紐約州立大學水牛城分校

Why study Linguistics BA - Honors Language and Cognition Concentration at UB?

The Honors Language and Cognition track prepares students for careers and advanced training in linguistics, cognitive science, language education, child development, and adult language disorders. It is designed for students interested in exploring the interface between language structure and use and human cognition. Courses focus on the acquisition of language, language production and comprehension, the construction and conveyance of meaning, and the representation of language in the mind. The Honors programs in Linguistics involve a more intensive examination of the field and include an Honors Thesis requirement.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of all requirements, the student will have knowledge of:

• Core concepts: Students will comprehend the core concepts of linguistics, as well as the basic literature that assumes such concepts.
• Cognitive/social aspects of language: Students will achieve an awareness of language in its broader cognitive and social context.
• Language diversity awareness: Students will develop an awareness of linguistic diversity and variability.
• Critical thinking: Students will master the ability to construct arguments for choosing between alternative analyses of linguistic phenomena and to identify relevant data bearing on the analyses.
• Problem solving: Students will be able to analyze linguistic data from English or other languages and to construct descriptions of particular linguistic phenomena in particular languages.
• Communication skills: Students will attain the skills necessary to prepare written and oral presentations on linguistic topics.

Career Outlook

Students completing a BA have gone on to law school, medical school, speech and hearing sciences, library sciences, as well as done graduate work within theoretical and applied linguistics. They have also found employment teaching English in countries such as France, Thailand, Korea, Japan, and China and in the fields of publishing, literacy development, marketing, public service organizations, and language technology. Careers open to students with linguistics degrees include:

• Computational linguistics
• Editing
• Educational policy
• English as a second language instruction
• Foreign service
• Journalism
• Language teaching
• Law
• Law Enforcement
• Multicultural services
• Translation and interpretation