Students who entered the Linguistics PhD program prior to August 2019 may choose to complete either the requirements listed here, or the new PhD requirements. Students who enter the Linguistics PhD program in August 2019 or later must complete the new PhD requirements.
Old Ph.D. Program Requirements
64 graduate credit hours are required for the Ph.D. in Linguistics. Credit hours which have already been applied to another degree, such as the M.A. in Linguistics, do not count toward this total; nor do preparatory courses taken as a condition on admission.
A. Practicum, Research Paper and Oral Exam (4 hours):
- LING 504: Practicum (2 hours)
- LING 590: Special Topics in Linguistics (2 hours)
During their first year in the Ph.D. program (normally the third year overall for students entering from the Linguistics M.A. Program), students must submit an original research paper, and pass an oral examination in which the paper is presented to a committee of faculty members, who may ask questions regarding the research, the written paper, and the presentation. The paper should be completed under the supervision of a faculty member,while enrolled for at least two credit hours of LING 590 with that faculty member as instructor, and also enrolled in LING 504.
B. Area of Specialization:
Students must specialize in a particular subfield of linguistics, and complete the requirements for their area of specialization. The following standard specializations are available; students may also design their own specializations with the help and approval of their faculty advisor.
| COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
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| PHONETICS and PHONOLOGY | |
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| Prerequisite: | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
Note: Quantitative Methods I and II are being developed to cover statistics (QM-I) and corpus methods (QM-II) for P&P research. These courses are currently offered under LING 591. Students should take QM-I, if available, to satisfy the statistics requirement of the P&P specialization |
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| PSYCHOLINGUISTICS and NEUROLINGUISTICS | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
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The courses should be chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor.
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Language Learning:
Language Use / Conversational Analysis:
Language Education and Assessment:
Educational Technology:
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| LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY and ASSESSMENT | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
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The courses should be chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor.
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Language Learning:
Language Use / Conversational Analysis:
Language Education and Assessment:
Educational Technology:
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| SEMANTICS and PRAGMATICS | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
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| SOCIOLINGUISTICS | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
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| SYNTAX | |
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| Required Courses | Recommended |
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C. Research/Project/Independent Study Hours (12 hours)
Students must complete at least 12 credit hours of LING 590: Special Topics in Linguistics, or of another independent research course approved by the advisor.
D. Language Requirement:
All Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate knowledge of the structure a language that is neither their native tongue nor the same language that satisfied the foreign language requirement for the M.A. degree. This requirement may be met through LING 516: Field Methods, or courses such as FR 416: Structure of French or GER 465: Linguistic Structures of German, or in other ways approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.
E. Thesis Hours Required (32 hours)
Students must complete at least 32 credit hours of LING 599: Thesis Research. Enrollment in LING 599 is not normally allowed before the semester in which the student expects to complete the Preliminary Examination.
F. Seminar Presentation
Each student must make at least one research presentation to the Linguistics Department Seminar.
G. Preliminary Examination
All students must pass the Preliminary Examination, normally in the second year of the Ph.D. program (fourth year overall for students who entered through the Linguistics M.A. Program).
- To take the Preliminary Examination, first finish all your course requirements. Work closely with your advisor to prepare a written dissertation proposal. Assemble your examination committee, bearing in mind the policies on committee membership set by the Graduate College. Submit your written proposal to your committee at least two weeks before the oral examination, which may be scheduled through the Graduate Student Services Office of the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics (please fill out the exam scheduling form).
- The examination consists of an oral presentation of the dissertation proposal before the committee. The committee may ask questions about the proposed research, the written proposal, or the presentation.
H. Final Examination/Dissertation Defense
All students must write a dissertation and successfully defend its thesis in an oral examination. Familiarize yourself early in the process with the Graduate College policies and procedures regarding dissertations.
- The Final Examination committee is normally (but not necessarily) identical to the Preliminary Examination committee. If it is different, please bear in mind the policies on committee membership set by the Graduate College. Work closely with your advisor and other committee members to be sure the dissertation is satisfactory before arranging for the Final Examination. The completed dissertation must be submitted to the committee at least two weeks prior to the examination, which may be scheduled through the Graduate Student Services Office of the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics (please fill out the exam scheduling form).
- The Final Examination consists of an oral presentation of the dissertation and defense of its thesis before the committee. The committee may ask questions about the research, the written dissertation, or the presentation.
I. Dissertation Deposit
Following successful completion the defense, make any revisions requested to the dissertation by the committee, and secure the approval of your advisor. Make sure the dissertation conforms to the Graduate College formatting policies. Deposit the dissertation according to the procedure set by the Graduate College.
Applying credit from other institutions
Students who enter the program with previous graduate work in Linguistics from another institution may petition to transfer course credit to the University of Illinois. Transfer of credit is not possible if the courses have already been counted towards a degree at any other institution. Transfer must be requested through the SLCL Graduate Student Services office.
Students are encouraged to attend at least one summer session of the Linguistic Institute of the Linguistic Society of America. Up to 8 graduate hours of credit granted under this program may be transferred, with Graduate College approval.