Department of English

Linguistics Certificate

Why pursue a certificate in Linguistics?

Language surrounds us, forming a core component of the human condition. Students of linguistics gain insight into how the human mind processes language, gain skills to identify patterns and structure within naturally occurring language, explore the link between language and culture, and study the role of language in educational contexts. These skills are essential to those interested in education, anthropology, communication sciences and disorders, modern languages, psychology, computer sciences, neurology, philosophy, and sociology.

Students with linguistics backgrounds thrive in professions such as speech pathology, market design, teaching English abroad, language instruction, speech recognition, and data analytics, to name a few popular career paths. Come discover how language reflects our uniquely human condition!

Declare Your Certificate

The Linguistics Certificate is available as of January 2020. To register, please complete the online registration form, and our office will submit your request.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Knowledge: Students will identify linguistic structures (sound, sentence, language in use) and apply analytical tools appropriate for these distinct structures.
  2. Application: Students will design and conduct linguistic research using data from written and spoken language.
  3. Communication: Students will use language knowledge to identify the ways in which power, context, and purpose influence linguistic choices in interactions, and apply this knowledge to improve communication strategies.
  4. Diversity: Students will articulate the relationship between cultural and linguistic diversity, identifying how such connections relate to linguistic dominance, language spread, language loss, and systems of power.

Requirements

The certificate requires a minimum of 15 credit hours at or above the 200-level that are passed with a C or better for 2.5 GPA or higher. Courses cannot be taken pass/fail.

Students must complete a minimum of 4 different courses from four categories, as well as 3 hours of a language-related elective:

  • 3 hours from Core 1: Foundations in Linguistics
  • 3 hours from Core 2: Historical Linguistics
  • 3 hours from Core 3: Language and Society
  • 3 hours from Core 4: Language Structure and Use
  • 3 hours of electives

Core 1: Foundations in Linguistics

Student must take one course at 3 credit hours from the following:

  • ENGL 430 "Structure of English" (3)
  • MLANG 600 "Principles of Linguistics" (3)
  • SPAN 580 "Introduction to Spanish Linguistics" (in Spanish) (3)
  • ANTH 220 "Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology" (3)
  • GRMN 528 "Introductory topics in German Language and Linguistics" (in German) (3)

Core 2: Historical Linguistics

Student must take one course at 3 credit hours from the following:

  • ENGL 490 "Development of the English Language" (3)
  • ENGL 790 "History of the English Language" (3)
  • SPAN 776 "History of the Spanish Language" (in Spanish) (3)
  • GRMN 728 "History of the German Language: (in German) (3)

Core 3: Language and Society

Student must take one course at 3 credit hours from the following:

  • ENGL 476 "American English" (3)
  • ENGL 757 "Language and Society" (3)
  • ENGL 603 "Topics in Linguistics" (3)
  • ANTH 328 "Topics in Linguistic Anthropology" (3)
  • ANTH 525 "Language and Culture" (3)
  • EDCI 731 " ESL/Dual Language Linguistics" (3)

Core 4: Language Structure and Use

Student must take one course at 3 credit hours from the following:

  • SPAN 670 "Advanced Spanish Grammar" (in Spanish) (3)
  • GRMN 528 " Introductory Topics in German Language and Linguistics" (in German) (3)
  • CSD 347 (CSD students only) "Introduction to Phonetics" (3)
  • CSD 515 (CSD students only) "Laboratory in Acoustic Phonetics" (1)
  • PHILO 320 "Symbolic Logic" (3)
  • PHILO 625 "The Philosophy of Language" (3)

Electives

Students must take a minimum of one 3-credit hour course of the following:

  • ENGL 435 "Linguistics for Teachers" (3)
  • ANTH 528 "Topics in Linguistics Anthropology" (3)
  • ANTH 720 "Field Methods in Linguistic Anthropology" (3)
  • CSD 442 "Developmental Psycholinguistics" (3)
  • CSD 446 (CSD students only) "Disorders of Articulation and Phonology" (3)
  • MLANG 770 "Theories of Second Language Acquisition" (3)
  • MLANG 779 "Seminar in Modern Languages (3)

Course Schedule

Review course offerings by semester for all departments on the university line schedule.

Advising

For advising about the Linguistics Certificate, contact Dr. Mary Kohn, Associate Professor of English.

Questions?

Contact english@ksu.edu for assistance.