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Linguistics, Minor

Department

Department of Linguistics

Brian Agbayani, Chair
Peters Business Building, Room 383
559.278.2441
www.fresnostate.edu/linguistics

Degrees and Programs Offered

BA in Linguistics - Teaching English as a Second Language Option, B.A.
BA in Linguistics - Computational Linguistics Option, B.A.
BA in Linguistics - General Linguistics Option, B.A.
BA in Linguistics - Interdisciplinary Language Studies Option, B.A.
BS in Cognitive Science, B.S.
CERT in TESOL, Certificate of Adv. Study
MA in Linguistics, M.A.
MA in Linguistics - Teaching English as a Second Language Option, M.A.
MN in Linguistics, Minor
MN in Computational Linguistics, Minor
MN in Chinese, Minor
MN in Hmong, Minor
MN in Teaching English As A Second Language, Minor
MN in Cognitive Science, Minor
MN in Japanese, Minor

Courses Offered

Language is an essential part of our life. Nothing characterizes humanity more than the ability to use language. Linguists analyze sounds, words, sentences, and texts. Linguists also make valuable contributions to practical fields such as K-12 teaching, second and foreign language teaching, language planning, translation, computer science, forensic linguistics, and language disorders.

Computational applications of linguistics, such as speech synthesis, speech recognition, and machine-assisted translation, have also become increasingly important.

Our undergraduate and graduate programs develop intellectual skills that are essential to professional careers or advanced degrees. Our courses provide analytical tools that can be applied to virtually any subject. They also help enhance critical thinking, satisfy broad intellectual interest, and enrich personal knowledge.

Our majors can be applied directly to various professional fields. They also serve as excellent preparation for pursuing advanced degrees in linguistics and other fields such as English, anthropology, psychology, sociology, computer science, and foreign languages. TESL is an important part of our program and especially compatible with degrees in education and liberal studies. A Japanese minor can be profitably combined with majors in such areas as business, international relations, linguistics, and literature.

Minors in Chinese and Japanese are also available for students with plans to pursue careers in various areas, such as international business, marketing, economics, art and literature, etc., where a knowledge of language and culture would be useful. These two minors are NOT offered to native Chinese or Japanese speakers.

The B.A. Option in Computational Linguistics is for those students interested in text processing, forensic linguistics, software design, machine translation, and other professions dealing with the interface between computers and humans.

Facilities

The Department of Linguistics has a computer lab for computer-assisted language learning (CALL), for language study, for the analysis of speech sounds, and for displaying the operation of the organs of speech. Computers are used for simulating speech and for mapping the geographical extent of language features, as well as for storing the data needed for the making of grammars and dictionaries. The Linguistics Department provides practical classroom teaching experience for qualified TESL students through employment in the American English Institute. For more, see American English Institute in the Special Programs section of this catalog. Also associated with the Linguistics Department is the Forensic Linguistics Institute (FLI). The FLI provides analyses in linguistic stylistics to extramural clients, thereby giving Fresno State linguistics majors opportunities for work, study, and research.

Requirements