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; interpret and leverage fundamental results from the primary literature in phonology and syntax to gain a deeper understanding of language.

2. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to employ advanced methods and analytical techniques from at least one core area of linguistics covered in our M.A. program: computational linguistics, historical linguistics, or one of the main areas of theoretical linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics); critically engage with current work in at least one of these areas; make supervised contributions to the body of knowledge in at least one of these areas, e.g. in the form of a research internship.

3. Upon completion of the degree, students should be able to design and carry out, with the guidance of a supervisor, small research projects of limited scope that build on and engage with findings from the primary literature; choose appropriate research methods, with the guidance for a supervisor, for the phenomenon they are investigating; conduct their researchin a manner that meets current standards of research ethics; disseminate their research findings in writing.