phd in linguistics calgary

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Candidacy & Dissertation

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PhD in Language and Literacy

Thesis-based, on campus degree

Language and Literacy prepares students to understand and conduct research on various dimensions of literacy, linguistic and cultural diversity, especially as they relate to the acquisition, use, teaching, and learning of languages, multiliteracies (multiple meaning-making systems, including print, visual, oral, audiovisual, and gestural texts), and new literacies and digital media . This program is open to applicants from a broad array of regions/countries, It will be of interest to prospective educators and researchers in the areas of literacy, English as an additional language (EAL) or second language (ESL), bilingual education, teaching and learning French as first and second language and other languages, including Aboriginal languages, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, German.

Program Details

Important deadlines & information.

Application Dates

Application opens:   September 1 Application deadline:  December 1 Official supporting document deadline: December 1-No Exceptions

Students must use the online application found at the  How to Apply  page.

Program Delivery

The PhD in Educational Research is a full-time program that is normally delivered on campus for the first two years of the program for either a Summer term start or a Fall term start.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements are also outlined in the University Calendar .

In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies admission requirements, Graduate Programs in Education requires:

• A thesis-based master’s degree in an appropriate field. Outstanding applicants holding master’s degrees without thesis may be considered.
• A minimum grade point average of 3.50 on a four-point scale in a master’s degree program.
• A written statement of approximately 500 words indicating the applicant's reasons for wishing to pursue a graduate program. In this statement, briefly outline how your research interests and goals align with the specialization you have applied to; identify relevant prior research, teaching and leadership   experiences, publications, awards and recognitions, that you bring to doctoral research. To help us to consider potential supervisors, please identify Werklund School of Education  academic faculty members  whose research expertise aligns with your own.
• Where appropriate, candidates will be expected to have, or to obtain, relevant practical experience in their area of specialization.
• Two references. Referees will be asked to complete an online reference form.
• Current CV.
• Meeting the English language proficiency requirement. Proficiency in the English language is essential for the pursuit and successful completion of graduate programs in the Werklund School of Education. Prior to admission to Graduate Programs in Education, an applicant whose primary language is not English must fulfill the English language proficiency requirement.  For additional information, please visit our  How to Apply  page.

Admission Portfolio

Applicants to the Doctor of Philosophy program are encouraged to submit an Admission Portfolio containing examples of their work. The purpose of the Admission Portfolio is to give applicants the opportunity to provide additional documentation that demonstrates their suitability and qualification for doctoral studies. The Admission Portfolio is particularly relevant for program applicants who do not hold a thesis-based master’s degree.

The Doctoral Admission Portfolio may contain the following:

a) Thesis (if applicable).

b) Reports.

c) Research grants or scholarships.

d) Articles.

e) Curriculum documents.

f) Non-print materials, (e.g. multimedia).

g) Evidence of relevant prior learning (see below).

h) Personal statement documenting research skills and interests.

The Doctoral Admission Portfolio must include a Table of Contents and an Executive Summary that outlines the contents of the Portfolio.

Relevant Prior Learning Considerations

In exceptional circumstances, individuals who do not meet formal academic requirements but who have significant life achievements may be considered for admission to the program. The candidates must provide Graduate Programs in Education with evidence demonstrating a potential to undertake successfully the proposed program of studies. Such candidates are advised to make early contact with Graduate Programs in Education, and supply additional supporting documents as part of their application package, such as:

a) Evidence of personal continuing education/training.

b) Results in these continuing education efforts.

c) Experience in a field related to the aspired degree.

d) Evidence of successful management of people, resources, finances, situations.

e) Increasing or varying responsible positions in organizations related to the aspired degree.

f) Work-related products, e.g. reports, programs of learning or training, handbooks, videos, manuals, workshops, seminars.

g) Evidence of personal growth in knowledge, understanding, management skills, and intellectual resources.

h) Evidence of innovation.

i) Evidence of leadership or co-ordination responsibilities.

Advanced Credit

The applicant must make advanced credit request as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for course work taken as part of another completed degree/diploma, or for courses taken to bring grade point average to a required level for admission.

Graduate Programs in Education does not normally accept undergraduate courses for credit toward graduate degrees.

Admission Note

In all these cases, the decision whether or not to admit the applicant rests with the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Admission to all graduate programs is highly competitive due to limited enrollment capacities. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

All graduate programs are governed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. In the case of any conflict, regulations of the  Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar  take precedence over material on this website. Please consult the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar for University of Calgary graduate admission requirements.

Please check  Application Process  for details.

Offers of admission are valid only for the term to which applications are made.  

Transcripts & Supporting Documents- Due December 1

Applications, transcripts and all supporting documents must be submitted 11:59 pm MT on the application deadline date for each program. Please visit the  FGS applicant transcript page  to answer frequently asked questions on transcripts. 

For additional information on transcripts and where to send them, please visit our  How to Apply  page.

References Two (2) academic references are required. References will be asked to complete an online reference form. No hard copy letters of reference or documents will be accepted.

Please see the Faculty of Graduate Studies'  advice on finding references  for your application.

References are due by the application deadline, so you should complete the online application earlier in order to give your referees sufficient time to submit their reference. Referees will receive notification on how to submit their reference  after  you submit your application and are due on the application deadline regardless of when they receive the notification.  Please ensure that your references are aware of the supporting document submission deadline.  Applications without completed reference forms will be considered incomplete after the application deadline has passed.

Statement of Intent and Admission Portfolio Applicants must submit a written statement of intent and are encouraged to submit an  admission portfolio  as part of the application to the PhD in Educational Research program. 

Hard copy statements of intent and admission portfolio components will not be accepted. Please ensure that you are using the online application system to submit these documents.

Tuition and Fees

Information on tuition and fees can be found in the University Calendar .

Please visit the  candidacy and dissertation section of our website  for information.

PhD Funding

The Werklund School of Education provides funding opportunities for full-time doctoral students admitted to the on-campus program, for the first 4 years in program.

Awards and Scholarships

Applicants to the program  are encouraged to apply for internal and external scholarships.

Supervision

As a Graduate Student, you are expected to devote the time, effort, and energy necessary to engage in scholarship. You will determine the specific milestones and requirements of your program of study in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies Calendar and with your graduate supervisor. 

An integral part of the student experience is working closely with a supervisor on the development and completion of a research project. A graduate supervisor mentors graduate students through regular meetings and research training aimed at research, scholarship, teaching and professional development. Graduate supervisors support students in the timely completion of their programs.

As a Graduate Student, you are expected to meet with your graduate supervisor on a regular basis. While each student-supervisor relationship is unique, graduate supervisors can assist graduate students in a number of ways: advising on course selection, applying for awards and scholarships, obtaining research funds, applying for teaching assistant and sessional teaching opportunities, developing track records in refereed publications and conference presentations, getting involved in leadership and service, and encouraging and supporting apprenticeship in a research community of practice (collaborative review of papers, grants, academic writing, and data analysis). 

A supervisor is normally appointed at the time of admission to the PhD program.

Have Questions?

Sylvia Parks Graduate Program Administrator (GPA) 403.220.4105, [email protected]

Academic Coordinator

Dr. Rahat Zaidi, [email protected]

Ready to Apply?

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Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)

Go to programs search

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguists are interested in questions such as the following:

• What are the structural properties of languages, at the level of sounds, words, sentences, and meaning?
• To what extent are the languages of the world similar or different?
• How is language acquired, by children and in adulthood?
• How is it processed in the mind/brain?
• How do people produce and perceive speech?
• How do languages change over time?

Linguistics is a highly interdisciplinary field which combines research methods from the humanities and the social, natural, and mathematical sciences.

Research in the Department covers a broad range of topics, with substantial coverage of syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, phonology, and pragmatics. We approach these topics from several different research traditions and backgrounds, with particular strengths in formal-theoretical linguistics, experimental and field linguistics, acquisition, and computational approaches to the study of communicative behaviour. These research areas intersect and overlap considerably, and faculty and students are often simultaneously involved in more than one area. This is part of the attention paid to interfaces between traditional subfields of linguistics and methodological traditions (e.g., laboratory phonology, gesture and speech and learning), one of the great strengths of the Department.

The Department also has a strong commitment to the study of Languages of the Americas, with particular focus on First Nations Languages of Canada, in the areas of documentation and theoretical research, something for which it is well known. Research is not restricted to Languages of the Americas, however; the department also has a long history of work on African languages and there is ongoing research on languages within the Indo-European, Japonic, Sino-Tibetan, and Uralic families as well as Korean.

For specific program requirements, please refer to the departmental program website

What makes the program unique?

Our linguists focus on data in all its forms – not just fieldwork, but also high-quality research in labs with cutting-edge resources and tools, such as those found and developed in the Communication Dynamics Lab, the Interdisciplinary Speech Research Lab , the Language and Learning Lab , the Speech In Context Lab , and the Phonological CorpusTools working group.

Students in the Department of Linguistics are given the opportunity to head out into the field and get their hands dirty. Many of the members of our department, from undergrads and grad students to post-docs and faculty members, work directly with language consultants to describe, analyze and revitalize the languages of the world.

Linguists in the department have active working relationships with scholars from many different disciplines and from across the UBC campus, across the country, and across the world.

Our students are actively engaged in research from the moment they enter the department, and they have an excellent track record of publishing and presenting their work at national and international conferences.

UBC Linguistics has an intellectually nourishing, well-respected, and diverse curriculum and research program.

Starr Sandoval

Quick Facts

Program enquiries, admission information & requirements, 1) check eligibility, minimum academic requirements.

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:

• Canada or the United States
• International countries other than the United States

Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.

English Language Test

Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.

Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based

Overall score requirement : 90

IELTS: International English Language Testing System

Overall score requirement : 6.5

Other Test Scores

Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are:

The GRE is optional.

2) Meet Deadlines

3) prepare application, transcripts.

All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.

Letters of Reference

A minimum of three references are required for application to graduate programs at UBC. References should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications.

Statement of Interest

Many programs require a statement of interest , sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.

• Supervision

Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.

Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD)

Citizenship verification.

Permanent Residents of Canada must provide a clear photocopy of both sides of the Permanent Resident card.

4) Apply Online

All applicants must complete an online application form and pay the application fee to be considered for admission to UBC.

Tuition & Financial Support

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities.

Program Funding Packages

The Department of Linguistics guarantees funding of $25,500 plus the cost of tuition per annum for the first two years of the MA program and the first five years of the Ph.D. program to all students accepted to our graduate programs. 

Please note that as a condition for receiving this funding you will be expected to apply for any scholarships you are eligible for, either UBC-internally or from your home country.

Funding packages are made up of scholarships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships depending on individual students, year of study, and the financial resources of the department. 

Average Funding

• 15 students received Teaching Assistantships. Average TA funding based on 15 students was $11,724.
• 10 students received Research Assistantships. Average RA funding based on 10 students was $14,683.
• 4 students received Academic Assistantships. Average AA funding based on 4 students was $6,612.
• 18 students received internal awards. Average internal award funding based on 18 students was $14,833.
• 3 students received external awards. Average external award funding based on 3 students was $20,333.

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

All applicants are encouraged to review the awards listing to identify potential opportunities to fund their graduate education. The database lists merit-based scholarships and awards and allows for filtering by various criteria, such as domestic vs. international or degree level.

Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)

Many professors are able to provide Research Assistantships (GRA) from their research grants to support full-time graduate students studying under their supervision. The duties constitute part of the student's graduate degree requirements. A Graduate Research Assistantship is considered a form of fellowship for a period of graduate study and is therefore not covered by a collective agreement. Stipends vary widely, and are dependent on the field of study and the type of research grant from which the assistantship is being funded.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)

Graduate programs may have Teaching Assistantships available for registered full-time graduate students. Full teaching assistantships involve 12 hours work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction although many graduate programs offer partial TA appointments at less than 12 hours per week. Teaching assistantship rates are set by collective bargaining between the University and the Teaching Assistants' Union .

Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)

Academic Assistantships are employment opportunities to perform work that is relevant to the university or to an individual faculty member, but not to support the student’s graduate research and thesis. Wages are considered regular earnings and when paid monthly, include vacation pay.

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans .

All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.

Foreign government scholarships

Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.

Working while studying

The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.

International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 20 hours a week.

A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement .

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.

Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.

Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.

Cost Estimator

Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.

Career Outcomes

31 students graduated between 2005 and 2013: 3 graduates are seeking employment; for 1 we have no data (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016). For the remaining 27 graduates:

Sample Employers in Higher Education

Sample employers outside higher education, sample job titles outside higher education, phd career outcome survey, career options.

UBC’s Department of Linguistics alumni have a longstanding history of individual achievements and collective success. Since the first Department of Linguistics courses were offered at the University in 1967, our alumni have made a mark for themselves internationally and in a vast diversity of careers.

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

Completion Rates & Times

• Research Supervisors

Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors

These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.

This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

• Abdul-Mageed, Muhammad (Artificial intelligence (AI); Deep Learning; Natural Language Processing; Machine Learning; Computational Linguistics; Social Media Mining; Arabic)
• Babel, Molly (Linguistics; Phonetics; Recognition of Speech; Perception and Representation; Acoustics; Dialects; acoustics of speech production; phonetic variation; speech perception; spoken word recognition)
• Bochnak, Ryan
• Davis, Henry Thomas (First Nations languages)
• Dechaine, Rose-Marie (Native American languages; Algonquian language family, Cree, Blackfoot, Ojibwe; French / English bilingualism policy; formal linguistics; generative grammar (Chomsky); West African languages (Niger-Congo, Yoruba, Igbo, Edo); Nigerian languages; literacy vs. oralcy; language planning re: French, Indigenous languages, Speech/gesture coordination, syntactic interface relations)
• Gick, Bryan (phonetics, speech science, speech motor control, speech perception, multimodal perception, tactile perception, ultrasound imaging of speech, sounds of the world’s languages, Physical mechanisms of speech production, speech research)
• Hall, Kathleen (Linguistics; Phonology; Phonetics; Laboratory Phonology)
• Hammerly, Christopher (Syntax & Morphology; Psycholinguistics; Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe))
• Hansson, Gunnar (Linguistic structures (including grammar, phonology, lexicon and semantics); Cognitive sciences; theoretical phonology; morphology-phonology interface; phonological typology; historical linguistics (language change); locality relations; Icelandic)
• Hudson Kam, Carla (Language development, second language acquisition, critical periods for learning, input and language learning, language learning and language change, Psychology, First and second language acquisition, gesture and language learning, language contact and language change)
• Matthewson, Lisa (Linguistics; Semantics; Austronesian languages; Cross-linguistic variation and universals; Salish languages; Semantic fieldwork; Tsimshianic languages)
• Morzycki, Marcin (Linguistics; adverbial modification; degree modifiers; expressive meaning; grammar of modification; knowledge of meaning; measure phrases; modification of quantifiers; nonrestrictive modification; semantic restrictions on modifier order; Semantics, syntax, and their interface)
• Pulleyblank, Douglas (Linguistics; Phonology; Morphology; African languages; Yoruba)
• Rullmann, Hotze (Linguistics; Semantics)
• Soskuthy, Marton (language change; Computational modeling; Statistics; Phonetics; Cognitive systems)
• Tessier, Anne-Michelle (Linguistic structures (including grammar, phonology, lexicon and semantics); Constraint-based grammars; L2 production and perception in childhood; Language Acquisition; Lexical avoidance; Phonology; Prosodic processing with cochlear implants; Shitgibbons; U-shaped development)
• Zhu, Jian (Computational Linguistics, Natural Language Processing, Speech Sciences)

Doctoral Citations

Sample Thesis Submissions

• Speech postures are postures : towards a unified approach to postural control in gross and fine motor skills
• Towards Afrocentric natural language processing
• Functional categorization parameters : argumenthood with functional heads other than D in Carioca Brazilian Portuguese and Pirahã
• Perception, recognition, and encoding of Cantonese sound change variants
• Aspects of the morphophonology of Dagaare
• Second-position clitics, from morphosyntax to semantics : the ʔayʔaǰuθəm (Comox-Sliammon) perspective
• Embodiment and emergent phonology in the visual-manual modality : factors enabling sublexical componentiality

Related Programs

Same specialization.

• Master of Arts in Linguistics (MA)

Same Academic Unit

• Master of Data Science in Computational Linguistics (MDSCL)

Further Information

Specialization.

Linguistics covers the core areas of phonetics, phonology, semantics, and syntax with the possibility of specializing in First Nations languages, African languages, first language acquisition, and experimental linguistics as well as specialized interaction with other disciplines such as art, computer science, music, philosophy, and psychology in the cognitive systems stream.

UBC Calendar

Program website, faculty overview, academic unit, program identifier, classification, social media channels, supervisor search.

Departments/Programs may update graduate degree program details through the Faculty & Staff portal. To update contact details for application inquiries, please use this form .

Michelle Kamigaki-Baron

I read a paper a few years prior that was co-authored by my current supervisor Dr. Molly Babel which helped me imagine the research question of my current PhD project. Upon doing more research on UBC, it became clear that UBC was an ideal choice for me. The graduate students were doing a broad...

Ife Adebara

UBC was the only school I found that readily provided the type of interdisciplinary support that I needed. Most computational linguistic programs usually focus on either computer science or linguistics and I wanted both. I have been able to develop both linguistic and computing skills on this...

Roger Yu-Hsiang Lo

The linguistics department at UBC is well respected and highly regarded, with faculty members working in various subfields. Also, the diverse programs hosted at UBC allow me to take courses from different departments and to easily do interdisciplinary research. Metro Vancouver also features a...

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PhD Program in Cognitive Science of Language

Join our world-class Languages & Linguistics Department to continue your study of language structure, language processing and the neural basis of language in the Cognitive Science of Language PhD Program.

Our courses are so hands-on and application based that you end up developing a unique and valuable skillset, which ends up leading into a variety of career paths that would otherwise have been difficult to grow accustomed to.

Meliha Horzum '20

Honours Cognitive Science of Language

About the Program

Based in the Department of Linguistics and Languages, the PhD program in Cognitive Science of Language is interdisciplinary and includes faculty from Humanities, Science, and Health Sciences. The program has a strong research orientation with expertise in cognitive science, corpus linguistics, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and theoretical linguistics. The program introduces students to the issues in those fields that form the nexus of linguistics, cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience, and trains students in the research methods employed to study them.

Admission Requirements

A MSc in the Cognitive Science of Language or an equivalent Master’s degree is required for entrance into the PhD program. Some applicants may require additional courses in core areas (e.g. linguistics or cognitive science) in order to be eligible for admission. Each application will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Language Requirement

In order to ensure language diversity and breadth, the Department has a second-language requirement for the PhD degree, in addition to the general Graduate School requirement of English proficiency. Candidates should have, as a minimum, intermediate knowledge of a language other than English, defined as having passed the equivalent of two (2) full year courses. Candidates admitted without this requirement will be expected to pass the equivalent of two (2) full year courses or to pass a Qualifying Exam. The Department will evaluate each student’s language preparation at the Admission stage.

Application Process

The official electronic transcripts should be sent from the issuing institution directly to our department’s email: [email protected]

The online application portal for our graduate program in Cognitive Science of Language unlocks November 1st each year for September admission only. 

THOSE WHO SUBMIT  THEIR  COMPLETED APPLICATIONS (BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL) BY THE JANUARY 31ST DEADLINE WILL HAVE FIRST CONSIDERATION.

• Complete the online application -> McMaster University Application  
• Statement of Interest (identify the faculty member you wish to work with)
• Writing Sample (any type of academic writing i.e. term paper, thesis chapter)
• Two academic references (McMaster University uses an Electronic Referencing System. By entering the email address of your referee through the online application, the system will automatically send an e-Reference request on your behalf)
• English Language Proficiency (if English is not your native language)
• Official transcripts of all post-secondary academic work completed to date (transcripts must be sent directly from the issuing institution to our Department, please include English translation if applicable)
• Official copy of your TOEFL or IELTS scores or any other evidence of English proficiency (TOEFL: minimum score of 92 (internet based), 237 (computer based) or 580 (paper based), minimum of 20 per band; for the Faculty of Engineering a minimum score of 88 (internet based) or 213 on the (computer based) or 550 (paper based)  IELTS (Academic): minimum overall score of 6.5, with at least 5.5 in each section)
• **NOTE** Applicants from outside of Canada should begin the application process as early as possible to allow time to obtain all necessary documents.

Program Timelines

Students entering with a MSc in the Cognitive Science of Language are required to complete three half courses plus one pass/fail module. If the following courses were not completed in the MSc program, they must be included in the PhD program of study:

• COGSCIL 730 / Language Analysis Methods: Phonology and Morphology
• COGSCIL 731 / Language Analysis Methods: Syntax and Semantics
• COGSCIL 726 / The Cognitive Science of Language Ph.D. Lecture Series must be completed in Year 1 of the PhD program
• Plus additional courses approved by the student’s supervisory committee to total three half courses

Students entering with a Master’s degree but not an MSc in the Cognitive Science of Language are required to complete seven half courses plus one pass/fail lecture series module as listed below. The Lecture series must be completed in year one of the program.  

Required courses:

• COGSCIL 721 / Fundamentals of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language
• COGSCIL 722 / Contemporary Issues in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language
• COGSCIL 726 / The Cognitive Science of Language Ph.D. Lecture Series  
• Plus additional courses approved by the student’s supervisory committee to total seven half courses

The Comprehensive Examination is intended to ensure that the student develops competence in a subfield of Cognitive Science of Language beyond the focus of the thesis. In consultation with the supervisory committee, the student will identify a topic for the Comprehensive that is distinct from the thesis topic.

In most cases, the Director of the Comprehensive will not be the thesis supervisor. The student and the Comprehensive Director agree in writing on the nature of the deliverable for the Comprehensive and on interim and final deadlines. At a minimum, the Comprehensive consists of a written paper and oral examination of the topic of the paper. The paper may consist of a literature review, proposal for a research project, report of a research project or report of a teaching project. The scope of the project should be such that it can reasonably be completed within one semester. The paper will usually be 20-30 pages long.

The Comprehensive Director identifies at least one other faculty member; together, the Director and these other faculty members constitute the Comprehensive Exam Committee. (Comprehensive Directors are encouraged to recruit Comprehensive Examiners from beyond the Department of Linguistics & Languages.) The Comprehensive Director advises the student on the preparation of the paper. The Comprehensive Exam Committee determines whether the paper is ready for an oral defense, and conducts the oral examination. The oral examination consists of a brief presentation by the student regarding the content of the paper followed by questions from the Committee. The Comprehensive Exam must be successfully completed within 20 months of entering the PhD program.

All students are expected to attend the talks in the Cognitive Science of Language Lecture Series, where scholars from around the world in the fields of Linguistics, Psychology, and Cognitive Neuroscience discuss their research.

Tuition & Program Fees

Visit Graduate Studies to learn more about tuition, supplementary fees and everything you need to know about being paid as a Teaching or Research Assistant. Tuition fees are assessed on a term by term basis, depending on the number of courses a student takes or if they are paying by term.

Faculty Scholarship Adjustments Guidelines

The McMaster Graduate Scholarship (MGS) is the most common form of scholarship support available to graduate students in our program. The MGS ensures that students receive a guaranteed minimum level of scholarship support. Adjustments to the MGS will depend on other available scholarships.

The Faculty of Humanities Adjustments guidelines policy is available for review.

REVIEW THE POLICY

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Supplemental information.

Graduate Courses in Linguistics and Languages

Course outlines 2023-2024

• Cogscil 6LB3 – Advanced Phonetics and Phonology
• Cogscil 6XX3 – Topics in Linguistic Theory
• Cogscil 712 – Reading Course (Linguistics)
• Cogscil 713 – Reading Course (Cognitive Science)
• Cogscil 722 – Contemporary Issues in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language
• Cogscil 726A – The Cognitive Science of Language Ph.D. Lecture Series

Winter 2024

• Cogscil 6G03- Language, Sex and Gender
• Cogscil 6NN3 – Cognitive Neurolinguistics Lab
• Cogscil 713 –  Reading Course (Cognitive Science)
• Cogscil 721 – Fundamentals of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language
• Cogscil 726B– The Cognitive Science of Language Ph.D. Lecture Series
• Cogscil 731 – Language Analysis Methods: Syntax and Semantics
• Cogscil 734 – Issues in Syntax

Course outlines 2022-2023

• Cogscil 6D03 – Computers and Linguistic Analysis
• Cogscil 730 – Language Analysis Methods: Phonology and Morphology

Winter 2023

• Cogscil 6AS3 – Topics in Advanced Semantics
• Cogscil 6EL3 – Experimental Lab in Cognitive Science of Language
• Cogscil 6LC3 – Advanced Morphology and Syntax
• Cogscil 726B – The Cognitive Science of Language Ph.D. Lecture Series
• Cogscil 749 – Lab Visual Language

Domestic MSc students usually receive a funding package consisting of a teaching assistantship and scholarship. The total value of the funding package ranges from $16,000 to $19,000 per year.

Currently all domestic PhD students receive a funding package of $23,500 per year, usually including a teaching assistantship of 260 hours plus a scholarship.

McMaster Graduate Studies Scholarship Information

The School of Graduate Studies provides funding to our graduate students so they can devote their time and energy to the successful completion of their studies.

External Graduate Scholarships

All eligible students are also strongly encouraged to apply for external scholarships such as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Canada Graduate Scholarships.

Ontario Graduate Scholarship

Note that applications must be submitted directly to the institution(s) where you plan to pursue graduate studies. The deadline is normally in the fall, before the application deadline for graduate school. 

Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program

Graduate Scholarship – As with OGS, applications for the Canada Graduate Scholarship must be submitted through an eligible institution. The deadline is usually December 1, before the application deadline for graduate school.

All applicants and current students will be considered for funding support from McMaster, including TAships.

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The Department of Linguistics & Languages welcomes scholars from around the world to participate in the Cognitive Science of Language Lecture Series. The lecture series is a forum where all are welcome to attend talks by established researchers on recent innovations and current trends in Language and Cognition.

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Graduate program

Languages, Literatures and Cultures Program

Our program promotes intercultural communication within the global community. We seek to promote critical skills that will allow you to understand language and culture, in and beyond the academic context.

Applications for admission in Fall 2024 are currently open. Deadline for applications and supporting materials: January 15th, 2024

Key features.

• Core curriculum across language areas
• Broad opportunities for interdisciplinary research

Proficiency in target language plus additional language

Professionalization workshops

• Training in second language acquisition
• Training for academic and non-academic jobs

There are five specializations available:

Our French graduate program provides a broad set of advanced research and communication skills. Gain specialized knowledge in the following areas: French Literatures (XVII to XX), Postcolonial Literatures, Quebecois and Franco-Canadian Literatures, Comparative Literature, Travel Writing, Gender studies, Film, Theatre, Visual Arts, French Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and Second-Language Teaching. Develop cultural knowledge and global awareness of Africa, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, and France via intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives, and studies in theoretical approaches. You'll write your theses and dissertations in French.

Notre programme en études françaises et francophones vise à donner aux étudiants de meilleurs outils de communication et de spécialisation dans les domaines suivants : littératures françaises (du XVII au XXe siècles), littérature postcoloniale, littérature québécoise et franco-canadienne hors Québec, littérature comparée, littératures de voyage, études du genre, cinéma, théâtre, arts visuels, linguistique française, sociolinguistique et didactique des langues. Ces différentes perspectives interdisciplinaires et interculturelles, ainsi que des approches théoriques et critiques ouvrent les étudiants aux connaissances approfondies sur l’Afrique, l’Asie, le Canada, les Caraïbes et la France. Nos étudiants rédigent leurs mémoires et thèses en français.

German is studied most productively with interdisciplinary, international or intercultural goals in mind. To study German here in North America means looking in from the outside. To study German in the 21st century means linking it to issues and concerns relevant to other cultures, languages, histories and modes of thinking. Gain specialized knowledge in the following areas: German intellectual history, German literature, German and Central European film, antisemitism, the Holocaust, the GDR, 18th- and 19th-century European literature, the acquisition of German as a second language, and German phonetics and phonology. We encourage research in German in conjunction with Education, English, Film, Fine Arts, French, History, Linguistics, Music, Philosophy and Spanish.

We embrace a vast range of subjects and theoretical approaches, and share a strong interdisciplinary focus. Research cinemas of the Hispanic world, musical expressions in Hispanic cultures, language heritage and identity, exile literature, Sephardic and gender studies, performance studies, and textual criticism. Enjoy exceptional opportunities to deepen your knowledge, increase your intercultural competencies and prepare for careers in academia and many other fields.

TRANSCULTURAL STUDIES

The specialization in Transcultural Studies investigates the complexity and interaction of modern cultures that are represented in the linguistic and geographical areas studied by faculty in the Linguistics, Languages and Cultures, as well as French, Italian and Spanish programs. Projects and courses in this specialization may address cultural works from the geographic areas where Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish are spoken.

Cultures cannot be considered separate satellites; the known and the foreign are blurred, such that transcultural becomes a more accurate term for the analysis of complex cultures than inter- or cross-cultural.

APPLIED LINGUISTICS

The Applied Linguistics specialization incorporates projects that may or may not be connected to one language only, and focuses on language acquisition, language learning and teaching, and sociolinguistics. You can choose to undertake experimental studies in any of these areas and in any of the languages taught in the School.

MA and PhD programs

We offer a course of studies that invites cross-cultural and linguistic initiatives. Develop skills and deepen investigation into an interest area of your choice.

Study texts and visual media from French, Spanish and German-language communities in an international context. Perform comparative research across these or other cultural traditions represented in our school. Or pursue applied linguistics research in any of these languages.

You'll benefit from the small size of our program. Enjoy personal attention from professors in an open, collegial atmosphere. We provide funding to all students admitted to the thesis-based MA and the Ph.D.

MA students may expect financial support during the first 20 months of their program. Ph.D. students may expect financial support for the first 44 months of their program. Funding levels depend on students making reasonable progress toward completion of their degree.

Want to know who's in the program? Meet our current grad students

Admission requirements

All applicants must meet the minimum entrance requirements set by the Faculty of Graduate Studies . Specific program admission requirements may be found at the individual program pages below.

M.A. – Course-based

M.a. – thesis-based.

Curious about fees and funding? Explore types of financial support

Do you have a question?

Graduate Program Advisor

Federica Gowen 403.220.4001 [email protected]  

Graduate Program Director

Wei Cai 403.220.8590 [email protected]

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Linguistics

Why linguistics @ memorial.

The Department of Linguistics maintains strong links between teaching and research, with emphasis on data-driven, theoretically informed inquiry into aboriginal languages, language variation and change, and language acquisition. Our graduate programs provide a strong foundation in core theoretical areas (phonology, syntax, morphology, etc.) and build from there. Research expertise and supervision are offered in first and second language acquisition, speech disorders as well as acoustic and articulatory phonetics, from both theoretical and experimental perspectives.

Languages of specialization include aboriginal languages of eastern Canada (Algonquian, Inuktitut, Iroquoian), as well as local varieties of English and French and their British/European origins. The department is home to several unique research projects, which students are encouraged to consider joining. The Chisasibi Child Language Acquisition Study (CCLAS), focuses on how Cree is acquired as a first language. Allophony in Newfoundland English, a project focusing on speech perception and production across varieties of Newfoundland English, studies the local effects of urbanization and rapid social change. MUSL ( Memorial University Sociolinguistics Laboratory ) provides information about current research projects on language variation and the relationships between language and society. Three dedicated laboratories (MUSL, the Aboriginal Languages Research Laboratory and the Speech Sciences and Language Acquisition Laboratory provides space and resources needed to conduct cutting-edge research in the areas in which we offer expertise.

Languages taught within the Linguistics Department, and on which the department particularly encourages graduate research, include Algonquian (Montagnais/Naskapi, Cree), Inuktitut and Iroquoian (Cayuga). Memorial also offers a full range of courses in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish. Courses in Irish and Japanese are offered within the Linguistics Department.

Description of programs

• Graduate diploma - Disciplinary graduate diplomas provide an opportunity to acquire additional academic credentials at the graduate level without committing to a full master’s program. These programs allow students to expand on their knowledge of a particular discipline and may also be used for professional development within their careers.
• MA – The MA program has two available routes. The thesis route requires coursework and a thesis. The course route requires coursework and a research project. Either can be completed in two years.
• PhD – The PhD program involves courses, a comprehensive exam, and a thesis. It can normally be completed in four years of full-time study.

Minimum admission requirements

• Graduate diploma, MA – Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics (or equivalent). Conditional admission to the MA program may be offered to applicants who do not have a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics. Admission is conditional on successful completion of a designated number of undergraduate courses.
• PhD – Master’s degree in Linguistics. An MA in Applied Linguistics does not qualify for entry to the PhD program.

Potential career options and outcomes

Researcher (private or public entities), professor/teacher, project manager, editor, publisher, translator, linguistic consultant (software/technology development firms; branding and marketing), diplomat, social/civic servant, entrepreneur

  Note: All figures are in Canadian dollars and subject to change. Fees are approved by the University’s Board of Regents. In the event of a discrepancy between the fees approved by the Board and those published on this website, the fees approved by the Board will prevail. Financial policies are enforced through the Department of Financial and Administrative Services. For the complete and official list of all fees and charges, visit www.mun.ca/finance/fees/ .

Program Information

Degrees offered:.

Graduate diploma, MA, PhD

course, thesis

Duration (Full-time students):

Graduate diploma: 1 year MA: 2 years PhD: 4 years

Application Deadline:

January 31 for Fall admission

MA: $8,000 PhD: $12,000

More funding information

Tuition (NL students):

Graduate diploma: $420/semester MA: $635-$953/semester PhD: $888/semester

Tuition (Other Canadian students):

Graduate diploma: $546/semester MA: $826-$1,239/semester PhD: $1,154/semester

Tuition (International students):

Graduate diploma: $710/semester MA: $1,074-$1,611/semester PhD: $1,499/semester

More tuition information

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Related Content

Best PhD Degrees in Linguistics at Universities in Canada

There are 26 study programs available at 16 schools and universities in the world , according to Erudera.

Erudera aims to have the largest and most updated database of study programs available in the world , and new study programs are being added weekly. You can use the filters to narrow down your search or sort your results based on popularity and top rankings to find more specific study programs. Once you filter your results, you can save your chosen programs to a personal list so you can do more research or contact the universities later.

Here are the best Canada universities for Linguistics :

York University

University of Toronto

University of Moncton

University of Manitoba

Simon Fraser University

University of Ottawa

Laval University

University of Quebec in Montreal

McGill University

University of Alberta

Linguistics

Applied Linguistics And Discourse Studies

Carleton University

Language Documentation And Revitalization

University of British Columbia

Linguistics Applied Linguistics

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Linguistics Traductology

Linguistics didactics of languages.

University of Calgary

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Linguistics in Canada

Why Study Linguistics in Canada

• Studying Linguistics in Canada is a great choice, as there are 14 universities that offer PhD degrees on our portal.
• Over 323,000 international students choose Canada for their studies, which suggests you’ll enjoy a vibrant and culturally diverse learning experience and make friends from all over the world.
• We counted 6 affordable PhD degrees in Canada , allowing you to access quality higher education without breaking the bank. Moreover, there are 489 available scholarships you can apply to.

21  Linguistics PhDs in Canada

English The Department of English at the University of Ottawa offers the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy in English.... University of Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

English The English Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland is a dynamic and productive community of... Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

English Build on your intellectual curiosity and foundational understanding of English Literature to become an expert... University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Linguistics The Department of Linguistics at the University of Alberta offers graduate programs in linguistics leading to... University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Linguistics The PhD program in Linguistics at the University of Toronto offers comprehensive and rigorous training in... University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Linguistics Linguistics is a discipline that explores the structure of language, its role in human activity, and its... University of Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Study in Canada

Canada is one of the most popular study destinations in the world due to its high focus on the quality of its universities and its emphasis on attracting international students who can later immigrate. Canadians are very welcoming to international students and they invest a lot into making sure students are safe, treated fairly, and enjoy their stay in the country. Study in one of the strongest economies in the world while enjoying a high living standard and a flexible study environment. Classes have smaller student groups ensuring everyone gets the attention they need, and encouraging group assignments and debates.

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Explore your Linguistics degree

Linguistics degrees teach students about the nature of language and communication. Future graduates explore topics like grammar, syntax and phonetics, and discover the history and evolution of language. They also develop communication, analytical, research, and critical thinking skills. Some of the most popular Linguistics jobs are Linguistics professor, foreign language teacher, diplomat, text-to-speech developer, sociolinguist, etc.

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Linguistics (PhD)

Program description.

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Linguistics offered by the Department of Linguistics in the Faculty of Arts is a research-intensive program that emphasizes specialized and well-researched learning opportunities. The program's objective is to equip students with skills in self-direction, visionary thinking, and scientific communication to pursue professional opportunities in academia or industry.

The program may also be taken with a Language Acquisition option where students focus their thesis on the research area of language acquisition.

Keywords: Theoretical linguistics, experimental linguistics, computational linguistics, quantitative methods, linguistic field work, language acquisition, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistics

Unique Program Features

• The program which provides training in the fundamentals of theoretical and experimental linguistics also offers a competitive funding package (covering living expenses, tuition and fees) for the length of the program (i.e., five years);
• Students benefit from access to a rich research landscape in cognitive science where many Faculty members are associated with leading research centers including the Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM) and Mila - Quebec AI Institute;
• The Department has several labs for conducting research including rooms for elicitation, running experiments including in sound booths and with an eye-tracker, and access to high performance computing infrastructure.

University-Level Admission Requirements

• An eligible Bachelor's degree with a minimum 3.0 GPA out of a possible 4.0 GPA
• English-language proficiency

Each program has specific admission requirements including required application documents. Please visit the program website for more details.

Visit our Educational credentials and grade equivalencies and English language proficiency webpages for additional information.

Program Website

PhD in Linguistics website

Department Contact

Graduate Program gradprogram.linguistics [at] mcgill.ca (subject: PhD%20in%20Linguistics) (email)

Available Intakes

Application deadlines.

Note : Application deadlines are subject to change without notice. Please check the application portal for the most up-to-date information.

Application Resources

• Application Steps webpage
• Submit Your Application webpage
• Connecting with a supervisor webpage
• Graduate Funding webpage

Application Workshops

Consult our full list of our virtual application-focused workshops on the Events webpage.

Department and University Information

Graduate and postdoctoral studies.

Olympic Breakdancer Raygun Has PhD in Breakdancing?

Rachael gunn earned a zero in breakdancing at the paris 2024 olympic games., aleksandra wrona, published aug. 13, 2024.

About this rating

Gunn's Ph.D. thesis, titled "Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: a B-girl's Experience of B-boying," did cover the topic of breakdancing. However ...

... Gunn earned her Ph.D. in cultural studies. Moreover, a "PhD in breakdancing" does not exist as an academic discipline.

On Aug. 10, 2024, a rumor spread on social media that Rachael Gunn (also known as "Raygun"), an Australian breakdancer who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, had a Ph.D. in breakdancing. "This australian breakdancer has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture and was a ballroom dancer before taking up breaking. I don't even know what to say," one X post on the topic read .

"Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn has a PhD in breakdancing and dance culture," one X user wrote , while another asked, "Who did we send? Raygun, a 36-year-old full-time lecturer at Sydney's Macquarie University, completed a PhD in breaking culture and is a lecturer in media, creative arts, literature and language," another X user wrote .

The claim also spread on other social media platforms, such as Reddit and Instagram . 

"Is she the best break dancer? No. But I have so much respect for going on an international stage to do something you love even if you're not very skilled at it," one Instagram user commented , adding that, "And, I'm pretty sure she's using this as a research endeavor and will be writing about all our reactions to her performance. Can't wait to read it!"

In short, Gunn's Ph.D. thesis, titled "Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-girl's Experience of B-boying," indeed focused on the topic of breakdancing. However, Gunn earned her Ph.D. in cultural studies, not in breakdancing. Furthermore, it's important to note that a "PhD in breakdancing" does not exist as an academic discipline. 

Since Gunn's research focused on the breakdancing community, but her degree is actually in the broader field of cultural studies, we have rated this claim as a "Mixture" of truths.

Gunn "secured Australia's first ever Olympic spot in the B-Girl competition at Paris 2024 by winning the QMS Oceania Championships in Sydney, NSW, Australia," the Olympics official website informed . 

Gunn earned a zero in breakdancing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and clips of her routine went viral on social media, with numerous users creating memes or mocking dancer's moves. "As well as criticising her attire, social media users mocked the Australian's routine as she bounced around on stage like a kangaroo and stood on her head at times," BBC article on the topic read . 

The website of the Macquarie University informed Gunn "is an interdisciplinary and practice-based researcher interested in the cultural politics of breaking" and holds a Ph.D. in cultural studies, as well as a bachelor of arts degree (Hons) in contemporary music: 

Rachael Gunn is an interdisciplinary and practice-based researcher interested in the cultural politics of breaking. She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies (2017) and a BA (Hons) in Contemporary Music (2009) from Macquarie University. Her work draws on cultural theory, dance studies, popular music studies, media, and ethnography. Rachael is a practising breaker and goes by the name of 'Raygun'. She was the Australian Breaking Association top ranked bgirl in 2020 and 2021, and represented Australia at the World Breaking Championships in Paris in 2021, in Seoul in 2022, and in Leuven (Belgium) in 2023. She won the Oceania Breaking Championships in 2023.

Gunn's biography further revealed that she is a member of the Macquarie University Performance and Expertise Reasearch Centre, and has a range of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels "across the areas of media, creative industries, music, dance, cultural studies, and work-integrated learning." 

Moreover, it informed her research interests included, "Breaking, street dance, and hip-hop culture; youth cultures/scenes; constructions of the dancing body; politics of gender and gender performance; ethnography; the methodological dynamics between theory and practice."

Gunn earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Media, Music, Communications, and Cultural Studies within the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University. Below, you can find the abstract of her paper, shared by the official website of Macquarie University:

This thesis critically interrogates how masculinist practices of breakdancing offers a site for the transgression of gendered norms. Drawing on my own experiences as a female within the male-dominated breakdancing scene in Sydney, first as a spectator, then as an active crew member, this thesis questions why so few female participants engage in this creative space, and how breakdancing might be the space to displace and deterritorialise gender. I use analytic autoetthnography and interviews with scene members in collaboration with theoretical frameworks offered by Deleuze and Guttari, Butler, Bourdieu and other feminist and post-structuralist philosophers, to critically examine how the capacities of bodies are constituted and shaped in Sydney's breakdancing scene, and to also locate the potentiality for moments of transgression. In other words, I conceptualize the breaking body as not a 'body' constituted through regulations and assumptions, but as an assemblage open to new rhizomatic connections. Breaking is a space that embraces difference, whereby the rituals of the dance not only augment its capacity to deterritorialize the body, but also facilitate new possibilities for performativities beyond the confines of dominant modes of thought and normative gender construction. Consequently, this thesis attempts to contribute to what I perceive as a significant gap in scholarship on hip-hop, breakdancing, and autoethnographic explorations of Deleuze-Guattarian theory.

In a response to online criticism of her Olympics performance, Gunn wrote on her Instagram profile: "Don't be afraid to be different, go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you":

We have recently investigated other 2024 Paris Olympics' -related rumors, such as:

• Lifeguards Are Present at Olympic Swimming Competitions?
• Hobby Lobby Pulled $50M in Ads from 2024 Paris Olympics?
• 2024 Paris Olympics Are 'Lowest-Rated' Games in Modern History?

Gunn, Rachael Louise. Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-Girl's Experience of B-Boying. 2022. Macquarie University, thesis. figshare.mq.edu.au, https://doi.org/10.25949/19433291.v1.

---. Deterritorializing Gender in Sydney's Breakdancing Scene: A B-Girl's Experience of B-Boying. 2022. Macquarie University, thesis. figshare.mq.edu.au, https://doi.org/10.25949/19433291.v1.

Ibrahim, Nur. "Lifeguards Are Present at Olympic Swimming Competitions?" Snopes, 8 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/lifeguards-paris-olympics-swimming/.

"Olympic Breaking: Criticism of Viral Breakdancer Rachael Gunn - Raygun - Condemned by Australia Team." BBC Sport, 10 Aug. 2024, https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/c2dgxp5n3rlo.

ORCID. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1069-4021. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Paris 2024. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/-raygun_1940107. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Saunders, Grant Leigh, and Rachael Gunn. "Australia." Global Hip Hop Studies, vol. 3, no. 1–2, Dec. 2023, pp. 23–32. Macquarie University, https://doi.org/10.1386/ghhs_00060_1.

Wazer, Caroline. "2024 Paris Olympics Are 'Lowest-Rated' Games in Modern History?" Snopes, 1 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/paris-olympics-lowest-rated-games/.

---. "Hobby Lobby Pulled $50M in Ads from 2024 Paris Olympics?" Snopes, 8 Aug. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/olympics-hobby-lobby-ads/.

By Aleksandra Wrona

Aleksandra Wrona is a reporting fellow for Snopes, based in the Warsaw, Poland, area.

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Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Master of Arts (MA)

Course-based program

Program overview.

This program has three streams - applied linguistics, literature and/or film studies, and transcultural studies.  Students in each stream enjoy personal attention and interaction with professors with far-reaching subject-area expertise who embrace a range of theoretical approaches. The applied linguistics stream focuses on language acquisition, language learning and teaching, and sociolinguistics. Students may choose to undertake experimental studies in any of these areas.  The focal languages for applied linguistics are French, Chinese, German and Spanish. The stream in literature and film studies offers students an opportunity to delve into the study of literary and cinematic productions in French, German and Spanish.  Students will acquire theoretical and critical expertise in their chosen field of study. The stream in transcultural studies, the only one offered in Canada, examines the inner differentiation and complexity of cultures from the geographic areas where French, Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish are spoken. This program has an interdisciplinary emphasis, and students acquire a high degree of cultural literacy. All of these streams will provide students with a broad set of advanced research and communication skills, specialized knowledge, and enhanced language proficiency. 

Please note: this program is not intended for students interested in performing research primarily on texts written in English or on English as a Second Language. Applicants in these fields are encouraged to consider programs in Educational Research.

Completing this program

• Core courses: Students will take a required course on Additional Language Pedagogy, and a research methods course on Applied Linguistics or Literary and Cultural Studies.
• Capstone essay and exam: Students complete a written essay of approximately 20 pages to form the basis of the Capstone Examination.

Specializations

Please visit the Languages, Literatures and Cultures departmental webpage  for more information on specializations.

Graduates will be prepared for a profession in the post-secondary sector, cultural organizations, education, finance, government services, immigration, public relations, publishing, translation and interpretation, tourism and travel, advertising, or communications and media.

A course-based master’s degree in languages, literature and culture is usually considered a final degree.

Learn more about program requirements in the Academic Calendar

Classroom delivery

Time commitment.

Three years full-time; four years maximum

No supervisor is required

See the Graduate Calendar for information on  fees and fee regulations,  and for information on  awards and financial assistance .

Virtual Tour

Explore the University of Calgary (UCalgary) from anywhere. Experience all that UCalgary has to offer for your graduate student journey without physically being on campus. Discover the buildings, student services and available programs all from your preferred device.

Admission requirements

A minimum of 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 point system, over the past two years of full-time study (a minimum of 10 full-course equivalents or 60 units) of the undergraduate degree.

Minimum education

A four year baccalaureate degree or equivalent from a recognized institution, with adequate academic background in one of the fields of modern languages, linguistics, literary, film or cultural studies or another closely related field.

Work samples

An academic writing sample 3-5 pages: a term paper, research paper or other writing, which the applicant considers representative of his or her best work.

A statement of intent: 250 ­word (minimum) statement of research interest including research topic and the reasons for wishing to pursue graduate work in this program.

Reference letters

Test scores.

A sufficiently high level of oral and written competence in the target language (a recommended minimum of CEFR level B2, ACTFL Intermediate ­High, or equivalent.

English language proficiency (ELP)

An applicant whose primary language is not English may fulfill the English language proficiency requirement in one of the following ways:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iB T including TOEFL iBT Home Edition)  minimum score of 86 (Internet-based, with no section less than 20).
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)  score of 6.5 (with no section less than 6.0).
• Cambridge C1 Advanced or Cambridge C2 Proficiency  minimum score of 180.
• Pearson Test of English (PTE)   score of 59 or higher
• Canadian Academic English Language test (CAEL)  overall score of 70 (no section less than 60).
• Academic Communication Certificate (ACC)  minimum of B+ in each course.
• Duolingo English Test  obtaining a minimum score of 125 (with no sub-score below 105).

*Please contact your program of interest if you have any questions about ELP requirements.

For admission on September 1

January 15 application deadline for applications and supporting materials

If you're not a Canadian or permanent resident, or if you have international credentials, make sure to learn about international requirements

Are you ready to apply?

Learn more about this program, languages, linguistics, literatures and cultures.

Craigie Hall, Room C 310 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4

Contact the Graduate Program Administrator

Visit the departmental website

University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4

Visit the Faculty of Arts website

Related programs

If you're interested in this program, you might want to explore other UCalgary programs.

Course-based MA

Thesis-based MA

Communication and Media Studies

Thesis-based PhD

Educational Research

Thesis- based EdD

Thesis- based MA

Course-based MEd - Int

Course-based MEd - Spec

Thesis-based MSc

Linguistics

Thesis-based MMus

Course-based MSc

Political Science

Religious studies, curious about the university of calgary.

Located in the nation's most enterprising city, we are a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude.

• Apply to UMaine

Communication Sciences & Disorders

Myriam kornisch, phd.

[email protected]

304  Dunn Hall

Dr. Kornisch is an assistant professor and the director of the Speech & Cognition NeuroLab. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University (Canada). Her general research interests are in cognitive neuroscience and she specializes in neurogenic communication disorders and bilingualism. Dr. Kornisch currently examines (1) speech changes after deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease and (2) resting-state functional connectivity associated with Parkinson’s disease, as well as (3) cerebral hemispheric differences and executive functions in monolingual/bilingual people who stutter. Prior to her academic work, she has worked as a speech-language pathologist and clinical supervisor.

• PhD (2015), University of Canterbury
• M.Sc. (2012), University of Canterbury
• Staatsexamen (2005), Germany
• CSD 482: Neuroscience for Communication Disorders
• CSD 583: Fluency Disorders
• CSD 682: Current Issues in Aphasia, Right Hemisphere Deficits and Dementia
• CSD 689: Motor Speech Disorders

Professional Memberships & Affiliations

• Women in Cognitive Science (U.S.)
• Women in Cognitive Science (Canada)

Editorial Board

• Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics: Associate Editor

Selection of Peer-Reviewed Publications & Presentations

Kornisch M., Gonzalez C., Gray L., Ikuta T. (December 2024). The Role of the Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association . Seattle, Washington, USA.

Kornisch M., Gonzalez C., Ikuta T. (2024). Functional Connectivity of the Posterior Cingulate Cortex in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging .

Kornisch M., Gonzalez C., Morphis, E., Park H., Ikuta T. (September 2023). Speech Changes after Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus in Parkinson’s Disease. 13 th Oxford Dysfluency Conference . Oxford, UK (conference cancelled).

Park, H. Obermeyer, J., Kornisch, M., Hall, J., Ontario, C. (2023). Semantic Aspects of Verb Production in Various Discourse Tasks in People with Nonfluent Aphasia. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

Llewelyn, L. E., Kornisch, M., Park, H, Ikuta, T. (2022). Hippocampal Functional Connectivity in Parkinson’s Disease. Neurodegenerative Diseases . 22 (1), 29–33.

Park H., Obermeyer J., Kornisch M. (May 2022). Semantic Aspects of Verb Production in Various Discourse Tasks in People with Nonfluent Aphasia. 51 st Clinical Aphasiology Conference . Wrightville Beach, NC, USA.

Kornisch, M. (2021). Bilinguals who Stutter: A Cognitive Perspective. Journal of Fluency Disorders , 67 (1), 105819.

Snyder G., McKnight P., Manahan A., Kornisch M. (November 2021). Differential Effects of Verbal and Written Stuttering Disclosures on Perceptions of a Child Who Stutters. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association . Washington, D.C., USA.

Kornisch, M., Robb, M.P., Jones, R. (November 2019). Dichotic Listening Performance: Monolingual & Bilingual People Who Stutter. Annual Convention of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association . Orlando, USA.

Kornisch, M., Robb M. P., & Jones R. D. (2017). Estimates of functional cerebral hemispheric differences in monolingual and bilingual people who stutter: Visual hemifield paradigm. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics , 31(4), 251-265.

Kornisch, M., Robb, M.P., Jones, R., & Huckabee, M.L. (November 2014). Estimates of Hemispheric Asymmetry in Monolingual and Bilingual People who Stutter. Annual Convention of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association . Orlando, USA.

Assistant Professor

myriam.kornisch@maine.edu

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