Linguistics, BALAS
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Linguistics
The Department of Linguistics offers undergraduate instruction of four types: courses in linguistics, in English as an International Language, English as a Second Language, and in non-Western languages.
Linguistics courses focus on empirical and theoretical issues connected with how languages are structured, how they are used, and how they change through time. These courses are of interest not only to linguistics majors, but to students in any field where the analysis of languages is important: anthropology, speech and hearing science, psychology, philosophy, computer science, foreign languages, and others.
English as an International Language courses are concerned with the teaching of English to speakers of other languages, and are useful to any students planning a career in language teaching.
English as a Second Language courses are for students whose first language is not English, to build up skills in speaking, understanding, reading, and writing English.
Non-Western Language courses build up skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing a specific language; familiarize students with literatures and cultures connected with the language; and examine linguistic issues peculiar to the language itself. These courses are of interest to students planning international careers, or simply desiring to broaden their perspective and learn about a different language and culture. Languages offered by the department are: African Languages (Bamana, Lingala, Swahili, Wolof, and Zulu), Arabic, Hindi, Modern Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, Turkish.
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Linguistics
A Major Plan of Study Form must be completed and submitted to the LAS Student Affairs Office before the end of the fifth semester (60-75 hours). Please see your adviser.
Departmental distinction: Students are strongly encouraged to fulfill the requirements for completing their program with distinction. Candidates for the degree with distinction must register their candidacy with their advisers no later than the end of the second semester of the junior year. They must achieve a grade point average of at least 3.4 for the required 36 hours in linguistics, and register for at least 4 hours of LING 391 - Honors Individual Study, plus submit a senior honors thesis to the Department of Linguistics by the first day of the month preceding the month of graduation.
General education: Students must complete the Campus General Education requirements including the campus general education language requirement.
Minimum required major and supporting course work: Normally equates to 50-52 hours.
Students must complete 21 hours of coursework at the 300- or 400-level, including at least 12 hours of 300- or 400-level linguistics courses on this campus. These courses may be included in the core courses or electives.
Twelve hours of 300- or 400-level courses in the major must be taken on this campus.
Minimum hours required for graduation: 120 hours.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Major core courses: | 18 | |
| Intro to Language Science | ||
| Language History | ||
| Elements of Syntax | ||
| Elements of Phonology | ||
| Elmnts Semantics & Pragmatics | ||
| Intro to General Phonetics | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Language, Mind, and Brain | ||
| American Voices: Linguistic Diversity in the US | ||
| Major electives: 15 hours of Linguistics courses at the 200- to 400-level, chosen in consultation with the student's advisor | 15 | |
| Students must fulfill the LAS foreign language requirement, and in addition, complete at least 8 hours in a second foreign language. One of these languages must be a non-Western language chosen from the following list or approved in consultation with the student's advisor: American Sign Language, Arabic, Bamana, Basque, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi/Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Lingala, Persian, Quechua, Sanskrit, Swahili, Turkish, Wolof, Zulu. Courses used to complete this requirement may also be used to meet the requirement of "Courses in linguistically relevant areas," below. | 8-10 | |
| Courses in linguistically relevant areas chosen in consultation with the student's advisor. There are two ways of meeting this requirement: | 14 | |
A. The courses may come from any of the following disciplines: any foreign language, anthropology, classics, computer science, English, English as an international language, philosophy, psychology, speech and hearing science, communication. | ||
B. Students desiring to specialize in the linguistics of a particular language should complete at least four semesters of instruction in that language beyond the elementary level, and a linguistics course or independent study focusing on the selected language or its language family. | ||
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Linguistics
Sample Sequence
This sample sequence is intended to be used only as a guide for degree completion. All students should work individually with their academic advisors to decide the actual course selection and sequence that works best for them based on their academic preparation and goals. Enrichment programming such as study abroad, minors, internships, and so on may impact the structure of this four-year plan. Course availability is not guaranteed during the semester indicated in the sample sequence.
Students must fulfill their Language Other Than English requirement by successfully completing a fourth level of a language other than English. See the corresponding section on the Degree General and Education Requirements page.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| Free elective course | 1 | LING 225 or 250 | 3 |
| Language Other than English (3rd level) | 4 | Language Other than English (4th level) | 4 |
| Composition I or General Education course | 4 | General Education course or Composition I | 3 |
| LING 100 | 3 | General Education Course | 3 |
| General Education Course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| LING 301 | 3 | LING 307 | 3 |
| LING 200 - 400 level Major Elective course | 3 | LING 200 - 400 level Major Elective course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| General Education course | 3 | General Education course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free elective course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| LING 401 | 3 | LING 302 | 3 |
| LING 210 | 3 | LING 200 - 400 level Major Elective course | 3 |
| Second Language Other Than English (1st Level) | 4 | Second Language Other Than English (2nd Level) | 4 |
| General Education course | 3 | Linguistically relevant area course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free elective course | 3 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| LING 200 - 400 level Major Elective course | 3 | LING 200 - 400 level Major Elective course | 3 |
| Linguistically relevant area course | 3 | Linguistically relevant area course | 4 |
| Linguistically relevant area course | 4 | Free elective course | 3 |
| Free elective Course | 2 | Free elective course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 2 | ||
| 14 | 13 | ||
| Total Hours 120 | |||
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Linguistics
- Students will acquire substantial understanding of how languages are structured, including the organization of phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic systems; of the ways such systems vary from language to language; and of how they change over time.
- Students will gain a sense of how languages function: how they are processed psychologically, how they are learned, how they are effectively taught, how they express social identity, and/or how computational and other technologies may be applied to them.
- Students will learn to think analytically about language, to present and justify analyses systematically, to support claims with sound arguments and empirical evidence, and to evaluate claims about language critically.
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Major in Linguistics
Department of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics Faculty
Department of Linguistics Advising
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
College of LAS admissions & requirements