Department of Linguistics

The M.A. in Linguistics with a concentration in Language and Communication (MLC) prepares students to use linguistics, especially the areas of discourse analysis (including narrative analysis and cross cultural communication) sociolinguistics, and pragmatics in the workforce. We envision a broad range of applications of the MLC in fields such as human resources, mediation and arbitration, technical and scientific writing, management, international communication, diversity training, counseling, advertising, marketing, usability testing, public relations, and media/ public opinion research.

We offer broad training in the analysis of language and communication, with possible foci on the following:

• Language and health care: analysis/training/consulting in doctor/patient communications; health writing; Discourse of medicine, science and health; narratives of illness and identity change; linguistic accommodation between expert and client; language of agency and responsibility
  
  
• Language and Law: teaching legal writing (training international lawyers to become 'fluent' writers in American legal genres), interpreting the complex language of statutes and contracts; analyzing ambiguity and presuppositions (e.g., in testimony or in cross-examination); elucidation of attitudes toward language in legal proceedings; linguistic analysis (of dialect features, writing or speaking style) in criminal investigations
  
  
• Language and Business: the role of culture, gender, age, ethnicity, and social class in office communication and commerical transactions; group dynamics in meetings; processes of negotiation and decision-making; managing and interpreting focus groups; the dynamics of interviewing; marketing/branding commercial and social products
  
  
• Language and Education: how teachers can more effectively communicate with their students; how language operates within the classroom and in the wider community; how language reflects and constructs social identities (such as gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, race, region, and class)
  

External Resources for Exploring Professional Applications of Linguistics

From Boston University:
What can you do with a Linguistics Major?
Finding a job
Companies that Hire Linguists

From the University of Wellington (New Zealand):
Career View

From the Linguist List:
FAQ on linguistics as a career