Linguistics

Language plays a central role in human affairs. Linguistics is a vital academic discipline for anyone interested in the study of human language. While many of the disciplines within English Studies emerge from traditions within the Humanities, Linguistics is grounded more directly in discourses and traditions emerging from the cognitive and social sciences.

The Linguistics faculty in the English Department teach courses ranging in level from the Doctoral Seminar in Linguistics and Language Study (ENG 540) to a basic invitation to disciplined language study for the General Education Program (ENG 143: Unity and Diversity in Language).

Students interested in language study should also look for courses in Linguistics offered by these faculty in other Illinois State Departments: Virginia Gill and Jim Stanlaw (Sociology and Anthropology); Dan Everett, Lorie Heggie, Jeanette Sanchez Naranjo, Ben Schmeiser, and Rachel Shively (Languages, Literatures, and Cultures), and J. Cooper Cutting (Psychology).

For students interested in Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL), the English Department offers a set of courses which can be used for an undergraduate or graduate concentration in TESOL.