rapid progress in both.

You can tailor your degree to areas that interest you. These might include:

choosing modules from other subject areas
exploring more about Spanish or Portuguese linguistics, history and culture

In your year abroad you could choose to go to a variety of countries. We particularly have links in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Through our innovative scheme in Mexico, developed in partnership with the Mexican Education Ministry, you could work as a Language Resources Assistant in a University.

Course lead

Your course lead is Dr Michael Kranert.

His research interests range from comparative discourse analysis to language ideologies, with a particular focus on English and German speaking countries.

Find out more on his staff profile.

Course location

This course is based at Avenue.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.

Entry requirements

Academic year filter options

A-levels

ABB including Spanish or Portuguese

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 with Extended Project Qualification

If you are taking an EPQ in addition to 3 A levels, you will receive the following offer in addition to the standard A level offer: BBB including Spanish or Portuguese and grade A in the EPQ

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: BBB including Spanish or Portuguese

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Pass, with 32 points overall with 16 points at Higher Level, including 5 at Higher Level in Spanish or Portuguese

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 B in A level Spanish or Portuguese Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC National Diploma plus B in A level Spanish or Portuguese Distinction in the BTEC National Extended Certificate plus AB in A level Spanish or Portuguese, 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 B in A level Spanish or Portuguese Distinction, Distinction in the BTEC Diploma plus B in A level Spanish or Portuguese Distinction in the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma plus AB in A level Spanish or Portuguese and one further A level

Entry requirements filter options

Other requirements

GCSE requirements

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

Entry requirements filter options

Other requirements

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 Spanish and Portuguese with a wide range of options. This allows you to tailor your learning to suit your interests and ambitions.

You can also take modules from different subject areas. If you find a subject you love, you can make it an official part of your degree as a minor subject.

To give you the best possible start, we use our system of seven language levels to work out your proficiency in Spanish and Portuguese. We can then make sure our teaching quickly develops your skills.

Year 1 overview

We’ll introduce you to the study skills you’ll need as a Modern Languages student and you’ll take compulsory Spanish and Portuguese language modules to develop your speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

You’ll then be able to choose from optional modules that could include:

applications of linguistics
understanding culture
understanding history and culture

Year 2 overview

In year 2 you will develop your Spanish and Portuguese language skills and you'll take a module to prepare you for your year abroad, including how to do your research project.

You’ll be able to choose from a wide range of optional modules to tailor your degree to areas that interest you. This includes topics like:

gender, race and nation in modern Latin America
language structure
the EU and European identity
teaching English as a foreign language
multilingualism
experience as a classroom ambassador
culture, power and resistance in the Portuguese-Speaking World

Year 3 overview

In year 3 you'll undertake your period abroad, in which you'll complete an assessed portfolio of work which counts as a double module and is used to determine progression to year 4.

This will be your opportunity to:

work independently on focused tasks as you acquire more knowledge of the target language, culture and society
get to know a foreign culture first hand, either as a student or in a work placement
practice using the foreign language; you'll be ideally placed to get to know the people, with many lifelong friendships made during this period

We aim to support you, mainly by frequent email contact/video chat sessions.

Reasonable adjustments will be made for individual students who are unable to spend a period abroad. Year 3 contributes to the final degree classification.

Year 4 overview

We will support you in your return to university from your year abroad and we’ll help you to talk about your experiences in a way that enhances your employability.

You’ll continue to develop your written and spoken Spanish and Portuguese and you’ll be able to choose from a range of other module options.

Module options may include topics such as:

a modern languages dissertation
language and Identity among US Latinos
public service interpreting
language teaching
representations of women in the Hispanic world
transatlantic crossings: linguistic variation in the Iberian peninsula and Latin America
encounters with bodies in Lusophone Cultural Narrative

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

Modules

For entry in Academic Year 2022-23

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...

Introduction to Spanish and Latin America Studies

This module is designed to provide you with a broad introduction to the culture, history and language of Spain, Latin America and the Spanish speaking World. By studying various types of primary and secondary sources, you will become familiar with a wide...

Introduction to The Portuguese-Speaking World

This module is designed to provide you with a broad introduction to the diverse cultures and histories of the Portuguese-speaking or ‘Lusophone’ world. By studying various texts, films, images and digital materials, from the fifteenth century to the twent...

Portuguese accelerated language stages 1-2

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 ...

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.

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 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...

Managing Research and Learning

The module will clarify the links between the Year Abroad Portfolio and modules in years two and four.

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

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.

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...

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...

Learning about Culture: Introduction to Ethnography

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:

Encounters with Bodies in Lusophone Cultural Narrative

Based on written texts, films and visual materials from and about Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, this course is intended to show you the cutting edge of cultural production and research from the Portuguese-speaking wo...

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:

English as a Global Language

This module explores the rise of English as a global language focusing on the factors that have led to, and the issues that have arisen from, its dominant status. You will learn about the interrelation between globalisation, standardisation and variabilit...

Exiles, Migrants and Citizens: Narrating and documenting displacement in contemporary Spain

Migration has been a recurrent theme that has characterized Spain’s social, political and cultural history since its emergence as a modern nation in 1492. By drawing on narrative inquiry, this module will focus on the most recent migration movements of th...

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...

Barrios and Borders: Language and Identity amongst US Latinos

This module will introduce the main theoretical ideas of language and identity alongside tracing the historical, social and linguistic background to the presence of the so-called Latinos in the USA. By considering a range of texts, as well as cultural ou...

Historical Memory in Modern Latin America

Language Teaching Theory and Practice

This module examines the theory and practice of language teaching and explores 'reflective practice' as a set of skills that can be applied to your future working life.

Language Testing and Assessment in Society

This module develops awareness of how language testing and assessment have developed in educational and wider social contexts. It focusses on both purposes and processes of language testing and assessment, and critically examines applications in policy ar...

Modern Languages Dissertation

This unit will allow students to undertake independent research to produce an in-depth study of a specific topic located in one of the fields within Modern Languages. You will also have the option of producing a professional project. In that case, your d...

Public Service Interpreting

This module will provide students with both a practical and theoretical insight into the role of a Public Service Interpreter. Beginning with a general introduction to interpreting, it will go on to focus more in depth on the wide range of issues and chal...

Second Language Acquisition

This module provides an insight into the cognitive processes involved in the acquisition of language. Different theories of first and second language acquisition will be examined and critically assessed in the light of empirical evidence. Various factors ...

Sex, Soap Operas and Female Dissidents: Representations of Women in the Hispanic World

This course will introduce you to a range of examples of Spanish American (e.g. may include Puerto Rican, Argentinean, and Mexican [American]) and Iberian cultural production from the period of the 1980s to the 21st century, in order to provide a sense o...

Sociophonetic Project Module

This final year module builds on the theoretical grounding students gain in LING 2011 Variation and Change in English and the instrumental analysis techniques from LING 2008 Sound and Voice. Through a series of computer, lab-based sessions, students test ...

Writing in a Second Language

The module will take you through the process, the product and the place of writing. Process will deal primarily with modelling cognitive operations, analysis of composing strategies, and individual differences and changes in processes over time. Product w...

Fees, costs and funding

Tuition fees

Fees for a year's study:

UK students pay £9,250.
EU and international students pay £20,340.

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.