Spanish and Hispanic Linguistics Graduate Studies

The Program of Spanish offers a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in Spanish.

For the master's degree, students may choose either a thesis-type program or a course-type program. For both thesis and course-type M.A. in Spanish, students may choose from three concentrations:

  1. Hispanic Linguistics Concentration (M.A. and Ph.D)
  2. Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies Concentration (M.A. and Ph.D.)
  3. Hispanic Linguistics and Literature Concentration (M.A.)

At the M.A. level, students are expected to demonstrate an understanding and make use of the core knowledge needed to function in their professional field. M.A. level students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the research process, and/or creative or problem-solving activity or application of the knowledge appropriate to literary and cultural studies or linguistics.

The Ph.D. program normally requires a minimum of 30 hours beyond the M.A. degree. Candidates can choose from concentrations in Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures, or Hispanic linguistics.

Hispanic Linguistics

The Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics offers an M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish with a concentration in Hispanic linguistics. At the M.A. level, we also offer an option combining Hispanic linguistics and literature.

The Hispanic linguistics faculty specialize and offer courses in bilingualism/language contact, phonetics/phonology, psycholinguistics (lexical and sentence processing), second language acquisition, sociolinguistics and syntax. In addition, our department offers courses in computational linguistics, descriptive linguistics, heritage language acquisition and historical linguistics.

The program's facilities include the:

  • Language Processing and Eye-tracking Laboratory 
  • Phonetics Laboratory
  • Psycholinguistics Laboratory
  • Second Language Acquisition Laboratory

Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies

The concentration in Hispanic literature and cultural studies offers M.A. and Ph.D. courses. Graduate students specialize in Spanish American and Spanish literary and cultural studies. Areas of doctoral dissertations have included Hispanic Caribbean studies, U.S. Latino, Contemporary Iberia, Colonial Spanish America, and the Spanish Golden Age. The production and quality of M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Spanish sync with job market conditions which, despite being highly competitive, have been met with success by our graduates. Our doctoral graduates have obtained tenure-track employment at institutions such as the University of Central Florida, City University of New York, University of Alabama, University of North Carolina, University of North Georgia, Carthage University, Spring Hill College, College of Mount St Vincent and Ferrum College.

The concentration in Hispanic literature and cultural studies has strong support at Florida State University, as indicated by recent tenure-track faculty hires in comparative Caribbean studies and Colonial Spanish America. Our Hispanic faculty specializes in current issues including cultural identity, race, gender, ethnicity from a variety of theoretical approaches, including Post-Colonial studies, cultural studies, queer studies, eco-criticism, performance studies and material culture studies. Hispanic studies works collaboratively with other programs and specialties in the department, including Francophone studies, as well as with other university departments and programs, including art history, English, and Latin American and Caribbean studies. We welcome applicants for the M.A. degree and Ph.D. degree in Spanish with a concentration in Hispanic literature and cultural studies.

Research Areas

Early Modern

Faculty in early modern studies engage a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the literary and cultural productions of the medieval and early modern world. Particular strengths include European political theory, discourse analysis, transatlantic studies, indigenous studies and critical theory.

Recent courses include Empire and Intimacy in Colonial Spanish America, Imperial (Non)Fictions: Ethnography, Essay, and History, and Critical Inquiries into the Early Hispanic Episteme.

Faculty: Goldmark, Howard.

Iberian Peninsula

Faculty in Iberian studies teach a variety of courses from different time periods ranging from medieval and early modern, to modern and contemporary literatures and cultures. The main objectives of these courses focus on familiarizing students with the rich multicultural traditions of the Iberian Peninsula, while providing a more nuanced approach to issues related to literary and cultural analysis, such as genre, discourse, style, and historical contexts of production and reception.

Recent courses including reflect faculty specialization and include cultural theory, queer studies, women's narrative, the novela negra, and poetry. Specific topics for these courses have recently included the early modern episteme, the Spanish Golden Age, the detective novel, contemporary women writers, the Spanish Civil War, Hispanic cinema, the work of Federico García Lorca, and the poetics of the body.

Faculty: Alvarez, Howard, Cappuccio

Caribbean Studies

The Caribbean studies faculty's specializations reflect the field's interdisciplinarity, including diaspora studies, music and performance practices, transatlantic histories from the colonial encounter and the modern period through the 20th and 21st century narrative, essay and poetry. A long-standing strength in Cuban studies is joined by more recent courses on Puerto Rican cultural production and an investment in Dominican studies, in part led by the interests of our graduate students, who in the past 15 years have produced ground-breaking doctoral dissertations on Cuba as well as Puerto Rico. Our faculty create innovative courses using transnational and comparative methodologies, drawing from the multilingualism of the region, and grounded in the theoretical production on race, sexuality, and cultural identity generated from the region.

Faculty: Gomariz, Murray-Román, Poey

Amazonian Studies

Amazonian studies offer research opportunities in the entangled cultural and natural histories of the Amazon Basin since the arrival of the first explorers to the present. Coursework scrutinizes this region’s oral narratives, films, texts, and the arts, and builds on critical understandings that foster the development of ecological consciousness in Western societies. Students have the opportunity to contribute insightful perspectives that might lead to solutions to the current environmental crisis in Amazonia and beyond.

Faculty: Galeano

Hispanic Linguistics and Literature

We offer an M.A. combining Hispanic linguistics and Hispanic literature. This track presents students with the broadest disciplinary approaches by requiring to take at least one course in: Iberian literatures and cultures, Latin American literatures and cultures, formal linguistics, and one in applied linguistics.

Students then have the opportunity to combine courses based on this wide variety of disciplines in their following five courses in both linguistics and literature.

M.A. Degrees And Requirements

The program of Spanish offers a Master of Arts in Spanish. At the M.A. level, students are expected to demonstrate an understanding and make use of the core knowledge needed to function in their professional field. M.A. level students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the research process, and/or creative or problem-solving activity or application of the knowledge appropriate to literary and cultural studies or linguistics.

For the M.A. degree in Spanish, students may choose either a thesis-type program or a course-type program. For the thesis-type program, the student must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of credit including thesis credit. At least 18 of these hours must be taken on a letter-grade basis (A, B, C). The minimum/maximum number of thesis hours for completion of an M.A. degree shall be six hours and a minimum of two of these must be in the final semester. For the course-type program, the student must complete a minimum of 32 semester hours of course work. At least 21 of these hours must be taken on a letter-grade basis (A, B, C). For both thesis and course-type M.A. in Spanish, students may choose from three tracks for specialization:

1. Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures
2. Linguistics
3. Linguistics and literature

Regardless of specialization, all students must complete FOL 5934 Research and Practice in Second Language Instruction (3 hours) during the fall semester of their first year. The sections below describe the required courses for each specialization. Required courses should be taken as early in the student’s program as possible. Furthermore, upon recommendation by the division, graduate students may be required to take SPN 5900 Advanced Spanish Composition and Translation, which will not count toward the course-area requirement but will count toward the hour requirements for graduation.

No graduate credit can be transferred from another school to count toward the M.A. degree at FSU. In general, undergraduate courses taken at FSU will not apply toward graduate credit. However, on approval by the minor professor (see below M.A. comprehensive examination), some courses at the 4000-level (no more than six semester hours) may be counted toward the minor field of the M.A. degree.

By the end of the student’s second semester, the Program of Studies form (found in the Graduate Student Handbook Appendix III) must be prepared by the candidate for approval by the graduate adviser and the associate chair for graduate studies. This Program of Studies is placed in the student’s file. In addition, students are to meet each semester with the graduate adviser and/or their thesis director to review their progress toward the degree.

Specialization in Iberian and Latin American Literatures and Cultures

Students pursuing the track in Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures must complete a minimum course requirement of five courses in various areas (see bulleted chart below). At least two of these courses must be in Iberian literatures and cultures (from different time periods) and two in Latin American literatures and cultures (from different time periods).

Iberian Literatures and Cultures

  • Medieval Literature
  • Golden Age
  • 18th & 19th Centuries
  • 20th & 21st Centuries

Latin American Literatures and Cultures

  • Colonial
  • 19th Century
  • 20th and 21st Centuries

Courses corresponding to each area are posted each semester on the MLL website.

In addition, all students must complete SPW 6806: Research Methods and Bibliography in Literary and Cultural Studies (3 hours).

Specialization in Hispanic Linguistics

Students pursuing the track in Hispanic linguistics must complete a minimum course requirement of five courses in various areas (see bulleted chart below). At least two of these courses must be in formal linguistics and two in applied.

Formal Linguistics

  • Spanish phonetics / phonology
  • Morphology
  • Spanish syntax
  • History of the Spanish language

Applied Linguistics

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Second language acquisition
  • Sociolinguistics

In addition, all students must complete LIN 5932 Quantitative Research Methods in Language Studies (3 hours).

Specialization in Language and Literature

Students pursuing the track in language and literature must complete a minimum course requirement of five courses in various areas (see bulleted charts above). At least one course must be in Iberian literatures and cultures, one in Latin American, one in formal linguistics and one in applied.

In addition, all students must complete either SPW 6806 Research Methods and Bibliography in Literary and Cultural Studies (3 hours) or LIN 5932 Quantitative Research Methods in Language Studies (3 hours).

Minor Field of Study

If the student elects to have a minor within the department, nine semester hours must be earned in courses in this minor field. Current minors include Amazonian studies, Luso-Brazilian studies, second language studies, among others. A minor outside the department will be in addition to the required course work in Spanish/modern languages; specific details will be coordinated with the particular department.

M.A. Comprehensive Examination (for both thesis-type and course-type program)

The M.A. comprehensive examination is in writing and covers three areas from the areas listed above for each specialization. The examination in the literatures and cultures areas is based on the M.A. reading lists; in Hispanic linguistics the examination is based on reading lists prepared in consultation with the examining professor(s). Each area will be covered in one exam. Students in the specialization in Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures must take at least one exam in Iberian and one exam in Latin American literature and cultures. Similarly, students in the specialization in Hispanic linguistics must take at least one exam in formal linguistics and one exam in applied linguistics. Students in the specialization in linguistics and literature must take at least one exam in linguistics and one exam in literature. Questions will be specific in nature, and may include identifications, essay questions and/or problem solving.

M.A. Thesis

Students who choose the thesis-type program need to take their M.A. comprehensive examination as described above. In addition, the student must submit and orally defend a thesis that reveals independent investigation and knowledge of the methods of scholarship within the major field. The student needs to constitute an M.A. supervisory committee made up of a major professor, two other faculty members from the Spanish and Portuguese program, and the minor professor (if any).

Ph.D. Degree

A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit in Spanish and/or approved related fields beyond the M.A. degree at or above the 5000 level is normally required in the doctoral program. There are two tracks for specialization: Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures, and language and linguistics.

The two tracks for specialization are:

A. IBERIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURES AND CULTURES
  1. Early
  2. Modern
  3. Contemporary
B. LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS
  1. Formal linguistics
  2. Applied linguistics
  3. Second language acquisition

Minimum area requirements for students in the Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures track are:

  • 12 hours in the major area
  • 6 in the secondary area
  • 3 in the remaining area, and
  • 9 for electives

Minimum area requirements for students in the language and linguistics track are:

  • 6 hours in linguistic theory
  • 3 in applied linguistics (sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, etc.)
  • 6 in second language acquisition
  • 6 in research methods and statistics, and
  • 9 for electives

All Ph.D. candidates are also required to take:

  • SPW 6806 Research Methods and Bibliography in Literary and Cultural Studies (3 hours) (only for literature specialists)
  • FOL 5932 Quantitative Research Methods in SLA (only for linguistics specialists)
  • FOL 5934 Research Foundations and Practice in Communicative Language Teaching (3 hours)
  • FOW 5025 Critical Theory and Its Applications to Non-English Literatures (3 hours) (only for literature specialists)

These courses should be taken as early in the student's program as possible and must be taken before the preliminary examination.

Ph.D. students may choose to have a minor or a certificate, usually another foreign language or literature, linguistics, Latin American studies, education, history, etc. If students choose to have a minor or certificate, approximately one-fourth of the courses will be in the minor field. This area will be an additional exam in the preliminary examination.

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

The language requirement for the doctoral degree consists of reading knowledge in two languages other than Spanish and English which are germane to research in the student's proposed specialty area (one language if the language is not a Romance language, such as Russian or Chinese, and the student demonstrates advanced proficiency as indicated by course work or a degree). The student's supervisory committee determines which languages are germane. The requirement can be satisfied by 1) passing the reading knowledge examination offered by the Department of MLL (FRE 5069, GER 5069, etc.) or 2) completing a 2200-level course with a grade of B or better. Courses taken in high school do not satisfy the requirement. The language requirement must be satisfied before taking the preliminary examination.

DOCTORAL SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE

The doctoral supervisory committee, which guides students through the various steps toward the Ph.D. degree, should be appointed as soon as possible after students have begun Ph.D. studies, that is, no later than in the second semester on campus. A prerequisite to setting up the committee is that students have a general idea of their area of specialization, since the major professor must necessarily be a person with special competence in that area. The committee must include a representative from each area in which the student is to be examined on the preliminary examination.

DOCTORAL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

The written doctoral preliminary examination, based on the individually prepared Ph.D. reading lists, course work, and the doctoral dissertation topic in consultation with the supervisory committee members, is designed to ascertain the candidate's scholarly competence and the breadth and depth of his/her literary or linguistic knowledge.

The Ph.D. examination in Iberian and Latin American literatures and cultures will consist of three sections. Two parts will be from the following areas of specialization:

  • Early
  • Modern
  • Contemporary

The third part of the examination will be on the student's dissertation topic. The examination questions, based on this reading list, will relate generally to the dissertation topic. The exam format is to be determined by the major professor and will either be an in-class written exam or a take-home written exam. Questions will be specific in nature and may include identifications, essays, problem-solving questions, etc. If any part of the written examination is considered marginal by any member of the committee, an oral exam may be required.

The Ph.D. examination in the language and linguistics track will consist of three sections to be determined in consultation with the major professor. Possible areas include:

  • Formal linguistics
  • Applied linguistics
  • Second language acquisition
  • Dissertation topic

The examination questions will be based on reading lists and course work. The exam format is to be determined by the major professor and will either be an in-class written exam or a take-home written exam. Questions will be specific in nature and may include identifications, essays, problem-solving questions, etc. If any part of the written examination is considered marginal by any member of the committee, an oral exam may be required.

PROSPECTUS OF DISSERTATION

After completing the preliminary examination but no later than by the end of the semester following the preliminary examination, the candidate must submit for approval and orally defend an acceptable prospectus of dissertation to the supervisory committee.

DISSERTATION

The dissertation must be on a Hispanic topic and must constitute a significant research contribution to knowledge. When the research and collection of data have reached the point where the student will begin writing the dissertation, they should submit their carefully edited preliminary draft chapter by chapter to the supervisory committee for corrections, suggestions and approval.

PLEASE NOTE: in case the dissertation research concerns human subjects, the student must include a copy of the Institutional Review Board approval letter and sample copies of any informed consent forms in the appendices of his/her manuscript. Issues of human subjects should be thoroughly discussed with your dissertation adviser since a failure to acquire the required clearance may negatively influence the chances of your work being published in the future. Students should bring issues pertaining to human subjects committee applications and extensions to the FSU Office for Human Subjects Protection.

ORAL DEFENSE OF DISSERTATION

As final exercise, the student is expected to defend the dissertation in the presence of the entire supervisory committee. The oral defense aims to assess that the student is able to successfully communicate, both through the oral examination and in the written dissertation, the knowledge and skills they have acquired within their discipline of study. The Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics is committed to strictly enforce the university's regulations on the oral dissertation defense, as well as on the subsequent manuscript submission process. The major professor and the candidate are both encouraged to carefully verify the planned course of action on the “GradSpace” (or for faculty members the equivalent “Graduate School – Faculty/Staff”) link on Bb “My Organizations”.

Hispanic Linguistics

Note: The courses marked with * are the minimum requirements for the M.A. exam in that area. The exam might include content from other courses in that area.

SPN 5734.* Spanish Sociolinguistics. (Muntendam) This course is an introduction to sociolinguistics, with a special emphasis on Spanish in Spain, Latin America and the United States. Topics include sociolinguistic theory and methodology, linguistic attitudes, phonological variation, syntactic and morphosyntactic variation, the relationship between language and social factors (e.g., social class, gender and ethnic identity), language variation and change, and bilingualism and language contact. (Minimum requirement for the M.A. exam in sociolinguistics)

SPN 5776. Acquisition of Spanish Phonology. (González, Patience) Pre-requisite: SPN5795 or/and SPN5785. This course is an introduction to the fundamental theories, techniques and methodologies concerning the acquisition of phonetics and phonology in a second language, and their application to Spanish. It surveys seminal and current research on the acquisition of Spanish phonology, and explores instructional strategies that can be used in teaching Spanish pronunciation.

SPN 5785. Acoustics Phonetics of Spanish. (González, Patience) This course provides a thorough background in acoustic phonetics and its application in the description and analysis of Spanish sounds. It also offers an overview of the acoustic characteristics of Spanish sounds and suprasegmentals, and how they compare to English.

SPN 5795.* Spanish Phonology. (González) This course presents an overview of the articulation, acoustics and transcription of Spanish sounds, compares sound patterns across Spanish dialects, and analyzes them using recent phonological theories, including Generative phonology, Autosegmental phonology, and Optimality Theory. (Minimum requirement for the M.A. exam in phonology)

SPN 5805.* Spanish Morphosyntax. (Reglero) This course offers an overview of Spanish syntax from an early generative perspective (Chomsky 1981, 1986). In the course, we will provide an in-depth analysis of selected syntactic phenomena such as the Noun Phrase, the Verb Phrase, the sentence, word order and ellipsis. (Minimum requirement for the M.A. exam in syntax)

SPN 5845. History of the Spanish Language. (González) This course examines the origin of Spanish and the linguistic changes that took place from Latin to early, medieval and modern Spanish, comparing them to those undergone by related dialects, co-dialects and languages, including Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), Leonés, Aragonés, Galician and Catalan.

LIN 5045. Descriptive Linguistics. (González, Muntendam, Reglero) This course focuses on language typology and the analytical skills and techniques used to examine and interpret linguistic data. It also discusses issues involved in language endangerment and loss.

LIN 5215. Sounds of the World’s Languages. (González) This course presents a comprehensive overview of the sounds found in the world’s languages. It will describe their articulatory and acoustic characteristics and will provide practice pronouncing and distinguishing them perceptually. In addition, we will learn how to interpret articulatory, aerodynamic and acoustic displays and how to transcribe all human sounds using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

LIN 5305. Patterns of Sounds. (González) This course explores the patterning of sounds across languages from a typological and theoretical perspective. It shows how sounds are organized in various prosodic domains, from syllables and feet to phonological words and phrases, and introduces the main frameworks used for phonological analysis: generative phonology; auto-segmental phonology; and constraint-based phonological approaches.

LIN 5510. Transformational Grammar. (Reglero) This course is an introduction to syntax, that is, the study of the structure of sentences. In this course, we will approach syntax from the perspective of generative/transformational grammar and we will focus on the concepts and principles which have been of central significance in the recent development of syntactic theory, such as Phrase Structure grammar, X’-schema, θ-Theory, Government, Case, Transformations and Binding Theory.

LIN 5521. Minimalist Syntax. (Reglero) This course provides an introduction to the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995, and subsequent work). In this course, we will take the GB framework as a starting point and we will explore minimalist alternatives to discuss topics such as levels of representations, theta domains, case theory, movement, and binding theory.

LIN 5522. Advanced Spanish Syntax. (Reglero) This course provides an overview of Spanish syntax from a Minimalist perspective (Chomsky 1995, and subsequent work). In class, we will focus on the left periphery of the Spanish clause, with in-depth discussion of syntactic issues such as the subject position, topic, focus, wh-movement and inversion.

LIN 5602. Language Contact. (Muntendam) This course is an introduction to the field of language contact. Topics include theories of language contact, methods, contact-induced change at different linguistic levels (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, etc.), endangered languages, pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages. The course covers a wide range of language pairs and contact situations across the world.

LIN 5626. Heritage Language Acquisition. (Muntendam) This course examines heritage language speakers (a specific type of unbalanced bilinguals) and their languages. Topics include definitions of heritage languages and heritage language speakers, methodological issues, the characteristics of heritage languages (e.g., phonetics/phonology, morphosyntax, semantics, lexicon), bilingual acquisition, and similarities and differences between heritage language speakers and L2 learners. We will discuss studies on a range of heritage languages, including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Turkish, and Russian.

LIN 5627. Code-switching. (Muntendam) This seminar examines the main issues in the study of code-switching (the use of two languages in the same discourse by a bi/multilingual speaker). Topics include methodological issues in the study of code-switching, grammatical aspects of code-switching, and sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic aspects of code-switching.

LIN 5628. Current Readings in Bilingualism. (Muntendam) This course focuses on recent issues within the field of Bilingualism. Students will read and critically evaluate recent articles from a wide range of bilingualism journals.

LIN 5695.* Psycholinguistics II: Lexical Processing. (Sunderman) In this course, students will examine the relationship between language and cognition in individuals who speak and understand more than one language, focusing on recent psycholinguistic research carried out in a variety of second languages (e.g., Spanish, Dutch, English, Italian). Students will be introduced to the major issues and concepts in psycholinguistics, as well as various models of language processing and experimental tasks used in the field. (The minimum requirement for the M.A. exam in psycholinguistics is this course or LIN 5703. Psycholinguistics I: Sentence Processing)

LIN 5703.* Psycholinguistics I: Sentence Processing. (Muntendam, Qian) This seminar examines the psycholinguistics of sentence processing. We will discuss the main experimental findings in sentence processing, experimental methods (including behavioral tasks, eye-tracking and ERP), and models of sentence processing. We will read studies on different languages, and different types of bilinguals (including L2 learners and heritage speakers) as well as monolinguals. (The minimum requirement for the M.A. exam in psycholinguistics is this course or LIN 5695. Psycholinguistics II: Lexical Processing)

LIN 5723.* Linguistics and Cognitive Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition. (Leeser, Sunderman) In this course, students will be introduced to a wide range of theories and key constructs within the field of second language acquisition (SLA). Students will also become familiarized with SLA research methods and data analysis procedures. (Minimum requirement for the M.A. exam in second language acquisition)

LIN 5724. Current Research in Second Language Acquisition. (Sunderman) In this course, students will be exposed to the varied research veins of scholarship within the field of second language acquisition (SLA). Through reading the latest empirical studies from a wide range of SLA journals, students will gain a more thorough understanding of the most recent questions driving research on SLA. A goal of this course is for students to become familiarized with the scope of the field of SLA and improve their ability to read and interpret empirical SLA research articles.

LIN 5727. Quantitative Methods in Language Research (Juzek, Leeser) The purpose of this course is to introduce graduate students to specific research methodologies and statistical procedures used in quantitative experimental research in applied linguistics. This course will provide all students with the means to critically evaluate quantitative research in language studies and will provide advanced M.A. and Ph.D. students with the basic tools to carry out their own data based research.

LIN 5744. Introduction to Language, Language Learning, and Language Instruction. (Leeser, Patience) The overall goal of this course is to give all incoming language instructors in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics an overview of the basics of language, the major processes of language acquisition, and the principles underlying communicative approaches to second language instruction (as informed by research and theory in second language acquisition).

LIN 5772. AI-assisted Python Programming for Linguistic Research (Juzek). This course covers the basics of Python programming, with a strong practical component focusing on problems of relevance to linguistics. Students utilize cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and demonstrate their acquired skills through a final project, which includes a coding component and a project report. No prior programming knowledge is required.

LIN 5932. Special Topics: Research Methods. (Leeser) The purpose of this course is to introduce graduate students to specific research methodologies and statistical procedures used in quantitative experimental research in applied linguistics. This course will provide all students with the means to critically evaluate quantitative research in language studies and will provide advanced M.A. and Ph.D. students with the basic tools to carry out their own data based research.

LIN 5932. Special Topics: Seminar in Second Language Acquisition. (Leeser) The ability to process input is essential for acquiring language. Thus, this course will provide graduate students with an introduction to current issues regarding how L2 learners process morphological and syntactic properties during sentence comprehension. Furthermore, we will explore research examining the effectiveness of language instruction that targets L2 learners’ processing of input. The two main goals of this course are (i) to learn about how processing develops in second language learners and (ii) to explore the role of instruction in the development of second language input processing.

LIN 5932: Special Topics: The Syntax-Phonology Interface. (González & Reglero) This course focuses on the interaction between the syntactic and the phonological component in the grammar. In particular, it explores how sound is used to convey information about sentence structure and meaning, and how syntactic structure can impact phonetic detail and prosodic phrasing. The course will also examine the structural parallels between these two components of the grammar and preview the most influential theories of the syntax-phonology interface.

LIN 5932. Special Topics: Spanish in the United States. (Muntendam) This course examines Spanish in the United States, with particular emphasis on sociolinguistic aspects. Topics include varieties of Spanish in the United States, language and identity, language attitudes, maintenance and loss, language policy, bilingual education, and Spanish as a heritage language.

LIN 5932. Special Topics: Language Policy and Planning. (Soldat-Jaffe) Language planning is the conscious effort to influence the function, structure, or acquisition of languages within a community. It is rarely a transparent process and is most often influenced by a particular ideology. In this course we will study 1. how a language can be planned, in whose interest it is to pursue language planning, and for what reasons?, and 2. how language planning plays out on the political and linguistic level? For this, the following issues will be explored: lexical engineering, purism, language education, prescriptivism that becomes normativism, national languages, language death, language revival and linguistic human rights to counteract language death.

LIN 5932: Special Topics: Programming for Linguistics. (Juzek) This course covers the basics of Python programming, with a strong practical component focusing on problems of relevance to linguistics. Students will demonstrate their acquired skills through a final project, which includes a coding component and a project report. Special attention is given to making use of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology ("AI-assisted programming"). No prior programming knowledge is required.

LIN 5937. Seminar on Language Invention (González) This course provides an overview of constructed languages (‘conlangs’), their characteristics, and the motivations underlying language invention. It offers guided practice on designing unique, typologically consistent languages by combining basic linguistic building blocks. The conlangs created for this course will be grounded in an original fictional world comprising a map and a written system.