Program Overview

Introduction to the Linguistics Program

The Linguistics program at Western Washington University is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on the scientific investigation of language. Linguists explore a wide range of questions about language, including its internal grammar, processing, production, use in societies, acquisition, and change over time. The study of linguistics connects to the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, complementing interests in fields such as Anthropology, Computer Science, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Neuroscience, Sociology, Psychology, Biology, Philosophy, English, World Languages, and Education.

Why Consider a Linguistics Major?

All linguistics majors are expected to acquire knowledge of the functions of language at various levels and knowledge of the techniques and methods used in language analysis. A student of linguistics will thereby significantly advance their appreciation of linguistic and cultural diversity. Students who major in linguistics acquire valuable intellectual skills, including analytic reasoning and argumentation, and learn how to study language scientifically. This means making insightful observations, formulating and testing clear hypotheses, making arguments and drawing conclusions, and communicating findings to a wider community. Linguistics majors are therefore well equipped for a variety of jobs and graduate-level programs.

Student Resources

• Department website: Linguistics
• Career Services Center: Connect major to a career
• Sample careers:
  • Higher Education research and teaching: linguistics, philosophy, psychology, speech sciences, anthropology, computer science, English, languages, literatures and cultures
  • K-12 Teaching (World Languages, ESL, literacy)
  • Computer Industry (speech recognition, natural language processing, AI)
  • Translating and Interpreting
  • Language documentation and fieldwork
  • Publishing (editing, writing)
  • Lexicography (dictionary research and editing)
  • Law (forensic linguistics)

How to Declare (Admission and Declaration Process)

To declare, a student must be enrolled in or have completed:

• LING 201 or ANTH 247 or HNRS 217 with a grade of “B-” or better (or permission of chair)
• Minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 Students are advised to declare their major early in their academic career. Most upper-division courses are restricted to declared majors.

Grade Requirements

A grade of C- or better is required for a student’s major or minor courses.

Requirements (60 credits)

Major Core

• One year of college level study of a non-Indo-European language or two years of college level study of an Indo-European language other than English. Please meet with an advisor for list of languages. The language requirement may be waived in some circumstances for lived experience with another language, in which case the required credits for the major will come from additional upper division linguistics classes under advisement. Credits: 10
• One course from:
  • ANTH 247 - Intro to Linguistic Anthropology Credits: 5
  • HNRS 217 - Colloquium in Linguistics Credits: 5
  • LING 201 - Introduction to Language and Linguistics Credits: 5
  • LING 301 - Introduction to Linguistic Science Credits: 5
• One course from:
  • LING 204 - Language and Society Credits: 5
  • LING 207 - Language and Brain Credits: 5
• LING 310 - Introduction to Linguistic Analysis Credits: 5
• LING 311 - Phonetics Credits: 5
• LING 312 - Phonology Credits: 5
• LING 321 - Morphology and Syntax Credits: 5
• LING 331 - Semantics and Pragmatics Credits: 5

Additional Upper Division

A minimum of three 300- and 400-level courses from the following list of courses (15 credits), at least one of which must be a 400-level. Under advisement, courses (up to 10 credits) from other departments can also count towards the linguistics major when students have met the appropriate prerequisites.

• LING 302 - Topics in Linguistics Credits: 5 (Repeatable with different topics up to a maximum of 10 credits, including original course, but only 5 credits can count for major requirements.)
• LING 303 - Word Formation Credits: 5
• LING 304 - Languages in Contact Credits: 5
• LING 305 - Experimental Methods in Language Sciences Credits: 5
• LING 315 - Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Credits: 5
• LING 332 - Formal Semantics Credits: 5
• LING 336 - The Structure of English Credits: 5
• LING 370 - Linguistics, Education, and Social Justice Credits: 5
• LING 402 - Advanced Topics in Linguistics Credits: 5 (Repeatable with different topics up to a maximum of 15 credits, including original course)
• LING 403 - Historical Linguistics Credits: 5
• LING 404 - Sociolinguistic Fieldwork Credits: 5
• LING 411 - Topics in Phonetics and Phonology Credits: 5
• LING 415 - Neurophysiology of Language Credits: 5
• LING 421 - Topics in Morphology and Syntax Credits: 5
• LING 431 - Topics in Semantics and Pragmatics Credits: 5
• LING 441 - Field Methods Credits: 5
• LING 445 - Second Language Research and Teaching Credits: 5

University Graduation Requirements

• General University Requirements
• Writing Proficiency Requirement (WP)
• 180 Minimum Total Credits
• 60 Minimum Upper Division Credits
• Residency Requirement
• Minimum Grade Requirements
• Final Quarter Requirement