University at Buffalo (UB)
MA in General Linguistics
Linguistics in the classroom
Overview
The General track of the M.A. program in Linguistics shares the early coursework of the Ph.D. program, but is designed to culminate in a capstone project or comprehensive exam (student’s choice) after 33 credit hours. It offers preparation for doctoral studies, but also for industry careers that capitalize on research skills and advanced knowledge of the science of verbal communication.
Application Deadlines
March 1: All international MA applicants
April 1: All domestic MA applicants
Online Application
Degree Requirements
| Credit Hours: 33 | |
| Core Courses |
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| Core Electives (Five out of the following courses, or any class substituted with approval of the Director of Graduate Studies) |
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Other Electives |
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MA Exam
Students who enter the Linguistics program as a Master’s student additionally take the MA Exam. (In special circumstances, faculty may ask a student to write an MA project instead). The exam is given once each semester; the exact date will be fixed each year, but students can expect to take the exam during the last few weeks of the semester (November in the Fall, and April in the Spring).
The exam consists of questions in the areas of linguistics represented by our basic 500-level courses: Syntax, Semantics, Phonetics, Phonology, Historical Linguistics, Linguistic Anthropology, Morphology, Psycholinguistics, Typology, Discourse-Pragmatics, and Sociolinguistics. (If a student wishes to answer a question in Neurolinguistics, or in Language Acquisition, or in some other area, s/he should contact the Director of Graduate Studies to inquire about the possibility of arranging such a question.) Students must answer three questions. The exam lasts approximately three hours.
The faculty who teach the 500-level courses will write the questions, and the faculty member responsible for a specific question will also be the one to assess the students answer. The student must receive a passing grade on two of the three questions. If a student receives a “pass” on only one of the three question, s/he will be given the opportunity to choose a fourth area and answer the question in that area.
