Graduate Programs

Explore our Graduate Programs

As scientists, we seek to explain why the many language patterns we identify take the form that they do, and to understand how linguistic structure arises. Graduate students in the Department of Linguistics work with leading scholars whose research ranges from field linguistics to lab-based experimental approaches, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.


students working on group activity in classroom

Master’s Degree in Language Teaching Studies

This 11-month intensive graduate program is a terminal degree for teachers of English and/or teachers of other languages. Only under exceptional circumstances do we admit students to work toward an MA in General Linguistics.

LTS prepares leaders in language education. In this era of globalization, the program serves the evolving needs of both majority and minority language learners. Students can specialize in more than one language, including minoritized languages such as the Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest. 

LTS Master's Degree Requirements (prior to Fall 2024) 

LTS Master’s Degree Requirements (a/o Fall 2024) 
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Doctorate Degree in Linguistics

Tailored to the individual student’s needs and professional goals, the PhD program in Linguistics combines a foundation in functional linguistic theory with a strong preparation in empirical research methods, both in laboratory and field settings. The PhD program cuts across the College, with support from the fields of East Asian and Romance Languages, Psychology, Neuroscience, Anthropology, and Computer Science.

Our strengths include:

  • Descriptive linguistics
  • Language revitalization
  • Historical/typological/areal linguistics
  • First and second language acquisition
  • Second language teaching
  • Laboratory phonology and phonetics
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Corpus linguistics

Cecilia Staggs

The Influence of Social Information on Speech Intelligibility

“The goal of my study is to analyze the ways that language ideologies within the US Latino community interact with social expectations related to speech production, and ultimately influence how intelligible listeners perceive a speaker to be. Intelligibility refers to a listener’s ability to transcribe the speech and has been found to be susceptible to factors external to the speech stream like language ideologies and listeners’ expectations.”

—Cecelia Staggs, PhD candidate, 2025


Funding your Graduate Studies

Explore the best ways to get help paying for school. Find costs and funding information for the MA in Language Teaching Studies, support for the PhD program in Linguistics, and general support at the college and university level.

Funding and Research Support


linguistics graduate student cohort group photo
Resources for the Graduate Community

Events

Let's Talk - Wednesdays 2-4PM @ BCC
Dec6
Let's Talk - Wednesdays 2-4PM @ BCC Dec 6 Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series: Zoey Kambour, 2023 Martha Thorsland Baker Fellow
Dec21
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series: Zoey Kambour, 2023 Martha Thorsland Baker Fellow Dec 21
Reading by Claire Luchette & Morgan Thomas
Jan10
Reading by Claire Luchette & Morgan Thomas Jan 10 Knight Library
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series
Jan18
Special Collections Research Fellows Speaker Series Jan 18
New Media and Culture Certificate Open House
Jan22
New Media and Culture Certificate Open House Jan 22 Knight Library
Wine Chat: "The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture"
Jan25
Wine Chat: "The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture" Jan 25 Capitello Wines
Never Convicted, Never Prosecuted: How Traitors Wrote Their Way Out of Prison and Into Lost Cause Mythology
Jan30
Never Convicted, Never Prosecuted: How Traitors Wrote Their Way Out of Prison and Into Lost Cause Mythology Jan 30 McKenzie Hall
Winter Career & Internship Expo
Feb1
Winter Career & Internship Expo Feb 1 Erb Memorial Union (EMU)
Guest Worker: Lives across Borders in an Age of Prosperity, 1919-75
Feb13
Guest Worker: Lives across Borders in an Age of Prosperity, 1919-75 Feb 13 McKenzie Hall
Poetry Reading by Aaron Baker 
Feb14
Poetry Reading by Aaron Baker  Feb 14 Knight Library