Linguistics — Combined Honours

This specially designed course of study is a combination of our programs in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies. It will appeal to those students who want the broadest possible exposure to the study of language, in all its dimensions. While Linguistics focuses on the structure and mental representation and processing of human language, Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies focuses on the use of language in the lives of individuals and in society. This combined program is offered with the recognition that some students will want in-depth exposure to both of these general aspects of language.Linguistics focuses on the formal properties of languages including sounds and their organization (phonetics and phonology), the structure of words (morphology) and sentences (syntax), how meaning is conveyed and understood (semantics), how languages change over time (historical linguistics), how they are acquired and processed by the brain (psycholinguistics and neurolingusitics), and how the formal study of language can help in the documentation and revitalization of endangered languages. Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies encompasses Applied Linguistics (language teaching and learning, language assessment, bilingual education, language policy and planning), Writing Studies (academic and workplace writing, literacy), and Discourse Studies (analysis of spoken and written language, its use in various contexts, including in professional life, and its role in creating social identities, social structures, and power relations).

Field of study: Linguistics