Университет Южной Калифорнии, BA, Linguistics

Linguistics emphasizes the study of language both as an abstract system and in its psychological and social contexts. Linguistics focuses on how the human mind structures, processes, and acquires language as well as how similar communication goals are met by diverse means in the languages of the world. It is a broad field, embracing such diverse subjects as comparative grammar and the search for universals among the world's languages, language development of children, language learning and language processing in adults, the evolution of languages, and how language varies with socioeconomic class and with different social settings. The study of Linguistics develops the ability to analyze and work with formal systems, not unlike those found in mathematics and computer science, while at the same time addressing psychological and social issues, such as language teaching and acquisition, and language and culture. In addition to introductory linguistics and courses in linguistic analysis, students take courses in psycholinguistics (language acquisition, processing, and language disorders) and/or sociolinguistics (language and society). Interdisciplinary research in Linguistics and other areas such as Neuroscience or Computer Science is also available.