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Course Requirements

Are you not sure yet what exactly you want to study? If you can identify with the following characteristics, skills and interests and have considered the warning signs at the bottom of the page, then you can be sure that the study program Language, Discourse and Power will be a good fit for you! Here, you can also find challenges that this study programme brings along.

Characteristics and Skills

Language skill: English

The first and probably most important skill you need is a high proficiency in English. This means being able to use proper grammar and spelling but also to read and understand scientific texts, as well as being able to follow discussions revolving around research questions and contributing to them. When you want to study the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power as a major, you have to have an English proficiency level of C1, if you want to take it as a minor, a proficiency level of B2 is required.

Independence and self-discipline

Different from your days at school, when studying at a university, you are more or less left to your own devices. It's up to you to structure your days, get readings on time (and reading them), learn necessary terminologies, refresh your grammar skills and meet deadlines. Forgetting to submit a term paper or a worksheet on time, for example, can potentially lead to a prolongation of your studies. Especially in the humanities, time managament and self-discipline are very important.

Ability to abstract

This skill incorporates being able to infer general statements from specific incidents, or to group terms under one heading. In empirical linguistics, this might mean, for example, to see a pattern in collected data, or to discuss research results on the basis of a self-conducted literature review.

Ability to differentiate, think critically and analytically

The ability to differentiate constitutes the skill to filter out important information out of a vast number of information and to structure them sensibly. You see the big picture as well as concrete examples and are able to differentiate between the two. You have to use that skill a lot in the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power, when reading papers, listening to presentations or attending lectures.

Next is the ability to think critically and analytically. You are able to compare findings and discuss them on the basis of existing literature. In your studies, it is possible that you have to listen to a presentation in a seminar, and then have to provide written feedback, discuss the presented topic, find more sources and draw your own conclusions.

Teamplayer

Even though you are usually structuring your studies on your own, your fellow students still play a role in them. Presenting in groups, conducting a survey together with others, or providing feedback on written essays are part of the everyday at the study programme B.A. Language, Discourse and Power.

Personal Interests that Might Help

  • Speaking, writing, and reading in English

    Even though the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power is not a literary study program, you will still be exposed to English texts on a day-to-day business. Regardless of whether you are reading research articles or insta posts; are they in English? Are you as interested in current news from the USA as you are in those from Germany (maybe even a little bit more)? Are you not afraid to debate in English?

    Then, you fulfill a basic prerequisite for the study program B.A. Language, Discourse and Power in Marburg. One of the unique features of the B.A. is that it is taught exclusively in English, which is why a passion for and an interest in the English language are very important. When studying the B.A. LDP as a major, you have to have a proficiency level of C1, for the minor, a level of B2 suffices.

  • Language

    Do you notice the different dialects of actors in English films? When you look at political election posters, do you question the function of linguistic patterns? Do you find neologisms and particular grammatical structures absolutely fascinating?

    Then, the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power is a good fit for you. Different from the other English study programmes in Marburg, the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power is exclusively concerned with linguistics. Language will be your object of analysis, and you will learn to describe its structure, function, and use.

  • Empiricism

    Do you like hard facts and numbers? Are you familiar with statistics? Do you believe that empirical data is one of the bases of scientific statements?

    In the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power, you will mainly use methods from Empirical Linguistics from the first semester onwards. There, you will learn how to collect, sort, and analyse linguistic data.

  • Politics and Society

    Do you wonder why advertisements work? Do you notice linguistic particularities of political speeches that might be manipulative? Are you interested in politics and society? Would you classify "hate speech" and "fake news" as contemporary problems of our society?

    Then, your interests fit perfectly to the focus of the study programme B.A. Language, Discourse and Power. You will research what role language plays in the emergence and prevelance of societal structures. In particular, you will be introduced to the subdisciplines of Political Linguistics and Sociolinguistics.

Challenges

  • The new and the unknown

    During your studies, you will be confronted with many things that might render you strange at first. Especially in a linguistic course of study, you will get to know new theories and methods. Try to be open-minded and don't be afraid of new things: Face the challenges of learning to transcribe dialects that you might have not heard before, working with Corpus Linguistic methods or reevaluating your understanding of power. If you are open to critically engage with new perspectives while studying on your own or while discussing them with others in the seminars, you will learn a lot in the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power.

  • Self-motivation

    Except for a deadline or an examination date, there is often no other incentive to preparing for an exam or starting to write a term paper. This is why it is essential that you want to study this program, so that you will be able to motivate yourself. In the end, it is you, and only you, who will finish your program and get your degree.

  • New media

    Especially, but not exclusively, in linguistics, the instructors teach a lot using new media. For example, in almost every room, there are modern smartboards to visually support the seminars' presentations. Furthermore, you will be taught to computationally process and analyse linguistic data, which requires basic skills in data management software, for example, MS Excel.

  • Being critical

    To successfull study the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power, it is important to learn and understand that in the humanities, there often is no clear right or wrong. Students have to critically engage with new theories – which might entail taking on an unfamiliar point of view in a discussion, or reading a  text from a new perspective. This comes along with being able to receive criticism on your own work or your own perspective and using it productively.

Warning Signs

When is the B.A. Language, Discourse and Power not a good fit for you?

  • If you want to work a full-time job next to studying full-time, you will most likely not be able to manage our work load. You might want to think about studying the B.A. part-time.
  • If your main goal is learning English, this B.A. is not a good fit for you, as our language prerequisites will be too high for you.
  • If you don't like to read, especially not in English, you might want to consider studying something non-linguistic or non-humanistic.
  • If you need a highly fixed and detailed structure of your study plan and your course work and don't like to organise yourself, then our exams and the teaching materials might be too free and flexible for you.