Bachelor of Arts (Linguistics and Literature)

Introduction to General Linguistics

Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore

Foundational concepts in linguistics including the nature of language, linguistic levels, and introduction to phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics.

Introduction to Literary Studies

Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore

Foundational concepts in literary studies including genres of literature, literary terminology, approaches to reading and analysing texts, and introduction to literary theory.

Phonetics and Phonology

Year 1Semester 23 creditsCore

Articulatory phonetics, the International Phonetic Alphabet, speech sound production, phonetic transcription, and phonological theory including sound systems of English and African languages.

African Literature

Year 1Semester 23 creditsCore

Survey of African literature including prose, poetry, and drama from different regions, examining themes, styles, and historical contexts of African literary expression.

Morphology and Syntax

Year 2Semester 13 creditsCore

Word structure and formation, morphological processes, sentence structure, grammatical categories, and syntactic theory with tree diagrams and structural analysis.

Literary Theory and Criticism

Year 2Semester 13 creditsCore

Major literary theories including formalism, structuralism, post-colonialism, feminism, and reader-response theory — applying critical frameworks to literary texts.

Semantics and Pragmatics

Year 2Semester 23 creditsCore

Meaning in language including lexical semantics, compositional semantics, reference, speech acts, implicature, and discourse pragmatics.

Oral Literature and Folklore

Year 2Semester 23 creditsCore

Study of oral literature traditions in Africa including folktales, proverbs, riddles, songs, myths, and oral poetry — examining their cultural significance and literary value.

Sociolinguistics

Year 3Semester 13 creditsCore

Language in social context including language variation, dialects, multilingualism, code-switching, language attitudes, and language policy in African societies.

Comparative Literature

Year 3Semester 23 creditsCore

Comparative study of literature across languages, cultures, and traditions — examining themes, influences, and cross-cultural literary connections.

Research Methods in Language and Literature

Year 4Semester 13 creditsCore

Research methodology for language and literary studies including qualitative and quantitative methods, textual analysis, corpus methods, and research ethics.

Final Year Research Project

Year 4Semester 26 creditsCore

Final-year research project integrating linguistics and literature, with textual analysis or fieldwork, written dissertation, and oral defence.

Linguistics and Language Analysis

Focus on phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and sociolinguistics for careers in language research, teaching, and language consultancy.

Literary Criticism and Theory

Focus on literary theory, critical analysis, and literary movements for careers in publishing, criticism, and academic research.

African Literature and Oral Traditions

Focus on African literature, oral literature, folklore, and indigenous literary traditions for careers in cultural preservation, publishing, and education.

Comparative Literature

Focus on comparative literary studies across languages, cultures, and traditions for careers in translation, academic research, and international publishing.

Creative and Professional Writing

Focus on creative writing, professional writing, and editorial skills for careers in publishing, media, and content creation.

Language Education

Focus on language pedagogy, curriculum development, and educational linguistics for careers as English and Literature teachers in secondary schools.

HELB Undergraduate Loan

County Government Bursaries

University Scholarships and Bursaries

County Government Bursaries

BursaryKsh 30,000Kenyan

Students from the respective county, applied through county education offices.

University Internal Bursaries

BursaryKsh 20,000Kenyan

Needy students enrolled at the respective university, applied through the financial aid office.

Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) Loan

LoanKsh 60,000Kenyan

Needy Kenyan students placed through KUCCPS in public universities.

Higher Education Fund (HEF)

BursaryKenyan

Kenyan undergraduate students placed by KUCCPS in public universities

Continuous Assessment Tests

Coursework30% of the mark

Written tests covering linguistics, literary theory, set texts, and language analysis, assessed through mid-semester and end-of-semester examinations.

Text Analysis and Language Practical Assignments

Coursework25% of the mark

Phonetic transcription exercises, syntactic analysis, literary text analysis essays, and oral literature documentation reports assessed through practical submissions.

Research Papers and Critical Essays

Coursework15% of the mark

Research papers, literary criticism essays, linguistic analysis assignments, and literature reviews assessed throughout each semester.

Final Examinations and Research Project

Examination30% of the mark

End-of-semester written examinations and a final-year research project integrating linguistics and literature, with written dissertation and oral defence.

Commission for University Education (CUE)

Academic accreditationRequired

Statutory accreditation for all Kenyan universities offering degree programmes.

English and Literature Teacher (TSC Grade C2)

High demandKsh 41,400 to Ksh 57,200

Teaches English language and Literature in secondary schools under TSC employment, combining linguistic knowledge with literary analysis skills for effective curriculum delivery.

Editor

Moderate demandKsh 35,000 to Ksh 65,000

Edits and prepares manuscripts for publication in publishing houses, media organisations, and corporate communications — applying linguistic precision and literary judgement.

Content Creator and Writer

High demandKsh 30,000 to Ksh 60,000

Creates written content for media houses, marketing agencies, NGOs, and digital platforms — combining creative writing skills with linguistic accuracy.

Communications Officer

Moderate demandKsh 35,000 to Ksh 65,000

Develops and manages organisational communications, writes press releases, edits publications, and coordinates content across platforms for organisations.

Civil Service Officer (CSG 10)

High demandKsh 42,970 to Ksh 59,120

Entry-level government position handling administrative duties, communications, editorial work, and cultural programme implementation in ministries and county governments.

Microsoft Office Suite

SoftwarePrimary

Productivity tools including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access for essay writing, research documentation, data management, and professional communication.

Praat

SoftwarePrimary

Open-source phonetics software for speech analysis, acoustic phonetics, and phonetic transcription — essential for phonetics and phonology coursework.

Google Workspace

Software

Collaboration and productivity tools for document creation, project coordination, email communication, and team collaboration in academic and professional work.

Zotero

Software

Open-source reference management software for organising research sources, creating bibliographies, and managing citations — essential for literary research and dissertation writing.

AntConc

Software

Corpus analysis toolkit for concordance analysis, collocations, and text pattern analysis — useful for both linguistic research and literary text analysis.

Linguistics and Literature is just about reading books.

The programme combines scientific language analysis (phonetics, syntax, semantics) with critical literary theory — it requires analytical rigour, not just reading enjoyment.

This degree only leads to teaching.

While teaching is a major career path, graduates work in publishing, editing, media, creative writing, communications, research, and civil service — the skills are versatile across multiple sectors.

Linguistics and literature are unrelated fields.

Linguistics provides the scientific understanding of how language works, while literature applies language creatively — together they give a complete picture of language as both system and art.

Studying literature is not practical.

Literary analysis develops critical thinking, cultural awareness, communication skills, and creativity — all valuable in publishing, media, communications, education, and creative industries.

There are no jobs for linguistics and literature graduates in Kenya.

Graduates are employed as teachers, editors, writers, content creators, communications officers, and researchers — sectors with consistent demand for language and literary skills.