Introduces sign systems, language as a sign system, and approaches to linguistics description. Emphasizes the application of descriptive techniques to data.

An examination of the structure, history, and sociolinguistics of the English spoken in the southeastern United States.

Studies the theory, problems, and methods in teaching English as a second language, with attention to relevant areas of general linguistics and the structure of English.

Introduces the history and structure of what has been termed Black English Vernacular or Black Street English. Focuses on the sociolinguistic factors that led to its emergence, its present role in the Black community, and its relevance in education and racial stereotypes.

Introduces students to the descriptive grammar of English and applied methods for reasoning about linguistic structure through community-engaged group research introducing linguistics to Virginia High School students. Covers units of sound and phonemic transcriptions, word building and inflection, lexical categories, basic sentence types, common phrase and clause patterns, and syntactic transformations structural analysis and use of evidence.

In this course on phonetics, students will explore the acoustic properties of different segment types, formants, pitch, intensity, spectra, and voice pulsing, among other phenomena. The emphasis is on parameters that influence speech intelligibility, the correlates of language variation (comparison between languages, effects of dialects), as well as some aspects of phonetic pathology.Prerequisites: LNGS 3250 or Instructor Permission

Studies the theory, problems, and methods in teaching English as a second language, with attention to relevant areas of general linguistics and the structure of English.

This course introduces students to language as a system and the theoretical underpinnings of the analytic procedures used by linguists. It proceeds from the assumption that the goal of language is to communicate (i.e., to convey meaning via messages), and investigates assumptions relating to the manner in which it accomplishes this goal.¿This course is required for all Linguistics graduate students. 

An introduction to the study of language relationships and linguistic structures. Topics covered the basic elements of grammatical description; genetic, areal, and typological relationships among languages; a survey of the world's major language groupings and the notable structures and grammatical categories they exhibit; and the issue of language endangerment. Prerequisite: One year study of a world language or permission of instructor.

An introduction to the theory and analysis of linguistic sound systems. Covers the essential units of speech sound that lexical and grammatical elements are composed of, how those units are organized at multiple levels of representation, and the principles governing the relation between levels.