Skills you can develop English Language and Applied Linguistics
English language and applied linguistics graduates develop a deep insight towards the role of English as a global language and its use in various parts of the world. This also makes the UK an attractive destination for overseas students.
In 2020-21, the UK welcomed 605,130 international students, making it the third most popular study destination in the world.
UUKI Publications International Facts and Figures 2022
As the above statistic demonstrates, teaching English within the UK or overseas will continue to provide value in a global economy. Although it is just one of the areas in which graduates of English language and applied linguistics could work as English is marketable in most job sectors.
The video Why English Language Studies? explains what studying English Language at university involves and the advantages of studying it.
Skills you can develop
As well as the specific subject knowledge gained from studying for an OU degree, you'll develop many transferable and work-related skills that are highly valued by employers and which will increase your employability.
For English and Applied Linguistics students the employability skills you will develop include:
- independent working
- time management and organisation
- planning and researching written work
- articulating knowledge and understanding of texts, concepts and theories
- effectively conveying arguments and opinions and thinking creatively
- using your judgement to weigh up alternative perspectives
- critical reasoning and analysis
- using IT.
To check which skills valued by employers can be developed from studying a particular subject, look at the ‘What can I do with my degree?’ pages on the Prospects website.
To see specific learning outcomes related to the degrees in this area have a look at the OU language courses.
If you’re a registered OU student, you can find further careers information tailored to your qualification at your Study Home site, under the Succeed tab.
Student stories
I chose to study English Language with the OU because I want to gain a technical knowledge of language and also boost my creative writing skills.
Faye - English Language
I get really emotive about an issue and it inspires me to write about it.
Shereen - English Literature and Creative Writing
The future holds much more positive things now than it did previously and I do not believe that this would have happened had it not been for the Open University.
Mark - English Literature and Creative Writing
To see the experiences of other OU students visit Student careers stories.
OU qualifications
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