Communication Sciences and Disorders

Master of Arts in Linguistics

GRADUATE STUDY IN LINGUISTICS AT TEMPLE

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders offers a specialty track in linguistics leading to the degree Master of Arts. This program is appropriate for students interested in working in second language instruction, English composition instruction, fieldwork, discourse analysis, and translation, as well as for those who wish to prepare for doctoral study in linguistics at other institutions. The faculty members active in the linguistics track have expertise and interests in syntax, phonology, morphology, experimental phonetics, speech physiology, Bantu languages, and cognitive neuroscience. The program maintains close contact with a number of affiliated faculty in other departments and colleges of the University (listed below). Affiliated faculty are active in areas such as sociolinguistics, formal semantics, anthropological linguistics, first and second language acquisition, and the analysis of specific languages and language groups.

Camillia Keach, Associate Professor, Ph.D. (Linguistics), University of Massachusetts
Brian McHugh, Associate Professor, Ph.D. (Linguistics), University of California at Los Angeles
Rena Krakow, Associate Professor, Ph.D. (Linguistics),Yale University
Gary Milsark, Associate Professor, Ph.D. (Linguistics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nadine Martin, Associate Professor, Ph.D. (Psychology), Temple University

Affiliated faculty in other departments:

F. Niyi Akinnaso, Ph.D. University of California at Berkeley (Anthropology)
Paul Garrett, Ph.D. New York University (Anthropology)
Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania (Psychology)
Jonathan Holmquist, Ph.D. Princeton University (Spanish and Portuguese)
Gerardo Augusto Lorenzino, Ph.D. City University of New York (Spanish and Portuguese)
Louis Mangione, Ph.D. Cornell University (Critical Languages)
Aneta Pavlenko, Ph.D. Cornell University (T.E.S.O.L.)
Muffy E.A. Siegel, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts (English)

Admission Requirements

Applicants must hold at least a B.A. or B.S. degree, although it is not necessary that this degree be in linguistics. Applications must include verbal and quantitative scores on the Graduate Record Examination, two letters of recommendation, a personal statement of interests and goals, and transcripts of all college-level coursework. Students are admitted only in the fall semester. Application may be made at any time, but all application materials must be complete by February 1 in order for the applicant to be considered for financial aid.

Degree Requirements

Students must complete 30 semester hours of required and elective graduate courses. Required courses include Communication Sciences 5505, 5501, 5502, and 5503. In addition to the courses listed below, electives may be chosen from offerings in Anthropology, Computer and Information Sciences, Critical Languages, Education, English, Philosophy, Psychology, and Spanish. If a student elects to write a master's thesis, up to six hours of credit in CS 9996 Thesis Seminar may be counted toward the required total of 30 hours. All students must pass a comprehensive examination in their final semester in the program.

Financial aid:

Applicants may compete for a limited number of graduate assistantships awarded by the Department of Communication Sciences, and for University Fellowships awarded by the Graduate School.

Graduate courses in Linguistics

CS 5505 Issues in Linguistics (3 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Ling. 5501 (Syntax), 5502 (Phonology) or permission of instructor.
A critical investigation of major intellectualtrends in the recent history of linguistics and theirrelationship to contemporary issues in philosophy, psychology, and anthropology.

CS 5501 Syntax I (3 s.h.)
Scientific investigation of grammatical structure in language. Through guided consideration of
data from English and other languages, students are taught to formulate and test analyses of the
form and meaning of sentences in natural language.

CS 5502 Phonology I (3 s.h.)
The nature of sound systems in human language. Topics include articulatory and acoustic
properties of speech sounds, phonetic universals, and phonological rules and rule systems.
Students investigate data from a variety of languages.

CS 5503 Morphology (3 s.h.)
This course is concerned with the structure of words in human languages. The focus is on
developing skill in morphological analysis through study and discussion of data from a variety of
languages. The full range of word formation processes is explored, and major issues concerning
the interaction of morphology with syntax, phonology, and the lexicon are also considered.

CS 8601 Advanced Syntax (3 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Ling. 5501 (Syntax I) or permission of instructor.
A study of recent advances in syntax. Topics include abstract case, empty categories,
configurationality, anaphoric relationships, properties of head and phrasal movement, and the
nature of logical form.