Colleagues from the departments of Comparative Literature, English Language and Linguistics and Modern Languages hosted this year’s Text and Language Day on the theme of ‘Unlocking Language’ on 26 June.

Text and Languages Day is an annual event which forms a key part of the School’s outreach programme, and is aimed at enthusing and motivating students about language and culture. It follows World Languages Day events for younger pupils, which took place at the University’s Medway and Canterbury campuses on 19 and 25 June.

Aimed at year 12 pupils studying English Language or Modern Languages, Text and Language Day explores approaches to language and text at A Level and beyond. The day is designed to encourage pupils to think more boldly about text and language, exploring different approaches to key ideas covered at A Level and providing an opportunity to discover some of the ways in which language and literature are studied at university. The University was delighted to welcome pupils from St George’s C of E School, Dover Grammar School for Boys, Rainham Mark Grammar School, Ashford School, The Harvey Grammar School, and Chatham Grammar School for Girls.

Dr Alexandra Martin-Carey, Humanities Subject Specialist in the University’s Partnership Development Office, who organised the day, said: “It was fantastic to work with a range of colleagues and postgraduate students from across three departments to create a day of exploration for local year 12 pupils. Students from a range of A level subjects were able to discover the connections between their own studies and disciplines taught here at the University, and to forge connections between those various disciplines, whist learning about university life and our campus.”

Feedback from students attending the day included:

“The subjects discussed were different from A Level so were eye opening”

“I already wanted to do linguistics and modern languages and now I am even more excited to!”