LING 512 - Second Language Acquisition | 2025-2026

Second language learning and acquisition is an intricate process that involves the dynamic interaction of individual and social variables. This survey course considers a wide range of theories, models, and research that have been proposed to account for this process. Participants are guided to evaluate and consider the implications of different perspectives for second language teaching in a variety of contexts.

LING 499 - Philosophical Perspectives in Linguistics | 2025-2026

This course examines the philosophical bases of human language and communication, with special attention to issues relating to semantics, discourse, lexicon, metaphor, and translation, etc.; all the areas that deal with meaning creation. There is a critical review of some major schools of thought within philosophy of language and hermeneutics. These are examined in light of current insights in text linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and integrational linguistics.

LING 497 - Bible Translation | 2025-2026

Provides an overview of the process of Bible translation, paying particular attention to problems related to the translation of sacred texts. Students will apply existing skills in biblical exegesis and linguistic analysis to cross-linguistic communication, with particular consideration given to key biblical concepts and themes, figurative language, identification of genre, and concerns about authenticity among receptor language communities.

LING 494 - Communication & Translation | 2025-2026

Discusses foundational principles of translation as cross-linguistic communication, with a focus on minority and minoritized language environments. Students will study the principles involved in understanding a message as originally communicated in one language and cultural setting, and in communicating that message in a very different language and culture. Students will apply theories from different schools of thought regarding communication and the idea of quality in translation.

LING 491 - Discourse Analysis | 2025-2026

This course focuses on the question of how speakers of a given language effectively accomplish their communicative goals through the strategic use and shaping of language in both written and oral discourse. Students learn to identify different discourse genres, to chart texts for analysis, to discern hierarchical units within the macrostructure of a text, and to describe features of cohesion and participant reference, as well as identifying strategies in language for establishing the relative prominence of various streams of information.