Concentration Profiles

The Department of Linguistics offers three sub-plans within the concentration program. These are OPTIONAL: no concentrator is required to follow a particular sub-plan. They are offered for the benefit of those students who wish to have more structure in their concentration program than is provided by the default option, which comprises the three core courses plus seven electives.

Applied Linguistics and Second Language Learning and Teaching

The study of second/foreign language acquisition is a major focus of applied linguistics. Coursework in this area addresses both practical and theoretical issues. Although much of the emphasis in these courses is on teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), the principles and practices studied apply to instruction in any non-native language. A sequence of coursework in this area is especially useful for students interested in teaching ESL, particularly in international settings.

Students will have opportunities to meet faculty members and observe language courses in the language departments and at the English Language Institute, a principal center of second language instructional research and curriculum development.

Students following this concentration profile who seek a certificate stating that the student has completed a sequence of courses in this concentration area are required to take Ling 350 and three other courses from the list below and/or others approved by a Linguistics advisor (in addition to the three core courses required of all concentrators). The certificate will be issued upon graduation.

*Note that this certificate is not legal certification in ESL for the public schools.

• Ling 319 Academic Discourse
• Ling 350 Perspectives on Second Language Learning and Second Language Instruction
• Ling 351 Second Language Acquisition
• Ling 342 Perspectives on Bilingualism
• Ling 361 Studies in American Sign Language
• Ling 385 Experiential Practice
• Ling 429 Discourse Analysis and Language Teaching
• Ling 440 Language Learnability
• Ling 532 Issues in Bilingualism

Other areas of concentration may be pursued informally. Here are a few examples.

Students who wish to explore the relation between language and human cognitive capabilities are encouraged to combine coursework in linguistics and psychology. This program is particularly recommended for students seeking a double concentration in these two units.

Students interested in combining linguistics with work in a particular language should take courses dealing with the history and structure of that language. Such a concentration assumes the ability to use the spoken and written language; courses that focus on learning the languages (generally 100- and 200-level) will not count as part of the concentration requirements in linguistics.

Students who are interested in how language is used within its social setting, and the relation between language variation and social structure, may combine linguistics courses with relevant courses offered in anthropology or sociology. This program is effective as part of a double concentration in Linguistics and either of these two departments.

Students interested in learning about issues in natural language and computation may combine relevant courses in linguistics, philosophy, and computer science. These students may also choose to pursue a double concentration in linguistics and either of these two fields.

Students interested in applying the methods of linguistic analysis to spoken English discourse and to written English texts can combine the study of linguistics with courses in historical or discourse analysis.

Linguistics for a Multicultural World

Courses in this sub-plan focus on issues related to historical, sociocultural, and typological aspects of linguistics, particularly as these are relevant to multilingualism and multiculturalism. The sub-plan is designed to teach students to use the tools of linguistic inquiry to address questions of relationships among languages, cultures, and societies. Special attention is devoted to the emergence of global languages, particularly (nowadays) English. The courses in this track approach the study of language from a variety of perspectives and seek to equip students to become productive and informed citizens in an increasingly multicultural world.

To follow this sub-plan, students are required to take one of the following courses: Ling 317, Language and History; Ling 340, Introduction to Sociolinguistics; or Ling 362, Talking and Telling. In addition, students will choose three other courses, ideally including at least one in each of the two subgroups below (but not necessarily, because they may also choose to take two or more of the required-course set):

Focus on the World:

• Ling 318 Types of Languages
• Ling 342 Perspectives on Bilingualism
• Ling 449 Pidgins and Creoles

Focus on the United States:

• Ling 305 Advertising Rhetoric
• Ling 339 African American Languages and Dialects
• Ling 370 Language and Discrimination
• Ling 375 Language in the Mass Media
• Ling 394 Topics in Linguistics: Language and Gender

Language and Mind

The language and mind profile introduces students to the multidisciplinary investigation of human language and the mind/brain. Research within this enterprise attempts to characterize the acquisition/development, origin, representation and processing of linguistic knowledge through both theoretical and empirical/experimental investigation. Specific topics include, but are not limited to, linguistic theory, psycholinguistics, cognition, perception, reasoning, and formal and computational models of linguistic knowledge and processes. The sub-concentration focuses on the investigation both of universal aspects of human linguistic knowledge and of cognitive mechanisms that determine the observed diversity of human language.

This profile is also relevant for students who wish to pursue graduate study in linguistics; psychology; cognitive science; speech, language and hearing science; philosophy; education; computer science and artificial intelligence; and related fields. In addition, it is of direct interest to students with applied career goals in domains that utilize the knowledge base from this track: natural language processing by computers, human computer interaction, teaching and learning languages, literacy and the diagnosis and treatment of language disorders.

To follow this profile, students are required to take 12 credits from the courses below, as part of their credit hours for the linguistics concentration. It is recommended that students interested in this track take Ling 200 Language and Human Mind as one of their first courses.

• Ling 200 Language and Human Mind
• Ling 320 Computer Programming for Linguistics and Language Studies
• Ling 342 Perspectives on Bilingualism
• Ling 347 Talking Minds
• Ling 352 Development of Language and Thought
• Ling 394 Topics in Linguistics: Language, Cognition and Human Experience
• Ling 440 Language Learnability
• Ling 447 Psychology of Language
• Ling 492 Topics in Linguistics: Natural Language Processing Systems
• Phil 345 Language and Mind
• Phil 409 Philosophy of Language
• EECS 492 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence