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 a thorough 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 is a demanding program that requires (1) acquisition of demonstrable competence in a language other than English, (2) a thorough 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 obtain a current copy of the Handbook of Undergraduate Programs in Linguistics and Language Studies (http://ling.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/handbook.php), 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 an allowable 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, 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 and cultural context:

• Ling 50 Introduction to Linguistics: Sounds and Words
• Ling 52 Syntax 1 or Ling 55 Syntactic Structures
• Ling 53 Semantics 1
• Ling 101 Phonology 1
• two advanced linguistics courses

Five elective courses

• Linguistics courses: any upper-division course in Linguistics
• Cultural context courses in the major language: to be selected from a variety of disciplines including literature, history, politics, and art

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 Ling 190 Senior Research Series (two credits, enrollment limited to 10) with the same instructor, and produce a research paper or other significant project, normally related to their language of focus, to be filed with the department.
• Prior to enrolling in 190, Language Studies majors must have senior standing, achieved level 5 language competence, and must have completed Ling 52/55 Syntax I or Syntactic Structures, and 101 Phonology I.

Option 2. Senior thesis 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 Ling 195 (Senior Thesis) or Ling 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.

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:

• Ling 50 Introduction to Linguistics: Sounds and Words
• Ling 52 Syntax 1 or Ling 55 Syntactic Structures
• Ling 101 Phonology 1
• two advanced linguistics courses
• three elective/context courses (see handbook for details)

There is no senior exit requirement for the minor.