Learning Goals

Learning Goals for Linguistics Majors and Minors

Students will be able to reason about language scientifically; demonstrate knowledge of cross-linguistic variability and universal patterns in language; evaluate a range of views on the nature, origin, and/or structure of language; and identify what someone knows when they know a language.

Majors and minors who complete the core courses in linguistics will demonstrate technical mastery over the tools of linguistic analysis in syntax, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics and apply linguistic theory in these areas. They will be able to investigate and analyze linguistic data; demonstrate strong problem-solving skills; extend their understanding of theoretical linguistics into other domains of linguistic research; apply the techniques of linguistics to new topics; and access current research in the field.