LinguisticsCareer and Grad School

Information Sessionfor 3rd and 4th year students

Sept. 28, 2011SLaLS, Carleton University

Schedule 

Postgraduate options for linguistics majors

• get a job related to linguistics

• teach English abroad

• go to graduate school

Postgraduate options for 

Linguistics major

Find a linguistics job

Linguistics majors: skills

• Comprehensive understanding of language and linguistic theory

• Analytical skills in all aspects of language (sounds, words, sentences, meanings)

• Critical/analytical thinking and problem solving skills– approaching topics and problems from various perspectives

– analyzing multiple dimensions of a problem– identifying problems and developing solutions– decision making skills

Linguistics majors: skills

• Capacity to think creatively, logically and quantitatively

• Project management and research skills: observe; interview; collect data; process, synthesize and interpret vast amounts of data

Areas of employment

Educational institutions

• linguistics professor, lecturer

• language instructor

• project director, coordinator or administrator

• research assistant

Areas of employment

Language institutions

• language instructor

• language learning and teaching program developer

• curriculum and materials developer

• test developer

Areas of employment

Publishing firms

• editor or proofreader

• acquisitions editor

Areas of employment

Market research institutions

• analyst: conduct surveys, analyze data– advertising

– product names

• survey designer

Areas of employment

Natural language processing companies: computational linguist

• develop machine translation systems

• speech recognition and speech analysis 

(PC, Internet)

• maintain electronic lexicons used for automatic speech recognition and text to speech

Areas of employmentComputational linguist, Attensity Corp.

Attensity seeks a Computational Linguist to assist in the design, implemen‐tation, and management of domain models and extraction technologies. This role focuses on the development of Attensity’s English extraction portfolio. 

Requirements of the Position: ‐ Apply theoretical Syntax, Semantic and Pragmatics expertise to complex, real‐world problems ‐ Create and maintain industry‐vertical domains consisting of dictionaries and entities ‐ Design and prototype new features and extraction patterns ‐ Assist in development of Attensity’s cutting edge parsing and extraction technologies 

Qualifications: ‐ 2 years experience working in computational linguistics or natural language processing ‐ Solid working knowledge of Morphology, Syntax and Semantics ‐ Experience with corpus analysis, esp. Social Media ‐ Track record of strong analytical and design skills  [see linguistlist.org]

Areas of employment

Software companies

• Dictionaries and lexicons– pronunciation dictionaries; phonetic transcriptions

– encode foreign language terminology into machine translation software system

• Electronic system for improving vocabulary

Areas of employmentLexicographer, Systran Software, Inc.Encoding Korean terminology into Machine Translation system dictionaries. 

Essential duties and responsibilities: ‐ Encode foreign language terminology according to specific conventions ‐ Keep track of dictionary improvements ; analyze and correct dictionary errors ‐ Compile data from foreign language text for determining the correct function and/or meaning of terms ‐ Test and document the results of periodic MT dictionary upgrades ‐ Assist other Linguistics Department personnel in a variety of research tasks. 

Education and/or Experience: Minimum of two years in a college or university or at least one year of work in an academic environment (e.g., college library, science lab, etc.). 

Language Skills: ‐ Native speaker of Korean; fluent spoken and written English ‐ Ability to identify parts of speech in English and Korean sentences ‐ Ability to understand and translate into English 100% of the sentences found in a major Korean newspaper (e.g., The Dong‐a Ilbo)      [see linguistlist.org] 

Areas of employment

Healthcare profession

• Speech‐language pathologist

• Speech therapist

• Audiologist

Areas of employment

Government

• foreign language instructor (military, intelligence)

• translator, interpreter

Areas of employment

Law and order

• forensic linguist

• consultant: composing and interpreting legal documents

Areas of employment

Language documentation and revitalization projects

• endangered languages: document, protect, preserve

• language revitalization: compile grammar, teach language

Areas of employment

Program Manager, Recovering Voices ProgramDepartment of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 

program is working with communities to document and sustain endangered languages and knowledgeresponsible for the overall management and administration of the program through planning projects, workshops, symposia, conferences, outreach (including website development), budget and fundraising/ development activitieswill create long‐term partnerships with communities world‐wide and will foster collaborations built upon community engagementbackground (Ph.D. preferred) in anthropology, linguistics, human geography or related fields, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to language endangerment or endangered knowledge systems

[see linguistlist.org]

Jobs: where to look

Career Centre (Carleton)

www1.carleton.ca/career/

Linguist List

linguistlist.org

LSA (Linguistic Society of America)

www.lsadc.org

Teach English abroad

Where to teach

• private companies

• private language schools

• colleges and universities

• community‐based programs

• government programs (e.g., JET)

Applying to graduate school

Graduate school

• Linguistics

• Speech‐Language Pathology

• Cognitive Science (Carleton)

• Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies (ALDS) (SLaLS)

• Education

Grad school: Linguistics

• Core theoretical courses– Phonology, syntax, semantics

• Subdisciplines– Computational linguistics

– Fieldwork, descriptive linguistics

– Historical/comparative linguistics

– psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics

Grad school: SLP

• Master’s program

• Locations– Canada: BC, Alberta, Western Ontario, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, McGill, Laval, Dalhousie

– United States

– United Kingdom

– Australia

• Requirements vary: plan ahead!

Grad school: Cognitive science

• Carleton: MCogSc & PhD

• Five disciplines: linguistics, psychology, philosophy, computer science, neuroscience

Grad school: ALDS

• MA, new PhD program in Fall 2012

• TESL/TEFL, second language acquisition, language education & assessment, academic writing…

• MA: coursework, research essay or thesis paths

Graduate school option

• Is graduate school for me?

• Choosing a program: do your research

• Application requirements: plan ahead

• Timeline

Is graduate school for me?

• Undergraduate vs. graduate studies– Degree of specialization 

– Importance of research (ideas, initiative)

– Interaction with faculty

• M.A. vs. Ph.D.– Program length 

– Requirements (coursework, generals papers or comprehensive exams, thesis)

Choosing a program

• Depth vs. breadth– Some programs are narrower, more focused, and more coherent than others

– Many programs focus on particular theories or frameworks

– Structured sequence of courses vs. independent program

Choosing a program

• Questions to ask– Who teaches there? What are their areas of specialization?

– Is the faculty committed to student education (or only interested in their own research?)

– Does the program have a good reputation?– What are the requirements besides coursework?– What are the requirements for admission?– Is financial aid available?

Choosing a program

• Information sources– Internet

• Directory of linguistics programs in Canada & USwww.lsadc.org/info/pubs‐dirs‐programs.cfm

• Ranking of linguistics programs in the USgraduate‐school.phds.org/rankings/linguistics

• Linguistics programs worldwidewww.gradschools.com

– Your professors– Former students

Applying to a program

• Plan ahead• Inform your professors• Build a CV (Curriculum Vitae)

Building a CV

Your CV is a record of all your accomplishments and should include:

• titles of term papers, independent study research papers, theses

• topics of Special Topic courses

• scholarships and awards

• TA and RAships

• volunteer work

Application requirements

1. Application form

2. Statement of interest/research

3. Writing sample

4. Reference letters

5. Transcripts

6. GRE

Application requirements

2. Statement of interest

• a.k.a. statement of purpose/research, letter of intent

• Include concrete professional and research goals

• Can expand on previous work• Match with university is important• One page

Application requirements

3. Writing sample

• Demonstrates ability to do research

• Can be work in progress (e.g. honours thesis)or a paper from a previous course (but it may need revision!!)

• Ask your professors for advice

Application requirements

3. Writing sample (cont’d)

• Not necessarily ground‐breaking• But should be your own independent work

• Not necessarily extremely technical• But should show your ability to make a 

theoretical argument

• Not necessarily long• But should be well‐written and packed with 

good ideas

Application requirements

4. Reference letters

• 2‐3 letters: ask early!

• Academic performance, future potential

• Ask professors who know you, whose courses you did well in

• Provide them with all required information: what, when, where, and dossier

• FIPPA (release of information)

Application requirements: letter

Application requirements: letter

Application requirements: letter

Additional comments on the applicant’s:

1. ability to carry on advanced study and research

2. teaching ability

3. promise for a successful career in this field

4. weaknesses, if any

5. communication skills (oral and written)

Application requirements

5. Transcripts

• Strive for excellent grades!

Application requirements

6. GRE

• Graduate Record Examinations (General)• Standardized test• Verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, 

critical thinking, analytical writing skills• Offered year‐round at computer‐based test 

centres• Not usually required in Canadian univ.

Scholarships

• internal– teaching assistantships

– research assistantships

– merit scholarships

– tuition scholarships

Scholarships

• external– provincial

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)• Fonds québécois de recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC)

– national (can be used outside of Canada)• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)• National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Scholarships

• internal– part of program application

• external– apply in your fourth year

– deadlines vary from August to December

– more information: www5/carleton.ca/fgpa

Timeline

• Deadlines: Nov‐Feb• Apply early: competitive, funding limited

Timeline

• 3rd year (incl. summer)– Take courses that could result in a writing sample

– Inform professors about your intent to pursue graduate studies

– Research graduate programs

– Work on writing sample

– Take GREs (if required)

Timeline

• Fall of 4th year– Complete the application package (form, statement, writing sample, transcripts)

– Request reference letters

– (Re)take GREs

– Apply for scholarships

• Winter of 4th year– Wait for responses!