This module delivers a comprehensive overview of the major traditions of linguistic analysis and offers students a thorough grounding in the methods used for exploring language in different contexts. Coverage ranges from the earlier philological and structuralist approaches through to the myriad conceptualisations of language as discourse that characterise the contemporary field. The module introduces students both to the key figures and the key developments in the field of language and linguistics – Grice, Austin, Searle and many others. It also incorporates developments that intersect with the work of critical theorists and social philosophers like Gadamer, Foucault and Habermas. Students will come to understand how language and linguistics has emerged and developed as a discipline and also how their own work can be situated and positioned against this broad research background.