Linguistics (LING)

Abstract

Research on language has proven to be one of the most fruitful means to cast light on the nature of the human mind and general cognitive capacity and has taken on a new momentum in the last 30 years. The Maryland Linguistics program builds on these recent developments and trains students thoroughly in a research enterprise which tries to develop a detailed answer to these questions: How is a person's linguistic capacity represented in the mind, how does that representation reflect properties which are encoded genetically, how is language acquired by young children, how can language be encoded as a computational, psychological or neurological system, and how can linguistic knowledge be used to improve human language technology?

The Department of Linguistics at the University of Maryland has an internationally recognized Ph.D. program. The Department combines current theoretical research in phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics with state-of-the-art experimental research in psycholinguistics, first language acquisition, language processing, neurolinguistics, and computational linguistics. An interdisciplinary background enables students to evaluate proposals critically and make a lasting contribution to the field. Many students choose to split their major and minor areas between theoretical and experimental linguistics. Many students also choose to concurrently pursue the Certificate Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. The department also hosts an NSF-supported interdisciplinary training program on "Biological and Computational Foundations of Language Diversity" (see web site for more information).

The Department encourages applications from students with an interest in the Department's areas of expertise. Students with a primary interest in Neurolinguistics and Cognitive Science may also want to consider applying to the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) Ph.D. program. See the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Laboratory for more details on alternative programs of study for psycholinguistics. Students seeking a Ph.D. in other areas of linguistics may want to consider a range of other strong programs at the University of Maryland. The PhD program in Second Language Acquisition, based in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, has a strong cognitive science and research focus. Students with a focus on TESOL should consider the Curriculum and Instruction Program, based in the College of Education. Students with a clinical focus should also consider the Hearing and Speech Sciences Program. Students interested in human language technology should also consider the PhD programs in the iSchool (CLIS) or the Department of Computer Science.

Admissions Information

All students must hold a Bachelors or Masters degree (or international equivalent) prior to starting the Ph.D. program. Although the student's previous degrees may be in a field other than linguistics, it is essential that a student have some previous experience in linguistics.

Applicants should check the University's admission requirements and the department's web site for the most up-to-date information on graduate applications. Electronic submission of application materials is strongly preferred. Applicants are encouraged to submit the initial on-line application form well before the application deadline, preferably by mid-December, since this form must be processed before an applicant is able to submit other electronic materials. Note that the January 5th target date applies to all applicants, domestic and international. Applications normally require:

Application Form & Application Fee: See the Graduate School web site. Early submission of the initial on-line application is strongly encouraged.
Statement of Purpose: This should provide a clear explanation of what your objectives are in pursuing an advanced degree in Linguistics, and at Maryland in particular. Mention specific interests or relevant experience where applicable. The Statement of Purpose is not a literary contest or an invitation to flatter members of the department; there is no 'recipe' for a strong Statement. The Statement of Purpose allows the Department to better understand an applicant's goals, interests, and how well the applicant will be served by the department's areas of expertise.
Writing Sample(s): This should preferably represent original work done in linguistics, but work in other fields showing evidence of careful analysis and independent thought is also acceptable. Writing samples should be in English.
Letters of Recommendation: These should come from at least three people who know your work well, and who can offer a detailed, honest assessment of your abilities and experience, and your suitability for an advanced degree in Linguistics.
GRE General Test: Although this test is not absolutely required for admission, all applicants who hope to receive financial aid are strongly advised to take the GRE test. A wider range of sources of financial aid are open to students who have taken the GRE test.
TOEFL Test (or TOEFL), for international students. See the Graduate School web site for exceptions.

Application Deadlines

Fall

Spring

Domestic Applicants:
U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents

Domestic Applicant Deadlines

In order to receive fullest possible consideration for admission and financial aid, all application materials should be received by January 5. The final deadline is May 15 (January 5 preferred) .

This program does not accept applications for this semester.

International Applicants:
Applicants from Outside the U.S. or U.S. Citizens / Permanent Residents with Non-U.S. Credentials

IMPORTANT: International Applicants and U.S. Applicants with Non-U.S. Credentials must follow the domestic deadlines above if they are earlier than the deadlines listed below.

Applicants seeking admission under F (Student) or J (Exchange Visitor) visas

February 1
If Domestic Deadline is after Feb. 1

June 1
If Domestic Deadline is after Jun. 1

Applicants seeking admission under A, E, G, H, I, and L visas and immigrants

May 1
If Domestic Deadline is after May 1

October 1
If Domestic Deadline is after Jun. 1

U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents with foreign credentials

May 15
If Domestic Deadline is after May 15

October 31
If Domestic Deadline is after Oct.31

	Fall	Spring
Domestic Applicants: U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents
Domestic Applicant Deadlines	In order to receive fullest possible consideration for admission and financial aid, all application materials should be received by January 5. The final deadline is May 15 (January 5 preferred) .	This program does not accept applications for this semester.

International Applicants: Applicants from Outside the U.S. or U.S. Citizens / Permanent Residents with Non-U.S. Credentials IMPORTANT: International Applicants and U.S. Applicants with Non-U.S. Credentials must follow the domestic deadlines above if they are earlier than the deadlines listed below.
Applicants seeking admission under F (Student) or J (Exchange Visitor) visas	February 1 If Domestic Deadline is after Feb. 1	June 1 If Domestic Deadline is after Jun. 1
Applicants seeking admission under A, E, G, H, I, and L visas and immigrants	May 1 If Domestic Deadline is after May 1	October 1 If Domestic Deadline is after Jun. 1
U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents with foreign credentials	May 15 If Domestic Deadline is after May 15	October 31 If Domestic Deadline is after Oct.31

Degree Requirements

Master of Arts (M.A.)
M.A. students take a total of 36 credits: 21 credits in linguistics and 9 credits in an area such as biology, computer science, language pathology, philosophy, psychology, or a particular language for the minor area of specialization. In addition, either a thesis or two comprehensive papers in distinct areas of language study are required. Note that the Department of Linguistics does not normally admit students whose objective is a terminal M.A. degree. The M.A. degree primarily serves students who withdraw from the Ph.D. program.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Students pursuing the Ph.D. take at least 33 graduate-level credits of course-work, of which at least 9 credits are at the 800-level (seminars) and 6 credits correspond to the Minor area of specialization, possibly in another department. These minimum requirements are usually fulfilled by formal classes and not by independent studies, although the latter may be used to supplement a student's program of study. The student's first year is normally devoted to the "core", i.e., foundational coursework in the department's three primary research areas: (i) theoretical linguistics (syntax, semantics, phonology), (ii) psycholinguistics/neurolinguistics/language acquisition, (iii) computational linguistics. Students must take at least 6 core courses, comprising at least two 2-semester core course sequences. At least one of these core course sequences must be in an area of theoretical linguistics. The core courses are the 600 level LING courses and LING 723, 773. The core sequences are:

LING 610, 611 Syntax
LING 620, 621 Phonology
LING 640, 641 Psycholinguistics
LING 723, 773 Computational Linguistics
LING 660, 661 Semantics

In addition to satisfying (part of) the 9 credit requirement for seminars, the next two years are devoted to satisfying 6 credits (beyond any core courses) in the Minor, as approved by the Graduate Director. Some students choose to pursue the Certificate in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, which may count as the minor area.

By their fifth semester, students write a substantial paper (LING 895), under the supervision of a faculty member. This paper enables students to demonstrate a capacity for productive research and to make an original contribution to the scientific literature. This paper may form the basis for later dissertation research, although this is not required. The paper is submitted to a three member examining committee, is defended publicly two weeks later, and must be approved by the committee after the defense. In addition, by their seventh semester students must also write a paper in their Minor area of specialization. [Under special circumstances, upon the written recommendation of the student's advisor and with the approval of the faculty of the department, a student may satisfy the Minor area paper requirement by instead taking a third course in the Minor area.] LING 895 and the Minor area paper replace the "comprehensive examinations" held in some departments.

After satisfactory completion of the 895 paper, students are admitted to candidacy and write a proposal for a dissertation, which a faculty member agrees to supervise. Students enroll in LING 899 while working on the dissertation, and must take at least 12 credits of this course. The dissertation must make a substantial and original contribution to knowledge. The supervisor, in consultation with other committee members (selected by the student and the supervisor), determines when there is a draft which will be defended publicly at an oral examination. The dissertation is approved by a five member examining committee. On completion of the approved dissertation, a hard copy will be submitted to the department, along with a 2nd hard copy or an electronic version for the department web site.

Facilities and Special Resources

In addition to university and departmental library facilities, linguists at Maryland have ample office and meeting spaces. The department has outstanding resources for interdisciplinary research that bridges theoretical, experimental, and computational linguistics. The Cognitive Neuroscience of Language (CNL) Laboratory has the specific purpose of bridging the gap between theoretical/computational models of human language and the brain-level mechanisms that support language. The research in the CNL Lab combines the study of linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, language acquisition and psycholinguistics, genetic disorders and computational modeling. The CNL Lab is housed in around 5000 sf. of labs and offices and includes the following:

Event-Related Potentials (ERP) Lab: 128-channel Neuroscan ERP facility for recording electrical signals originating in the brain by measuring electrical activity at the scalp.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Lab: a 160-channel whole-head MEG facility that is used for non-invasive measurements of the magnetic fields associated with neuronal activity in the brain.
Head-mounted Eye Tracking Lab: lightweight eye-tracker suitable for use with children and adults.
Fixed Eye Tracking Lab: eye-tracker suitable for on-line studies of reading.
Center for Young Children: state-of-the-art on-campus preschool for 3-6 year olds, with testing rooms suitable for study of language acquisition.
Infant Language Lab: for testing infants and young children.
Phonetic/Speech Analysis facilities: equipment for generation, recording, manipulation and analysis of speech sounds.

In addition to the facilities available at the CNL Lab itself, Maryland linguists have taken advantage of the many additional research opportunities in closely affiliated departments and institutions, in particular at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in nearby Bethesda, Maryland. These include fMRI brain imaging, PET brain imaging and TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) at NIH, and aphasia research in collaboration with NIH researchers.

Computational Linguistics

The department also runs two computational linguistics laboratories housing state-of-the art facilities funded by the NSF and DARPA. The Computational Linguistics and Information Processing (CLIP) laboratories contain state of the art computing facilities and data resources.

Financial Assistance

Initial offers of admission and financial aid are normally made in February-April. Further offers are sometimes made at a later date, if additional funds become available. In recent years, around 6-8 new students have started the Ph.D. program each year.

Financial aid (tuition + stipend) is available on a competitive basis. The department aims to provide graduate students with financial aid (stipend + tuition) during their full course of study (5 years), provided that the student makes satisfactory academic progress. Graduate funding comes from a number of sources. The Department offers Graduate Assistantships (GAs) and Research Assistantships (RAs). GAs typically involve teaching service in undergraduate linguistics courses. RA positions typically involve research associated with a grant-supported faculty research project. Also available are Graduate Fellowships. The University offers a number of these to outstanding applicants, which release the student from GA or RA responsibilities for 1-2 years of study. Other sources of funding are occasionally available through the Department or University. Also, a number of students come to the Department with funding of their own from external fellowships.

Fellowships and GAs provide 12 and 10 credits of tuition remission respectively per semester. In additions to tuition remission, the Graduate Assistantship comes with Health benefits. The student is responsible for approximately $340.00 in mandatory student fees per semester.

The Department sets aside a portion of its operating budget to support travel by faculty and graduate students to present papers at conferences. Any member of the Department can request support for this purpose. Graduate students may also apply for university travel awards for this purpose.

Contact Information

The Department's web site, Maryland Linguistics, contains a good deal of information on the program, but if you have further questions about Graduate Study in the Department, you should contact Dr. Colin Phillips (colin@umd.edu). Alternatively, if you have a particular interest in the research of an individual faculty member, you may want to contact that person directly via email.

Dr. Colin Phillips
Linguistics Dept., University of Maryland,
1401 Marie Mount Hall, College Park,
MD 20742-7505
Telephone: (301) 405-7002 (301) 405-3082
Fax: (301) 405-7104
colin@umd.edu

http://www.ling.umd.edu

Courses: LING

Related Programs and Campus Units

Biology
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science
Hearing and Speech Sciences
Computer Science
Second Language Acquisition-Ph.D.
College of Information Studies