Linguistics

Overview

The Linguistics MA program from San José State University focuses on understanding how different aspects of language work and on how the languages of the world work and on how this understanding can be applied to support our culturally diverse society.

Graduates with Linguistics from San José State University will be able to:

• Transcribe, using the International Phonetic Alphabet, and produce speech sounds of the world’s languages. Apply concepts of acoustic theory in analyses of speech data.

• Analyze linguistic sound patterns in terms of their function, their structure, and the pressures that influence their change over time. 

• Analyze sentence structure of typologically diverse languages using current formalism and explain how syntactic and semantic structures interface.

• Analyze the meaning of linguistic expressions, elaborate on the role of linguistic, pragmatic, and cultural context in the interpretation of meaning, and understand the role of theories in the analysis of semantic data.

• Show an understanding of current linguistic theories; compare and evaluate different theoretical approaches.

• Extract patterns from complex data sets, motivate categorization procedures, and apply learned analytical principles over such patterns.

• Carry out independent empirical, experimental or theoretical research involving formulating a research project, presenting a literature review, using appropriate methodology, collecting data pertinent to the project, and interpreting the data.

• Use library and electronic research sources effectively.

• Use reading and writing and oral skills effectively.

• Demonstrate proficiency equivalent to a two-year of an Indo-European or a one-year of a non- Indo-European college level study in a language other than their native language.

• Discuss issues in speech synthesis, speech recognition, natural language processing, and develop speech recognition, speech synthesis and natural language processing programs.

• Evaluate theories of first and second language acquisition, and second language teaching.

• Apply linguistic knowledge to address societal issues related to language variation and diversity, and intercultural communication.