Linguistics

Dr. Robert R. Daniel, Chair of Modern and Classical Languages

Dr. Jennifer Ewald, Linguistics Program Director

Dr. Elaine Shenk, Faculty

Linguistics is the study of how languages work, where they come from, how they are used in society, how they change over time and how they are learned. Linguists serve as translators, interpreters, speech therapists, professors, researchers, and language teachers, to name a few professional roles. They also investigate issues including language acquisition, literacy, bilingualism, speech pathology, and language planning or policy. Linguists sometimes speak or have knowledge of more than one language though depending on their specialization, some speak only their native language. (The Linguistics Program is housed within the Department of Modern and Classical Languages).