The Department is home to two distinct subjects at undergraduate level, namely General Linguistics and Applied English Language Studies. In addition, the Department teaches a third-year Meta Science module at Faculty level.
General Linguistics is offered on all undergraduate year levels. Students are exposed to formal and applied linguistics. Topics covered include the structure, use, and acquisition of language, language and thought, and multilingualism.
Applied English Language Studies is offered on second-year and third-year levels. It focusses on several aspects of English. Students are also exposed to various principles and methods of conducting language studies. Students must have completed either General Linguistics 178 or English Studies 178 in order to enrol for Applied English Language Studies in their second year.
At first-year level, students can learn to sign by enrolling for South African Sign Language Acquisition 178 (no previous exposure to sign language is necessary). At second-year level, students get an introduction to sign language linguistics as part of General Linguistics 278 (General Linguistics 178 is a prerequisite). Students can then deepen their knowledge of sign language linguistics in third year by enrolling for Sign Language Linguistics 318 (General Linguistics 278 is a prerequisite).
