M.A. in Linguistics

Master of Arts in Linguistics

Courses of study

The M.A. in Linguistics offers three 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 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 in Linguistics:

  1. Students will be able to analyze a variety of grammatical structures, and relate language structures to theoretical perspectives on grammar.
  2. Students will be able to discuss the social, cultural and political dimensions of language use in everyday and institutional contexts.
  3. Students will be able to describe and explain language variation and historical change, language contact, bilingualism, and language variety.
  4. Students will use and evaluate research methodologies in linguistics by designing and carrying out original independent research on a linguistic topic.