Linguistics at UND is a cooperative program between the University and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (a program of SIL International), which offers linguistics courses on campus every summer. SIL directs UND's M.A. program in linguistics under the supervision of the UND Graduate school.

Table of Contents

• Purpose of the Master's degree in Linguistics
• The University of North Dakota
• Admissions requirements and Application
• Requirements for the M.A. degree
• Courses
• Faculty
• Financial aid and teaching experience
• Academic output: Work Papers, Theses, Colloquia, and Textbooks
• Contact information: Addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses

Purpose of the Master's degree in Linguistics

The primary purpose of the M.A. program is to prepare students to do field linguistic research, especially in languages that have received relatively little study previously. Courses taught by SIL all carry this emphasis, covering topics such as phonetics, field methods, analytical skills, orthography development, and theoretical frameworks which are useful in the initial description of lesser-known languages. The SIL faculty members have substantial fieldwork experience, and spend most of the year in various places around the world doing linguistic research, promoting vernacular literacy, and performing related humanitarian service. The thesis (required) is normally based on field data collected by the student. The degree is designed so students can combine graduate study at UND with pursuit of linguistic fieldwork or other activities away from campus.

Secondary purposes of the program include preparing students for doctoral work in linguistics at other institutions, for teaching linguistics at universities outside the U.S., and for applied linguistic tasks such as teaching English as a second language, bilingual/bicultural education, literacy, and translation.

(To help you decide if you should pursue a graduate degree in linguistics as well as where and how you might do so, see the paper "Graduate school: Is it for me?", which is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format from the textbook section of the SIL-UND website.)

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The University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota, located in Grand Forks, offers over 160 major fields of study and a variety of degrees at the bachelors, masters, specialist, and doctoral levels, now in its second century of teaching and research. Besides the Graduate school, the University includes such units as the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the School of Law, the Energy and Environmental Research Center, and the Center for Aerospace Sciences. Facilities include a computer center and the Chester Fritz library with about two million volumes.

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Admissions requirements

General requirements for admission to the graduate school include

• completion of a bachelor's degree
• a cumulative minimum GPA of 2.75 for all undergraduate work and 3.00 for the last two years
• ability to pursue academic work in English (students whose native language is not English must achieve a score of 550 or higher on the paper-based TOEFL exam or 213 on the computer-based exam)

Specific requirements for admission to the M.A. program in linguistics are

• 20 semester credits of work in foreign languages or linguistics
• of these, at least 10 must be in linguistics

(GRE scores are not required.)

Applicants who do not meet one or more requirements for admission may be admitted on a trial basis if they have compensating strengths.

For more information on these and other requirements, see the current Graduate Bulletin under 'Admission' and 'Linguistics', or write to SIL or the Graduate School at the addresses below.

All persons have equal opportunity to graduate study at UND, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability.

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Application

To make application to the M.A. program, the student files an application form with the UND Graduate School, together with an application fee, a statement of purpose, transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work, and three letters of recommendation. Special requirements apply to students from other countries, such as translations in English of all materials (e.g. transcripts) not in English.

Applications for the M.A. in linguistics are accepted year-round, and are acted upon whenever the application is complete. We recommend, however, that students plan to begin their graduate studies during the summer session when the program is most active. You may take up to 9 graduate credits before entering the degree program and use them later for the degree. Thus, many students postpone applying to the UND Graduate School until after spending a summer taking classes from SIL. If you have questions, consult with the director of graduate studies (M.A. advisor) or the SIL-UND director before applying (see contact information below).

Application to the UND graduate school for admission to the M.A. program in linguistics is not the same as application to SIL to take SIL courses. If all you want to do is take courses from SIL without getting a degree from UND, consult the separate information about how to apply to take SIL courses. If you want an M.A. in Linguistics from UND, you will need to apply both to the UND Graduate School (for entering the degree program) and to SIL (to take summer classes).

What do you want to do?

• Apply to the UND Graduate School to enter the M.A. program. You do this only once.
• Apply to SIL to take courses. You do this prior to each summer.

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Requirements for the M.A. degree

The following are summarized from the Graduate Bulletin, including both general requirements for the M.A., and the specific requirements for the M.A. in Linguistics.

• 32 graduate credits are required for the degree, including 4 credits for thesis.
• At least 20 credits must be in linguistics courses which are listed in the Graduate Bulletin (see Courses below).
• The degree may include a minor (at least 9 credits in a single related graduate field; approval from the minor department is required) or cognate courses (9 credits in related fields at the 300 level or higher).
• A maximum of 8 graduate credits may be transferred from another institution. Transfer credits must be at the graduate level (500 level or equivalent). Transfer credits may not have been used for another degree, and must not be more than than 7 years old.
• A minimum of two summers, or one regular semester, must be spent in residence (full-time study in Grand Forks). Students are normally expected to spend at least two summers in residence.
• Coursework must not be more than 7 years old at time of graduation. (Older courses taken at UND can sometimes be revalidated by demonstrating continuing competence in the subject matter of the course.)

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Courses

Courses that can be used as part of the M.A. in linguistics

Students normally complete their degree using regular courses from Linguistics supplemented by courses from English, transfer courses, or independent study (Directed Studies and Research).

The courses listed in the Graduate Bulletin under Linguistics form the core of the program. They are taught primarily in the summers by SIL. (Besides the official listings in the Graduate Bulletin, there is further information about them in the SIL-UND catalog.) Students are normally expected to take Ling 450, 451, 503, 504 or 505, 506 and 510, unless they have had equivalent material elsewhere. Ling 998 (Thesis) is required.

Courses listed in the Graduate Bulletin under English Language and Literature which have linguistic content may also be used for the major in Linguistics. These are mostly taught during the fall and spring and include the following courses:

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Courses that can be used for prerequisites to the M.A. in linguistics

Many courses listed under English, Languages, Linguistics and other headings in the Undergraduate Bulletin can be used to satisfy the prerequisites for the degree (which require at least 10 previous credits in linguistics) but cannot be used as part of the degree program itself. (This, of course, is also true of many courses available at other institutions.) Such courses taught at UND include the following:

In addition to linguistics courses such as those above, courses in foreign languages (taught at UND or elsewhere) can be used to satisfy up to half of the prerequisites.

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Faculty

Most of the faculty members for the UND linguistics program are SIL faculty who have been appointed as adjunct faculty members in the UND Graduate School. The SIL faculty members are on campus only during the summers, but special arrangements can be made for them to offer certain courses (esp. Thesis, Directed Studies, and Research) at other times and places. Typically 3-5 SIL graduate faculty members are on campus during any summer.

Two of the graduate faculty for the linguistics program (Marshall and Huang) are members of UND's department of English Language and Literature and teach classes in the English department during the Fall and Spring semester; some of these courses can be used as major courses for the M.A. in linguistics.

[Listing of faculty members, interests, and courses they teach]

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Financial aid and teaching experience

A limited amount of financial aid is available from SIL to cover fees in SIL courses. Details are provided on the page about scholarships and financial aid at SIL-UND. (Or, inquire at the addresses below.)

Teaching assistantships are available during the summers in courses offered by SIL. Full-time TAs may take up to 3 credits of SIL classes at no charge; part-time TAs may take up to 6 credits and pay reduced tuition and fees.

Some students may be eligible for support as Graduate Teaching Assistants in English Language and Literature during the fall and spring. These jobs are administered by the English department, not by SIL, and it varies from year to year whether any such jobs are available to linguistics students.

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Academic output: Work Papers, Theses, Colloquia, and Textbooks

In support of the M.A. program, SIL-UND publishes a volume of work papers each summer containing linguistics research by faculty, students, and guest scholars. Beginning with the 1997 volume, these papers are available on the internet at the following address: http://www.und.edu/dept/linguistics/wp/wphome.htm.

Some recent MA theses in linguistics are now posted on the Web. They may viewed at the following address: http://www.und.edu/dept/linguistics/theses/theses.htm

Each summer, SIL sponsors a colloquium series, consisting of presentations about recent research by faculty, students, and guest scholars.

Information about textbooks in linguistics and other instructional materials developed at SIL-UND or by its faculty are available at the following address: http://www.und.edu/dept/linguistics/textbooks/index.htm

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Contact information

For application materials for the M.A. degree or general information about graduate study at UND

(Application to the UND graduate school for admission to the M.A. program in linguistics is different from application to SIL to take SIL courses. If you're not sure which you want to do, see the discussion above.)

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For specific questions about the M.A. in Linguistics

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For information on the SIL program and courses it offers at UND

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For information on courses taught by the Department of English Language and Literature