Courses Offered

Our linguistics curriculum is designed to give students a strong foundation in how language works, while offering opportunities to explore areas like conversation, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, and language acquisition. Our courses provide practical skills, critical thinking, and hands-on experience with real language data.

Schedule of Classes – See which linguistics courses are being offered next term.
University Catalog – View the official list of all linguistics courses with short descriptions.

Non-Major Courses

The following courses require no background in linguistics and would be appropriate for students from any major.

LING 1305 Language in Society

Prerequisite: none
Distribution List: Contemporary Social Issues

In this course, we will consider language from a social perspective, one in which language only becomes meaningful when placed in its social context. Some of the topics to be explored touch on dialects, regional variation, slang, minority languages, power and status, language and gender, bilingualism, code-switching, pidgins and creoles, and some applied fields of sociolinguistics (e.g., language and law, language and healthcare, etc.).

LING 3310 Introduction to Linguistics

Prerequisite: upper-level standing or consent of the instructor
Cross-listed: ENG 3310 and ANT 3310

This course is an introduction to the study of language from the perspective of the academic discipline known as linguistics. The study of language touches on many different disciplines. A linguist may borrow ideas and theories from anthropology, sociology, pedagogy, philosophy, psychology, or other areas, and may ask questions that reflect this variety of disciplines. For example, does language control our view of reality? How do languages resemble and differ from each other? Is language biologically innate or is it learned socially? Is there one correct way to speak English? What kind of language should be taught in school? This course is designed to introduce non-linguists to the study of language and to begin the process of answering these and many other language-related questions.

LING 3312 Modern English Grammar

Prerequisite: upper-level standing or consent of the instructor
Cross-listed: ENG 3302

This course examines the structure of present-day English. Our primary goal is to talk explicitly about the conventions of English grammar that native speakers of English know implicitly. Another course goal is to give students the tools they need to discuss grammar issues with precision and clarity (as editors might) and to construct sentences effectively and with less anxiety (as writers should).

LING 3313 Linguistics of Social Media: Language in Digital Spaces

Prerequisite: upper-level standing or consent of the instructor

In Linguistics of Social Media, students explore and analyze language use in digital environments. The course examines how social media platforms shape linguistic practices related to genre, register, style, identity, politeness, and multilingualism. Students engage with authentic online data and apply linguistic frameworks to understand how social meaning is constructed and negotiated in contemporary digital communication.

LING 3315 Sociolinguistics

Prerequisite: upper-level standing or consent of the instructor

The study of language as it is used in its social context for marking an individual's group (e.g., race, gender, age, class, profession) membership.

LING 3319 Language & Culture

Prerequisite: upper-level standing or consent of the instructor

This course examines cross-cultural communication and the social, historical, and linguistic factors that shape it. Successful communication depends on more than just vocabulary; it requires understanding how others perceive their world. What feels “normal” to us (our norms) may look very different to someone else, and recognizing these differences is the key to meaningful connection. Whether crossing international borders or simply sharing lunch with a friend, this class helps students expand their awareness of cultural norms and develop the skills to become more effective communicators in every context.

Major Courses

The following courses have prerequisites and contain more advanced topics in linguistics. Waivers may be permitted upon petition of the instructor.

LING 4302 Semantics & Pragmatics

Prerequisite: LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

In this course, we explore how people use language to communicate meaning in real social contexts, following the framework of linguistic pragmatics. Rather than focusing only on the definitions of words or the structure of sentences, pragmatics examines how language functions in interaction: how speakers manage turns in conversation, use gestures to reinforce meaning, and convey more than they literally say. Why can a simple question like “Where are my keys?” sound like both a request for help and an accusation?

Students will collaborate on a hands-on project that involves collecting, transcribing, and analyzing original conversational data using a Conversation Analysis (CA) approach. Through this work, we’ll connect theory with real-world communication and develop practical skills for studying language in use.

LING 4303 Contemporary Syntax

Prerequisite: LING 3312/ENG 3302 or LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

This course is an introduction to syntax, which is the branch of linguistics that deals with the scientific study of sentence structure in natural human language. The focus of this course is to train students to think rigorously, systematically, and scientifically about grammar (and language in general), a skill you can apply in many areas. Students will gain a basic foundation in the dominant syntactic theory, Generative Grammar.

LING 4305 Phonetics & Phonology

Prerequisite: LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

This course is an introduction to the study of speech sounds and sound systems of the world's languages with a focus on those sounds and sound patterns which occur in English. We will examine speech sounds in terms of their production, their articulatory and acoustic features, and their graphic representation in phonetic notation. The introduction of basic phonological theories will provide the framework for analysis of various phonological processes which occur in English and other languages. Using computerized acoustic analysis of speech samples from class members, we will compare the ways phonological theory and acoustic phonetic analysis can account for the ways in which adjacent sounds affect each other.

LING 4311 Special Topics in Linguistics

Prerequisite: upper-level standing and consent of the instructor

This course is offered periodically to introduce students to topics not covered in other linguistics courses. The topic will be announced for each semester or session. A course can be repeated once with a change of topic and consent of the instructor.

LING 4312 Old English Language

Prerequisite: ENG 2301 and upper-level standing (cross-listed with ENG 4302)

Old English language and an introduction to Anglo-Saxon history and culture. Selections from Old English poetry and prose (Biblical translations, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfredian translations, homilies) will be read in the original.

LING 4313 First Language Acquisition

Prerequisite: LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

How do babies go from cries and babbling to complex sentences in just a few years? Discover what research has revealed about how children acquire language—from the earliest stages of development, even before birth. We will examine key questions such as whether language learning is driven more by nature or nurture, how sign language development unfolds, and what atypical language development reveals about the human mind. Students will gain hands-on experience exploring and analyzing real child language data, with the option of exploring languages other than English.

LING 4315 Psycholinguistics

Prerequisite: LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

This course examines the mental processes involved in understanding, producing, and learning language. Topics include the comprehension of spoken and written language, speech perception and production, word recognition, mental representation of language, the influence of language on cognition, bilingualism, aphasia, dyslexia, and research methods in psycholinguistics.

LING 4317 Bilingual Language Acquisition and Education

Prerequisite: upper-level standing and consent of the instructor

Examines childhood bilingual language acquisition and education and highlights how this understanding is critical to examining issues in bilingual education and promoting multilingual communities in an increasingly diverse U.S. society.

LING 4318 Second Language Acquisition

Prerequisite: LING 3312/ENG 3302 or LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

How do we as humans learn additional languages after learning our first language? What factors account for why some people have more success than others in second language learning? What does it take to attain advanced proficiency in languages other than the first language? These are the central questions in the field of second language acquisition that we will explore in this course. We will examine the role of various factors on second language acquisition, including motivation, age, memory, classroom instruction, study abroad experience, and learning styles. We will become familiar with theories, research methods, and the latest findings in the field of second language acquisition. We will also consider the implications of theories and findings for practical issues such as in language teaching, bilingual education, and society as a whole.

LING 4319 American English Dialects

Prerequisite: LING/ENG/ANT 3310 or SPA 3309

This course is an introduction to dialectology, focusing on the origins of American English dialects and their development through the spread of linguistic variation.

LING 4v20 Independent Study in Linguistics

Prerequisite: consent of instructor

This course is intended for supervised individual research and the study of a linguistic subfield or linguistic problem. It may be repeated once with a change of topic for a maximum of six hours.

For more information, contact the Linguistics Program Director: Melisa_Dracos@baylor.edu.