The main programme aims of the programme are to enable students to understand, evaluate and compare a range of theoretical and methodological frameworks; to enable students to develop and apply their knowledge and skills to the understanding and evaluation of issues and problems in the contemporary world; to enable students to develop and apply key generic skills in critical thinking, research, oral and written articulation of information and argument; to equip students for progression to a wide variety of careers or to further academic study. For the Linguistics part of the programme students will develop skills to propose, test and apply theories of language structure, acquisition and use; form and test scientific hypotheses about linguistic phenomena; use specialist equipment and software for phonetic analysis; describe synchronic and diachronic phenomena and processes in language. The programme aims to enable students with little or no previous knowledge of Japanese language and culture to acquire and develop interest in and understanding of Japanese speaking countries, including the Japanese language, history, literature, culture and society. It offers society the resource of intellectually trained individuals capable of acting as conduits of knowledge and understanding between Britain and Japanese-speaking countries. The programme is taught within the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures.