Mindless misconceptions English Language students are sick of explaining

It’s nothing like English Lit


Degree shamers are far too frequent nowadays, seemingly undermining anything that isn’t a mathematical or science degree – but a degree in English Language and Linguistics are not to be mocked.

‘But you can speak it fine, so what more is there to know?’

Anyone studying English Language or Linguistics will know the irritation caused by someone saying ‘but you speak English, so why do you need to learn it?’ Well, funnily enough, our lectures don’t consist of us reciting the various verb inflexions and saying ‘at the weekend I go to the cinema and I play tennis’ in a jolted dialect.

Language lectures are never what people expect them to be – they aren’t about capital letters and full stops – in actual fact it’s about why people have accents and what other people make of them:

‘English language is the same as English Literature, right?’

All too often you face the mindless question: ‘what books you have to read for your course?’ Yes I study the English Language, and yes numerous literary classics are written in a form of English, but no a degree in English language does not entail reading novels by Thomas Hardy, Emily Brontë or George Orwell.

A Language student who reads these classics in their own time does not feel the need to analyse why the sky is described as a specific shade of blue, or how the movement of the waves has a deep metaphoric meaning. Instead, after having learned the history of our wonderful language and the reason behind the archaic forms used, one gains a whole new understanding and more respect for these timeless novels.

‘I don’t like that there’s never one correct answer’

A common opinion is that science and maths degrees are better because there is only one answer. To this there is one necessary response: English Language and Linguistics, as one degree or as separate honours, is one of the most employable degrees due to its depth in analytical skills required and the development in forming a valid opinion based on all previous research.

Yes, it is true that there isn’t always just one answer to an English Language question, but does that not create the opportunity to create opinions that no one else may have considered or to write an essay that is completely original in the field? This does not make it an easy degree because we have more answers to choose from – quite the opposite. There isn’t a formulae to work out answers because Linguistics requires you to examine the research, look for how it is countered and then create your own judgement, possibly by carrying out your own research and analysing what you can draw from all of this together.

‘It’s all words and no equations’

Most maths and scientific questions have one answer at the end of the equation or formulae, but why does that mean English is easier or not as respectable? Does life ever have just one answer ahead? No, so surely it’s better to get some good practice at looking at all the possible conclusions to be drawn upon and make an educated opinion from what you have?

Maybe this will make it easier for narrow-minded degree shamers to comprehend:

English Language & Linguistics degree + hard work and defiance = career in any management, writing or corporate business role.

You may speak the language, but do you know how many of these sounds you use?

‘But why do you need to learn about accents?’

Accent change, accent perception and dialect change play a large role in Language and Linguistics due to their expansive discussion and research and varying impacts on the field. People who don’t study languages don’t often consider the reason why they speak how they do, why they may use a certain vowel in ‘bath’ in comparison to others saying ‘ba:th’ (that’s “barth”); or where many of our words have come from – our world didn’t just begin with Oxford English Dictionaries growing on trees.

‘Your accent sounds different’

After returning home from university, a frequent comment made in your direction is ‘ooh don’t you sound all posh and hoity-toity now!’. Funnily enough, my accent hasn’t changed just because I moved over 70 miles away from home and I thought I would make a new name for myself where I can actually pronounce my T’s and articulate properly. If anything, a degree in English Language and Linguistics gives you the perfect response to these irritable questions as you can dig deep into an explanation as to why you don’t sound posh but your accent has just evolved due to changing environments and your broadened perspective, making them regret their comment by considering which linguists say what and what their research evidence shows – try testing how long they can last before bowing out at family gatherings, it’s a real crowd dis-pleaser.

‘It’s not as hard as other degrees’

Yes I study English Language and Linguistics. No Linguistics is not a type of pasta, no I don’t read novels for my course, and no it’s not about learning how to use capital letters and full stops, but yes it is a real bloody degree! A Language and Linguistic degree gives you such an appreciation for where our great language has come from, why it is what it is now and which factors alter everyday speech.

People who mock an English Language degree clearly don’t understand the level of analysis and research that goes into it. Where do these people think their speech has derived from? They will never see that there is so much more to a language than just knowing it because merely knowing the language doesn’t mean an understanding of it. So just remember that next time you go to mock a Language and Linguistics student, make sure you think twice – especially because they’ll be less likely to proof-read your essay for spelling and grammar errors for you.