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Linguistics program

Undergrad minor

Take a scientific approach to understanding language.

We use language every day. But how does this process work? How do we understand when one word ends and another begins? Why do we pronounce "hamster" as "hampster?"

Linguists work to understand human language by asking core questions about how it functions. What do all human languages have in common? How do we acquire our native language so quickly and so effortlessly? Why does language change over time?

Even though linguists are scientists of language, language is ultimately a social tool. UWL’s Linguistics Minor bridges the social and cultural aspects of linguistics with the more structural, systematic aspects of the study. Students from a wide variety of majors from computer science to education, take linguistics to complement their field of study.

Careers with a linguistics minor?

Graduates typically follow their major field of study in finding their career path and add a linguistics minor to broaden their skills. Linguistics can be highly useful in a variety of career paths — even computer science where these professionals need to understand natural language processing. It is helpful for teachers of English, Language Arts, English as a Second Language, and any subject working with multilingual students.

Positions

  • Anthropology
  • Counseling
  • Computer science
  • English
  • English as a second language
  • Language arts
  • Psychology
  • Speech therapy
  • Speech pathology
  • Teaching
  • Any area working with multilingual students
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What is linguistics?

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. We are used to studying language from a humanistic perspective. Linguistics applies scientific methodology to language with the goal of understanding how human language works — cognitively, biologically, physically and socially.

What distinguishes UWL's Linguistics Minor?

Learn the scientific and societal aspects of linguistics

In UWL’s Linguistics Minor, students discover how human language works from both a scientific and societal standpoint. Students take an equal number of courses in the socio-cultural facets of language and the structural, systematic aspects of language.

Gain a diverse perspective through broad courses

Students gain a diverse perspective in linguistics as it is taught through a variety of subject areas such as English, French, Spanish, anthropology and a variety of other humanities and social sciences courses.

Build on a second language foundation

All students gain a foundation in modern language up to the 102 level to better apply linguistic concepts.

Undergraduate research opportunities

UWL offers many opportunities for undergraduate students to conduct research in linguistics with a faculty mentor.

Small class sizes

Students will get to know their professors through the program.

Limited pre-requisites

A limited number of pre-requisites are required to take linguistics, meaning it is easier to dive into this field of study if you have interest.

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