NC State offers two undergraduate programs in linguistics. The Department of English offers a BA in English with a concentration in Linguistics and the Departments of English and World Languages and Cultures offer a minor in Linguistics. These programs are interdisciplinary and exciting opportunities to expand your knowledge about language as well as build valuable, marketable skills like critical thinking, data analysis, and effective communication. For more information about what a degree or minor in linguistics can offer, click on this link that explains Why Major in Linguistics.

Students who study Linguistics will:

1. Study the formal structure of language organization on phonological, syntactic, semantic, and discourse levels.
2. Examine modes of linguistic argumentation as a type of scientific inquiry.
3. Understand the systematic variation of language in its social context.
4. Explore the applications of linguistic knowledge.

Undergraduate Major in Linguistics

NC State has been recognized as one of the top-rated sociolinguistics graduate programs in the country. Now, through the undergraduate degree in English with concentration in linguistics, NC State undergraduate students will be able to engage fully with the world class linguistics faculty in coursework and through research.

This concentration features the same core as all English degrees, and students in it will take an additional four courses in linguistics and two English electives. The degree program will complement the skills learned in the English core classes by exposing you to language analysis methods and critical thinking skills that are sought after in today’s marketplace. Because this is a new program, there are not yet graduates with amazing success stories. However, recent graduates of the MA program in linguistics have been employed in fields as diverse as market research, advertising, publishing, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, speech-language pathology, and more. Graduates have also been accepted into top PhD programs and law schools across the country. See the NC State Student's Guide to a Career in Speech-Language Pathology.

For more information about the major: https://english.chass.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/majors/lin.php and for a complete listing of degree requirements: https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/humanities-social-sciences/english/english-ba-linguistics-concentration/

Contact Person

Dr. Christin Phelps
G105C Tompkins Hall
caphelps@ncsu.edu
919-513-1807

Undergraduate Minor in Linguistics

The Department of English and Department of World Languages and Cultures offer a minor in Linguistics to N.C. State students, except LWR English majors. The minor is designed to investigate the structure and function of language as a cognitive and behavioral science. Five courses in designated areas of linguistics are required in the minor. Among students likely to be attracted to this minor are those who expect to pursue graduate study in linguistics, those interested in foreign languages or English as a second language, and those interested in communication sciences including speech, language, and hearing pathology.

For information about the minor: https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/humanities-social-sciences/english/linguistics-minor/

Contact Person

Dr. Jeff Mielke
211 Tompkins Hall
jimielke@ncsu.edu
919-515-3303