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The Master of Arts Degree

This website provides a general overview of the MA program in Linguistics and Linguistics/TESL at California State University Northridge. More detailed information may be obtained by requesting a printed brochure from the Student Service Center of the College of Humanities.

All candidates completing the program leading to an MA in Linguistics at Northridge will gain a fundamental understanding of the core areas in linguistics at an advanced level through enrollment in three core seminars. They may then select to build on the core with their own General Track program in order to pursue individual goals, such as preparation for doctoral studies, or they may choose to complete their degrees by focusing on preparing to teach English to speakers of other languages and pursue the prescribed courses that are part of the TESL Track of the MA program.

Please be aware that California State University Northridge does NOT offer an MA degree in TESL/TEFL/TESOL or Applied Linguistics. ALL candidates for the MA degree will be required to complete the core courses in linguistics; MA candidates who enter without a BA major in Linguistics will ALSO be required to complete the equivalent of our BA major in Linguistics (six different subject matter areas = 18 units of coursework).

Program Structure

There are no graduate Linguistics courses offered during Summer Session. Students who are unable to take late afternoon and evening courses during Fall and Spring semesters will not be able to complete this degree program. Each semester, there are only 2-3 graduate level courses offered in Linguistics; students needing to take more than 6.0 units of graduate level work in any given semester for visa or scholarship purposes will need to enroll in courses outside of the Linguistics program and/or in Independent Studies or Directed Research.

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Requirements for Acceptance into the Program

Students should consult general information about Graduate Programs at California State University Northridge for admission policies and requirements set by the Office of Graduate Studies for all graduate programs at the university. All prospective graduate students must possess a Bachelor's degree from an accredited university and meet the requirements of both the Graduate School and the Linguistics program. Candidates with undergraduate majors other than Linguistics, who have a minimum GPA of 2.85 in the last 60 units of their BA work and who otherwise satisfy the University requirements for Graduate Admission, may be admitted to the Linguistics Graduate Program as Conditionally Classified candidates. Students who have GPA's below 3.0 will be required to take the GRE and achieve at least one score at the 50th percentile or higher; a satisfactory GRE score must be submitted within 18 months of admission.
International visa students must have a minimum TOEFL score of 563 (paper and pencil version) or 223 (CBT) or 85 (iBT).

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Graduate Student Status

Candidates may be admitted to the Linguistics/TESL Graduate Program with Classified status, or with Conditionally Classified Status. The "conditions" set upon entrance must be completed/satisfied to move to fully Classified Status. These conditions include

  1. successful completion of all prerequisite work (if required) with grades of "B" or higher in each prerequisite course;
  2. submission of an acceptable GRE score within 18 months (if required);
  3. successful completion of UDWPE or CSU equivalent;
  4. successful completion of foreign language requirement

Candidates may be admitted to the Linguistics/TESL Graduate Program with Classified status if they have 18 or more units in BA-level linguistics courses equivalent to the CSUN core major, all units earned with a grade of "B" or higher. Candidates who do not initially satisfy all of the general conditions set by the Graduate School and all of the specific conditions set by the Linguistics Program may be accepted as "conditionally" classified. This includes students with a BA in Linguistics but who do not have grades of "B" or higher in each core course.

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Conditionally Classified Status

While enrolled as a Conditionally Classified Student, candidates may demonstrate prerequisite competence in linguistics by submitting a record of previous coursework for evaluation by the Coordinator/Advisor, or by completing prerequisite coursework equivalent to the 18-unit core of the BA Major:

All M.A. candidates must apply for Classified Status before they complete more than 12 units of 500 or 600-level coursework.

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Special Requirements

Foreign Language Requirements

MA candidates in Linguistics/TESL are required to demonstrate proficiency in a non-native language. Native speakers of English may satisfy this requirement in one of three ways: (1) they may enroll for two semesters of coursework in a non-Romance language or three semesters of coursework in a Romance language AFTER initial acceptance into the program; (2) they may pass a departmental examination set by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures (MCLL); or (3) they may submit a transcript showing that they hold a BA with a major in a foreign language completed within the previous 5 years. Students who are non-native speakers of English are exempt from this requirement. Students who wish to demonstrate proficiency in ASL to satisfy this requirement should consult the Coordinator/Advisor. Students who choose to satisfy this requirement using coursework, must earn grades of "B" or higher in each foreign language course.

Culminating Requirements

MA candidates in Linguistics/TESL may select either to take the Comprehensive Examination or to complete a Thesis or Culminating Project. More information about Culminating Requirements is available in writing from the Student Service Center of the College of Humanities (see below).

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Disqualification

Students will be disqualified from the program for weak academic performance and/or failure to fulfill requirements in a timely manner:

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MA Tracks

Linguistics Core (3 courses, 3 units each = 9 units)

All MA candidates are required to complete the following courses:

General Track (15 to 21 units of coursework)

In consultation with the Coordinator/Advisor, candidates will select either 21 units of coursework and LING 697 (the Comprehensive Examination), or will select 15 units of coursework and 6 units of Thesis Option. All coursework must be from the 400 level and above, and at least 21 units must be selected from 500 and 600 course levels. Coursework may include LING courses as well as courses in other departments, in consultation with teaching faculty and the Coordinator/Advisor. Candidates pursuing the General Track will consult with the Coordinator/Advisor and complete an Approved Program Form reflecting courses selected.

TESL Track (15 to 21 units of coursework)

TESL Track candidates must complete the following 15 units of coursework in addition to the core seminars, and they will select from either the Comprehensive Exam and two elective courses (6 units), or the preparation of a Thesis (6 units).

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Comprehensive Exam

Candidates taking the Comprehensive Exam will enroll in LING 697 (Directed Comprehensive Studies) in the semester during which they plan to take the examination. LING 697 carries 3.0 units of workload credit but the units do not count towards the 30-unit MA requirement.

Candidates who choose the comprehensive option will be given a set of 8-12 broadly based questions early in the semester in which they register for LING 697. On the day of the Comprehensive Exam, each candidate will be given 3 hours to write responses to TWO of these exact questions. The exam questions will be limited to a small subset of those initially provided to candidates.

Students' exam essays will be rated separately and graded on a four-point scale, using the following broad interpretation of scores, and based on criteria spelled out in a written rubric: 4 = High Pass; 3 = Pass; 2 = Low Pass; 1 = Unacceptable/Fail.

Students must receive passing scores from two out of three Linguistics/TESL faculty for the essay to be considered passing. Each student must pass BOTH essays in order to satisfy the Comprehensive Exam requirement. That is, each candidate will either pass the exam as a whole or fail the exam as a whole.

Students who receive a failing score on one or both essays will not pass the Comprehensive Exam but will be allowed to retake the exam at the end of the following semester. Students who fail the Comprehensive Exam two semesters in sequence will be disenrolled and will not receive a master's degree from the program. This is in accordance with standard practice for graduate programs at CSUN.

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Thesis Option

This option is recommended for students interested in pursuing a specific research project in depth and willing to fulfill exacting academic and scholarly requirements. All proposed thesis topics must fall within the expertise of at least one faculty member who indicates a willingness to serve as that student's mentor and chief reader for the thesis project. Students who elect to write a thesis should anticipate spending approximately one year working on their projects. Because of the time investment required to complete a thesis successfully, the option is suited to independent and self-motivated students who are able to work on their own effectively.

Students are eligible to submit a thesis proposal once they are fully classified and have completed a minimum of 18 graduate units with a GPA of 3.5 or better. Students whose GPAs fall below this minimum will not be not eligible to write a thesis. Students planning to submit a proposal should register for LING 698C in the semester during which the proposal will be submitted; a complete first draft of the proposal must be submitted for approval by the end of Week 8 of that first semester. If a student later changes to the Comprehensive Exam option, units for all enrollments in LING 698 (thesis option) will not be counted towards the degree.

A brochure detailing the specific guidelines for preparing and submitting a thesis proposal may be obtained from either the Linguistics/TESL Coordinator/Advisor or from the Student Service Center of the College of Humanities (see below).

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Culminating Project

Exam or writing a Thesis. There are no other paths towards fulfilling the Culminating Project requirement in the Linguistics/TESL MA program at this time.

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Suitable Electives for the M.A.

Because Linguistics is a small program, students need to take some of their electives in other departments. Over the years, electives have often been in departments such as AAS, ARMN, CHS, CD, COMS, EED, ENGL, EPC, PHIL, PSY, SED, and SOC. Examples of suitable electives are given below. There may be others.

When you find a course that is language- or linguistics-related and that interests you, email the Coordinator to review and (it is hoped) approve your choice.

Examples of Suitable Electives

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