BA in Applied Linguistics

Admission 

Students applying to the BA program in applied linguistics must meet Wichita State University’s requirements for admission as an undergraduate, including an ACT composite score of 21 or higher or a minimum combined score SAT-I score of 1080, or rank in the top third of the high school graduating class. Students must complete the Kansas Qualified Admissions Pre-College Curriculum with a 2.000 GPA average on a 4.000 scale. Prior to entering the program, students must be admitted to WSU and meet the minimum requirements for entrance into the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. New students should contact the Office of Admissions1 or International Education1 regarding admission to WSU. 
 

There is no departmental application for the undergraduate program. For questions regarding becoming an applied linguistics major, please contact the linguistics program director, Dr. Mythili Menon.

1

Link opens new window.

Program Requirements

A minimum total of 120 credit hours is required for the BA in applied linguistics with an overall GPA of 2.000, WSU GPA of 2.000 and program GPA of 2.000. The major consists of 33 credit hours and students can choose between one of three concentrations. In addition to meeting the requirements of the WSU General Education Program and the requirements of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, students in the BA in applied linguistics must complete the distributed coursework as follows:

Course Title Hours
General Education
Select courses to meet General Education requirements 134-35
College Requirements
Select courses to complete all LAS Competency Areas 136
Major Requirements
Select one of the concentrations below33
Open Electives
Select enough electives to reach 120 credit hours16-17
Total Credit Hours120
1

Required major courses may also count towards General Education and/or LAS Competencies. Students will need to select additional electives to reach 120 credit hours required for graduation with assistance from an advisor.

General Linguistics Concentration

Course Title Hours
Core Requirements (18 credit hours)
LING 151Nature of Language3
LING 304Early Language Development3
or LING 306 Applied Phonetics
LING 315Introduction to English Linguistics3
LING 317History of the English Language3
or LING 665 Advanced History of the English Language
LING 351Linguistics and World Languages3
or ANTH 352 Linguistic Anthropology
LING 663Languages and Language Attitudes in USA3
or LING 667 English Syntax
or LING 668 Field Methods of Linguistics
Capstone (3 credit hours)
ENGL 481Cooperative Education3
Electives (12 credit hours)
Select 12 credit hours of work in other linguistics courses. Students may take the opportunity to focus their elective courses on a particular track for example: ASL and Speech Pathology (LING 270, CSD 301, LING 506, CSD 512); Philosophy and Mathematics (PHIL 325, MATH 322); Hispanic Linguistics (LING 505C, LING 546, LING 547); Linguistics of World Languages (LING 505C, LING 635).12
Total Credit Hours33

Speech Pathology and Communication Sciences Concentration

Course Title Hours
Core Requirements (18 credit hours)
LING 151Nature of Language3
CSD 251Auditory Development and Disorders3
LING 270Introductory American Sign Language3
LING 304Early Language Development3
LING 306Applied Phonetics3
LING 315Introduction to English Linguistics3
Capstone (3 credit hours)
ENGL 481Cooperative Education3
Electives (12 credit hours)
Select 12 credit hours of work in other linguistics courses. Students may take the opportunity to focus their elective courses on a particular track for example: ASL and Speech Pathology (LING 270, CSD 301, LING 506, CSD 512); Philosophy and Mathematics (PHIL 325, MATH 322); Hispanic Linguistics (LING 505C, LING 546, LING 547); Linguistics of World Languages (LING 505C, LING 635).12
Total Credit Hours33

Computer Science and Data Science Concentration

Course Title Hours
Core Requirements (30 credit hours)
MATH 111College Algebra3
LING 151Nature of Language3
CS 211
211L
Introduction to Programming
and Prob Slv/Prog Lab
4
CS 311
311L
Object-Oriented Programming
and Object-Oriented Programming Lab
4
LING 315Introduction to English Linguistics3
STAT 370Elementary Statistics3
CS 400
400L
Data Structures
and Data Structures Lab I
4
CS 410Programming Paradigms3
CS 697AQWeb Programming3
Electives (3 credit hours)
Select 3 credit hours of work in other linguistics courses. Students may take the opportunity to focus their elective courses on a particular track for example: ASL and Speech Pathology (LING 270, CSD 301, LING 506, CSD 512); Philosophy and Mathematics (MATH 111, PHIL 325, MATH 242, MATH 322); Hispanic Linguistics (LING 505C, LING 546, LING 547); Linguistics of World Languages (LING 505C, LING 635).3
Total Credit Hours33
 

Departmental Honors Program

The English department's honors goals for the applied linguistics major offers students an interdisciplinary, applied learning experience. The honors track is composed of coursework and a faculty guided senior thesis. Interested students may apply to the linguistics honors track at the same time as they declare the undergraduate major. A minimum GPA of 3.000 in all linguistics coursework is required at the time of application. Applicants must also submit a letter describing their goals for participating in the linguistics honors track and obtain a faculty member's approval to work with them on the final honors project at the time of application.

Honors Program Requirements

Students admitted into the linguistics honors track must complete the following requirements while maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.000 in all linguistics coursework to receive the departmental honors designation on their diploma and transcript. Majors who choose to participate in the honors program are provided with the opportunity to investigate theoretical issues and empirical phenomena at a level far more intensive than is possible in a typical undergraduate course.

  • Complete additional projects within two linguistics undergraduate courses (6 credit hours). Contact the department for permission to enroll. Honors course options can be added to any of the courses below:
  • Complete an honors portfolio. Students will maintain an on-going portfolio that will include class assignments, activities and reflections completed while participating in the linguistics honors track.
  • Be a participating member of the Wichita Linguistics Club student organization.
  • Complete a research activity with a linguistics faculty member during the final year of the program and give a public presentation on some aspect of the project during the final semester. Enrollment in  HNRS 491 Honors Thesis is required. Contact the director of linguistics for permission to enroll.

Applied Learning

Students in the applied linguistics major are required to complete an applied learning or research experience to graduate from the program. The requirement can be met by taking a class which has an applied learning component, by completing an applied linguistics capstone project ( ENGL 481), or by participating in a service learning opportunity. Courses identified as having applied learning components are  LING 152, LING 351, LING 663 and LING 668.