BA in Linguistics

at Tyndale

Tyndale University’s Department of Linguistics offers both a Major and a Minor in Linguistics, leading to a BA degree.

BA in Linguistics at Tyndale

Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics

Tyndale University’s Department of Linguistics offers both a Major and a Minor in Linguistics, leading to a BA degree. Students who opt for a Major in Linguistics may now also choose a Concentration in Bible Translation.

Courses for the Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics are taken at Tyndale University (in Toronto, Ontario) and administered in partnership with CanIL. Accreditation is through Tyndale University.

Linguistics courses offered at Tyndale focus on the study of language structures from a functional perspective. Both the Major and Minor provide a foundation in key areas such as Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax, Sociolinguistics, and Language & Culture Acquisition. The field of Linguistics also relates the science of language to its application in literature, philosophy and theology. The qualified BA Linguistics graduate has a foundation for work in a variety of fields: teaching, speech pathology, psychology, research, and Bible translation and literacy.

The Concentration in Bible Translation builds upon the BA in Linguistics, by specifying three 4000-level LING courses, and adding one course in Anthropology and four courses in Biblical languages. Those courses are listed below.

Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Linguistics

Program Requirements

In addition to the core BA courses, students will take the following linguistic credit hours:

  • LING 1013 Introduction to Linguistics I
  • LING 1023 Introduction to Linguistics II
  • LING 2013 Phonetics
  • LING 2033 Phonology I
  • LING 2043 Morphology & Syntax I
  • LING 2113 Language & Society
  • Additional 12 semester hours of LING 300 level courses
  • Additional 6 semester hours of LING 400 level courses

Students choosing the Concentration in Bible Translation will include 15 credit hours from among the following courses (one Anthropology and four Biblical Languages):

  •   CHRI 3663 Anthropology for Humanitarian Work
  •   HEBR 2013 Introduction to Biblical Hebrew I
  •   HEBR 2023 Introduction to Biblical Hebrew II
  •   HEBR 3013 Readings in Biblical Hebrew I
  •   HEBR 3023 Readings in Biblical Hebrew II
  •   GREE 2013 Elementary New Testament Greek I
  •   GREE 2023 Elementary New Testament Greek II
  •   GREE 3013 Readings in New Testament Greek I
  •   GREE 3023 Readings in New Testament Greek II

Bachelor of Arts with a Minor in Linguistics

Program Requirements

In addition to the core BA courses, students will take the following Linguistics courses:

  • LING 1013 Introduction to Linguistics I
  • LING 1023 Introduction to Linguistics II
  • 12 sem. hours of LING 200 level courses
  • 6 sem. hours of LING 300 level courses
Linguistics Courses
LING-1013 Introduction to Linguistics I

Introduction to core 'technical' areas of linguistics: phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax. Interplay of linguistics with the related disciplines of psychology, neurology, sociology and literature. Additional topics covered include: animal communication, language and culture, and how languages change over time. Understanding of how human languages are structured in the mind, how language develops in children, and how language is used in human communities. Exposure to data and analysis of languages from around the world.

LING-1023 Introduction to Linguistics II

Continuation of LING 101.

LING-2013 Phonetics

Introduction to the broad range of human speech sounds used in languages of the world. Students receive training and practice in recognizing, describing and producing speech sounds from a variety of languages, and transcribing them with phonetic symbols. Focuses on the articulatory bases of speech production, but some discussion of the acoustic properties of speech sounds is also provided.

LING-2033 Phonology I: Phonological Analysis

Provides an introduction to the theory and practice of analyzing sound systems in spoken languages. Opportunity to apply the principles of phonological analysis to data from a wide variety of natural languages. Application of phonological analysis to issues of orthography development. Prerequisite: LING 201.

LING-2043 Morphology & Syntax I

This course introduces theoretical concepts and analytical principles pertaining to the study of words and word-stems (morphology), and phrases and sentences (syntax) in human language. Problem solving with data from a variety of languages is a major part of the course.

LING-2113 Language & Society

Introduction to language as a context-dependent social phenomenon. Students examine how various contexts and social factors, such as age, gender, social class, status, setting and topic, influence linguistic choices, with special attention to multilingual societies. Other topics include language attitudes, the maintenance, shift or loss of languages, language and technology and language in education.

Prerequisites: None.

LING-3023 Language & Culture Acquisition

Practical introduction to language and culture learning for linguists, missionaries and professionals who find themselves in areas where no formal language instruction is available. Students learn foundational principles of language acquisition and are exposed to a diverse range of language learning methodologies. Students exercise these methodologies in regular sessions where they meet with a speaker of a non-Indo-European language. Students learn how to plan their own language learning, tailoring strategies to their individual learning styles.

Prerequisites: 6 credit hours in LING.

LING-3033 Phonology II: Advanced Phonological Analysis

Builds upon LING 203 by exploring recent developments and current issues in phonological theory. Attention is given to the interplay between theory and analysis. Experience extending theoretical models to new data, and develop constructive critical thinking in light of problems encountered.

Prerequisites: 6 credit hours in LING, including LING 203.

LING-3043 Morphology & Syntax II

This course explores the rich variety of morphological and syntactic constructions and processes found in human language, deepening the students' understanding of morphosyntactic phenomena from a typological perspective. The topics are examined within the framework of a current theory of Syntax.

Prerequisite: 6 credit hours in LING including LING 204.

LING-4053 Field Methods

Being able to gather and organize data, form hypotheses and work ethically with human subjects in research are essential professional skills for any linguistic researcher. Work with speakers from a non-Indo-European language community to transcribe utterances, build a rudimentary dictionary and gather data for phonological and grammatical analysis. Involves learning some special computer tools for the creation of lexical databases, and the gathering and organizing of language data.

Prerequisites: LING 201, 203, 204, 211

LING-4073 Discourse Analysis

Analysis of structures and meaning beyond the sentence to how information is organized in texts. Consideration of text genres and the study of concepts such as topic, focus, foregrounding, new and old information, etc. Exploration of techniques of narrative text discourse analysis in various languages of the world.

Prerequisite: LING 201, 203, 204

LING-4713 Semantics & Pragmatics

This course provides students with the theoretical tools with which to study meaning at the word and sentence levels, and to explain how people interpret utterances in context. Students will study various models of semantics and pragmatics, and learn how to apply different approaches to the study of meaning in natural language.

Prerequisite: LING 204 Morphology and Syntax I

LING-4753 Principles of Bible Translation

This course is designed to give the student the theoretical basis and practical skills for the transfer of meaning from one language to another. Topics will include semantic analysis of source language and receptor language, and problems encountered in cross-language transfer, with particular attention to the translation of Scripture.
Pre-requisites: LING 1013, 1023 and 2043;

Pre- or Co-requisite: LING 4713

LING-4763 Principles of Literacy

This course covers methods used in the introduction of literacy to ethno-linguistic minority groups.
It includes orthography design, consideration of socio-historical issues, strategies for literacy programs,
stimulation of local authorship, reading theory, and instructional methodologies.

Prerequisites:

LING 2013 Phonetics
LING 2033 Phonology I: Phonological Analysis

LING-4803 Internship in Field Linguistics

Designed to give students practical experience in field-based language work, including language documentation, description, and development. Students will work with a Tyndale faculty supervisor and a field mentor to develop their ability as field linguists by making a contribution to a language project. Requires a minimum of 240 hours in a field project. Available only to students enrolled in the BA LING major or minor with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 and the approval of their faculty advisor.

Prerequisite: LING 405. Permission required.

THE BOTTOM LINE

How long is the program?
4 years
How many semester hours?
120 total hours (each course is typically 3 hours)
– 36 hours for a Linguistics major
– 24 hours for a Linguistics minor
What is the current cost?
$506 per semester hour
How much does an average semester cost?
$6,072 (12 semester hours)
How much financial aid is available?
CanIL offers an average of $500 for each qualifying Linguistics course taken at Tyndale.

Launch awards are given to approved eligible students in their third and fourth years in the form of Church Matching Grants and Ministry Boost Awards.

Please note: Because the programs and policies of the university are under continual review, the schedule of fees and charges may change without notice.

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