Language Studies

Linguistics Department
241 Stevenson College
(831) 459-4988
http://ling.ucsc.edu

Program Description

Language Studies is an interdisciplinary major offered by the Linguistics Department. It is designed to equip students with competence in one or more foreign languages and, at the same time, provide them with an understanding of the general nature of human language—its structure and use. It requires (1) acquisition of demonstrable competence in a language other than English, (2) grounding in linguistics, and (3) completion of a series of cultural context courses related to the language. Currently, majors may choose a concentration in Chinese, French, German, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Russian, or Spanish. Interested students should contact the Linguistics Department office early in their college career to obtain essential information about requirements. Students are also encouraged to download a current copy of the Handbook of Undergraduate Programs in Linguistics and Language Studies from our web site at http://ling.ucsc.edu/, which contains detailed information about the major.

A junior year abroad through the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) in a country appropriate to the major language is recommended. A senior year abroad is approved only when all of the language proficiency requirements have been satisfied and when it is clear that any remaining courses can be satisfactorily completed abroad. Courses taken abroad may be used to satisfy major requirements only if approved by the undergraduate director or a designated adviser.

Requirements for the Language Studies Major

Early Declaration

It is important that prospective students declare the major as early as possible so that they can complete the advanced language, linguistics, and context requirements within the allowed period of enrollment.

Students who wish to include an EAP experience in their course of study will have to coordinate their choice of year abroad with the scheduling of UCSC courses. Transfer students who have not made significant progress with the language requirements before entering UCSC may find it difficult to include an EAP year before completion of graduation requirements.

Course Requirements

Language studies majors must satisfy course requirements in languages, linguistics, and cultural context.

Language Component: Language studies majors (in French, German, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Russian, and Spanish) must achieve a level equivalent to six quarters in the language of concentration. One advanced language course after level 6 is also required. Note that Language courses 4, 5, or 6 fulfill one of the Introduction to Humanities (IH) general education requirements. Majors in Chinese and Japanese must achieve a level equivalent to nine quarters of language study.

Six foundation courses in linguistics:

• Linguistics 50, Introduction to Linguistics: Sounds and Words
• Linguistics 52, Syntax 1; or Linguistics 55, Syntactic Structures
• Linguistics 53, Semantics 1
• Linguistics 10, Phonology 1
• two advanced linguistics courses

Five elective courses in linguistics or cultural context:

• Linguistics courses: any upper-division course offered by the Linguistics Department
• Cultural context courses in the major language: to be selected from disciplines such as literature, history, and politics, subject to departmental approval.

Senior exit requirement: In their senior year, language studies majors must satisfy the senior exit requirement in one of two ways:

Option 1. Successful completion of a capstone course. Students may designate an appropriate upper-division course as their capstone course.

• In addition to fulfilling the normal requirements for the designated course, such students concurrently enroll in the Linguistics 190, Senior Research Series (two credits, enrollment limited to 12) with the same instructor, and produce a research paper or other significant project, normally related to their language of focus.
• Prior to enrolling in 190, language studies majors must have senior standing, achieved level 5 language competence, and must have completed Linguistics 52/55, Syntax I or Syntactic Structures, and 101, Phonology I.

Option 2. Senior thesis or project supervised by a faculty member.

• The proposal for a senior thesis or project must be submitted for departmental approval at least three quarters prior to the quarter of graduation.
• Students enroll in Linguistics 195, Senior Thesis or Linguistics 194, Senior Project with the approval of the faculty adviser. The senior thesis is an original investigation of the major language in some relevant way, such as the linguistic structure or history of the language or its historical, literary, cultural, sociological, ethnographic, or political context.

Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement: Students of every major must satisfy that major's upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement will normally be met within one to three courses already required for the major. For detailed information on this major’s DC requirement, consult your major adviser or see the 2010-11 general catalog.

Requirements for the Minor

The minor requires completion of two years (six quarters) of language study (or demonstration of an equivalent level of ability) and eight additional linguistics and cultural context courses as follows:

• Linguistics 50, Introduction to Linguistics: Sounds and Words
• Linguistics 52, Syntax I; or Linguistics 55, Syntactic Structures
• Linguistics 101, Phonology I
• two advanced linguistics courses
• three elective/context courses (see handbook for details)

There is no senior exit requirement for the minor.

Disqualification Policy

The Linguistics Department has adopted a major disqualification policy for linguistics and language studies majors that is intended to encourage students to take seriously their performance in the introductory courses and to make a strong effort to pass those courses.
Students who receive more than one No Pass, D,W, and/or F in the following introductory courses will not be permitted to major in linguistics or language studies:

• Linguistics 50, Introduction to Linguistics Sounds and Words
• Linguistics 52, Syntax 1
• Linguistics 53, Semantics 1
• Linguistics 55, Syntactic Structures
• Linguistics 101, Phonology I

Students who fail one of these courses will be sent a letter reminding them of this policy and warning them that they are at risk of disqualification should they fail to pass a subsequent introductory course.

Students may appeal their disqualification by writing a formal letter to the department chair. This letter should explain any extenuating circumstances that influenced their poor performance in the introductory courses. For example, if some event led to poor performance in multiple courses in a single quarter, a student has a potential case for appeal. In contrast, academic dishonesty or poor performance spanning multiple quarters will be considered evidence that a student is ill-suited for the majors.

The letter of appeal must be submitted to the Linguistics Department office (241 Stevenson College) no later than 15 days from the date the disqualification notice is mailed, or the 10th day of classes in the quarter of their disqualification, whichever is later, The department will subsequently notify the student and the student’s college of the appeal decision no later than 15 days after the submission of the appeal.

Honors

Graduating seniors are considered for honors in the major during the spring quarter. Students who wish to be considered for honors should meet the deadline posted by the Office of the Registrar for declaring the intent to graduate. Determination of honors is based on a close reading of (1) the student’s  grades and narrative evaluations for all courses relevant to the major; (2) the results of the senior exit requirement; (3) other factors relevant to an assessment of academic excellence, such as research papers of professional quality. Generally, honors in the major are awarded to the top 10 percent of those graduating in the major. Only those students whose narratives are consistently excellent, and whose performance on the senior exit requirement is excellent, will qualify. Highest honors are rarely awarded, and then only to students whose performance in coursework is outstanding and who have completed an outstanding senior thesis or project.