Language is central to human behaviour, human societies and human creativity. Discover how language works and how it shapes the world around us in this fascinating subject that crosses science and humanities.
Whether investigating the link between language and thought, the way language is learned by children, how language is used to spread disinformation online, or language as evidence in criminal investigations, you’ll address the most important topics in linguistic research using the very latest tools and techniques.
Why Lancaster
Study with the best. Linguistics at Lancaster is ranked 2nd in the world by QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026
Learn from experts. Our lecturers are world-leaders in fields like corpus linguistics, cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis and (forensic) speech science
Explore language use across a broad range of contexts. Focus on core areas of linguistic theory like phonetics, phonology, grammar and pragmatics and study language in connection with politics, health, business and law
Gain valuable work experience. Make the most of volunteering opportunities or work on a live research project through our paid internships
Benefit from world-leading facilities. Depending on your interests you might use our phonetics lab, eye-tracking lab, perception and learning lab, or EEG lab
Experience a supportive environment. Our friendly staff are here to support you throughout your studies. All students are assigned an academic adviser who is there to get to know you personally and provide guidance on a range of issues
Answering fundamental questions
You’ll address fundamental questions concerning the nature of language and ways of studying it before applying this knowledge to understand language use across a range of real-world contexts.
Where does language come from and what is it made of
How is language represented in the mindbrain and how is it related to culture and society
How do the world’s languages vary and how does the language you speak shape your experiences
How is language learned and how can it be impaired
How can technology be harnessed to study patterns in the way language is used and changes
Real-world applications
Linguists at Lancaster pride themselves on the practical applications of their research as well as its academic significance. Research in phonetics, grammar, semantics and pragmatics informs work in politics, law, media, medicine and technology.
You might explore the role of language in creating social identities and inequalities, authorship analysis and speaker identification in forensic casework, the language of advertising and digital social media, the way we talk about illness or the development of synthesized speech systems and AI.
Through such explorations, you’ll learn to ask critical questions about the language around you and gain skills required by a range of employers.
Develop a specialist skill set
This course will provide you with a skill set that opens doors to a range of exciting and rewarding careers. You will develop transferable skills that include a capacity for critical thinking, an ability to gather, organise and analyse large quantities of data, and an aptitude for generating new and innovative ideas - skills valued by current and emerging industries.
You’ll have the chance to develop specialist skills in the lexical and grammatical analysis of real and constructed languages, the acoustic analysis of speech, and computer programming for language technologies.
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