Loving Language with the Linguistics Major
Linguists are interested in a precise and systematic understanding of the phenomenon of human language. In pursuing this goal, they study the diverse ways in which languages differ from one another as well as the ways in which they are fundamentally alike; the processes of language learning and language use; the forces that cause language to change over time; and the historical relationships that exist among the world’s languages. Students of linguistics at the University of Kentucky enroll in an interdisciplinary program bringing together faculty from a range of departments including English, Hispanic Studies and Modern and Classical Languages. Students often choose to pair a linguistics major or minor with other areas of academic interest.
What skills does studying linguistics develop?
- ability to think logically about the form and meaning of language
- awareness of physical, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of language use
- capacity to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing
- effectively work in a collaborative environment
- ability to gather and interpret complex information and synthesize the findings in a coherent manner
Career Opportunities
A degree in linguistics (for more click here) gives students excellent preparation for careers in computing and technology; clinical fields relating to speech and language; international business and education; publishing; and many other professions. Linguistic majors are also prepared to continue their education in graduate studies. Possible occupations for linguistic majors include but are not limited to the following:
- artificial intelligence
- forensic linguistics
- general linguistics
- language teaching
- lexicography
- language documentation
- minority language advocacy
- natural language processing
- neurology
- psycholinguistics
- sociolinguistics
- speech pathology
- translation
For more information about careers, go to the following:
Linguistic Society of America
https://www.linguisticsociety.org/what-linguistics
American Association of Applied Linguistics
http://www.aaal.org/
For more information about career opportunities, contact the UK Career Center.
