M.A. in Linguistics

Master of Arts in Linguistics

Courses of study

The M.A. in Linguistics offers several options.

  • General Option: For students who would like a broad background in the study of language structure and usage.
  • The Language and Culture Option allows students to take courses both in Linguistics and Anthropology that deal with theory, research, and applications in the area of language study from a cultural/anthropological point of view.
  • The TESOL Option combines courses in linguistics and pedagogy, to prepare students for teaching English both in the U.S. and abroad.
  • The Special Concentration Option allows a student to plan an individualized course of study around a special interest. Recent students have designed special concentrations in Psycholinguistics, Computational Linguistics, teaching Spanish, teaching Japanese, and teaching Chinese.

All options are suitable either as preparation for immediately entering the job market, or as preparation for PhD study. The majority of graduate courses are offered in the evenings, to accommodate working students. For complete information on prerequisites and graduation requirements, see the Catalog.

Program Learning Outcomes for the MA in Linguistics

Goals for students receiving the MA degree:

1. Students will demonstrate analytic knowledge of a variety of grammatical structures, and the ability to relate language structures to theoretical perspectives on grammar.

2. Students will demonstrate understanding of the social, cultural and political dimensions of language use in everyday and institutional contexts.

3. Students will demonstrate abilities in developing a range of ESL/EFL classroom learning activities that maximize student learning.

4. Students will demonstrate substantial knowledge of language variation, including historical change and dialect variety

5. Students will demonstrate understanding of how people acquire first and second languages and the implications of the nature of language acquisition for language instruction and education policy.

6. Students will demonstrate understanding of research methodologies in linguistics by designing and carrying out original independent research on a linguistic topic.