FAQ for Undergraduates in LING

Linguistics is the study of language as it is represented in the human mind.  Courses in LING focus on topics like the following:

• Phonetics and Phonology: What are the sounds of language? How are they articulated? What are their acoustic properties? What kinds of sound patterns do we find across the languages of the world?
• Morphology and Syntax: How are words and sentences constructed? What kinds of universals shape word and sentence structure across languages?
• Semantics and Pragmatics: How is meaning associated with words and sentences? How does the communicative context influence our interpretation of what people say?
• Psycholinguistics: How is language processed in the brain? How does “real-time” language comprehension and production work?
• Language Acquisition: How do children acquire language? How is acquisition shaped by the child’s environment?
• Communication Differences and Disabilities: How does language processing and use vary across populations? How do different types of language and communication disabilities affect language learning?
• Language Documentation: How can we effectively describe and document languages while engaging with local communities?
• Experimental methods: How can we design experiments to effectively answer questions about people’s language knowledge?

LING and ALDS are two approaches that investigate how language works. They focus on different aspects of language and use different methods to investigate it. We think it is useful for you to become familiar with the basics of both approaches, so ALDS 1001, LING 1001 and LING 1002 are all required courses in the program. You should take these courses as early as you can and decide which field is right for you.

If you are passionate about both LING and ALDS, you may want to consider completing the B.A. with Combined Honours in Linguistics & Discourse Studies.  This program includes coursework from both disciplines.  You can find the requirements in the Calendar.

The Linguistics major requirements of the Honours B.A. and Honours B.Sc. programs are nearly identical.  Both degree types require you to complete a range of courses in Linguistics at all levels, and offer the opportunity to complete a concentration in Psycholinguistics and Communication Differences.

The main difference between the degree types comes in the “non-major” components of the degree.  Students in the B.Sc. complete science and math courses that are not required in the B.A., along with a stream (a set of courses) in either Psychology, Neuroscience, or Computer Science.

The B.Sc. program is only available as an Honours degree (20 credits), while the B.A. program is available as either an Honours degree (20 credits) or a non-Honours degree (15 credits).

You can find the specific requirements of the B.A. and B.Sc. programs in the Calendar.

• B.A. requirements
• B.Sc. requirements

The concentration in Psycholinguistics and Communication Differences (PCD) is a set of courses that you have the option to complete as part of your Linguistics major requirements.  It includes courses in Communication Differences & Disabilities (LING 2604 and 3604), Language Acquisition (LING 3603 and 4603), Psycholinguistics (LING 3601 and 4601), and Research Methods (LING 4605 and 4606).

Students in the PCD concentration can also apply to complete a practicum in speech language pathology in their fourth year of the program.

The PCD concentration is available as part of an Honours B.A. or Honours B.Sc. degree. Adding the PCD concentration does not change the number of Linguistics courses required for completion of the major. 

• B.A. requirements
• B.Sc. requirements

Here are some examples of possible careers for graduates in Linguistics:

• 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 or at teachers college)
• Speech Language Pathology or Audiology in schools, hospitals or private clinics, after further training in a graduate program
• Writing and editing in government (e.g. in policy units), in corporations (e.g. in communication units), as freelance professional writers, and as consultants
• Research as analysts, consultants, or project coordinators in government, academic and corporate settings
• Language-based technology development involving AI, speech-to-text, app development, etc.
• Translation in the public and private sectors or as freelancers (often after further study and language training)

You can also check out our Alumni page.

In addition to talking to the Undergraduate Advisor, you should talk to your LING professors. Career services can also help.

Yes. We have had many LING majors accepted to programs in Speech Language Pathology, and certain Linguistics courses are commonly counted among the prerequisites for Canadian SLP programs.  These include:

• LING 1001 – Introduction to Linguistics I
• LING 2007 – Phonetics
• LING 3601 – Language Processing and the Brain
• LING 3603 – Child Language
• LING 4606 – Statistics for Language Research

We also offer two courses focusing specifically on language differences and disabilities:

• LING 2604 – Communication Differences & Disabilities I
• LING 3604 – Communication Differences & Disabilities II

The Linguistics concentration in Psycholinguistics & Communication Differences incorporates all of these courses and also offers the possibility of completing a practicum in Speech Language Pathology (LING 4604).

Note that graduate programs in Speech Language Pathology typically have a number of prerequisites in other areas, including Psychology and Biology. You are strongly advised to check the specific prerequisites for the schools you have in mind, and consult the LING Undergraduate Advisor for help with course planning.

For information on graduate Speech Language Pathology and Audiology programs in Canada, see the Speech-Language and Audiology Canada academic programs page.

If you are considering majoring in LING, you can find the requirements by consulting the academic calendar.

• B.A. requirements
• B.Sc. requirements

If you are a current student in LING, you should consult your audit. Your audit reflects the specific requirements of your degree program, based on the calendar requirements when you joined the major. 

If you are having difficulty understanding the requirements, you should contact the Undergraduate Advisor.

The audit is a document that keeps track of your progress toward your degree. It lists all the requirements of your major (as well as any minors or certificates you might be doing), and shows whether you have completed them. It also shows your grades and CGPA. You should check your audit regularly to make sure you are on track.

You can find your audit on Carleton Central. Click here for instructions on accessing and reading your audit.

Two Linguistics courses are available without prerequisites:

• LING 1001 – Introduction to Linguistics I
• LING 1100 – Mysteries of Language

Upper-years courses are also available if you satisfy the prerequisites.  For a full listing of LING courses, see the academic calendar.

To change your major or make adjustments to your minor or concentration, you will need to submit a Change of Program Elements in Carleton Central. You can find instructions here.

To switch between the B.A. and the B.Sc. you will need to complete an internal application. The Academic Advising Centre can help you with this process.

For help, you can contact either the Undergraduate Advisor or the Undergraduate Program Administrator.

The Undergraduate Advisor’s main job is to answer questions about the program, to help you with your course planning, and to advise about academic matters in general. When you ask the Advisor for help, it is useful if you come prepared – look at your audit beforehand, and perhaps draw up a course plan for the coming year.

The advisor does not routinely check the audits of all the students in the program, or monitor individual progress; the advisor only acts if asked by the student. That being said, the advisor is happy to go over your audit with you to explain anything that may be confusing, and to give suggestions about courses you can take in the following year.  

The Program Administrator handles the administrative side of advising and can help you with course registration, make adjustments to your audit, and answer questions about the requirements and the scheduling of courses.

You can find the contact information for the Undergraduate Advisor and Program Administrator at the top of this page.

If a course required by your audit is full, you should submit an override request. If you are a LING major, you will most likely be allowed into a closed course as long as you meet the prerequisites and there are not other options available to you. It will take a few days to process your request. If you don’t see any response in Carleton Central, feel free to alert the Program Administrator. Once a space is created for you, you still need to register by using the CRN for the course. Carleton Central may give you a deadline to do so.

We do not offer every course every year, so if a course required by your audit is not available on the schedule, normally you should plan to take it in a subsequent year. If you are entering your final year of study and a required course is not available, you should contact the Undergraduate Advisor to discuss options.

For information on the B.A. breadth requirement, see the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet. Note that this requirement only applies to students in the B.A. program, not the B.Sc.

For information on the B.Sc. experimental science requirement, see the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet.

Note that this requirement only applies to students in the B.Sc. program, not the B.A.

Each student has a slightly different case, so there’s no single answer to this question.

You should definitely take LING 1001 as soon as possible, since it is a prerequisite for almost all of the other LING courses. You should also take LING 1002 and ALDS 1001 in your first year. You can fill out the rest of your first-year schedule with electives, keeping in mind the breadth requirements (see above) and the language proficiency requirement (see below).  Students in the B.Sc. should also be sure to take some of the required science and math courses in their first year.

In subsequent years you should take courses as needed to fulfill the requirements given in your audit, bearing in mind that some courses have prerequisites or year-standing requirements. 

You can find sample schedules in the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet.

You may take any course at any time, as long as you meet the prerequisites. Note, though, that some courses may require a particular year standing; check the description in the calendar. Also, keep in mind that you are required to take a certain number of courses at or above each level, as detailed in your audit.

Consult the Undergraduate Advisor if you have questions.

No. Required courses are normally offered every year, but other courses may not be. Don’t assume that a course listed in the Calendar will be taught in a particular semester. Next year’s course schedule is usually published in May. For more information on course scheduling, see the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet.

LING courses are generally not offered in the summer. There are sometimes exceptions; you can consult the public class schedule to see what is currently available.

Electives are courses that do not count directly toward your major – i.e., non-LING courses – and that are not specifically required for the B.Sc. degree.  They can include courses that count toward the B.A. breadth requirement or the language proficiency requirement. As a LING major, ALDS courses (other than ALDS 1001) also count as electives in your program.

For more information, see the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet.

In addition to courses in ALDS, you can find related courses in several other departments. These include:

• Philosophy: PHIL 3530, 4210
• French: FREN 2401, 3411, 3412, 3413, 3414, 3415, 3416, 3417
• Cognitive Science: CGSC 1001, 2001, 3301

These courses can count as electives toward your degree. There are also a number of courses that we cross-list with other departments and that count directly toward the LING major. These are included in the Academic Calendar.

Special Topics courses are developed by professors to reflect their particular research interests. More so than other courses, they focus on current research and they often give you an opportunity to pursue your own research project. The information on next year’s Special Topics courses is typically available in early summer.

You can take LING 3009 and LING 4009 more than once, provided that the topic is different each time. If you have trouble registering for more than one section of these courses, file a course registration error override request in Carleton Central.

You can satisfy this requirement in one of two ways.

• You can take 1.0 cr of a language other than English at Carleton – Spanish, French, ASL, etc.  The full 1.0 cr must be in the same language.
• You can provide evidence of pre-existing proficiency in a language other than English with a diploma or language placement test. Consult the Undergraduate Advisor if you would like to pursue this option.

For more information, see the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet.

No, but the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences recommends that B.A. students take a FYSM during their first year.  B.Sc. students should take required first-year science courses instead. Check out the FYSM website for more information.

Yes. You may earn a concurrent CTESL as part of an Honours B.A. in LING, or as part of a Combined Honours B.A. in Linguistics and Discourse Studies, or as part of an Honours degree in another discipline.  

For scheduling reasons it is generally more difficult to do the CTESL concurrently with a B.Sc. degree, and so B.Sc. students may need to extend their studies in order to pursue this option.

For more information, consult the CTESL webpage.

Independent studies are just like other courses except you are the only student, working closely with the instructor. Usually, an independent study results in a term paper or some other kind of final project, but the exact requirements are negotiated between the student and the instructor.

An Honours thesis is a more extensive project completed over the course of two terms (Fall + Winter).  Students completing an Honours thesis do two presentations and write a final thesis paper.

For more information on Independent studies and Honours theses, see the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet.

You can also consult the Linguistics Honours Thesis Guidelines.

See the LING & ALDS Undergraduate Info Packet for information on requirements. Once you have secured a supervisor, you will need to complete the Course approval form and submit an override request.

Not necessarily. Different graduate programs expect different kinds of writing samples, but in most cases, you need to show that you can conduct research independently and that you write well. An Honours thesis is a logical way to produce such a writing sample, and it might otherwise strengthen your application and give you useful research experience, but it is not strictly necessary. Many students have been successful without writing one.

Yes! There is an active undergraduate society for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies students called CATL (Carleton Applied and Theoretical Linguistics). You can find more information about them here.

This varies from year to year. Sometimes there are excellent opportunities. Ask your professors.