About the Program
Linguistics students explore language as both a faculty of mind and as a social institution. You will learn about how language is structured, including models for representing linguistic knowledge and how language varies within and between communities. Linguistics students who double major often choose to study modern languages, computer science, psychology, anthropology or philosophy.
Paths of Study
Applied Learning
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Courses
Take courses ranging from Phonetics and Phonology (LING 307) to First Language Acquisition (LING 358) to Sociolinguistic Field Methods (LING 441).*
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Research
Attend weekly research meetings held by professors about their cutting-edge work in order to engage in all parts of the research process.
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Labs and Field Methods
Gain hands-on experience in the Child Language Lab, LabPhon Lab, lab for the Documentation, Analysis and Translation of Language in Society (DATLas) and Discourse Analysis Lab.
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Career Readiness
Enroll in a career-focused Blackboard site that gives practical information and advice from former students for moving into various fields.
Outcomes
Many linguistics graduates go on to work in education, publishing, government or the law. Furthermore, many companies in the technology industry (Google, Amazon and Microsoft) will hire linguists, especially those with computational skills, to develop software and technologies related to human-computer interactions. Although W&M does not offer a pre-speech pathology program, many alumni successfully go on to graduate work in hearing and speech sciences and report that the W&M Linguistics Department's curriculum had given them a solid foundation.
Talk to Us
Want to learn more? Our current students and faculty want to connect with you.
Linguistics Program
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Contact Us
- Get an inside look: Contact a current linguistics major
- Ask the faculty: Contact the Linguistics Program
Courses Disclaimer
*Courses listed are examples. Course availability changes each semester.
