Department of Linguistics
- Arts and Humanities
- Department of Linguistics
- Degrees and Programs
- Undergraduate Degrees
Undergraduate Degrees
Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements
Be sure to consult your general catalog for additional information, major requirements and course descriptions.
Linguistics Major
The B.A. program in Linguistics is diversified but integrated. Four options are currently available:
- General Linguistics
- Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL)
- Computational Linguistics
- Interdisciplinary Language Studies
In each option, students receive a basic grounding in the nature and structure of human language by taking a common core of classes.
The linguistics bachelor of arts degree requires 36-54 units in the major, depending on the option.
Core Requirements
Required for all options
LING 100 - General Linguistics
Linguistics methodology: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantic analysis. Language history: variation and change.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 139 - General Phonetics
Prerequisite: LING 100 Introduction to the phonetic properties of human languages; descriptive analysis of the speech sounds in a wide variety of languages; articulatory and acoustic aspects of speech; practice in production, perception, and transcription of speech sounds. Introduction to experimental techniques. (2 lecture, 2 lab hours)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 142 - Phonology
Prerequisite: LING 139 The sound patterns of human language. Phonemic theory and analytical techniques. Distinctive feature theory and analysis. Major phonological processes and their description.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 143 - Syntax
Prerequisite: LING 100. Theory and practice in the description of grammatical systems. Comparison of approaches. Practical experience with data.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 148 - Sociolinguistics
Prerequisite: Ling 100 Methods of investigation and major findings in the study of the relationship among languages of the world and social class, race, age, sex, and other social subcategories. Political and educational implications. Interaction between linguistic and social factors in linguistic variations.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 151 - Languages of the World
Prerequisite: LING 100. A survey of the linguistic features of the languages and language families of the world with an introduction to sound patterns, word structures, and sentence constructions.
Units: 3
LING 156 - Semantics
Prerequisite: LING 100 (LING 143 strongly recommended). Introduction to the logical foundations of natural semantics; logical and semantic relations, logical representations and their interpretations; the nature of reference, inference, and presupposition in natural languages. (Formerly LING 140T)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 165 - Language Acquisition
Prerequisite: LING 100. An examination of first and second language acquisition. Overview of current research in the field and implications for areas of applied linguistics, psychology, education, and sociology.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
General Education Requirements (48 units)
Other requirements (9 units)
American Government and Institutions (PLSI 2), Multicultural and International (MI), and Upper-division writing
Options
LING 145 - Historical Linguistics
Prerequisite: LING 100. Explanation of similarities among languages; methods of reconstructing past languages and investigating relationship and grouping among languages. Comparison of approaches to language change.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
LING 153 - Psycholinguistics
Prerequisite: LING 100 or equivalent or permission of instructor. An overview of basic theories and findings in the study of the psychological processes of language use, with a focus on the comprehension, production, acquisition, and representation of language.
Units: 3
LING 154 - Field Linguistics
Prerequisite: LING 100. First-hand practice in methods of linguistic data collection, analysis, and presentation.
Units: 3
CGSCI 100 - Foundations of Cognitive Science
An interdisciplinary area of study focusing on cognition: how we perceive the world, and how we can model the ways we think or perceive. Brings together the key fields of linguistics, psychology, philosophy and computer science.
Units: 4
LING 132 - Linguistics and Reading
Current theory, research, and methods of teaching first and second language reading in English with focus on the linguistic knowledge, language arts and ESL teachers needs. Prerequisites: LING 10 or LING 11 or LING 100 for Senior Liberal Studies students and Child Development Pre-Credential students. No course requisites for Senior Linguistics majors.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 141 - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Theories and methods of teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 146 - Practical English Grammar for Language Teachers
English grammar from the perspective of the teacher. Format designed to be compatible with classroom needs of language arts and ESL teachers. By analyzing English structures, students gain confidence in their ability to teach English grammar to ethnically diverse students.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
LING 153 - Psycholinguistics
Prerequisite: LING 100 or equivalent or permission of instructor. An overview of basic theories and findings in the study of the psychological processes of language use, with a focus on the comprehension, production, acquisition, and representation of language.
Units: 3
LING 155 - Computer Assisted Language Learning
Prerequisite: LING 100. Current theory, research, and practice in computer-assisted language learning. Some minimal experience in using computers is assumed. (2 lecture, 2 lab hours)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
LING 171I - Practicum in TESOL/SLAT
Prerequisite: LING 141. Provides practice in teaching English and/or foreign language listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students complete an internship which includes class visitations, demonstrations, and lesson planning.
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Learn more about Computational Linguistics.
CSCI 40 - Introduction to Programming and Problem Solving
Prerequisites: Math 75 (may be taken concurrently) OR Math 75A (may be taken concurrently) OR permission from instructor. Introduction to problem solving, algorithm development, procedural and data abstraction; program design, coding, debugging, testing and documentation; a high-level programming language. (3 lecture, 2 lab hours)
Units: 4
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CSCI 41 - Introduction to Data Structures
Prerequisite: CSCI 40 or ECE 70. Programming methodology, program correctness. Review of data types. Data structures: linear and nonlinear structures, files. Implementation of data structures. Recursion. Searching and sorting. (3 lecture, 2 lab hours)
Units: 4
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CSCI 60 - Foundations of Computer Science
Prerequisites: CSCI 40 (may be taken concurrently). Abstraction, iteration, induction, recursion, complexity of programs, data models, and logic. (3 lecture 2 lab hours)
Units: 4
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
CSCI 150 - Introduction to Software Engineering
Prerequisite: CSCI 41. History, goals, and motivation of software engineering. Study and use of software engineering methods. Requirements, specification, design, implementation, testing, verification, and maintenance of large software systems. Team programming. (2 lecture, 3 lab hours)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Fall
CSCI 152E - Software Engineering
Prerequisite: CSCI 150. In-depth examination of techniques for specification, design, implementation, testing, and verification of software. Human-computer interfaces. Formal methods of software development. Use of software engineering tools for the development of substantial software projects. (2 lecture, 2 lab hours)
Units: 3
Course Typically Offered: Spring
MATH 75 - Calculus I
Prerequisites: elementary geometry, intermediate algebra, and trigonometry; or precalculus. Passing score on the department's Calculus Readiness Test required prior to enrollment. In addition, students must meet the ELM requirement. Functions, graphs, limits, continuity, derivatives and applications, definite and indefinite integrals. G.E. Foundation B4. FS (CAN MATH 18).
Units: 4
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GE Area: B4
Upper division elective (3-4 units)
CGSCI 100
CSCI 115, CSCI 117, CSCI 119, CSCI 130, CSCI 164, CSCI 166, CSCI 186
LING 145, LING 153, LING 154
LING 154 - Field Linguistics
Prerequisite: LING 100. First-hand practice in methods of linguistic data collection, analysis, and presentation.
Units: 3
Plan A - Depth plan in ONE language
Required for Spanish: SPAN 130, SPAN 137, SPAN 139. Electives approved by the advisor
(9 units).
Required for French: FREN 103 (6 units), FREN 132. Electives approved by the advisor
(9 units).
Required for Japanese: JAPN 1A, JAPN 1B, JAPN 2A, JAPN 2B, JAPN 100, LING 120
Required for German: GERM 1A, GERM 1B, GERM 2A, GERM 2B, GERM 101, GERM 150
Required for Chinese: CHIN 1A, CHIN 1B, CHIN 2A, CHIN 2B, CHIN 100
Required for Hmong: HMONG 1A, HMONG 1B, HMONG 4, HMONG 100, HMONG 101; LING 121
See advising notes 4 and 5.
Plan B - Breadth plan in two or three languages
(American Sign Language, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Persian, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Spanish.) See advising notes 4 and 5.
Advising Notes
- CR/NC grading is not permitted in the linguistics major.
- See advisor for list of approved electives.
- Students who have studied a language in high school or community college, or who by culture and experience have a certain level of proficiency, must consult with an advisor in the language to determine their placement in lower- or upper-division coursework.
- Students must fulfill the unit requirement by taking language courses in a minimum of two languages. Students must maintain a B average in the languages taken.
- Literature courses in the language may be used with permission of advisor. Except for LING 120 and LING 121, courses taught in English do not count toward the required courses for Plan A or Plan B.
Bachelor of Science Degree in Cognitive Science
Director: Sean Fulop, Professor of Linguistics
Cognitive Science is an emerging field that brings together various approaches to the study of human cognition, drawing from psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy and computer science. Historically, study in Cognitive Science has been conducted within these traditional disciplines and such study still represents important areas of research, as in cognitive psychology within psychology or artificial intelligence within computer science. However, increasingly many researchers and practitioners are feeling a need for a background that integrates basic knowledge in the foundational disciplines and prepares them to work across academic fields.
The Cognitive Science major and minor at Fresno State are broad-based multi-disciplinary programs that are designed to respond to this need. Fresno State's Cognitive Science program builds on a wide range of resources - faculty, courses, facilities - that are distributed across the University. Our associated faculty are active in multiple research areas and are eager to incorporate hand's-on, rich and productive research work into the undergraduate experience. The major is intended as a complement rather than a substitute to traditional disciplinary degrees. For the most part, the degree is built on courses that provide core knowledge of the foundational disciplines. These courses generally include the core courses for the respective departmental programs. However, Cognitive Science majors are also expected to gain specialized knowledge beyond the basic introductory work. The core courses include statistics and research methods in psychology, advanced programming techniques in computer science, computational linguistics, philosophy of mind and cognitive neuroscience.
The general objectives for the B.S. in Cognitive Science are to develop and provide a thorough foundation in the study of cognitive science, drawing in perspectives from computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology; to provide a foundation in cognitive science with which students will be able to pursue graduate education in cognitive science, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, or related fields; and to provide a foundation for the pursuit of jobs in business and industry where a multidisciplinary background is highly desirable.
The primary instructional objectives of the B.S. in Cognitive Science are to give an education in recent approaches to cognition and cognitive science and to give an overview of current methodologies used within cognitive science, including those methodologies used in the core disciplines of computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology.
General Education
The Cognitive Science program at CSU Fresno requires 120 total semester units for graduation. As a part of your total units, 48 are required in General Education. Three (3) General Education requirements may be shared with the Cognitive Sciences program as it is designed (PSYCH 10, 126 and PHIL 151).
Cognitive Science, is an interdisciplinary science (encompassing several disciplines). The staff with individual, relating, specialties are spread across the deptarments involving the separate disciplines.
With this in mind, it especially emphasizes the purpose behind General Education courses being an integral part of your education.
A quote from the university catalog ...
The overall objective of General Education is to create a context wherein basic skills are developed and strengthened, scholarship and disciplined thinking emerge, awareness and reflection occur, and ultimately - the integration of knowledge begins.
Cognitive Science is specialized in that it brings together many topical areas, such as what the mind does in the learning process.
Just some food for thought, and advice to keep in mind throughout college (for new & seasoned college students):
Any class you may not like, but have to take, can have value! What is the value to You?
The most mundane or boring "just take it and get it over with" General Education class can, does and will relate to past, present or future education and life experience, in "General."
Faculty
Brian Agbayani
PhD, Linguistics, UC Irvine
Professor, Department of Linguistics
Office: Peters Business, #416
Phone: 559.278.4892
E-mail: bagbayan
Website: https://brianagbayani.weebly.com/
Research Interests: Generative Grammar, Syntactic Theory, Comparative Syntax
Jidong Chen
PhD, Linguistics, Max Planck Institute Nijmegen, NL
Professor, Department of Linguistics
Office: Peters Business #421
Email: jchen
Website: https://jidongchenchen.weebly.com/
Sean Fulop
PhD, Linguistics, UCLA
Professor, Department of Linguistics
Office: Peters Business, #423
Phone: 559.278.4896
E-mail: sfulop
Website: https://seanfulop.weebly.com/
Research Interests: Acoustic Phonetics, Computational Linguistics, Algorithmic Learning
Theory
Chris Golston
PhD, UCLA
Professor, Department of Linguistics
Office: Peters Business, #383
Office Hours / Schedule Link
Phone: 559.278.2136
E-mail: chrisg
Website: https://chrisgolston.weebly.com/
Research Interests: Generative Grammar, Syntactic Theory, Comparative Syntax
Lorin Lachs
PhD, Psychology / Cognitive Science, Indiana University
Professor of Psychology
Office: Science 2, #356
Office Hours / Schedule Link
Phone: 559.278.2691
E-mail: llachs
Website: http://psych.csufresno.edu/llachs/
Research Interests: Speech Perception, Psycholinguistics, Spoken Word Recognition
Matthew Sharps
PhD, Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder
Professor, Department of Psychology
Office: Science 2, #340
Office Hours / Schedule Link
Phone: 559.278.2347
E-mail: matthews
Website: http://psych.csufresno.edu/sharps/
Research Interests: Visual Cognition, Representational Theory, Cognition in Forensic
Contexts, Cognitive Aging
Related Topics
The Cognitive Science program at CSU Fresno falls under the category of a "Special Program," because it is multidisciplinary. There are instructors and courses involved in the following departments across campus:
- Psychology
- Linguistics
- Computer Science
- Philosophy
- Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies
- Information Systems and Decision Sciences
The last two, CDDS and ISDS, would be the most difficult programs to mix and match with Cognitive Science. Only one (1) course in either department crosses-over, as the program is designed right now. (At this point in time; the wonderful thing about Cognitive Science is that it bridges gaps, and things can be 're-arranged.')
The first four departments (Psychology, Linguistics, Philosophy and Computer Science) present an easy way of Majoring in Cognitive Science and easily working toward a minor in one of these areas; or visa-versa, pursuing a Major in one of these 4 areas, and seeking a minor in Cognitive Science.
If this interests you, check with the current Cognitive Sciences Chairperson (rotating among involved professors) for more information. (As of Fall 2008, Dr. Lorin Lachs in the Psychology department.)
Research Related to Cognitive Science
Interested in doing research? You can Help! Get a jump start towards a career, or graduate education.
Sean Fulop of the Linguistics department is currently working on connections between the mathematical theory of learning and empirical cognitive science.
Lorin Lachs of the Psychology department is working on speech perception phenomena and what these reveal about cognition.
Cognitive Science Links
- Cognitive Science Society (and Journal)
- Berkley : Career Center : 'What can I do with a degree in ...' Cog Sci ?
If you stumble across a link you think should be here, please let us know!!!
Campus Links
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