The Indiana University Department of Linguistics is the hub of the amazing tapestry of language programs and research at Indiana University. More than 70 languages are offered at IU, and our department has developed in relation to these programs for more than seventy years.
70+Languages offered at IU
Linguistics involves many areas of inquiry, including cognitive science, speech and hearing sciences, and computer science. We connect these areas in various ways to the many language programs at IU.
Ours is a vibrant undergraduate program, and one of the largest Linguistics graduate programs in the country. Our faculty conduct leading research reflecting a wide variety of interests. They excel in teaching and research in specific branches of linguistics, including linguistic analysis, language structure, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics, comparative linguistics, structural linguistics, second language studies, and the linguistic study of African languages.
The Department of Linguistics is part of the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences.
Learning a second language or other foreign languages is a rich and fascinating process involving linguistic, psychological, cultural, and social dimensions. Our department is dedicated to the study of the structure, acquisition, and use of nonnative language, both in the classroom and in contexts offering direct contact with native speakers.
We currently offer a TESOL and Second Language Acquisition undergraduate certificate offering practical training that focuses on facilitating second language acquisition. Our Second Language Studies undergraduate minor provides a firm foundation in second language acquisition.
Graduate students are invited to select among our M.A. in TESOL and Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. program with a concentration in Second Language Studies designed to train the next generation of foreign and second language professionals as both researchers and teachers. We also offer a Ph.D. minor in Second Language Studies.
Courses for English language improvement
We offer an English Language Improvement Program, designed to assist undergraduate and graduate students. Our Intensive English Program prepares international students for study at English-speaking universities.
Linguistics resides in the nexus between science and culture, dealing with a cultural object, language, from within an explicitly scientific methodology. Some scholars seek to examine the history and prehistory of well-studied languages, while others aim to understand the languages of the thousands of other communities encountered across the globe. Still others focus on understanding the variation and socially important details of the communication systems of the scholars themselves. An abiding curiosity about language connects all of these threads, alongside an insistence on developing a rigorous scientific methodology for studying them. The discipline more recently has embraced advances in computational linguistics and is active in understanding the relationship between humans and computational devices.
The College of Arts