Applied linguistics at UCSB is understood broadly to encompass linguistic research on a wide range of real-world social, political, and educational issues. Issues of multilingual societies in applied linguistics include the situation of speakers of minority languages and dialects as well as language planning and policy. Educational issues are also central to applied linguistics, such as language learning and teaching, children’s linguistic and social development, literacy practices, and the relationship between spoken and written language. In addition, applied linguists examine large-scale social structures via the study of language use within institutions such as the law, education, and the media. Researchers working on applied linguistics within the department are especially committed to addressing issues of social justice and linguistic human rights around the world. Some of the research foci at UCSB include the revitalization of endangered languages, the documentation of the sociopolitical position of linguistic minorities nationally and globally, and the critical analysis of how language is used by powerful entities to create social inequities. Graduate students may earn an interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphasis in Applied Linguistics.
Core Faculty
Mary Bucholtz, Matthew Gordon, Stefan Th. Gries, Marianne Mithun
Courses
Linguistics 200: Introduction to Language and Linguistics
Linguistics 206: Introduction to Phonetics
Linguistics 208: Introduction to Morphology
Linguistics 209: Introduction to Syntax
Linguistics 212: Discourse Transcription
Linguistics 214: Discourse
Linguistics 225: Semantics and Pragmatics
Linguistics 226: Language and Cognition
Linguistics 227: Language as Culture
Linguistics 228: Discourse in Sociocultural Interaction
Linguistics 230: Methods in Sociocultural Linguistics
Linguistics 232: Foundations of Sociocultural Linguistics
Linguistics 233: Language, Gender, and Sexuality
Linguistics 237: Introduction to First Language Acquisition
Linguistics 239: Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language
Linguistics 254A-B: Seminar in Discourse
Linguistics 257A-B: Seminar in Psycholinguistics
Linguistics 258A-B: Seminar in Sociocultural Linguistics
Linguistics 265: Acquisition of Grammar
Linguistics 266: Acquisition of Discourse
Linguistics 273A-B: Language and the Body
Linguistics 281: Sociolinguistics
Linguistics 286: African American Language and Culture