Welcome to the Graduate Program

The Department supports three principal areas of concentration: descriptive linguistics and fieldwork, language and cognition, and second language acquisition. Although the faculty and courses deal with a wide variety of linguistic topics and issues, there are four facets of linguistics that are strongly emphasized in our graduate program:

• A functional approach to the study of language structure and use.
• An empirical approach to the methodology of linguistic research, which includes live data and fieldwork, as well as experimental and cross-linguistic orientations.
• An interdisciplinary emphasis on the place of human language in its wider natural context.
• Applied linguistics, including second-language development and language revitalization.

The Linguistics Department at the University of Oregon is functional, typological, empirical, and experimental in orientation, and it is active in the study of little-known languages and in second language acquisition. It is also strongly concerned with cognitive issues in linguistics and language use and is active in the study of discourse. In all areas, the Department emphasizes empirical work through field research or through experimental research. Thus, within either graduate degree, it is possible for a student to develop one or more of these concentrations.

Applied linguistics interests at the University of Oregon include the traditional areas of second language acquisition and teaching, as well as other applications of linguistics to language problems, including the development of descriptive and pedagogical grammars and dictionaries, literacy programs, and language planning and policy issues. In all of these areas, students are expected to develop first as strong general linguists and to extend those foundations to the applied problems of interest. Thus, our concentration in second language acquisition and teaching emphasizes work in general linguistics as well as second language acquisition, with appropriate supporting courses and training opportunities in second language teaching at the AEI and other places on campus. Similarly, work on other applied linguistics problems begins with careful work in general linguistics, augmented by efforts in application within the Department, or in collaborations with colleagues and programs elsewhere.

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