Department of Linguistics

The MLC provides students with general skills in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and pragmatics, teaching them how to use these skills to resolve concrete problems in workplace settings, institutions and professions that depend largely upon language to accomplish their goals. The foundation for the skills is acquired through 4 Required courses; the use of the skills will be developed through Electives (see courses below).

Program Requirements:
The MLC has two different options for completion, students take 8- 10 courses depending on which option is pursued.  (Note that students participating in the Accelerated Master's program may not choose the thesis option).

8 courses (24 credits) plus Master's Thesis
10 courses (30 credits)

To complete a Master's Thesis, the student must submit a proposal to his/her advisor and to the Graduate School.  The thesis will be mentored by the faculty advisor with or without additional readers.  Upon completion, the Master's Thesis must be deposited in the Graduate School. 

Other than the two required courses (LING 401 and the Proseminar), there is flexibility in all course requirements. 

Required Courses
LING 401: General Linguistics (may be waived only if student has a background in Linguistics).

MLC Proseminar: a professional socialization course designed to illustrate how to use linguistics in professional contexts. Offered in the Spring semester, but participation is required in events throughout the year (click here and /or contact the Assistant Director for further information about the proseminar).

3 additional courses, to be selected from the following:

Approaches to Discourse
Discourse Analysis: Conversation
Discourse Analysis: Narrative
Discourse Markers
Ethnography of Communication
Intercultural Communication
Introduction to Sociolinguistics
Pragmatics
Sociolinguistic Field Methods
Sociolinguistic Variation

3 - 6 elective courses (depending on Master's Thesis option, and any waived requirements)

To be selected from the above list (with permission from advisor) or from the following list:

American Dialects
Computational Tools for Linguists
Corpus Linguistics
Foundations of Education
Forensic Linguistics
Intertextuality
Language and Aging
Language and Gender
Language and Identity
Language and Law
Language and Medical Discourse
Language and Multimedia Discourse
Language and Politics
Language and Religion
Language and Identity
Language and the Internet
Language and the Media
Language in the USA
Language, Culture, and Thought
Linguistic Anthropology
Linguistics and Education
Linguistics and Reading
Linguistics and Writing
Multimodal Discourse
Netspeak: Computer-Mediated Communication
Statistics for Linguists

Alternative courses, which reflect the needs and interests of individual students, may be selected under the guidance of the faculty advisor. They may include courses in other departments or schools within Georgetown, as well as courses at area universities (e.g. American, George Mason, George Washington) through the Washington Area Consortium of Universities.

Students may complete the course work for the MLC (depending on choice of curricular option and number of courses per semester) in one academic year.

Although the MLC has no language requirement, students wishing to enhance their skills in a language other than English are able to audit undergraduate language courses (with the proviso that they attend regularly and participate as active class members).