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The Department of Linguistics is one of the top programs in the country, known for its research excellence and tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration. A broad range of subdivisions include computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and laboratory phonology. The department is known for innovative teaching programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and outreach programs for K-12 students and the community.
There are two tracks in this major: Track A is designed to give students familiarity with a broad range of subject areas in linguistics. Track B is particularly appropriate for students planning to go on to graduate school.
The majors, in multiple ways, are encouraged to take an active role in determining future goals. One way this is accomplished is through independent research. Each year, 5-10 students participated in the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum; more than half of our majors participate in an internship; and about 10% receive competitively awarded funds to complete research.
Students also are encouraged to seek advice on a regular basis to ensure timely graduation and to develop career goals. As evidence of this, linguistics majors complete their degree in a timely manner — an average (2013-14) of 4.2 years and an average linguistics GPA of 3.5. Sixty-four percent of students in their senior year have educational or work-related goals in mind upon graduation.
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The goal of linguistics is to provide an objective and systematic study of the properties of human languages. Though linguistics is fundamentally a humanistic discipline because of its subject matter, it is scientific in its goals and methods and has much in common with social sciences, including psychology, anthropology and sociology.
Ohio State boasts one of the best linguistics programs in the nation; many students of linguistics go on to pursue graduate degrees. Through its emphasis on critical thinking, analytic skills and language, a major in linguistics is designed to provide excellent preparation for graduate work in related disciplines, such as, cognitive psychology, anthropology, philosophy, speech pathology and computer science. The study of linguistics allows students to consider careers in such fields as scientific or scholarly research, computing, communications, law, teaching English as a second language and foreign service.