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Linguistics

What is Linguistics?

Language is the only complex form of communication common to all humans. It is essential for all interpersonal endeavors and is central to the development and maintenance of societies, cultures and civilizations. Yet there are many unanswered questions about how language is acquired, processed by the brain, structured and used. Linguistics is engaged in answering these questions.

Linguistics is the scientific study of natural human language; it contributes significantly to our understanding of what it means to be human. As such, linguistics forms an indispensable part of a liberal arts education. It is a broad field, covering all aspects of cognitive and social functioning.

Linguists study language in general through the study of specific languages. They study modern languages, ancient languages and endangered languages. They carry out these studies in the classroom, in computer, psychology, and speech laboratories, in fieldwork throughout the world, and in settings where languages are interpreted.

The Linguistics Department at Montclair State, housed within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, offers a wide variety of both theoretical and applied courses in linguistics on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. We hope you find this visit to the department helpful.

  • Anna Feldman, Chair, Department of Linguistics, Conrad J. Schmitt Hall, room 222C, Tel: 973-655-7500
student in CHSS classroom

Our Programs

At the undergraduate level, our department offers a Linguistics Major and the Major with a Concentration in Language Engineering as well as minors in linguistics and in American Sign Language. We also offer several programs in teaching English as a Second Language at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. At the graduate level, we offer a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics, a Master of Science in Computational Linguistics, a Certificate in Computational Linguistics and a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). For more information on these programs select the links above or below.

All Programs of StudyUndergraduate ProgramsGraduate Programs


Careers or Skills Gained

Our alumni have gone on to careers in:

  • teaching English as a second language in the U.S. or as a foreign language abroad
  • directing college language programs
  • publishing, developing language resource materials
  • software development for applications in natural language processing
  • technical writing
  • translation (with strong background in another language)

Careers in LinguisticsAlumni Achievements


Image of faculty member Anna Feldman talking with Linguistics students.

Our Faculty

Our faculty have expertise in second language acquisition, bilingualism and code-switching as well as computational linguistics and speech processing.
Meet Our Faculty

Contact Us

Contact The Department of Linguistics
Location:
Schmitt Hall 222
Phone:
973-655-7755

 

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