What's on your plate

Program Requirements

Core Curriculum: LING 503 & LING 510 plus one course from five of the six areas.

The six areas are: Computational Group, Foundation Group, Phonology/Phonetics Group, Psycholinguistics Group, Syntax/Semantics Group, Typology/Morphology Group (please see the official Graduate Handbook, for the courses included in each category).

Two colloquia (Ling 595A): take them in the 1st and 2nd semesters.

Two seminars (Ling 696): take two seminars in your major area.

One-credit course on professionalism: take it after the 6th semester.

Two prelim papers: Write them in the 4th and 5th semesters in distinct areas. Consult your advisor and committee regarding just how distinct the areas need to be.

One prelim course (LING 697A): take it when you are writing your first prelim paper. You are free to take the course again while writing the second prelim paper. It will be offered twice a year.

Oral exam: Take oral exam five academic weeks after the completion of the second prelim. Upon successful completion of the oral exam you will be “ABD” (all but dissertated). Note that within the department we refer to this exam as the “oral exam”, the Graduate College refers to it as the “Comprehensive Exam”.

After finishing your prelims and oral exam, you will file the “Advancement to Candidacy” form, the last step before officially starting your dissertation.

Turn in your dissertation prospectus, which details the direction of your dissertation (See the official Graduate Handbook for more details).

Earn 36 units in the major (Linguistics), 9 in the minor (if your minor is in Linguistics, if not see you minor department for details) and 18 dissertation units (total=63 units).

Doctoral Plan of Study

At the end of the third semester, file the doctoral plan of study form with the graduate college. This form includes every course you have taken and plan to take later on. The total of units there must be at least 63 (major=36, minor=9, and dissertation=18). Please see the Graduate College’s website and create your plan in coordination with your advisor and the Graduate Coordinator.

Don’t worry, this can be modified at any time, so you’re not “locked in” to those courses.

Master’s Requirement

Upon completion of the requirements listed below you will receive a non-terminal Master’s. Be sure to apply as soon as you’ve met the requirements. Applying involves the prior filing of the “Master’s Plan of Study” form and the “Master’s or Specialist degree completion” form. a. Completion of 30 units of graduate work in linguistics including the core course. b. A research paper on some topic which must be submitted and approved by a committee of 3 faculty before the beginning of the 5th semester. It can be the first prelim paper. This committee can be the same as your prelim committee.

Associate Status

Upon entry in the program, you are an “assistant”. This classification pertains to your pay scale for TA (teaching assistantship) and RA (research assistantship) positions. After completion of the requirements listed below, you will advance to “associate” status and your base pay will increase accordingly.

  • The total of 30 units at U of A
  • Completion of the 4th semester
  • Filing a MA paperwork by August 1st prior to the 5th semester

Advisors and Mentors

You will be assigned a faculty advisor for your first year whose interests will not necessarily coincide with your own. At the end of the first year, or beginning of the second, you may choose a Major Advisor. Also during your first semester, you will be assigned a graduate student mentor by Ling Circle. Your mentor will be a more senior graduate student who shares your interests. Your mentor is a good source of information and advice.

Things You Should or May Do . . .

Develop Relationships with professors
find out who shares your research interests and do the following things:

  1. take classes they offer,
  2. try to work with them on their research
  3. discuss your research interests with them.

Consider doing an independent study with some professor (before 3rd year), don’t be afraid to ask questions or talk to them outside of class/office hours and be prepared when you meet with professors (have a written plan to guide your meeting).

Start some Research early
Join a lab in Linguistics, Psychology, or Cognitive Science.

Find out what work various professors do in their labs and if you want to join them, go up to them, express your interest and volunteer your time. Ask if you can come to their lab meetings. Then they can decide what if anything they might do to get you involved; have you participate in lab meetings, get lab-hours in, maybe even eventually hire you on as an official paid person.

Independent studies are a great way to get focused early on your research and can be done with professors who don’t have a lab.

If you feel that you are “clueless” about your research, don’t worry, that’s a pretty normal feeling. A BAD solution is to drift around and wait for something to come to you. A GOOD solution (but not the only one) is to expose yourself to the different research and labs on campus. Try stuff. Even if you do a few projects and then change your mind about what you really want to do, at least you’ve been productive and probably have done some work that will get you a conference presentation or two.

Independent Study
Professors are often more than willing to have students do independent studies/research with them. Options include working on what the professor is interested in, or working on stuff that you’re interested in that coincides with the professor’s interests. You can register for anywhere from 1-3 credits in an independent study. Often Independent Study in labs is expected to be 3 credits.