If you want to know more about linguistics, the story of English and how people communicate, why not try your local library or bookshop with our list of books, selected by our team of experts:

English: History, Diversity and Change
Graddol, D., Leith, R. and Swann, J.

Using English: From Conversation to Canon
Maybin, J. and Mercer, N.M.

Learning English: Development and Diversity
Mercer, N. M. and Swann, J

Redesigning English: New Texts, New Identities
Goodman, S. and Graddol, D.
(all published by Routledge in 1996)

Other useful and accessible books include:

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
Crystal, D. (1997) CUP

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language
Crystal, D. (1995) CUP

The English Language
Crystal, D. (2002, 2nd edition) Penguin Books
Professor Crystal is an international authority on the English language and writes accessibly for a general audience.

The Future of English
Graddol, D. (1997) The British Council
A rich compendium of facts and figures on the current global position of English in relation to other languages, together with analysis of future trends.

The Languages of the World
Katzner, K. (1977) Routledge
An introduction to the histories and cultures of the world’s major languages, with brief written examples of each.

The Story of English
McCrum, R. et al (3rd edition, 2002) Faber/BBC Publications
Originally produced to accompany the BBC series of the same name, an outline of the history of English as a global language, full of fascinating examples.

If you would like to follow up your interest by taking a course, the OU offers a range of courses and qualifications designed to fit you.

Which type of course is best for you?

• Not sure if you want a long course?
• Have some experience of study and Interested in Media?
• Have study experience and looking for more?

Short Courses

Design and the Web (T183)
This ten-week online course, based on a course website, shows how design principles can be applied to the creation of well-designed web pages and websites.  It explores the elements of web page design, text, colour, images, and assembling them as layout. The course also covers usability issues such as navigation, access, interactivity, and designing virtual experiences.  You will get to play the role of a designer commissioned to design a website for the course team for your final assessment.

Details of all the OU's short technology courses can be found on their short technology courses page.

Longer Courses and Qualifications

Open University courses are the main 'building blocks' of our qualifications. You can take a single course or take several to build towards an Open University diploma or degree.

Which level of study is most suitable for you?

• Do you have some study experience and want to take your interest in media further?
• Interested in postgraduate study?

Undergraduate Courses

You can follow up your interest in the media through a variety of Open University courses including:

Understanding Media (DA204)
The communications media (newspapers, photography, radio, film, television, popular music, advertising and the internet, to name only a few) have profoundly transformed the way we live.  The main aim of this course is to equip you with a robust and practical understanding of the main issues facing media businesses, governments and ourselves, as consumers of the media, and as citizens living in societies saturated by media messages.

Culture, Media and Identities (D318)
This innovative course explores the interdisciplinary field of cultural and media studies. It analyses current theoretical ideas and debates about culture, and charts its growing importance in all aspects of life. The main topics include the growth of new technologies and their effects on everyday life and popular culture; analysis of media messages and images; how culture constructs new identities and marks differences between groups;analysis of the global revolution in the production and circulation of 'cultural goods'; and the rise of the new multimedia cultural industries that dominate the networks of circulation.

Postgraduate Courses

Transformations in Media Culture (D852)

Recent years have seen far-reaching changes in communication technologies, press and broadcasting ownership and regulation, and media forms. Through case studies of telephone, press, broadcasting, film and photography, you will explore the relative significance of technological, economic, regulatory and other factors in shaping modern media.  You will examine new media systems and the interrelationship of ownership, regulation, technologies and markets as well as considering global aspects of media transformations and debates about homogenisation and cultural imperialism.

This course can be studied on its own, but can also be studied as part of the postgraduate programme in cultural and media studies.