1. Program Requirements 1.M.A. Courses and language requirement 2.Qualifying Paper and Oral Exam or M.A. Thesis 3.First-year Ph.D. Paper and Oral Exam 4.Ph.D. Courses and language requirement 5.Dissertation Proposal and Preliminary Exam 6.Thesis and Defense

2. M.A. Courses Required: LING 501: Syntax I LING 502: Phonology I (note: prerequisite of LING 401: Intro to General Phonetics) LING 425: Intro to Psycholinguistics LING 450: Sociolinguistics I Choose at least one: LING 541: Syntax II LING 542: Phonology II Choose one: LING 509: Cognitive Linguistics LING 507: Formal Semantics I LING 551: Pragmatics I Electives: 16 credit hours (normally four courses), including a maximum of 4 hours of independent study for non-thesis students

3. Qualifying Examination Students who intend to advance to the PhD level should complete one research paper, with oral examination, in the second year of the program. or Students who do not intend to advance to the PhD level should write a Master’s thesis, completed under supervision of your advisor

4. First Year Ph.D. Exam After completing your M.A., in the first year of the Ph.D. portion of the program, you must submit a second research paper, and defend it in an oral examination. Normally this is done as part of your work for LING 504: Practicum, with concurrent enrollment in an individualized study with the faculty member supervising your research. If you have been admitted at the Ph.D. level, this research paper and oral examination take place during your first year in the program

5. Ph.D. Courses Required: LING 504: Practicum LING 590: Special Topics in Linguistics (= individualized study) Courses as required by your subfield of specialization in linguistics. (See webpage for requirements in specific fields): o Computational Linguistics o Historical Linguistics o Phonology/Phonetics o Psycholinguistics/Neurolinguistics o Second Language Studies o Semantics/Pragmatics o Sociolinguistics o Syntax o or a self-designed program approved by your advisor Total course hours: 64 (including 32 hours of thesis research)

6. Language Requirements For the M.A.: Demonstrated proficiency in a language other than your native language For the Ph.D.: Structural knowledge of a language that is neither your native language nor the language used to satisfy the M.A. language requirement. (May be met by LING 516: Field Methods.)

7. Preliminary Exam Candidates must pass the Preliminary Examination consisting of an oral examination in which the thesis proposal is reviewed by the committee. The preliminary exam should take place during your fourth year in the program (the second year in the PhD portion of the program)

8. Thesis and Defense The doctoral thesis is written under the direction of a thesis director (usually the advisor) Thesis is defended at the final oral examination Defense is conducted by a committee of 4 faculty members, including advisor The defense should normally take place during your fifth year in the program (third year in the Ph.D. portion of the program)

9. Choosing your advisor Your academic advisor is a faculty member who will monitor your progress and consult with you on course selection. You may choose an advisor at any time, and you should choose your advisor once you are in the Ph.D. portion of the program Until you choose an advisor, the Director of Graduate Studies (Tania Ionin) will serve as your advisor. Your advisor typically also serves as your supervisor of dissertation research and chair of your final examination committee. Choose an advisor who works in the area of research you would like to pursue. You must obtain your advisor’s signature on the selection form.

10. Course Selection and Registration Normal Course Load: o 4 courses (12-16 hours) if you do not have an assistantship o 3 courses (9-12 hours) if you have a 25%-time assistantship o 2 courses (6-8 hours) if you have a 50%-time assistantship Full-time status requires at least: o 8 graduate credit hours (normally 2 courses) if you have an assistantship of at least 25%-time. o 12 graduate credit hours (normally 3 courses) if you do not Graduate-level courses include: o Courses numbered 400-499 (mixed grad/undergrad) o Courses numbered 500+ (normally grad only)

11. Course Selection and Registration Register for courses online at UI Enterprise (https://apps.uillinois.edu/selfservice/)https://apps.uillinois.edu/selfservice/ Unless you were admitted directly to the Ph.D. program, this semester you should probably take: o LING 401: Introduction to General Phonetics o LING 501: Syntax I o Additional courses depending on whether you have an assistantship, your personal interests, etc.