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The Department of Linguistics offers the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in both linguistics and Hispanic linguistics, with areas of concentration in applied linguistics and American Indian linguistics.
- Master of Arts in Linguistics
- Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics
- Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Linguistics
Students may also fulfill requirements for the TESOL Certificate in conjunction with their graduate study.
Contact Information
- Department Chair: Alan Juffs
- Main Office: 2816 Cathedral of Learning
- 412-624-5938
- Fax: 412-624-6130
- E-mail: ashields@pitt.edu
- www.linguistics.pitt.edu
Additional information concerning the department’s graduate program may be obtained from the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Linguistics, Graduate Secretary, 2816 CL, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Phone: 412-624-5900. Fax: 412-624-6130. E-mail: ashields@pitt.edu.
In addition to graduate and undergraduate education in the field of linguistics, the Department of Linguistics is responsible for the following programs:
- Less Commonly Taught Languages Program
- Robert Henderson Language Media Center
- TESOL Certificate Program
In order to be admitted to graduate standing in linguistics, students must meet the admission requirements of the School of Arts and Sciences and have at least two years, or the equivalent, of university-level study of a foreign language. The Graduate Record Examination is strongly recommended for all applicants; it is required for those applying for financial aid. PhD applicants must also submit samples of written work in linguistics. To be considered for financial aid, complete applications should be received by February 1. For students interested in Hispanic linguistics, in addition to the above admissions requirements, they must be fluent in Spanish.
Most of the aid offered by the department is in the form of teaching assistantships in the English Language Institute. There are about four to six new positions per year. There are between two and five other assistantships each year, usually involving some sort of administrative or editorial work and sometimes teaching or teacher supervision; applicants whose native language is not English may be eligible for two or three of these positions. For all assistantships, applicants are ranked mainly on the basis of their academic qualifications, but relevant teaching experience or research can help. Students in the Hispanic Linguists program teaching Spanish language courses must be enrolled in Methodology for Teaching Spanish (SPAN 2307).
Besides assistantships, there are a limited number of predoctoral fellowships from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and Provost's Humanities Fellowship program, for which PhD applicants in linguistics are eligible. Applicants should realize that these are very prestigious fellowships, granted on the basis of a University-wide competition. The application deadline is the same as for admission: February 1. For more information on these fellowships, see Fellowships and Traineeships in the A&S section of this bulletin.
The MA program in linguistics requires students to satisfy course requirements, to demonstrate research proficiency (including a thesis or long paper), and to have proficiency in one foreign language.
Course Requirements: The MA program requires a minimum of 10 courses (30 credits) chosen in consultation with the departmental graduate advisor. Six core courses are required, including the following five: LING 1950, 2578, 2579, 2773, 2777. For the sixth core course students must take one of the following courses: LING 1443, 2146, 2267, 2441, 2860, 2681, 2682, or 2945. Additional course work may also be taken outside the department. No more than three courses may be chosen from the 1000 series. The student must earn a B average in graduate linguistics courses in order to receive the MA.
Course Requirements for the Master of Arts in Hispanic Linguistics
The MA program in Hispanic linguistics requires a minimum of 30 credits, combining the primary (linguistics) core, the secondary (Hispanic linguistics) core, and nine units of electives.
Core Courses in Linguistics
- Phonetics and Phonemics (LING 2578)
- Phonology (LING 2579)
- Syntactic Theory (LING 2777)
Core Courses for MA in Hispanic Linguistics (choose four)
- Morphology (LING 2773)
- Field Methods in Linguistics (LING 2441)
- Structure of Modern Spanish (SPAN 2303)
- Syntax (SPAN 2308)
- Phonology (SPAN 2309)
- Pragmatics (SPAN 2312)
- Second Language Acquisition (Ling 2146)
- Approaches and Methods in Second Language Teaching (Ling 2139)
- Special Topics in Foreign Language Education (I&L 3250)
- History of the Language (SPAN 2302)
- Hispanic Sociolinguistics (SPAN 2311)
- Regional Dialectology (LING 2468)
- Language Contact in Latin America
- Seminar: Applied Sociopragmatics (SPAN 2318)
Research Proficiency: This requirement may be satisfied by electing LING 2000, Research and Thesis, and meeting the A&S requirements for the thesis; or the student, with the approval of the departmental faculty, may write a "long paper" under the supervision of a faculty member. Consult the graduate advisor or the link above for complete details.
Foreign Language Requirement: Proficiency in one foreign language is required for the MA. This proficiency is defined as the ability to do research in sources written in the language; normally the choice would be French, German, Spanish, or Russian. An examination to ascertain student proficiency in the chosen language will be administered by members of the faculty. International students who are not native speakers of English may use English to fulfill the MA language requirement, and the requirement will be fulfilled automatically by the completion of MA course work with a B average.
Comprehensive Examinations: Comprehensive examinations are not mandatory. A minimum B+ in all core courses (both departmental core and specialization core) is required; students who do not have a B+ will have the option of repeating the course or taking comprehensive examinations in that area.
Course Requirements for the MA with an Area of Concentration in Applied Linguistics
Core Courses in Linguistics
- Phonetics and Phonemics (LING 2578)
- Phonology (LING 2579)
- Syntactic Theory (LING 2777)
Core Courses in Applied Linguistics
- Approaches and Methods in Second Language Teaching (LING 2139)
- Research Methods in Applied Linguistics and Sociolinguistics (LING 2144)
- Second Language Acquisition (LING 2146)
At Least One Course Chosen among the Following:
- Current Issues in Second Language Learning (LING 2147)
- Special Topics in Applied Linguistics (LING 2149)
- Sociolinguistics (LING 2267)
- Psycholinguistics (LING 2945)
Course Requirements for the MA with an Area of Concentration in American Indian Languages
Core Courses in Linguistics
- Phonetics and Phonemics (LING 2578)
- Phonology (LING 2579)
- Morphology (LING 2773)
- Syntactic Theory (LING 2777)
Core Courses in American Indian Languages
- American Indian Languages (LING 1443)
- Field Methods (LING 2441)
- Introduction to Historical Linguistics (LING 2860)
- Structure of an American Indian Language (LING 2450)
At Least Two of the Following Courses:
- Aztec Language and Culture (LING 2448)
- Mayan Languages and Cultures (LING 1442)
- Seminar: Language and Prehistory in Mesoamerica (LING 2440)
- Mesoamerican Writing Systems (LING 2446)
- Mesoamerican Linguistics (LING 2449)
- Sociolinguistics (LING 2267)
- Language Planning (LING 2234)
- Lang Plcys & Educ Ling Minorities (LING 2250)
Credit Requirement: The School of Arts and Sciences requires a minimum of 72 credits beyond the baccalaureate for a PhD; credits earned for the MA will count toward this total. Students who received their MA in the department can normally use all earned credits toward the PhD; entering students may transfer a maximum of 24 credits, provided the course work is the equivalent of that taught in the department. In the rare case of a student entering without the equivalent of the linguistics core courses for the MA in linguistics, those courses must first be completed. For students wishing to obtain a PhD in Hispanic linguistics, the program will have all the same requirements as the current PhD in linguistics.
Preliminary Screening Examination: By the end of the third term of doctoral study, students are expected to have established their eligibility to continue toward the degree by passing the required preliminary screening examination.
Language Requirement: Reading proficiency in two foreign languages is required for the PhD, and oral proficiency in one (which may be one of the previous two). This requirement is satisfied by examination. Ordinarily one of these two languages will be French, German, Spanish, or Russian. In addition to the basic foreign language requirement, the department requires one term of study with a grade of B or better in a non-Indo-European language. This latter requirement is waived if one of the languages chosen for the basic two-language requirement is non-Indo-European. For applied linguists, however, this requirement must be fulfilled by classroom study.
Comprehensive Papers: Two research papers must be completed before the student is admitted to candidacy and dissertation research. These papers cover the following areas: (1) linguistic theory and methodology, including descriptive analysis, and (2) an area of specialization—a particular group of languages, an interdisciplinary area such as Native American linguistics, or a subfield such as sociolinguistics or second language acquisition. The papers are subject to an oral defense.
Dissertation Proposal: A dissertation proposal must be presented at a formal dissertation overview meeting. Upon approval of the proposal, the student will be admitted to candidacy for the PhD.
Dissertation Defense: The final oral examination in defense of the doctoral dissertation is conducted by the doctoral committee and is open to the University community.
Course Requirements for the PhD with an Area of Concentration in Applied Linguistics
Beyond the courses already required at the MA level, the following courses in core areas of linguistics are required:
- one in advanced phonology;
- one in advanced syntax;
- one other course in either phonetics, phonology, morphology, or syntax.
The following courses are required, if they were not yet part of the MA program:
- Morphology (LING 2773)
- Psycholinguistics (LING 2945)
- Sociolinguistics (LING 2267)
- a course in first language development
- one course in cognitive studies in instruction and learning
- two courses in statistics
- one course in qualitative research methodology
- two seminars in applied linguistics
Course Requirements for the PhD with an Area of Concentration in American Indian Linguistics
Beyond the courses already required at the MA level, the following courses in core areas of linguistics are required:
- Advanced Phonology
- Advanced Morphology
- Advanced Syntax
- Advanced Historical Linguistics
The following courses are required, if they were not yet part of the MA program:
- Sociolinguistics (LING 2267)
- A relevant course in anthropology
- A course in language learning and teaching
- Mayan Languages and Cultures (LING 1442)
- Aztec Languages and Cultures (LING 2448)
- Language Planning (LING 2234)
- Mesoamerican Linguistics (LING 2449)
Requirements for the Certificate in TESOL
A Certificate of Advanced Study in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is offered by the Department of Linguistics. Candidates for the certificate should be in a graduate program of the University or should have completed a master’s degree or PhD. LING 1950, Introduction to Linguistics, or an equivalent course is a prerequisite. It may be taken concurrently with the first certificate course in which the candidate enrolls.
Students must take the following six courses, all of which must be passed with at least a B grade, to fulfill course requirements for the certificate:
- Linguistic Structure of English (LING 1738)
- Approaches and Methods in Second Language Teaching (LING 2139)
- Techniques and Procedures of TESOL (LING 2142)
- Materials Development for Teaching and Testing (LING 2143)
- Second Language Acquisition (LING 2146)
- Practicum in Second Language Teaching (LING 2195)
In addition, the student must take one of the following courses:
- Psycholinguistics (LING 2945)
- Sociolinguistics (LING 2267)
- Current Issues in Second Language Learning (LING 2147)
- Research Methods (LING 2144)
- Special Topics in Applied Linguistics (LING 2149)
Each candidate who is not a native speaker of English must also achieve a score of 250 or higher (600 or higher on the paper-based test) on the TOEFL examination or its equivalent, and must have good spoken English ability (as determined by an interview test). Native speakers of English must satisfy a foreign language requirement; they must have classroom foreign language experience equivalent to at least one year of college-level study. Students from outside the Department of Linguistics must complete a TESOL Certificate Plan of Studies form and submit it to the TESOL Certificate advisor after consultation.
On completion of all TESOL Certificate requirements, a transcript must be submitted to the Department of Linguistics. Note: The certificate is officially awarded only when the student has also completed all requirements for—or has previously received—the MA or PhD and completed an Application for Graduation form.
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