Computational Linguistics M.A.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to analyze aspects of the sound structure (phonology) and sentence structure (syntax) of linguistic data; exhibit familiarity with standard theories and analytical machinery in those empirical domains, e.g., rewrite rules, phrase structure trees, or optimality theoretic tableaux; continue their exploration of phonology and syntax through advanced introductory courses or comparable learning materials. 2. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to write simple programs in a programming language that is widely used in computational linguistics or data science; exhibit basic familiarity with standard programming tools such as debuggers or version control systems; employ common algorithms, methods, and techniques from computational linguistics.

3. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to exhibit a deeper understanding of linguistic theory that extends beyond the basics of phonology and syntax; master concepts from an area of theoretical linguistics that has a bearing on computational linguistics; fruitfully combine their training in computational linguistics with insights from theoretical linguistics.

4. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to exhibit a deeper understanding of mathematical, probabilistic, or statistical methods that are used in computational linguistics and adjacent fields; read and comprehend mathematical notation and concepts as commonly encountered in textbooks and advanced courses on computational linguistics and adjacent fields; employ mathematical reasoning when making computational design decisions.

5. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to independently work on a small-scale research or programming project; draw from the primary literature and/or existing software solutions for their own project; document their own work in an accessible manner, in the form of either a research paper or software documentation.