Undergraduate - First Cycle Studies

English Studies – Literature and Culture and English Studies – Linguistics are innovative programmes designed to fit the requirements of the developing work and academic environment and to provide graduates with solid competences that will make them competitive in the job market.

English Studies – Literature and Culture

The programme English Studies – Literature and Culture comprises many disciplines. During their first year of the first-cycle programme, students take classes in the literature, history and culture of Anglophone countries, in linguistics and in practical English. Thanks to becoming acquainted with the general scope of English Studies, they are able to choose one out of the two programmes that is in line with their interests. If they are passionate about literature, film or any other of the aspects of the English-speaking culture, they select the English Studies – Literature and Culture programme. They prepare their bachelor’s theses within this field of study and the bachelor’s diploma explicitly states that they are specialists in literature.

Literature studies and culture studies are related to each other and also to other disciplines, such as history, psychology, sociology, as well as to recently emerging fields of study such as ecocriticism, animal studies or media studies. In addition to core, i.e. major, subjects students also have a chance to take courses in linguistics and social sciences as their minor.

Thanks to English being the exclusive language of instruction, students not only broaden their knowledge of the literature, culture and history of the Anglosphere, and of selected issues within linguistics, but also considerably develop their language competence. During the classes, students get familiar with methodological tools necessary to research literature and culture, both in the traditional understanding as well as in more modern forms of visual and new media culture.

Students decide about how to compose the content of their education on their own, by choosing from the offer of courses those subjects that they consider most suitable for their future education and career needs. They are also equipped with soft skills in order to facilitate their successful performance in the job market.

The programme also gives students the opportunity to additionally (outside the curriculum) take part in teacher training and take the courses necessary to obtain qualifications to teach English as a foreign language at all levels. Under current Polish regulations full teaching qualifications can be conferred upon holders of MA diplomas, but the training may be completed at the BA level.

English Studies – Linguistics

The programme English Studies – Linguistics comprises many disciplines. During their first year, students are given an overview of the subjects belonging within the domain of English Studies: they take classes in the literature, history and culture of the Anglophone countries, and classes devoted to linguistics. The latter make them aware of the fact that modern linguistics is a discipline researching, among others: the relationship between language and the human brain, diversity of language varieties, the role of language in artificial intelligence systems, communication in traditional and modern media, language change, or translation of texts of many kinds. If they are interested in those fields of research, they may choose the English Studies – Linguistics programme. They prepare their bachelor’s theses in linguistics and the bachelor’s diploma explicitly states that they are specialists in linguistics.

Linguistics is interdisciplinary by nature, contributing to and drawing on the experience of sociology, pedagogy, psychology, communication studies, and other branches of research. In addition to core, i.e. major, subjects students also have a chance to take courses in literature, culture and social studies as their minor, depending on their interests.

Thanks to English being the exclusive language of instruction, students considerably develop their language competence. They get acquainted with the literature, culture and history of the Anglosphere and, first and foremost, they study the topics within linguistics, such as social and regional varieties of language, multilingualism, communication in a variety of contexts, problems involved in translation, corpus and computational linguistics, language modeling for AI, and others.

What you should know about both programmes

Rules of choosing the English Studies – Literature and Culture or the English Studies – Linguistics programme for the first-cycle studies

(decision needs to be made towards the end of the first year)

1. The curriculum for the two semesters in the first year of study in the Institute of English Studies is the same for all first-cycle students.

2. At the beginning of the second semester of the first year, students file a written declaration stating their preferred choice of either the Literature and Culture or the Linguistics programme for the next two years of study.

3. After the winter semester examination session following the first semester of the first year of study has concluded, and students have obtained all the required grades, a ranking list of their grade-point average (GPA) results is created. The grade-point average is the sole criterion taken into account while granting students places in the chosen programme, with those holding the highest GPA being admitted first.

4. In case of change of preferences as to the chosen programme, problems with available places, or other issues regarding the procedure of choosing the programme, all applications and requests should be addressed to the Head of Study in the Institute of English Studies. The decisions will be made taking into consideration both the validity of the presented arguments and the logistic options available to the Institute.

All classes are conducted in English.

The Institute of English Studies is famous for its unique course system (for both the English Studies – Literature and Culture and English Studies – Linguistics programmes), allowing students to tailor the classes they take to their needs by choosing from the bulk of courses offered by the Institute those that are in accordance with their own interests and preferences. Practical English teaching uses modern and effective methods.

Both programmes are full-time, with teaching days from Monday to Friday, and are free from tuition fees. The seat of the Institute is the modern building of the Faculty of Modern Languages at 55 Dobra Street, Warsaw.

Admissions:

irk.uw.edu.pl/en-gb/offer/PELNE2024/programme/S1-FLAJLK/