Undergraduate Program

College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Linguistics Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

Transfer students must have a 2.00 transfer GPA.
Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

Completion of General Education Curriculum: Communication.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Second Language.

Completion of Department of Linguistics major admission course work with grade(s) of "C" or better:

Linguistics: LING 301.
Signed Language Interpreting: Admission to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Signed Language Interpreting Program is not automatic. Majors must formally apply with the program to gain admission. Contact the Program Director at sign@unm.edu for more information.
Languages: MLNG 1110; 6 credit hours of introductory (100-level) language study from one of these languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Greek, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish.

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics (B.A.)
Bachelor of Science in Signed Language Interpreting (B.S.)
Bachelor of Arts in Languages (B.A.)

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

The Department of Linguistics offers a Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. The program enables completion of the B.A. in Linguistics and the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Linguistics in a shorter timeframe than it would take to complete both degrees separately. Students completing an undergraduate minor in Linguistics may also seek admission to the program. See the "Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program" section of this page for specific admission information and requirements.

Major Study Requirements

Linguistics

The B.A. major in Linguistics requires a minimum of 30 credit hours numbered above 200 and four semesters of a second language or the equivalent.

		Credit Hours
LING 301	Introduction to Linguistic Analysis	3
LING 302 or 303	Introduction to Phonetic Analysis or Introduction to Phonetics	3
LING 304	Phonological Analysis	3
LING 322	Grammatical Analysis	3
LING 331	Language in Society	3
LING 367	Psychology of Language	3
	Focus Area Requirement Choose 12 credit hours from one focus area, or 6 credit hours from each of two focus areas: • Language Documentation & Revitalization (LING 411, 412, 413, 415, 417) • Linguistic Diversity, Variation & Use (LING 334, 359, 417, 425, 429, 433, 435, 446) • Bilingualism, Language Acquisition & Cognition (LING 460, 469L, SIGN 305, SIGN 352) • Navajo Linguistics (LING 359, 415, NVJO 311, NVJO 312, NVJO 401)	12
	Total	30

Signed Language Interpreting

The B.S. major in Signed Language Interpreting requires the following courses: SIGN 2125, 2130, 2150, 2210, 2220, *305, *310, *352, *360, 411, 412, 418, 419. Students majoring in Signed Language Interpreting must be approved by the Signed Language Interpreting program.

Languages

An interdisciplinary B.A. major in Languages is offered through the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in conjunction with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The Department of Linguistics makes available several courses that qualify for this major. See the Foreign Languages and Literatures: Languages section of this Catalog. Consult with the advisor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program

Juniors or seniors majoring or minoring in Linguistics may seek admission to the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Linguistics under the Shared-Credit Undergraduate/Graduate Degrees Program. It is recommended that students seek admission to this program during their junior year. In order to apply to the program, the student follows the departmental graduate application and admission procedure and deadlines as described in the Linguistics: Graduate Program section of this Catalog. Students are provisionally admitted to the program, provided their B.A. program is successfully completed. The time-to-degree for completion of the M.A. in Linguistics is calculated beginning with the student’s senior year.

Admission Requirements

Be a declared undergraduate major or minor in the Department of Linguistics.
Have an overall UNM GPA of 3.5 or better.
Have a departmental GPA of 3.5 or better.
Applicants must complete at least 9 credit hours of the M.A. in Linguistics admission coursework.
Have the approval of both the departmental Undergraduate and Graduate Directors.

Program Requirements

For shared-credit coursework to count toward the M.A. degree, the student must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in courses taken for graduate credit after admission to the program.

18 credit hours of graduate coursework are required for students completing the B.A. in Linguistics. Students completing the undergraduate minor in Linguistics must complete 9 credit hours of graduate coursework in place of the electives required for the minor. The prescribed graduate coursework is as follows:

LING 512, 525, 529, 531, 546, 567.

Note that students who have taken the undergraduate component of a double-numbered undergraduate/graduate course may not use the undergraduate course to fulfill a requirement for the M.A. in Linguistics, nor may that student apply credit from the graduate component of that course. These students must instead take a graduate-level course from the same sub-area to fulfill the M.A. course requirement. The student should consult the Graduate Advisor prior to registering for any graduate courses.

With appropriate departmental approval, a student may apply up to 18 credit hours of 500-level linguistics courses to an undergraduate Linguistics major or minor and, upon formal acceptance to the M.A. program, also apply those credit hours to the student’s approved graduate program of studies.

Additional Information

For students admitted to the program who decide they do not wish to complete the M.A., or are withdrawn by the department, the credit hours of the approved 500-level courses will apply toward the student’s undergraduate degree provided the student earned a grade of "C" or better in those courses. Refer to the Linguistics: Graduate Program section of this Catalog for graduate program and course information.

Second Major Study Requirements

		Credit Hours
LING 301	Introduction to Linguistic Analysis	3
LING 302 or 303	Introduction to Phonetic Analysis or Introduction to Phonetics	3
LING 304	Phonological Analysis	3
LING 322	Grammatical Analysis	3
LING 331	Language in Society	3
LING 367	Psychology of Language	3
	Focus Area Requirement Choose 6 credit hours from one focus area: • Language Documentation & Revitalization (LING 411, 412, 413, 415, 417) • Linguistic Diversity, Variation & Use (LING 334, 359, 417, 425, 429, 433, 435, 446) • Bilingualism, Language Acquisition & Cognition (LING 460, 469L, SIGN 305, SIGN 352) • Navajo Linguistics (LING 359, 415, NVJO 311, NVJO 312, NVJO 401)	6
	Total	24

Minor Study Requirements

American Sign Language (ASL)

The minor in ASL requires 18 credit hours of courses numbered 2000 and above: SIGN 2125 Introduction to Signed Language; SIGN 2210 American Sign Language I; SIGN 2220 American Sign Language II; SIGN 310 American Sign Language III; SIGN 320 American Sign Language IV; SIGN 352 Language and Culture in the Deaf Community.

Linguistics

The minor in Linguistics requires 21 credit hours of courses numbered 200 or above: 12 credit hours of required linguistics courses: LING 301, (302 or 303), 304, 322; and 9 credit hours of electives. The electives may be selected from courses in linguistics or from courses in other departments which have been approved by the Department Advisor.

Navajo Language and Linguistics

The minor in Navajo Language and Linguistics requires 18 credit hours of required Navajo language and linguistics courses at or above the 200 level, including NAVA 2110, 2120; NVJO 311, 312, 401. Native speakers must take NATV 2315 and NVJO 315 in lieu of NAVA 2110 and NAVA 2120. Three additional credit hours must be selected from the following courses in Linguistics: LING 331, 359, *401, *402, 415 or from approved electives from the Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies or Native American Studies departments.

Diné Language Immersion Teacher Certificate

The purpose of the Diné Language Teacher Institute (DLTI) cohort program is to support the unique needs of Diné communities to revitalize and sustain their languages by increasing the number of Diné language teachers. UNM’s College of Education and Human Sciences, Native American Studies, and the Navajo Language Program offer a 30 credit hour interdisciplinary certificate program that includes 18-hours of required UNM coursework with a specific focus on using language immersion methodologies for Diné language revitalization in community and school-based settings, and 12 hours of electives. The courses from these three departments can be counted toward the degrees in each of these departments.

The following 6 courses specifically address Diné language immersion teaching that draws upon the tribal strengths of Diné communities that utilize Diné-centered community based (k’é) approaches to language teaching methodologies, pedagogies, and research:

Native American Studies (3 credit hours), select from:

NATV 2315: Indigenous Language Revitalization and Community Renewal
NATV 462: Native American Oral Tradition and Language Reclamation

Navajo Language/Linguistics (6 credit hours)

NVJO 315: Advanced Navajo
NVJO 401: Navajo Linguistics

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies (9 credit hours)

LLSS 449: Teaching the Native Language to Native Speakers
LLSS 493: Topics: Teaching Native Language in Immersion Settings
LLSS 493: Topics: Language Curriculum Development for Heritage Languages

Twelve hours of electives must be approved by the Director of the Navajo Language Program. Electives can be taken from any undergraduate program at UNM or other accredited institutions. A total of 30 hours is required with at least 15 being taken in residence at UNM.

Major or Minor in the College of Education and Human Sciences

For the major, composite major or minor in language arts, bilingual education, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), see the Teacher Education, Educational Leadership and Policy: Undergraduate Program section of this Catalog.

Departmental Honors

A student seeking departmental honors in the Department of Linguistics (for majors in either Linguistics or Signed Language Interpreting) should identify a research project during the junior year in consultation with an appropriate professor and should submit a proposal in the form of a letter to the department Chairperson.

If the proposal is approved by the department Chairperson, the student should enroll in LING 498 the first semester of the senior year and LING 499 the second semester of the senior year. These 6 credit hours of honors work are in addition to the minimum number of credit hours required for the major.

Keys and Symbols Reference