Admission to Degree Program
All undergraduate degree programs in the Department of Linguistics and English Language are open enrollment.
The Discipline
Linguistics is the study of language in all its aspects—from speech sounds to sentence formation to meaning; from how language is organized and used in a social setting to how it is organized and processed in the brain or by computers. Linguists study language form, language change, language acquisition, and even the texts in which language is recorded. Linguists recognize that the communicative power of language is what brings cohesion to all human enterprises. For the student interested in the nature of language, linguistics is the subject to study.
The science of linguistics has many real-world applications, including translation, information storage/retrieval, lexicography, editing, and language teaching. In addition to its majors in general linguistics and in English language, BYU's Department of Linguistics and English Language offers undergraduate minor programs (as well as graduate degrees) in several of these areas.
Career Opportunities
A linguistics degree with an emphasis in computers may lead to jobs in high technology, e.g., machine translation, information retrieval, speech recognition and production software, and lexicography. Linguistics is also recognized as a strong specialization for those pursuing a career in military intelligence or technical writing.
The English language major is in many ways similar to the linguistics major, though its focus is more specifically on English linguistics. The major provides useful preparation for careers that require special attention to the English language, such as advertising and technical writing. The English language major along with a TESOL or editing minor is an especially strong combination.
The teaching of English to speakers of other languages is an applied linguistics area of high demand, both within the United States and around the world. Both a TESOL minor and TESOL undergraduate certificate are offered by the department.
In addition, the linguistics and English language majors are excellent preparations for those planning graduate studies in areas as diverse as law, international business, tourism, library science, TESOL, communicative disorders, and speech pathology, not to mention graduate studies in specific languages or in linguistics itself.
General Information
The Department of Linguistics and English Language strongly recommends that StDev 317, a 1-credit-hour course, be taken at the end of the sophomore year or the beginning of the junior year. Because liberal arts degrees provide preparation in a variety of useful fields rather than a single career track, this course is recommended to help liberal arts students focus on specific educational and occupational goals and to identify the career options or educational opportunities available to them. The course will introduce them to the resources needed for accessing information about graduate schools, internships, careers, and career development. Students will learn basic employment strategies, including the steps necessary for obtaining employment related to their own specialty.
