School of Languages and Literatures, College of Arts
The minor in Linguistics is intended for students interested in the interdisciplinary study of language. An understanding of the structure of language will improve students’ communication skills and intercultural competence. The minor will be of interest to students wishing to do graduate work in speech pathology or audiology, and complements many majors, including modern or ancient languages, psychology, anthropology or computer science. Linguistics may be taken as a minor in the Honours program. Students in Linguistics will be advised in the School of Languages and Literatures.
Learning Outcomes
A student who completes the Linguistics Minor at the University of Guelph will be able to:
Community Engagement and Global Understanding
- Analyze and describe how language changes and what factors influence such changes.
- Demonstrate intercultural awareness and competence in the context of language acquisition, language variation and change.
Critical and Creative Thinking
- Appraise popular beliefs and language myths to determine their validity.
Literacy and Communication
- Analyze and articulate themes about the nature of human language, and how languages work.
- Demonstrate a basic ability in a language other than English.
Evaluate and Conduct Research
- Identify and analyze language patterns, draw generalizations from a set of data, and formulate hypotheses to explain those patterns.
- Devise empirical studies that employ linguistic methods and tools.
Depth and Breadth of Understanding
- Analyze how language varies across speakers, regions, and over time.
- Debate the current state of knowledge in the discipline of linguistics.
Professional Development and Ethical Behaviour
- Exemplify and apply linguistic methods and tools.
- Construct research projects that respect disciplinary ethical norms and practices.