Graduate Programs

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Contact the chair of the admissions committee (Jill Beckman)
Contact a graduate student representative (Dave Seibert)

General information

The department offers programs leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics. The theoretical core of the programs is in phonology and syntax. The M.A. degree provides a broad education in linguistics which serves as a base for further study in linguistics or related disciplines. If a student chooses the TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) focus, in conjunction with the M.A., then the degree prepares students for a career in teaching English to nonnative speakers. The Ph.D. degree is primarily a research degree with a basis in phonology and syntax and with the opportunity for students to develop an area of research specialization.

Admission to M.A. and Ph.D. Programs

Students applying for admission to the M.A. program in linguistics will be considered regardless of field of previous training. Admission to the Ph.D. program requires a Master's in linguistics or equivalent background. Admission to the M.A. program at Iowa does not imply admission to the Ph.D. program. Admission to the Ph.D. program does not constitute qualification. Admission to the Ph.D. depends in part on the availability of a faculty member to serve as the student's advisor. Qualification depends on an evaluation of the student's potential for completing the Ph.D.

Students who apply to the graduate program must submit the following: 1) a complete university application form 2) transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate work 3) three letters of recommendation from individuals competent to judge the student's potential for graduate work 4) scores from the general (aptitude) test of the Graduate Record Examination, and 5) a statement of purpose. Applicants from non-English speaking countries must additionally take the TOEFL exam. Entering students in linguistics whose first language is not English are evaluated for English proficiency by the ESL staff and are required to take any ESL courses recommended as a result of the evaluation.

Financial Aid

The department can give financial assistance to a limited number of students. Such financial support is in the form of teaching and research assistantships and a limited number of tuition fellowships. Research assistantships are awarded on the basis of merit, with preference for first year students. Teaching assistantships are awarded on the basis of merit and suitability for assignment to the courses the department has T.A. funding for. In particular, first year students without a linguistics background are ineligible to assist in linguistics courses, and students who have not completed the practicum in teaching English or its equivalent are ineligible to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. In addition, native speaker fluency in English will be given priority in ESL course assignments. Students who have the appropriate background or who have taken Semantics (103:175) or Formalisms (103:151) will be eligible for TAships for the GER course Language and Formal Reasoning (103:013). For information on other sources of financial aid, such as national fellowships (e.g. NSF, Javits) and fellowships for the study of uncommonly taught languages, visit the Resource Library in B6 Gilmore Hall.

The department gives financial assistance priority to Ph.D. students who are making adequate progress toward their degrees, and then to M.A. students who are making adequate progress toward their degrees. The department will, however, reserve some aid for new students each year. The deadline for submitting an application for financial aid is March 1.

Barring exceptional circumstances, aid is limited to 4 semesters for M.A. students and 12 semesters for Ph.D. students (inclusive of all aid in the Department). Notification of awards will be made to students in the semester prior to the semester for which the award has been granted. Since financial aid awards are made before the end of the semester, each award is contingent upon satisfactory completion of that semester's work by the student. When awards are made for the academic year, continuation for the second semester is contingent upon satisfactory completion of the first semester's work by the student.

If any financial aid is available for the summer, it is usually for teaching English. Interested students should give their names to the ESL Coordinator before March 15. The coordinator will consult with the faculty before assigning aid. Summer aid does not count toward the semester limits for each degree.

M.A. and Ph.D. Requirements

M.A. Requirements

The number of credit hours for the M.A. varies between 30 and 37 depending on whether the degree is with thesis (30-37) or without thesis (37). All students must have a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit to receive the degree, regardless of prior preparation. All students are required to take the 22 hours that comprise the core curriculum, including:

 

Students writing a thesis must take a minimum of 9 semester hours of elective coursework, approved in consultation with the advisor. Nonthesis M.A. students may choose a 9-hour focus area consisting of a series of related courses or may take the M.A. in general linguistics, which requires 9 semester hours of elective credit.

If a focus area is chosen, it is decided upon by students in conjunction with their advisor. The focus area can be in TESL, syntax, phonology, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, computer science, a language area (Asian, classical Germanic, Romance, Slavic) or a particular language within a language area, theory of second language acquisition, and others.

The TESL focus area consists of:


Students who have had one or more of these courses may substitute an approved elective in consultation with their advisors.

A focus in computational linguistics could include courses selected from the following:


A focus in psycholinguistics could include courses selected from the following:


In consultation with their advisor, students may choose two focus areas or a focus area and a thesis. However, these combinations will generally result in a degree completed in five or six semesters of full-time study rather than four.

It is possible to take the M.A. curriculum on a part-time basis, that is, taking fewer than 9 hours of classes per semester. However, students wishing to do so should devise a timetable with their advisor. Additionally, it is strongly recommended that students taking the comprehensive examination after studying part-time review the less recent core course material (Phonological Theory or Syntactic Theory) by auditing the current course.

All M.A. students, including those pursuing the thesis option, are required to take the M.A. Comprehensive Examination; generally, this examination is taken in January prior to the fourth semester of study. Part-time students develop a timetable for taking the examination with their advisor.

The thesis is a paper of potentially publishable quality on an area of research undertaken by the student. Students work closely with their advisor and thesis committee members on the selection of a topic for the thesis and the writing of a thesis prospectus, which must be approved by the department faculty. After the thesis is completed, and approved by the advisor and committee, the student defends it in an oral examination before the committee. All faculty are invited to attend the thesis defense. A copy of the thesis should be made available to the faculty a minimum of one week prior to the defense.

Ph.D. Requirements

The Ph.D. requires a minimum of 36 hours beyond the Master's; 18 hours of these consist of two upper level syntax courses, two upper level phonology courses, and two seminars. An 18 hour specialty area is also required, which should be agreed upon with the committee and approved by the faculty. In addition students must achieve proficiency in a foreign language; pass the Ph.D. comprehensive examinations in phonological theory, syntactic theory, theory of language change, and the specialty area; and write and defend a dissertation. Three years of residence are required, as is supervised experience in teaching and research.

Students must demonstrate the capacity to read literature of professional significance in a second language, or to speak a second language of relevance to their program of study. The language requirement should be satisfied at the time that the student takes the Ph.D. comprehensive examination. The student and advisor should choose a language and propose a plan to the faculty for demonstrating proficiency during the student's first semester in the Ph.D. program.

To pass the comprehensive examination for the Ph.D., a student must submit two papers of publishable quality and present each orally as part of the departmental colloquium. One of the papers must be in phonology or syntax and the other in an area of the student's choosing, which may be the proposed dissertation area but must be distinct from the area of the first paper.

In the semester following the comprehensive examination, but no later than the sixth semester of enrollment in the Ph.D. program, a student presents a dissertation prospectus to the dissertation committee. The dissertation prospectus consists of a formal statement of the dissertation topic and proposed research program which is defended by the student before the dissertation committee; the dissertation committee must approve the prospectus in order for the student to proceed with the dissertation.

The dissertation is a major research work on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the dissertation committee. After the dissertation committee reads and approves the dissertation it is orally defended by the student in a public defense. A copy of the dissertation must be available to the faculty at least two weeks prior to the defense.

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Revised January 18, 2007.