Linguistics Concentration

The BA in English concentration in linguistics is theoretically oriented and provides a solid foundation in the major subfields of linguistics: phonology, syntax, and semantics. The concentration combines courses in linguistics with courses in some related areas of language study, such as teaching English as a second language, bilingual education, or foreign language teaching. This course of study is designed to prepare students for teaching in one of these fields or for doctoral work.

Most graduates teach language—they are ESL instructors at colleges, adult education programs, and in public school systems. Linguists are also employed in hospitals as speech and language therapists. They might hold positions in industry as computational linguists, dealing with language understanding by machines. Other career opportunities include automatic translation, speech recognition, and brand-name creation.

Opportunities

All students have opportunities to

  • conduct independent research
  • engage in globally-related activities through coursework and language study at Mason and abroad
  • participate in many forms of public service
  • prepare for their future careers through internships, career-focused minors and other college-to-career activities