Major program (*Updated* 2022)

New linguistics major course requirements

In December 2021 a new set of requirements was approved for the major in linguistics at UC Berkeley.

The new requirements apply to the following students:

  • New students who are admitted to UCB in Fall 2022 and thereafter

Overview of major requirements

The new major requirements consists of the following four components:

  1. 1 lower division linguistics course: Ling 3, Ling 5, Ling 55AC, or any other lower division linguistics course
    • Ling 55AC will be offered regularly and is the recommended course for students who have already taken Ling 100
    • Course must be 3 or more units; freshman seminars cannot be used as this course.
    • Transfer students may seek transfer credit for linguistics courses taken at other institutions equivalent to lower division courses
  2. Linguistics 100 or Linguistics W100 (the online summer course offered by UCB summer sessions)

    • Students must earn a C or better in Linguistics 100 to declare the major

  3. 4 courses from 4 different upper division course bins (of the five bins below)

  4. 10-13 units of upper division electives

    • At most 5 units of electives can be taken outside of the linguistics department

Additional rules:

  • Upper division courses (Ling 100, 4 binned courses, upper division electives) must total at least 30 units.

  • Binned courses and Linguistics 100 must be taken at UC Berkeley

It is important that students plan their program of study with a departmental Undergraduate Advisor, who can assist in planning the timing of required courses and in the selection of electives.  You may also use the  Linguistics Major Requirement Worksheetto assist with planning your courses.

Upper division course bins

Students must take at least 1 course from 4 different bins of the 5 bins below, ensuring breadth of training. Most regularly taught upper-division courses that survey a subfield of linguistics are included in the following five bins

  • 4-unit courses are marked by a preceding asterisk (*).
  • Italicized courses are typically offered in the spring, non-italicized courses are typically offered in the fall.

Bin 1. Language and mind: *105:Cognitive Linguistics, 108:Psycholinguistics, 109: Bilingualism, C142:Language and Thought

Bin 2. Sociolinguistics and historical linguistics: *130:Comparative and Historical Linguistics, 150/150A:Sociolinguistics

Bin 3. Phonetics and phonology: *110:Phonetics, *111:Phonology

Bin 4. Morphosyntax: *115:Morphology, *120:Syntax

Bin 5. Meaning: *106:Metaphor, *121:Formal semantics, 123:Pragmatics

  • Courses must be taken at UC Berkeley to satisfy the binned course requirement.
  • Additional binned courses beyond the four required courses can count towards the upper division electives requirement.

Scheduling notes:

  • The department will offer at least one course from each bin every year.
  • The department will offer at least four binned courses each semester, alternating courses, and will attempt to ensure that these four offerings cover four distinct bins.

Elective requirements

In addition to the five core courses, 10-13 upper division units of electives, taken for a letter grade, are required. The number of upper division units of electives is dependent on the number of units satisfied by binned courses; 30 total units, including Linguistics 100, must be taken.

At most five pre-approved courses in other departments can count towards the linguistics major. The remaining elective units must come from upper-division course offerings within the Linguistics Department, and can include binned courses beyond the one course required from that bin.

Declaring the Major

After completing Linguistics 100, students should fill out the Major Declaration Application and submit it via email at: LingMajorAdvisor@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail) 

Learning goals for Linguistics Majors

In addition to attaining a basic mastery of the field of linguistics, linguistics majors develop skills in critical thinking, in communication, and in the use of research methodologies. The array of courses offered by the Department includes both the required "binned" courses which cover language and mind, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, and a broad range of electives. The binned courses allow linguistics majors to master the primary subfields of the discipline, while the elective courses allow students to investigate areas of particular interest. Students learn to apply problem-solving skills in each of these areas.

Perhaps more important, a linguistics major develops critical thinking skills. By graduation, linguistics majors can employ both theory and empirical evidence in order to evaluate different linguistic arguments, analyze complex linguistic patterns, and understand the role played by assumptions in argumentation.

Further, linguistics majors develop advanced verbal skills; they are able to communicate effectively in oral and written form about specific linguistic issues, and they can produce well-organized oral presentations and original written reports supported by empirical evidence. These skills do not disappear at graduation; no matter what profession a linguistics major decides to pursue, throughout a lifetime s/he will possess a working knowledge of sources of reliable information about languages and linguistics and will be able to understand and evaluate current linguistic issues in the world at large.

Below is a list of more specific goals, with information about which courses fulfil them. Courses shown in boldface are specifically devoted to the learning goal in question.

Critical Thinking Skills

These skills are introduced in Ling 5, Ling 55AC, and Ling 100 and reinforced in the Bin courses as well as in most upper division electives.

  • Critically evaluate common beliefs and ideologies about language
  • Apply linguistic analysis to evaluate specific theoretical proposals
  • Compare two or more arguments that have different conclusions to a specific issue or problem
  • Understand the role of assumptions in argumentation
  • Be able to analyze complex linguistic patterns

Research Methodologies

A goal of the linguistics major is for students to learn how to obtain and collect relevant data using specific qualitative and/or quantitative research methods. These goals are broken down further, and the classes in which they are reinforced are listed, below:

  • Laboratory and experimental methods are introduced in Ling 110 and reinforced in several electives, including Ling C105, Ling 113, Ling 122 and Ling 140.
  • Quantitative analysis of linguistic data is introduced in Ling 100 and reinforced in Ling 106, 110, 113, 120, 122, 124, 139, 150, 151, and 181. Ling C160 is dedicated specifically to this learning goal.
  • Fieldwork and linguistic data elicitation are introduced in Ling 110 and 115 and reinforced in electives Ling 113, 122, Ling 170 and 181; Ling 140 is dedicated specifically to this learning goal.
  • Analysis of unfamiliar linguistic data using formal theories of language are a major focus of Linguistics 100, 111, 115, and 120, among other courses.

Mastery of linguistic knowledge

A learning goal of the major is for students to apply problem-solving skills to complex problems in a variety of subareas of linguistics. These goals are broken down further, and the classes in which they are reinforced are listed, below:

  • Acquire knowledge of traditional linguistic analysis. This goal is introduced in Ling 100 and reinforced in other core classes and electives: Phonetics and phonology (Ling 110 and 111, as well as Ling 113, 122, 130, 131, 139, 140, 148, 170, 175), Morphology (word structure) (Ling 115, as well as Ling 122, 139, 140, 170, 175), Syntax (sentence structure) (Ling 120, as well as Ling 104, 105, 122, 124, 140, 170, 175, 181), Semantics and pragmatics (meaning) (Ling 104, C105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 121, 122, 124, 139, 140, 155AC, 170, 175, 181)
  • Understand the role of language in society (Socliolinguistics; Ling 55AC, 150A and 151), in revealing the trajectories of human history (Historical linguistics (language change), Ling 130, as well as Ling 106, 122, 131, 139, 155AC, 170, 175, 181), and how language reveals the properties of the mind and is encoded and used by humans (Psycholinguistics (language and cognition, language acquisition), Ling 11, C105, 110, C147, 148).

Mastery of communication skills

A goal of the linguistics major is for students to communicate their knowledge effectively. The subgoals, listed below, are introduced in Ling 5, 55AC, and 100, in the form of weekly written assignments and discussion sections where student participation is expected. The first two goals are reinforced in virtually every core and elective course. The second two vary by course and instructor and year. The last is reinforced in the writing-intensive electives, which include Ling 106, 123, 124, C142, 150, 151, and 181.

  • Communicate effectively in oral form about specific linguistics issues
  • Communicate effectively in written form about specific linguistic issues
  • Produce a well-organized oral presentation supported by evidence
  • Produce an original written assignment (term paper or shorter squib) supported by evidence

Lifetime learning skills

A goal of the major is for students to acquire knowledge and analytical abilities that they can transfer from the classroom to their broader life during and after their university career. This goal is not the dedicated topic of any one class; rather, it is a generalized aim of all classes in linguistics to relate the topics covered to students' lives in the world.

  • Possess a working knowledge of sources of reliable information about languages and linguistics
  • Understand and evaluate current linguistic issues in the world at large (social, political, educational, prescriptive)

Assessment of learning goals

Several capstone experiences are available to Linguistics majors, as a means of integrating the skills and knowledge gained in the major into a significant intellectual product or experience. Students may elect to write an honors thesis, in which they work with an advisor on a year-long research project which they write up in the form of a thesis. Students may participate in faculty research projects, ranging from laboratory experiments to fieldwork with a consultant. Certain classes (e.g. Ling 113, 140, 170) are routinely devoted to developing student-led research projects.

Aside from capstone experiences, learning goals for the major are assessed in the classroom through regular written assignments. The core classes for the major all revolve around weekly homework assignments in which students solve complex problems and write up their solutions in a professional manner. Students receive feedback on their analyses and their presentation skills. Most electives require a term paper or similar assignment. Few linguistics classes use multiple-choice tests; by the end of the major, students have had significant experience at high-grade linguistic analysis, argumentation and exposition.