Department of Linguistics

The following information is a brief version. You can find detailed information from the Student Handbook.

PhD Program

A doctoral student in Linguistics is required to have a total of 54 credit hours. For students concentrating in Computational Linguistics, roughly half the coursework should be in the concentration (which may include courses in Computer Science and Cognitive Science), the specific courses to be approved by the student’s advisor. A doctoral student should fulfill departmental distribution requirements (27 credits) of 54 credit hours. PhD students must pass a Qualifying Review no later than their third semester, including submission of a conference-quality Qualifying Paper (QP1) in Computational Linguistics. A publishable Qualifying Paper (QP2) in Computational Linguistics is due in the final semester of coursework.

MS Program

The M.S. in Computational Linguistics prepares students for research and development careers in the field, as well as for advanced study at the Ph.D. level. The MS program requires 24 credit hours and a 6 credit Master’s Thesis. M.S. coursework involves 4 required core courses (at least 2 in Linguistics, and at least 1 in Computer Science), followed by another 4 elective courses. The 4 core courses are Introduction to Natural Language Processing (LING 362), Statistical NLP, Machine Translation (LING 466), and Information Retrieval (LING 467). The 4 core courses are all required. The electives include 2 programming courses in the Department of Computer Science: Programming Concepts & Tools (COSC 502) and Objects & Algorithms (COSC 503), as well as a course in Artificial Intelligence (COSC 387). Other electives include Phonology (LING 511), Processing of Speech (LING 566), Syntax (LING 527), Semantics and Pragmatics (LING 531), and Computational Grammar Formalisms (LING 564). The language requirement may be satisfied by passing a programming languages proficiency examination.