Psychology can be studied as a single-honours degree in Experimental Psychology, or jointly as part of the degree course in Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics. Studying Psychology at Oxford, you will be taught as a scientific discipline, involving substantial amounts of practical work, experimentation, and the rigorous formulation and testing of ideas. You can concentrate on biological, cognitive, human experimental, social and developmental psychology, and you’ll address such questions as: How do we perceive colours? How do children acquire language? What predisposes two people to get on with each other? What causes schizophrenia?
Whether you study the single-honours course in Psychology, or choose to combine it with Philosophy, Linguistics or both, you will have plenty of opportunities throughout the three or four-years to experience either extended project work and research as well as written exam papers.
The College has particular strength in Neuroscience and our tutors teach students across many subjects in the Medical Sciences. At Univ, you can receive in-house teaching for all elements of the PPL degree. Our tutors are involved in cutting-edge research and they are fully committed to supporting undergraduate teaching. As a result, Psychology at Univ has a reputation for very strong academic performance. Psychology undergraduates are known for being a warm and supportive group of students and social and extra-curricular events are very well attended. See below for more information about Linguistics at Univ.
You can choose to graduate after three years with a BA degree. Many students in Psychology continue for a research-intensive fourth year leading to a Master’s degree.
Linguistics
In essence, Linguistics tries to answer the twin questions of how all human languages are alike and how individual languages differ from each other. In Oxford linguistics at undergraduate level forms part of two joint schools, Modern Languages and Linguistics (MLL) and Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics (PPL).
The first year Linguistics for both MLL and PPL involves a substantial introduction to the whole field of Linguistics, with introductory topics such as the study of sound (phonetics and phonology), language in society (sociolinguistics), and language as it changes (historical linguistics). In the remainder of the course, you will have various options which can include study of the introductory course in greater detail and some more specialised possibilities, including a linguistic project involving fieldwork.
Univ welcomes applications for MLL (with Russian or Czech) or either of the PPL combinations involving Linguistics. The College has its own tutor for Linguistics who provides tutorials and works closely with the Modern Languages, Psychology and Philosophy tutors in College to tailor the course to each individual student’s interests and preferences. Specialist options in recent years have included Old Norse and Romanian. Univ library is well provided with the books commonly needed by linguistics students, and the College has various schemes to which student may apply for funds to support undertaking fieldwork.
Students interested in a course involving Linguistics at Univ should also see our course page for Modern Languages and information on Experimental Psychology & PPL above. There are also options involving linguistics within other courses such as English, Classics, and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES).
Linguistics is not a school subject, although school courses such as the A level in English language include topics in linguistics. It’s therefore not necessary to have any formal background in linguistics in order to be offered a place. However, it is obviously advisable for potential applicants to find out about what the study of Linguistics involves.
Resources
If you are considering applying for a degree involving Psychology, a number of resources you might find useful to explore beyond the school curriculum can be found on Univ’s Staircase12 pages, including the Reading Bank and Resource Hub.
If you are considering applying for a course involving Linguistics, here are some resources you might find useful to explore beyond the school curriculum:
Many UK schools participate in the UK Linguistics Olympiad (see uklo.org) and there are equivalents in many countries worldwide.
There are lots of very accessible books about language; starting points might include:
- Marina Yaguello, Language Through the Looking Glass
- David Crystal, How Language Works
- Guy Deutscher, The Unfolding of Language
- Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct