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Linguistics Undergraduate Degrees

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What Is Linguistics?

Linguistics is the scientific study of the nature and development of language and how it is acquired and used.

About Linguistics at OHIO

Ohio University offers an undergraduate major in linguistics, the study of how languages are structured, acquired and used. Consisting of 34 credits, the ideal path to degree completion begins in the student’s sophomore year. 

A core program of 27 semester hours is required of all majors; each student must then take a minimum of 7 additional hours of electives in Linguistics. Areas of possible elective content focus include a series of courses training one to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL), a separate module in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), or any number of courses examining variants of American English, language sustainability, forensic linguistics and other special studies when available.

The linguistics major provides strong foundational content for students planning advanced study or careers in hearing, speech, and language sciences, bilingual education, translation and interpretation, forensic studies, cognitive science, anthropology, philosophy, and artificial intelligence.

Unlike most other majors, Linguistics majors must complete three years of foreign language study (and meet all General Education requirements).

A Minor in Linguistics also is available, requiring a minimum of 15 semester hours of foundational discipline-specific content followed by additional coursework in applied linguistics. Students may choose their applied linguistic study from courses including: Sociolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, Forensic Linguistics and Language and Gender.  The Linguistics minor comprises a minimum of 18 semester hours in total.

Language and Literature Courses

The Linguistics Departments offers courses in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Swahili. At present, there is a minor available in Japanese. If a student is working toward a major program in international studies or a certificate in African or Asian studies, they may choose two semesters of an appropriate African or Asian language as part of their course requirements. Finally, the Chinese and Japanese language programs offer education abroad programs, which supplement part of the foreign language courses offered at Ohio University.