Through investigation and discussion of historical and theoretical contexts, students read, discuss and write about an array of texts; English Language students begin the course programme studying the nature and origins of language, while keeping an eye on possible future developments; historical manuscripts, printed texts, literature, dialect recordings and modern electronic collections are analysed as students investigate the social, historic and psychological aspects of English; advertising and the media also comes under the spotlight as students investigate the power of language to influence the way people think; whilst students can expect to develop a broad theoretical knowledge on sociological issues, they also benefit from a range of guest speakers, practitioners and a variety of field trips.