Linguistics and TESOL - Undergraduate Programs
Overview
Linguistics is the discipline that studies the structures, acquisition, and histories of human languages around the world. Linguists are not, then, principally people who know many languages, but rather people who investigate how a language is organized and what features all languages exhibit.
The Department of Linguistics and TESOL at UT Arlington is especially concerned with the study of minority, often endangered, languages. The curriculum offers students enriching insight into the cultural diversity represented in the more than 6,000 living languages currently known on the planet. The department also presents current approaches to the teaching of English to speakers of other languages.
The study of linguistics prepares students for a variety of careers, among them teaching English to speakers of other languages in the United States and abroad, brand naming (lexicon work), information and intelligence analyst, language policy, forensic linguistics and the law, computer analysis of language, language education, and graduate study in linguistics. Above all, students in the Department of Linguistics and TESOL are made especially aware of the complex world in which we live by studying a universal and most definitive human experience: language.
Requirements for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics
| Pre-Professional Courses | ||
| General Core Requirements | 42 | |
| Recommended Core Requirements | ||
| LING 2301 | INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN LANGUAGE | 3 |
| LING 2371 | LANGUAGE IN A MULTICULTURAL USA | 3 |
| Program Requirements | ||
| LING 3345 | CRITICAL REASONING IN LINGUISTICS 2 | 3 |
| Select one of the following: 3 | ||
Sophomore level of a Foreign Language course when taken at UT Arlington | ||
| CORPUS LINGUISTICS | ||
| Electives 4 | ||
| Professional Courses | ||
| Major | ||
| Linguistics course at the 2000 level | 3 | |
| LING 3311 | INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC SCIENCE | 3 |
| LING 3330 | PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY | 3 |
| LING 3340 | SYNTAX I | 3 |
| LING 4347 | PRAGMATICS | 3 |
| LING 3345 | CRITICAL REASONING IN LINGUISTICS | 3 |
| or PHIL 2311 | LOGIC | |
| LING 4301 | PHONOLOGICAL THEORY I | 3 |
| or LING 4303 | SYNTAX II | |
| Linguistics courses at 3000/4000 level | 12 | |
| Service-Learning Requirement (see below) | 3 | |
| Enhanced Language Requirement (see below) | ||
| Electives 4 | ||
| Total Hours | 87 | |
| 1 | For a list of approved courses, contact the University Advising Center or the student's major department. |
| 2 | The department advisor must certify completion of this requirement. |
| 3 | If neither of these conditions are met, consult the advisor for ways to satisfy this computer competency requirement. The department advisor must certify completion of this requirement. |
| 4 | Sufficient number of hours to complete the total hours required for a degree. |
Note: The 12 additional hours of linguistics courses at the 3000/4000 level may include linguistics courses offered by other departments, with approval of the department advisor, provided those courses do not satisfy either the Enhanced Language Requirement or the Minor. Under no circumstances can courses used for the Enhanced Language Requirement or Minor be used to satisfy requirements for linguistics major courses.
Service-Learning Requirement
This will be satisfied by the student enrolling in and earning at least a 2.0 in three hours of credit from a departmental course designated as "service-learning." A course may satisfy both the service-learning requirement and the hours requirements for the major. (For example, LING 3311 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC SCIENCE if taught as service-learning could satisfy the major requirement and the service-learning requirement.) The Department will maintain a list of courses and section numbers by semesters/year (i.e., Fall 2010) for verification of this requirement, and the department advisor must certify completion of this requirement.
Enhanced Language Requirement
The enhanced language requirement consists of coursework that covers the first year, second year, and third year levels of instruction in a single language. This requirement is equivalent of three years of language instruction, up to and including six hours at the 3000-level in a single language, where that language is not English and is not the student's home language. Classical, modern, signed or indigenous (for example, Native American) languages are all permissible languages to satisfy this requirement.
Requirements for a Minor in Linguistics
All undergraduate students who elect to minor in linguistics must take:
| LING 2301 | INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN LANGUAGE | 3 |
| LING 3311 | INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC SCIENCE | 3 |
| LING 3330 | PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY | 3 |
| or LING 3340 | SYNTAX I | |
| One course at the 4000-level with a LING prefix | 3 | |
| Any undergraduate level course bearing the LING prefix 1 | 6 | |
| Total Hours | 18 | |
| 1 | Students intending to pursue graduate study in linguistics should, however, follow a course program that includes these courses as part of their minor: LING 2301 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN LANGUAGE, LING 3311 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC SCIENCE, LING 3330 PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY, and LING 3340 SYNTAX I. |
Minor
18 hours in an allied field (psychology, anthropology, philosophy, education, computer science, classical/modern languages, or another field approved by the undergraduate advisor). A student may choose to use the same 18 hours to simultaneously satisfy the enhanced language requirement and the minor requirement. However, if language courses are used to fulfill both the Enhanced Language Requirement and the Minor Requirement, the student must complete the remaining 18 hrs with a second minor, to maintain a total of 120 hours for the degree.
Requirements for an Undergraduate Certificate in TESOL
Students interested in receiving theoretical and practical training in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) are encouraged to consider this five-course certificate program. The Undergraduate Certificate in TESOL offers a sequence of courses which introduces linguistics, second language acquisition, and methods and materials in TESOL instruction, paired with the an internship required to consist of 60 hours of volunteer ESL/literacy teaching in a local community service organization. Students take:
| LING 3311 | INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC SCIENCE | 3 |
| LING 4327 | SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION | 3 |
| LING 4353 | TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE | 3 |
| LING 4354 | METHODS AND MATERIALS TO TEACH ENGLISH AS A SECOND OR FOREIGN LANGUAGE | 3 |
| LING 4395 | INTERNSHIP IN TESOL | 3 |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
Ideally, students should start the sequence with LING 3311 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTIC SCIENCE and use LING 4395 INTERNSHIP IN TESOL as the final course in this sequence. This certificate is ideal for students interested in earning a credential to increase employment opportunities, such as teaching English abroad. This certificate can be paired with a bachelor's degree in another discipline. Students who are interested in earning the BA in Linguistics with the Undergraduate Certificate in TESOL may apply the 4000 level courses required by the certificate to the degree requirement of 12 hours at the 3000/4000 level. This optimal sequencing will allow students to graduate with a BA in Linguistics and an Undergraduate Certificate in TESOL without adding additional hours to their degree requirements. Contact the Undergraduate Advisor for more information on this program.