Yen-Chen Hao (yhao6@utk.edu), Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, Chair
Harriet Bowden (hbowden1@utk.edu), Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, Vice Chair

The linguistics program offers a graduate certificate designed to meet the needs of individuals wishing to apply linguistics in various professional fields. It draws upon the strengths of faculty members in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and theoretical linguistics. The requirements focus upon the central aspects of the discipline of linguistics and aim to develop students’ basic knowledge and skills in the core disciplinary areas.

Upon successful completion of this program, students should have an understanding of the basic theoretical concepts and approaches of the discipline and have gained experience in the use of analytic and research techniques. It is also designed to meet the specific needs of those students who are preparing to teach foreign language at the high school/junior college level and/or to obtain advanced level proficiency in linguistics and cultural knowledge.

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Graduate Certificate Type

Stand-Alone

Add-On

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• Prospective candidates for the certificate may take up to 6 graduate credit hours of certificate classes before making application for admission to the certificate program.
• Application should be made online to the Office of Graduate Admissions. If already enrolled in a graduate program at UTK and you wish to add the Linguistics Graduate Certificate to your course of study, choose “Change of Program” via the Graduate Admissions website and add the Linguistics certificate.

Academic Standards

• Once admitted to the program, students must maintain a graduate GPA of at least 3.00.

Credit Hours Required

18 graduate credit hours

Required Courses

• Students will satisfy the requirements of the certificate program by selecting 18 graduate credit hours from the following lists, provided that those courses are selected in consultation with a program advisor, who approves their selection. A certificate cannot be earned without program approval by the advisor. The 18 graduate credit hours include:
  • 15 graduate credit hours from the following list, including at least one from LING 423 , LING 425 , MFLL 400 , MFLL 512 , SPAN 410 , SPAN 432 ;
    • ASL 435  
    • EDDE 415 , EDDE 416  
    • ENGL 508 , ENGL 509 , ENGL 575 , ENGL 680  
    • FREN 421  
    • GERM 510 , GERM 541 , GERM 631 , GERM 632  
    • LING 400 , LING 426 , LING 435 , LING 471 , LING 472 , LING 474 , LING 476 , LING 477 , LING 485  
    • PSYC 400  
    • SPAN 430 , SPAN 461 , SPAN 531  
    • STAT 531  
    • WLEL 466 , WLEL 489  
    • Other courses may, where appropriate, be substituted for the courses listed above with the permission of the Chair of the Linguistics Program.
  • LING 520  

Non-course Requirements:

• All courses must be selected in consultation with a program advisor, who must approve all courses for individual students prior to their being taken, except that, as noted above, up to 6 graduate credit hours may be accepted from candidates upon admission.
• To receive the certificate, students must

1. complete the Graduate Certificate Course Verification Form (located on the Graduate School webpage under the Forms Central tab) obtaining the signature of one of the Certificate Program Co-chairs (listed above).
2. through MyUTK, apply to graduate from the certificate program.