What is a linguistics major? Linguistics is the study of everything that pertains to language, including the sounds of language, written forms of language, sign languages, or even how the brain stores language. The sub-fields are wide, ranging from how people learn language to how computers are programmed. Students majoring in this field will get a broad overview of human language, the development of language, and applications of language. Some sub-fields are more theoretical while others are more applied.
What courses are required for a linguistics major? The major begins with Introduction to Linguistics, a broad introductory class. The first few years will lead students into a more specialized second two years, in which students will focus on a field such as sign linguistics, language acquisition, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, or applied linguistics (such as foreign language education curriculum development). Linguistics majors are encouraged to become fluent in a foreign language or at least to develop reading knowledge of a language or two.
Advantages and disadvantages of a linguistics major? Linguistics is a newer field, and an exciting field in which many students are recently finding their niche. This new-ness makes for some advantages and some disadvantages. On the one hand, the field is exciting and in demand, especially where applied linguistics or cognitive or computational linguistics is involved. There is also a wide array of classes, meaning that students with differing interests can each find their own passion within the wide field of linguistics. The downside of this is that every department can not specialize in all sub-fields. It is possible that as you do your major in linguistics you decide that you are most interested in a field that is not a specialization of your university.
What careers are available to linguistics majors? Just as the sub-fields that make up linguistics are very broad, so are the career options. Some linguists will go on to graduate studies in linguistics or in speech language pathology. Others will go into computer programming or voice-recognition software development. Still others will become foreign language teachers, ESL specialists and consultants or translators. Others will work with hearing parents with deaf children or with parents of children with language or auditory processing disorders. The possibilities are just about endless.
Next: Read about other college majors such as French and anthropology, and read some handy information about your professors.
