Linguistics 501: Fundamentals of Linguistics (3 units)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing.
Principles of modern linguistics, with attention to English phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics; universals and typology.

Linguistics 502: Language in Mind and Society (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 501.
Child language acquisition, adult language production/comprehension and sociolinguistics. Dialects, language variation, and standardization. Bilingualism and language change.

Linguistics 503: Functions of Language (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 501.
Empirical methods in linguistics. Phonological structure of English and other languages. Functional and discourse related approaches to language patterns. Connections between morphosyntactic concepts and functional/discourse concepts to conduct text analysis.

Linguistics 521: Phonology (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Theoretical principles of transformational-generative phonology.

Linguistics 522: Syntax (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Theoretical principles of transformational-generative syntax.

Linguistics 523: Morphology (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Theoretical principles of words structure, including inflection, derivation, and compounding; organization of the lexicon; structure of inflectional paradigms; morphophonological and morphosyntactic alterations; and computational Applications.

Linguistics 525: Semantics and Pragmatics (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Advanced semantic theory; systematic analysis of the interaction of sequences of language with real world context in which they are used.

Linguistics 526: Discourse Analysis (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Theories of discourse structure. Text and context. Frameworks for analyzing written and spoken discourses such as genre analysis, conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, discourse and grammar, speech act theory, and corpus linguistics. Applications of discourse analysis such as cross-cultural misunderstanding.

Linguistics 530: English Grammar (3 units)
Prerequisite: Six upper division units in linguistics.
English morphology, syntax, and discourse structure, including simple and complex sentence structure; lexical categories and subcategories; discourse functions of selected constructions. Problems and solutions in teaching English grammar.

Linguistics 550: Theory and Practice of English as a Second Language (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 101, Linguistics 420, or Linguistics 501.
The nature of language learning; evaluation of techniques and materials for the teaching of English as a second language.

Linguistics 551: Sociolinguistics (3 units)
Prerequisite: A course in introductory linguistics.
Investigation of the correlation of social structure and linguistic behavior.

Linguistics 552: Psycholinguistics (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Psychological and mental processes related to comprehension, production, perception, and acquisition of language in adults and children.

Linguistics 553: Bilingualism (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420, Linguistics 501, Linguistics 448, or Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences 300.
Bilingualism in society and in schools. Cognition, language processing, and representation in bilinguals. Research methods in the study of bilingualism.

Linguistics 555: Practical Issues in Teaching English as a Second Language (3 units)
Prerequisite: Credit or concurrent registration in Linguistics 550.
Practical approaches to applications of the theory of English as a Second Language (ESL) and methodology for speaking, reading, listening, writing; techniques for facilitating growth of communicative competence.

Linguistics 556: Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (3 units)
Prerequisite: Credit or concurrent registration in Linguistics 550.
Theory and practice of computer assisted language learning and language teaching. Hands-on experience with pedagogical aspects of using technology in the language classroom.

Linguistics 571: Computational Corpus Linguistics (3 units)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing.
Practical introduction to computation with text corpora and introduction to Python. Tokenizing, part-of-speech tagging, and lemmatizing (stemming) large corpora. Writing of Python programs required.

Linguistics 572: Python Scripting for Social Science (3 units) (Same course as Big Data Analytics 572)
Prerequisite: Upper division or graduate standing.
Python scripting for social science data. Statements and expressions. Strings, lists, dictionaries, files. Python with unformatted data (regular expressions). Graphs and social networks. Spatial data and simple GIS scripts.

Linguistics 581: Computational Linguistics (3 units) (Same course as Computer Science 581)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 571 or Linguistics 572 or Big Data Analytics 572 or Computer Science 320.
Basic concepts in computational linguistics including regular expressions, finite-state automata, finite-state transducers, weighted finite-state automata, and n-gram language models. Applications to phonology, orthography, morphology, syntax. Probabilistic models. Statistical techniques for speech recognition.

Linguistics 583: Statistical Methods in Text Analysis (3 units)
Prerequisites: Linguistics 571 or Linguistics 572 or Big Data Analytics 572; and Statistics 550 or Statistics 551A.
Statistical methods for analysis of large texts to include Bayesian classifiers, Markov models, maximum entropy models, neural nets, and support vector machines. Data collection and annotation. Applications to annotation, relation detection, sentiment analysis, and topic modeling.

Linguistics 596: Selected Topics in Linguistics (1-3 units)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing.
Advanced study of selected topics. May be repeated with new content.
Note: See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor’s degree. Credit for 596 and 696 applicable to a master’s degree with approval of the graduate adviser.

Linguistics 597: Research Practicum (3 units)
Grading Method: Cr/NC
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.
Participation in a specific research activity under faculty supervision. Maximum credit three units toward the major and minor in linguistics. Maximum Credits: Maximum combined credit of three units of LING 597 and LING 797 toward the master’s degree in linguistics.

Linguistics 602: Advanced Study of Language in Mind and Society (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 502.
Language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics. Mental and social influences on language learning and representation. Cognitive models of language production and processing. Rational speech acts and other social models of language comprehension.

Linguistics 610: Topics in Historical Linguistics (3 units)
Prerequisite: Three upper division units in linguistics, preferably Linguistics 410, Linguistics 501, or Linguistics 521.
Methods and principles used in historical study of language; processes of language change in phonology, syntax, and semantics; linguistics reconstruction; origin of language; language families; development of writing. Analysis of Indo-European, Old English, or Middle English. May be repeated with new content. Maximum Credits: six units.
Note: See Class Schedule for specific content.

Linguistics 620: Advanced Formal Syntax (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 522.
Advanced study of formal syntactic theory.

Linguistics 626: Pragmatics (3 units)
Prerequisites: Linguistics 525 and six additional units of linguistics courses numbered 501 or higher (excluding Linguistics 505).
Gricean and neo-Gricean approaches to pragmatics; relevance theory; reference; presupposition; speech acts; information structure.

Linguistics 650: Materials Development in Applied Linguistics (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 550.
Materials development and adaptation for teaching English as a second language and a language other than English.

Linguistics 651: Seminar in Sociolinguistic Research in the Speech Community (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 551.
Methods to include the collection of sociolinguistic data through interviews. Analysis of those data to address questions pertaining to language variation and change.

Linguistics 652: Second Language Acquisition (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 501.
Analyses of theories of second language acquisition; theoretical and empirical bases of current second language teaching methodologies.

Linguistics 653: ESL Reading and Writing (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 550.
Application of discourse and reading theory to the teaching and testing of ESL reading and writing. Issues of coherence, process-product, genre studies.

Linguistics 655: English for Specific Purposes and Content-Based Instruction (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 550.
Theory, practice, and history of these two related approaches to ESL/EFL.

Linguistics 656: Quantitative Research Methods in Language Studies (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 420 or Linguistics 501.
Research design and quantitative research methods for linguistic applications. Critical evaluation of published research studies; empirical research project.

Linguistics 657: Foundations of Language Assessment (3 units)
Prerequisite: Linguistics 550.
Fundamental principles and goals of language assessment and language assessment research: characteristics of assessment methods; analyzing test tasks; designing test items; describing test scores; approaches to estimating reliability; validity and validation; authenticity and impact.

Linguistics 696: Advanced Topics in Linguistics (1-3 units)
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
Advanced study in specific areas of linguistics. May be repeated with new content.
Note: See Class Schedule for specific content. Credit for 596 and 696 applicable to a master’s degree with approval of the graduate adviser.

Linguistics 740: Internship in English as a Second Language and Foreign Language Teaching (3 units)
Grading Method: Cr/NC
Prerequisite: Linguistics 550.
Internship in teaching English as a second language and English as a foreign language, offering work experience with practicing professionals.

Linguistics 795: Seminar in Linguistics (3 units)
Prerequisites: Completion of three units of 600- and 700-numbered courses in the master’s program for linguistics.
Research in linguistics, course content varying according to instructor. May be repeated with new content. Maximum Credits: six units applicable to a master’s degree.
Note: See Class Schedule for specific content.

Linguistics 797: Advanced Research Practicum (1-3 units)
Grading Method: Cr/NC
Prerequisite(s): Approval of graduate adviser.
Participation in a specific research activity under faculty supervision. Maximum combined credit of three units of Linguistics 597 and Linguistics 797.

Linguistics 798: Special Study (1-3 units)
Grading Method: Cr/NC/RP
Prerequisite: Consent of staff; to be arranged with department chair or instructor.
Individual study. Maximum Credits: six units applicable to a master’s degree.

Linguistics 799A: Thesis (3 units)
Grading Method: Cr/NC/RP
Prerequisites: An officially appointed thesis committee and advancement to candidacy.
Preparation of a project or thesis for the master’s degree.

Degree Learning Outcomes (DLOs) for M.A. in Linguistics with two specializations (General and Applied)

1. Analyze similarities and differences in language structure within and across languages and cultures at various levels such as phonology, syntax, and discourse.

2. Recognize and analyze the relationships between language and the social and cognitive patterns that shape its use.

3. Produce a high quality working paper or thesis that demonstrates the ability to conduct original and independent research in a particular area of linguistics chosen by the student.

4. Apply knowledge of language structure, language development, and the social function of language to positively contribute to and to solve problems within industry, academia, language pedagogy, and society at large.

5A. [General] Appraise the fit of theories and data in typologically distinct languages, and assess and formulate arguments for and against theoretical approaches to language.

5B. [Applied] Design contextualized pedagogical materials appropriate for specific populations of language learners employing current theories and approaches to language pedagogy.

Plan A students must select a committee of three faculty, two of whom are from the department, to supervise the thesis. In consultation with the graduate advisor, students select one of two options at the time of filing an official program of study.

For more information on the thesis (Plan A), please visit the forms page on Graduate Studies' website.

Past M.A. Thesis Topics

Search allSDSU theses for Linguistics.

For more information on the written comprehensive examination (Plan B), please see:

• Exam Format (updated 4/21)
• Fall 2021 Exam Schedule (updated 5/21)