Presentation Title

Author

Who really uses this stuff?

So, what?

Q slide

What career will you pursue when you graduate from UK?

Recall

  • We’re at the end of the semester!
  • We’ve talked about A LOT of linguistics (and more!)
    • What is linguistics? How many languages are there?
    • What is language? Where does language come from?
    • What is a word? How do words get their meaning?
    • Is slang legit? Why are some words “bad words”?
    • Who says “pop” and why? Are chatbots real?
    • How do kids learn to talk? Where do dialects come from?
    • How is writing different from speaking? How does bilingualism work?
    • How do computers help with language? Why is it hard to learn other languages?
    • Are actors good at dialects? Do animals use language?
    • Why can’t Siri pronounce my name? SPOTLIGHTS!

But the big question is…

So, what? Who cares? Who needs to know this stuff?

Q slide

When you signed up for this class, what did you hope to learn about, and did we?

Linguistics helps us understand our world

We weren’t just listing facts that you needed to memorize!

Course description:

This course is designed to give students a broad introduction to the field of linguistics from the perspective of language users . As native users of at least one spoken or signed language, students are already in some ways experts in how language works. This course will explore the beliefs about and perceptions of language that they already possess and build upon this knowledge by comparing popular notions about language with those developed in linguistic science , paying attention to the contributions of popular belief as well as the differences between them and scientific findings.

Student Learning Outcomes

Careers in linguistics?

  • Yes, some of us become professors (though this is a vanishingly small number…)
  • Obvious jobs = ESL/language teacher, translation/interpretation, speech and hearing sciences
  • You can find people with linguistics degrees (or linguistics training) in a number of non-academic spheres, including but not limited to:
    • The not-for profit space: research, scientific writing, document design, media production, digital storytelling, advocacy
    • Tech: human-language technology, UX, taxonomy, localization/internationalization, conversational AI, voice user interface
    • Business: consulting, training/development, HR, onboarding, leadership development, intercultural communication
    • Government: Census, FBI, CIA, NSA, strategic communications

Skills breakdown: If you are a linguist, you can:

Design and execute research projects (“end-to-end research design”)

Recruit participants

Develop rapport with both individuals and groups for purposes of data collection

Interview participants & collect data

Analyze the data (qualitatively & quantitatively)

Synthesize your results

Present your findings

Media

https://youtu.be/KcMmIm207_g?si=7w8DrzM1_BuRJFgI&t=1931

Academic Course Scheduler

Accessibility Specialist

Administrative Assistant

Analyst

Annotator

Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Audio Coordinator

Behavior Interventionist

Bilingual After-School Curriculum Developer

Billing Specialist

Bookkeeper

Career counselor

Computational Linguist

Content Creator

Content Specialist

Consultant

Cross-cultural Communications Specialist

Data Specialist

Design Researcher

English for Academic Purposes Instructor

Editor

Electronic Publications Associate

English teacher

ESL instructor

Fundraising grant writer

Government Contractor/Analyst

Independent contractor

Interpreter

K-12 teacher

Linguist

Linguist/Junior Programmer

Linguistic Project Manager

Linguistic Researcher

Localization Manager

Machine translation specialist

NLP Engineer

Non-profit research

Partner Development Representative

Product Analyst

Production Assistant

Program Coordinator

Program Manager

Project Associate

Project Coordinator

Project Manager

Research and Product Development Associate

Social Media Analyst

Social Listening

Software Engineer

Speech Data Researcher

Speech Language Pathologist

Student loan counselor

Teacher

Teaching Assistant

Technical Staff

Test Developer

Translation Project Coordinator

Tutor

UX Researcher

Web Technologist

First job titles for linguistics grads (all degrees)

How will you use what you’ve learned?

What’s next?

  • I’ll see you back here on Wednesday for “Why linguistics?”
  • No class Friday!
  • Finish Data Analysis assignment
    • Read the instructions in Canvas, and let me know if you have questions
    • I’ll be available during the scheduled finals time, too
      • Monday, May 5, 8-10am, Singletary
  • Extra credit and evaluations!