Future Opportunities
Our BA provides a solid foundation for teacher certification programs and for graduate programs in language education and higher education. Many of our graduates continue on to our MA program. A BA in Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies also leads to opportunities for careers in universities, government, NGOs, international organizations, and corporations, where our graduates apply their knowledge of the relationship between language and learning.
One of our students took advantage of the Federal Student Work Experience Program and began a position as a Communications Assistant within the public service as she was completing our BA in ALDS. While several of our graduates have found employment in the public service, others are working in the educational or private sectors, or have been accepted into postgraduate degree programs.
Here are some examples of possible careers for graduates in Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies:
- Teaching: in public and private schools at all levels of education, in community programs, and in professional organizations (often after further study in a CTESL program, in an MA program, or at teachers college);
- Writing and communications: in writing-intensive positions in government (e.g., in policy units), in corporations (e.g., in communication units), as freelance professional writers, and as consultants;
- Editing: in the government, in corporations, in publishing houses, or as freelancers;
- Translation: in the public and private sectors or as freelancers (often after further study);
- Assessment: as specialists in language testing and test design (e.g., for the Second Language Evaluation tests in the Canadian public service);
- Training: in professional development units in private- and public-sector organizations, in writing centres and student success centres in universities and colleges, and in school boards as ESL specialists;
- Educational research: as research analysts, consultants, project coordinators, discourse analysts in academic and corporate settings.