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Essays on Linguistics

Writing an essay on Linguistics is important for several reasons. Firstly, it allows the writer to demonstrate their understanding of language and its structure, which is a crucial aspect of communication. Secondly, it provides an opportunity to explore various theories and concepts within Linguistics, helping to deepen one's knowledge of the subject. Finally, writing an essay on Linguistics can also contribute to the overall body of knowledge within the field, as it allows for the dissemination of new ideas and research findings.

When writing an essay on Linguistics, it is important to consider the following tips:

• Define your topic: Clearly define the specific aspect of Linguistics that you will be addressing in your essay. This will help you to focus your research and ensure that your essay remains coherent and well-structured.
• Conduct thorough research: Take the time to gather a wide range of sources, including academic papers, books, and scholarly articles. This will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the topic and enable you to present a well-informed argument.
• Organize your thoughts: Before you start writing, create an outline that outlines the main points and arguments that you will be making in your essay. This will help you to stay focused and ensure that your essay flows logically.
• Support your arguments: Use evidence and examples to support your arguments. This could include citing research studies, linguistic data, or real-life examples of language use.
• Edit and revise: Once you have completed your first draft, take the time to edit and revise your essay. Check for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that your argument is clear and well-supported.

What Makes a Good Linguistics essay topic

When it comes to choosing a topic for a linguistics essay, it's important to consider a few key factors. Firstly, brainstorming is essential. Think about your interests, current issues in the field of linguistics, and any recent research that has caught your attention. Consider the level of complexity you want to tackle and the availability of credible sources for your chosen topic. Additionally, a good linguistics essay topic should be relevant, thought-provoking, and have the potential to contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field.

Best Linguistics Essay Topics

• The impact of technology on language evolution
• The role of cultural and societal influences on language development
• The linguistic challenges and opportunities of multilingualism
• The relationship between language and cognitive processes
• The future of endangered languages in a globalized world
• The linguistic implications of artificial intelligence and machine learning
• The influence of gender on language use and perception
• The linguistic analysis of political discourse and rhetoric
• The intersection of language and identity in immigrant communities
• The linguistic representation of emotions and feelings
• The role of language in shaping individual and collective memory
• The linguistic strategies for persuasion and manipulation in advertising
• The impact of linguistic diversity on educational practices
• The linguistic analysis of online communication and social media
• The language of humor and its cross-cultural variations
• The linguistic patterns in the speech of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders
• The linguistic implications of code-switching and language mixing
• The role of language in the construction of power dynamics and social hierarchies
• The linguistic analysis of nonverbal communication and body language
• The linguistic representation of time and space in different cultures

Linguistics Essay Topics Prompts

• Imagine a world without language. How would human communication and interaction be affected?
• Explore the linguistic challenges and opportunities of creating a universal language.
• Create a linguistic analysis of a popular song or piece of literature.
• Investigate the linguistic strategies used in political speeches to evoke specific emotions and reactions.
• Consider the linguistic implications of the growing trend of voice-activated technology and virtual assistants.

By considering these prompts and unique topics, you can craft a compelling and thought-provoking linguistics essay that stands out from the crowd.

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Linguistics Essay Topics & Examples

What is linguistics? It is a science that concerns structure and changes in human languages. There are several branches of linguistics: phonology and phonetics, morphology and syntax, pragmatics and semantics. Thus, linguists examine the meaning, critical discourse, and lots of other features.

With this diversity within one discipline, it can be pretty tricky to choose a topic for your linguistics essay. Of course, you should write about a specific research question. You can describe historical perspectives or reflect and share your opinion on the issue that you have picked. But where exactly should you start?

That’s why you ended up on this page: you need to figure out how to write an essay about linguistics. Our team has prepared helpful tips so that you can understand the structure and design of such an academic paper. We’ve also collected linguistics essay topics that you can use.

20 Unique Linguistics Essay Topics

As you might have guessed, your linguistics essay should be based on a good idea. The topic should limit the area that you will look at and analyze in your paper. Or it can indicate the intersections between the subdivisions you will study. In this section, we will help you deal with this problem.

You can use the following topics to write your own language and linguistics essay:

• Verbal linguistic learning style techniques and their efficiency.
• Gender-specific job title in the English language.
• English as a global language for tourists and professionals.
• The reasons why some languages are easier to learn.
• Noam Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar.
• Grammar in American and British sign languages.
• Passive voice misuse in modern linguistics.
• The history of sign language.
• The role of semantics in linguistics and language learning.
• How translation distorts the initial meaning.
• The main linguistic features of the English language.
• The typical features of formal English.
• Machine learning as a part of applied linguistics.
• The benefits of learning foreign languages.
• The evolution of linguistics as a science.
• Corpus linguistics in teaching languages.
• The analysis of Greek history through linguistics.
• A case study of modern slang.
• Long-term and short-term memory as explored by psycholinguists.
• The metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics.

Tips on Writing a Perfect Linguistics Essay

Here, you’ll see our recommendations for composing an essay about linguistics. There are some things you should keep in mind before and while writing your paper:

1. Plan your paper ahead. Decide what your arguments and position are. What should your research involve? Think about the audience of your paper to define your word choice. Search for some credible sources, such as articles about language that support your arguments. Outline your essay, paying close attention to your thesis statement .

2. Remember to be clear. There should be no surprises. State what your conclusion is about in the introduction. The first and the last paragraphs should be connected. Introduce your message as a whole in the thesis statement. Also, always define if you discuss someone else’s viewpoint or your thoughts.

3. Incorporate examples. Explain why you include the supporting evidence before introducing them. Don’t make your readers doubt their relevance. Define if you are citing another author or your own example. In the text, use italics and quotation marks if you need them.

4. Cite and reference. First of all, it is necessary to avoid plagiarism in your work. Secondly, references help to highlight the importance and credibility of your arguments. You can use linguistic articles in English or any other language. Just make sure that you follow the requirements of your institution. There is no exact number of references that you need to use while writing an essay about linguistics. Let’s say that you need more than one or two to make your argument look solid.

5. Work on your wording. Don’t make any firm judgments about your own or other authors’ work in this type of academic writing. Try not to use such words as “obviously” or “absurd.” Incorporate phrases like “clearly” and “without a doubt” carefully. The scientific questions you introduce should appear testable and empirical.

We hope our tips and topics were useful to you. Some good linguistics essay examples can also help you write a perfect paper – you can find them below.

1010 Linguistics Essay Examples

Imaginary homelands summary & analysis.

• Subjects: Languages
• Words: 2255

“The Nobel Lecture in Literature” by Toni Morrison

• Subjects: Importance of Language

8 Inflectional Morphemes in English: Full List & Examples

• Words: 1307

Types of Borrowing in Linguistics Essay

• Subjects: Language Development
• Words: 1397

Christiane Nord Translation Theory: Functions and Elements Analytical Essay

• Words: 2318

Linking R and Intrusive R: Examples & Difference

• Subjects: Stylistics
• Words: 1100

This I Believe: What Goes Around Comes Around – Essay

Language acquisition: a critical discussion of innate and learning approaches introduction.

• Subjects: Language Acquisition
• Words: 2154

English Language Skills Improvement

Phonology and morphology relationship essay.

• Subjects: Language Use
• Words: 3358

Nature of Translation and Its Process

• Words: 1351

The Lack of Self-Confidence to Speak English in Language Learners

• Subjects: Teaching

The two linguistic concepts of Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky

• Words: 2720

Importance of Phonology

• Words: 1329

Learning Foreign Languages: What Are the Benefits?

Essay on language development in early childhood.

• Words: 1227

Issues in Learning English as a Second Language

Descriptive translation studies benefits and limitations.

• Words: 1959

The differences between American and British English

English and spanish languages: similarities and differencies, multilingualism, english as a communication language.

• Words: 3593

The Role of Structuralism in Linguistics

English vs. arabic phonology and syntax.

• Words: 4316

Use of Authentic Materials in Teaching Listening: Advantages and Disadvantages

• Words: 3197

“The Person Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best”: Idiom Explanation

Advantages and disadvantages of using english, code switching: intersentential and intrasentential.

• Words: 1976

Main Components of a Language Classroom: How to Learn & Teach

• Words: 2670

Standard and Non-Standard Types of the English Language

Connected, but alone.

• Subjects: Spoken Language
• Words: 1347

Use of Pathos: Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”

The experience of learning english.

• Words: 1181

Bilingualism and Multilingualism

• Words: 1044

Language Flexibility in Education

Status of english as the global language, normative claim and descriptive claim: comparison and contrast, learning a new language.

• Words: 1398

Idioms in “A Piece of Cake”

Role of the innateness hypothesis in explaining language acquisition.

• Words: 1980

Beowulf: Role of Women

• Words: 1391

Globalization of the English Language: One of the Most Widely Used Languages in the World

• Words: 1089

Foreign Language Learning and Knowledge

• Words: 2118

Speech Genre

• Subjects: Written Speech
• Words: 1531

English Language: Opportunities and Challenges

• Words: 4968

The Direct Method

Language in the study of history.

• Words: 1346

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Pictographs

Challenges of english learning, what is the relationship between language and humanity.

• Words: 1101

Pragmatic Failure in Successful Communication

• Words: 1997

Typical and Atypical Language Development

There is no one-to-one correspondence between orthography and sound in english.

• Words: 2245

The Speech “How to Live Before You Die” by Steve Jobs

“the atlanta compromise speech” by booker t. washington.

• Words: 1939

Language and Logic: The Similarities and Differences

Hedges in linguistics.

• Words: 1562

The Benefits of Knowing a Second Language

Testing in language teaching.

• Words: 2491

Morphophonemic Rules Theory, Its Pros and Cons

Equivalence of translation: english and arabic.

• Words: 1281

The Word “Illuminati” Definition

Learning a second language, the importance of teaching the spelling, dialect: development and significance.

• Words: 4112

The History of the English Language

English language dictionaries and thesauruses.

• Words: 1930

How to Write a Speech?

President obama’s inaugural speech analysis.

• Words: 1458

The Impact of English as a Tool of Global Communication

• Words: 2060

Real Time and Apparent Time Studies

• Words: 3223

English Sentence Structure: Null Constituents

• Words: 1230

Native Language and Its Role in a Person’ Life

• Words: 1233

Analysis of the Slang Word ‘Bro’ Using

• Words: 1423

The Norman Conquest of the English Language

• Words: 2747

Standardization of language

Effects of text messaging on english language, the cultural-individual dialectic and social nature of intercultural relationships, “you are what you speak” by guy deutscher.

• Words: 1681

English as a Global Language

• Words: 1707

Code Switching and Code Mixing

• Words: 2396

The Conflict Between Behaviourism and Rationalism in Linguistics

• Words: 2503

Discourse for Language Teachers: Discourse Analysis and Phonology

• Words: 1106

Observer’s Paradox

• Words: 3291

Politics and the English Language: Analysis of George Orwell’s Essay

• Words: 1634

The Role of Language in Society

Slang language and its characteristics.

• Words: 1442

The Context of a Swear Words

Differences in languages between arabic and english, syllables in phonology.

• Words: 1148

“English Is Not Normal”: Article Summary and Reflection

Understanding modern english, “politics and the english language” by george orwell.

• Words: 1698

Stylistic Devices Used in the Declaration of Independence

Future tense in english: arguments for the presence of a future tense.

• Words: 2400

Colloquialism and Society

• Words: 1679

English Language Acquisition

• Words: 1895

English as a Global Language Essay

“me talk pretty one day” article by david sedaris, english language evolution.

• Words: 1366

Syntax Transformational Grammar and Systemic Functional Grammar

The characteristics of generative syntax.

• Words: 1496

Morphology and Phonology

English vs. russian adjectives.

• Words: 4148

Speech and Written Forms of Communication

Translation analysis of “a lesson from kama sutra”.

• Words: 1501

Multi-Literacy, Its Types and Characteristics

Theories on compliment and compliment responses.

• Words: 1740

Across Cultures, English is the Word

• Words: 1082

The Change of Meaning of the Word “Nice”

Addressee’s influence on speech style.

• Words: 2828

Concept of Language Contact in Linguistic

Curriculum approaches in language teaching.

• Words: 2282

Creative Ways of Teaching the Grammar

Per aspera ad astra: phrase’s extended definition, senses of yellowstone national park, mother tongue analysis essay, medical terminology, the times new roman font: evolution and readability.

• Words: 8593

Browse Course Material

Course info.

• Prof. Norvin W. Richards

Departments

• Linguistics and Philosophy

As Taught In

• Linguistics

Learning Resource Types

Introduction to linguistics, assignment 1.

Due:   Session 7

Length :  Approximately 1000 words (≈ 4 pages, double-spaced)

For the first paper in this class, you will read a published article that makes a claim about language, and write a short critical paper that summarizes and evaluates the authors’ claim. In order to do this, you will need to consider the evidence that is put forward in support of the claim and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the authors’ evidence and arguments.

The articles that you may choose from are listed below and can be accessed under “Assignment 1: Critical Summary Articles.”

A well-written paper should:

• concisely summarize the main claim of the paper,
• describe the key evidence that is presented in support of the claim,
• evaluate whether the evidence confirms the researchers’ claim, or whether there might be other possible interpretations of the findings, and,
• explain what broader and deeper questions about language are engaged by the research reported in the paper; in other words, why are the authors’ results interesting (or not) as part of a broader agenda of research on language?

In addition, the paper should do one or more of the following:

• If the evidence is ambiguous or insufficient to confirm the claim, discuss what type of data would be helpful in order to distinguish between the competing hypotheses or interpretations.
• If the evidence actually seems to support a different interpretation than the one that is advanced in the article, provide an argument for why we should draw a different conclusion from what the authors advocate.
• Discuss possible implications of the finding, if you believe it is true. For example: what further predictions might we make, based on this result? What are some new hypotheses that we might make, and what sorts of additional data might we want to collect to test them?

You are not expected to do any research or consult other sources of information for this assignment.

Be sure to cite page numbers of any quotations from the article. A full bibliographic APA citation of the article should appear at the end of the essay. Please keep your paper to approximately 1000 words (not counting the bibliographic citation).

Articles to choose from:

Berent, I., Lennertz, T., Jun J., Moreno, M. & Smolensky, P. (2008). Language Universals in Human Brains. PNAS 105(14): 5321–5325.

Culbertson, J., & Adger, D. (2014). Language learners privilege structured meaning over surface frequency. PNAS 111(16): 5842–5847.

These articles do have some technical content, but they are not intended solely for readers with a strong background in Linguistics. Although there will be some technical terms and details of the analysis that go beyond what you have studied so far, you should be able to grasp the central ideas and claims of the article, which is all that we are expecting. If you are uncertain as to whether you are interpreting a technical term or analysis correctly, you can simply indicate this, and proceed on the assumption that you are correct. It is also fine to ask the instructor or a TA to verify your interpretation.

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How to Write a Linguistics Essay

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• Geoffrey Finch  

Part of the book series: Palgrave Study Guides:Literature

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For most of us this is where the crunch really comes. Reading about the subject is OK but having to write something intelligible about it is another matter. All that terminology, those diagrams! Well it isn’t so difficult provided you bear in mind a few basic rules. It’s the purpose of this chapter to say what these are.

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Finch, G. (2003). How to Write a Linguistics Essay. In: How to Study Linguistics. Palgrave Study Guides:Literature. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-80213-1_7

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How To Write A Linguistics Essay

Table of Contents

Content of this article

• Outline sample
• How to start a linguistics essay
• How to write body paragraphs for a linguistics essay
• How to conclude a linguistics essay
• How to format a linguistics essay

Language is important and impacts as well as interacts with the world on a daily basis. Different sections and issues of language make for interesting essay topics , for example, how language forms, the meaning of language, and language content. While these examples might seem straightforward and fairly easy when to read, developing a linguistic essay from them can be a challenge. Contrary to what many students might think, linguistic essays have largely taken after scientific articles and not literary theory essays. When writing linguistic papers, it is hence important to be direct, simple, clear, and concise. Students must also avoid overstatements, unnecessary qualifiers, digressions, and verbiage in their essays. Objectivity should be maintained throughout the essay, and personal opinions or experiences must be left out unless otherwise stated in the instructions. A complete linguistic essay must demonstrate or show a capacity for methodical, and clear thinking.

Linguistic essays are written for different purposes, but the main reason is to determine whether students are conversant with the basic concepts, debates, and research interests within the larger subject of linguistics. Teachers often seek to know their student`s capacity to deliver when given different scenarios and questions within linguistics. These help to determine the effectiveness of the teacher’s delivery methods as well as the students’ interest in a particular subject. An instructor can also be interested in determining how best students can incorporate or adhere to the writing standards needed in linguistic papers. As stated earlier, linguistic papers are taken after scientific papers and are hence expected to follow certain formats and include some sections that are often left out in other essays.

Linguistics Essay Structure

As with any scientific paper, three sections are included in a paper, and they include:

• the introduction,
• and the conclusion.

While the term main body is often included in structures, it should not appear as a title in an essay. However, students should only include sections or points that are in line with their main argument , point, or perspective. A linguistics essay structure is hence essay but needs to be strictly adhered to.

When called upon to write an essay , it is always advisable, to begin with a draft before developing the final copy for submission or presentation. A linguistic essay draft provides one with the opportunity to consider many angles and perspectives and also gifts writers with the space of making some mistakes and correcting them as well. It will indeed take more time to prepare a draft and then prepare the final copy, but it saves students from getting lower grades as well as doing revisions and corrections later once the instructor detects some obvious mistakes.

An outline also comes in handy and on many occasions guides and helps students to be consistent with their argumentation. As already stated, an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion make up the structure of a linguistic essay, but when developing a linguistic essay outline , the main body section is often replaced by the points or supporting arguments.

Below is an example of an outline for a linguistic essay given that the essay topic is:

Developmental Language Disorders

Introduction

The connection between language and reading disabilities:

• Correlation between language and reading;
• Language, reading, and poor reading comprehension;
• Common literacy outcomes for people with language impairments – the focus is on children;
• Speech perception in children.

Conclusion and Recommendations

How to write an introduction for a linguistic essay

An introduction serves the purpose of revealing the topic or subject that the student has been asked to write about. A linguistic essay introduction is supposed to explain the main topic or subject and clearly specify the writer’s goal. Before starting the essay, it is important first to narrow down the scope and approach it from an angle that is specific. Readers need to be taken through the topic, the structure of the essay as well as the steps that need to be taken to reach the essay’s ultimate goal.

How to write body paragraphs for a linguistic essay

As already stated, the main body mainly has supporting arguments and points which help to explain the writer’s perspective. In this section, thorough research comes in handy. Linguistics essays rely heavily on research, and it is advisable to make use of genuine sources to enhance the essay’s credibility. The points or arguments need to stand out and support the author’s main argument exhaustively.

How to write a conclusion for a linguistic essay

A linguistics essay conclusion is not challenging and mainly references the introduction. The writer’s main goal must be restated. A summary of the main points or the findings of the research must also be provided. The writer can also include a section specifying some of the things that can be done to improve research on the topic in the future.

How to format a linguistic essay

The use of examples is indeed essential when trying to make a point or when giving real situations which directly relate to the topic under review. Examples help to make something easier to understand and provide realistic instances of what the writer is handling. It is hence vital to use them because they also help to make the explanations easier and thus aid the readers to understand the writer’s point of view.

Research is vital to being a good linguistics essay writer. It is important to find other sources that will help one develop their main point and reference or cite them accordingly. Being scientific simply means writers need to follow APA or MLA standards or any other standards as specified by the instructor. In-text citations must be included, especially when the point included is not original or is borrowed from another article. Below are two examples to help differentiate between APA and MLA in-text citations:

According to Kiragu (2016), language can be defined as “a system that involves words as well as the symbols used by people and other animals to communicate.”

As depicted in the above example, while putting in-text citations using the APA format students are expected to use the author’s surname and year only.

According to Kiragu (16), language can be defined as “a system that involves words as well as the symbols used by people and other animals to communicate.”

Unlike the APA format where writers are asked to include the year, in MLA students are expected to include the page number from whence they got the definition or any other information.

Once all the sources have been accurately cited, it is important to include them in a bibliography at the end of the essay. Each formatting standard has its rules and writers need to familiarize themselves with each of them to avoid the possibility of using two in one document.

Finalizing Essay

Revising an essay is also vital to ensuring that an essay adheres to the formatting rules of the referencing style that the writer chose. It also gifts students with the opportunity of correcting some errors such as grammatical, punctuation, and vocabulary errors. In some instances, writers drift from their main argument, and it is only through revising an essay that such mistakes can be detected and avoided. Clarity and objectivity are indeed important to developing an essay that is specific and narrow in scope. The above can only be enhanced when revising an essay.

Plagiarism is often discouraged by instructors, but only a few students can adhere to this rule. Citations must be included, especially when a writer used other people’s work to develop their own. The style used to include citations is dependent on the instructions given, but the common ones include APA and MLA.

Guide to Writing Linguistics Papers

I. so what are these papers all about anyway, ii. ok, how do i organize this thing, iii. but what do i do with my example sentences and tables, iv. if these are my own arguments, what do i need to cite, and how, v. what if my professor doesn't like how i did it.

Linguistics papers offer analyses of data. You must defend a hypothesis accounting for a set of data, uncover the assumptions of the hypothesis, and test its predictions against data. Linguistics faculty members agree that the student's analysis is more important in a paper than the analyses of others (unless, of course, you are asked to critique others' analyses). Arguments should come "from the student's head" (Napoli).

Papers should be concise, but provide sufficient explanations of your points. Linguistics papers are analogous to lab reports for chemistry or papers for mathematics and so should read more like scientific writing than humanities writing. Clear expression of ideas, application of proper technical terms, and a clear, well-developed argument are necessary. Pay attention to the details of analyses and theory from class and readings, be thorough, and present your data clearly! Your job is to convince the reader that your well-developed analysis is the best one.

Linguistics papers follow an outline form with numbered (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc) and titled sections (and subsections when necessary). For answers to all of your nitpicky organizational questions, consult the Style Sheet of Linguistics Inquiry . A general overview:

1.0 Introduction : Is very brief, it summarizes the information in your paper.

• Introduce the data, question/problem, hypothesis that you will discuss
• Tell why the problem is interesting (theoretically/empirically)
• Given an overview of the organization of your paper

2.0 Survey of Data

• Present your data and previous analyses or theories related to your hypothesis

3.0/4.0 Analysis

• Discuss problems with prior analyses
• Point out questions left unanswered
• Present you proposed analysis with thorough explanation

5.0 Conclusion : Is very brief; can be almost like QED

• Summarize your claim (should be reflective of your introduction)
• Give theoretical implications of our analysis (optional)
• Raise questions not answered by your analysis, or allude to questions you've raised for further research (optional)

III. But what do I do with my example sentences and tables?

Rule of thumb for example sentences: Any examples referred to in your text must be indented and numbered sequentially (as they appear). They should be set apart by a single lne above and below. For example:

The verb hung in (3) is transitive; in (4), hung is intransitive          (3) John hung the painting on the wall.          (4) The painting hung on the wall.

An example that is used in passing in your text does not have to be set apart or numbered, unless it is referred to again later in the text. What's with the italics? When a letter, word, phrase, or sentence is used as a linguistic example or subject of discussion (like hung above), it should appear in italics to differentiate it from your text. Tables and figures? They are usefulfor presenting data clearly. When you use them, number them separately from the example sentences. Want the whole story? See the Style Sheet of Linguistic Inquiry for every detail and circumstance you could imagine.

If your topic has been the subject of other papers, you should cite those works in your paper (see recommendations for introduction content above). Citations are usually in-text with the last name of the author and the page number, as well as the year (if the author has more than one work). If the author's name is part of the sentence, it is not put in parentheses; if it is not part of the sentence, it is put in parentheses. Check out these examples (courtesy of Donna Jo Napoli):

"Assume the analysis of clitic doubling in Aissen (1990)." OR "Verbs come second in the independent clause (Hoeksema,p.23)."

The citations refer to a Bibliography (Works Cited) section that should appear at the end of your paper. Format the entries according to MLA rules or see that all-knowing Style Sheet of Linguistic Inquiry . You should only include works in your Bibliography that were directly referenced or mention in your text.

Footnotes (or endnotes) are not used for citing other works, but for giving tangential comments on your text.

V. What if my Professor doesn't like how I did it?

Linguistics faculty members at Swarthmore have different recommendations and opinions about use of first person, length/content of conclusion/ MLA vs. Style Sheet for bibliographies, endnotes vs. footnotes, and probably other issues. If you're unsure, check with your professor!

Harrison, K. David, Visiting Assistant Professor of Linguistics. Email to author. 31 October 2001. Napoli, Donna Jo, Professor and Chair, Department of Linguistics. Email to author. 23 October 2001. Raimy, Eric, Visiting Assistant Professor of Linguistics. Email to author. 6 November 2001. Swingle, Kari, Instructor of Linguistics. Email to author. 4 November 2001 The MIT Press: Linguistic Inquiry . https://direct.mit.edu/DocumentLibrary/SubGuides/LI-Style-Sheet-12.12.19... . Viewed 7 November 2001

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6 (page 76) p. 76 What is a language?

• Published: April 2003
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‘What is a language?’ is a much-debated question among linguists. What may count as separate ‘languages’ for specialists in one part of the world may be more similar than ‘dialects’ of a single language elsewhere. Boundaries between states can also influence how these terms are used, as can ties of nationhood or ethnicity. For many linguists, the essential test is how far people using different forms of speech can understand one another. Others, however, define language in terms of structures or as a system, within which units form a self-contained set of relations. These are governed by rules, for example. for how words are combined and ordered and for grammatical endings.

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100 best linguistic research topics.

November 26, 2020

Some learners struggle to choose linguistic research topics to research and write about. That’s because linguistics is interesting to learn about yet challenging to write papers and essays about. Some students stay up at night learning about phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Unfortunately, they still struggle to write quality papers and essays on linguistic topics in these areas. If looking for ideas to form the basis of your paper or essay, here is a list of research topics in linguistics to consider.

Linguistic Research Topics in Discourse Studies

Discourse studies provide fascinating details about individuals, culture, technology, movements, and changes that take place over time. If looking for linguistics topics that relate to discourse studies, here are some of the best ideas to consider. You can also check out our communication research topics .

• Childhood is the time when speech is made or broken
• Cultivation of politicians’ buzzword through linguistic analysis
• How linguistic patterns are sued to locate migration paths
• How computers affect modern language negatively
• How text messaging has created a new linguistic subculture
• How the brain works when it comes to learning a new language
• How words change over time
• How effective is non-verbal communication when it comes to displaying emotions?
• How effective is verbal communication when it comes to displaying feelings?
• How society alters words and their meanings
• How the negative power of a word be reduced by neuro-linguistic programming for trauma victims
• Is verbal communication more effective than non-verbal communication?
• How individuals communicate without a shared language
• How beneficial is learning more than one language during childhood?
• Why should Elementary School teach students a second language?
• Explain the acquisition of a language at different growth stages
• How global leaders use language ethics to change the emotional views of the masses
• Explain the power of a language in capitalizing on emotions
• How technology alters the communication
• How proper use of a language makes a person better in society

A learner should pick a linguistics topic in this category if it piques their interest. That’s because writing a great paper or essay requires a student to explore an idea that they are interested in. Essentially, a learner should research and write about something that they find enjoyable.

Interesting Linguistic Topics for Research

Some topics in linguistics are very interesting to research. These are ideas that most people in society will find enjoyable to read about. Here is a list of the most interesting linguistics topics that students can choose for their papers and essays.

• Explain how sociolinguistics help people understand multi-lingual language choices
• A study of differences and similarities of Post-Tudor English
• How language encourages gender differences
• Understanding socio-linguistics via color and race background in America
• Vowel pronunciation in the UK- A systematic review
• The role of music in language evolution
• Explain the development and evolution of slangs
• A study of the connection between perception and language
• How language creates bonds among cross-cultural communities
• Language review in informal and formal settings
• How age affects English pronunciation
• A phonological treatment based review for English-French load words
• How sociolinguistics influence gender empowerment
• How words can be used to master legal settings
• How the media use sociolinguistics to gain a competitive edge and create bias
• Exploratory analysis of the impact and importance of body language
• Importance of sociolinguistics education in discipline development
• How genders perceive politeness via language use
• A study of social change through history via sociolinguistics
• An evaluation of English evolution via a focus on different sociolinguistics

The vast majority of topics in this category touches on language and society. That’s why papers and essays about these linguistic research topics will most likely impress many readers.

Applied Linguistics Research Paper Topics

Applied linguistics focus on finding meaningful language solutions to real-world issues. Some of the best linguistic paper topics to consider in this category include the following.

• The beauty idea and its expression verbally
• A detailed evaluation of hate language
• What are the key determinants of hate language propagation?
• A literature-based review that explores eye-tracking technology and its implication for applied linguistics advancement
• A detailed evaluation of research methods for applied linguistics
• How relevant is the development of applied linguistics?
• Discuss the impacts of the language used in social media on the current generation
• An essay on the impact of using proper linguistic communication in social media
• Are applied linguistics relevant in the current digitalized world?
• How political oppression affect the linguistic used in the media
• How important is applied linguistics vocationally?
• The major differences between spoken and written language via linguistics evaluation
• Is multilingualism a possibility that follows bilingualism?
• What is the contribution of a language to national identity within a multicultural society?
• How effective is healthcare delivery when there are language barriers?
• Is the language barrier relevant in social media?
• How bilingualism enriches the personality of an individual
• Discuss language cognition and perceptions during the learning process
• Discuss the learning mechanisms when it comes to a foreign language
• Explain how a non-native teacher can teach local students the English language

These can also be great dissertation topics in linguistics. That’s because they require extensive research and analysis of facts to write brilliant papers. So, if struggling to find an idea for your dissertation, consider one of these thesis topics in applied linguistics.

Great Linguistics Essay Topics

Perhaps, you’re looking for a list of English linguistics research topics from which you can get ideal for your essay. In that case, consider these amazing research proposal topics in linguistics.

• Discuss the new generative grammar concept
• Analysis of pragmatics and semantics in two texts
• Identity analysis in racist language
• Do humans have a predisposition to learn a language?
• English assessment as a second language
• Endangered languages and language death causes
• Attitudes towards a language and childhood language acquisition
• Mixing modern language and code-switching
• Linguistic turn and cognitive turn
• What is computational linguistics?
• Linguistic and cultural diversity as an educational issue
• Differences between adults and childhood language learning
• Factors that affect the ability to learn a language
• A forensic assessment of linguistics
• Lexical and grammatical changes
• How important is a language?
• What are the effects of language on human behavior?
• English or indigenous languages?
• Is language an essential element of human life?
• Is language the primary communication medium?

These can be great topics for short essays. However, they can also be PhD thesis topics in linguistics where learners will have to conduct extensive and detailed research. The most important thing is to gather relevant and new information that will interest the readers.

Research Topics in Cognitive Linguistics

Students that want to explore questions in cognitive linguistics should consider topics in this category. Here are some of the most interesting topics in linguistics for research papers that also touch on cognition. If these ideas seem a bit complicated, use our writing services .

• How grammatical phrasing affects compliance with prescriptions, prohibitions, or suggestions
• Latest research findings into cognitive literacy in Indian English poetry
• Conceptual metaphor: Does the activation of a single-source domain activates the multiple target concepts?
• Multilingualism: Does L2 modulate L1/L2 organization in the brain?
• Can task-based language teaching perception be measured?
• Are there prominent cognitive-linguistic books for students?
• What role does cognitive linguistics play in the acquisition of a second language?
• Is word meaning a concept that is advocated for by some scholars?
• Which linguistic experiments can be used to understand how the right and left hemispheres work?
• Discuss the relationship between metaphors and similes

Computational Linguistics Research Topics

Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that deals with rule-based or statistical modeling of the natural language from the computational perspectives. Here are some of the best topics for research in this field.

• Using supervised learning to analyze Medieval German poetry
• Which computer-assisted program is best for phonetic comparison of different dialects and why?
• How and where can Danish verbs be extracted?
• Can computational linguistic suggest an intra-lingual contrastive corpus analysis?
• Where can the Schizophrenia text dataset be found?
• Discuss the techniques used for meaning or semantic representation in the natural language processing
• Describe performance measures for speech recognition
• How to extract the introduction, development, and conclusion of a text
• Discuss the addition of matrices in a dictionary in python
• Explain the definition and characterization of linguistic dimensions in a multidimensional analysis

Students that are struggling to choose what to write about can pick any topic in this list that they find interesting, research, and write about it. Taking the time to research extensively and write quality papers or essays is what will earn learners their desired grades.

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An introduction to Linguistics and its subfields

Checked : Michael T. , Grayson N.

Latest Update 19 Jan, 2024

Table of content

So what is linguistics

Psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, computational linguistics, historical linguistics, applied linguistics.

Linguistics is a comprehensive course, but when you tell someone you are studying it, they will probably ask questions such as, how many languages do you speak? Do you know everything in grammar? What is it about?

Linguistics   is not in any way related to how many languages one can speak. Many linguistics pros only talk about one of two languages. Learning many languages is not a requirement for studying it, though the interest in many dialects grows in linguists. It is not also about what grammar is correct and which is wrong. Every language in the world, including Southern English, standard   American English , Cockney English, and all other dialects, have their correct grammars.

In brief, linguistics is a science of languages. It focuses on discerning the operation of the language faculty of the mind; seeks to explain how language itself operates. Linguists, therefore, are not interested in learning the language but in observing patterns within the said language. It unveils the principles that drive our minds’ language understanding and production.

You cannot ask a doctor how many diseases they have because of their profession. It is the same in linguistics; you cannot ask a linguist how many languages they speak. People in linguistics come from different fields, including math, computer science, philosophy, anthropology psychology, and many others.

And this is why linguists work around a vast number of subfields; deal with different parts of the language.

Language manifests different characteristics that create meaning. Phonetics is the study of acoustics and sounds. A phonetician will try to look at stress and how it manifests in language. When reading an English text, for instance, you might notice some words sounding louder than others in a sentence. Consider the following:

• “   ANna loves bananas.”
• “ANna loves bananas?”

Notice how the stressed syllable in ANNA is pronounced in a lower pitch when asking a question. The sound makes meaning out of a text, and that is what phonetics is all about.

Phonology handles the issue of sound systems and their patterns. Consider the sound ‘t’ as used in English words. When put at the beginning of a term, it sounds different from when it is at the end of the same word. Consider a word like “totem.” The first ‘t’ comes out with a puff (trying reading the word with your hand in front of your mount and see how it comes out.” The second ‘t’ sounds a bit flat.

Sound is described by how the tongue, the lips, and other vocals in the mouth and throat relate. A sound described as ‘tap,’ as in‘t,’ has the tongue tapping briefly on your mouth.

Syntax is the study of sentence structure. For instance, the ‘wh-movement’ phenomenon describes English and other European languages. Every sentence seems to work around questions words who, what, where, when, why, and how. So when someone says, “I drive a Mitsubishi,” they are probably responding to questions, “what car model do you drive?”

Many properties predict the presence and absence of wh-movement. It is, however, a broad topic that we shall look at later.

Does the text make meaning? What is the logic behind it? Semantics tries to answer these questions; it is the study of meaning and logic. Every sentence in any language predicts what is next or what might have happened in the text. Semantics puts meaning into a logical form.

This is the study of language in human psychology; how language appears in the brain. Psychologists can carry out experiments to the reaction of the brain when exposed to varying stimuli. The findings can be related to linguistics theories.

Consider what is known as ‘garden path sentences.’ A psychologist can use it to track a reader’s movement of the eye. Look at this sentence, “The old man the boat.” The reader seems to be led down and false path and will try to double-check when they reach “the’ because they were expecting a verb. Once they read a second time, they will discover the word ‘man’ is used as a verb; the sentence becomes correct. Such a sentence gives a clue on how sentence parsing happens in the brain.

The study is how language interacts with society is known as sociolinguistics. It focuses on defining attitudes towards different language features within a social class, race, sex, and much more. It also looks at how communities differ in terms of code-switching to prestige dialects.

William Labov, one of the founders of sociolinguistics, carried a study in different groups of people in NY City. He visited department stores in three different areas; low end, mid-end, and high end and asked a question that prompted an answer “fourth floor.” The “r” was pronounced differently according to the level of the store. They were asked to repeat, and he discovered only those in mid and high-end stores had the possibility of repeating the sound.

As the name suggests, it is the study of how computer science is applied in linguistics. It can use a programming language to design or change, or for practical work. For instance, it can be used in Natural Processing Language to show language acquisition and translation software.

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This section seeks to understand how languages change over time. Historical linguists work like evolutionary biologists; in the specified area doing “reconstruction.” They work on the basis that language changes constantly. For instance, the letter ‘f’ at the beginning of English words corresponds with ‘p’ in Latin words; e.g., father: pater, fish: Pisces. Linguists can try to establish the ancestral roots of these two patterns.

An applied linguist studies the application of linguistics to real-life. It is common in fields like language education, translation, or language policy. A language teacher can, for instance, carry out research to determine ease of acquisition in a second language to discover a better approach for teaching.

Linguistics is quite extensive. There are many other fields, but the ones mentioned above are among the main ones. As you continue with your journey in the field, you will make more discoveries.

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Applying for Linguistics at University in 2024: Reading, Personal Statement and Interview Tips From an Oxford Linguistics Graduate

This article is written by U2 Spanish and Linguistics mentor, Rhys. Rhys graduated with a First in Linguistics and Spanish from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford in 2012. He has a particular interest in both Old Norse and modern Icelandic, as well as on how languages in general change over time - and was the winner of the Fred Holcroft Prize for study of the history of Spanish as a language. This article provides a comprehensive guide to Linguistics at Oxbridge, how to prepare and what to expect at interview (+ the resources suggested will be useful for personal statement preparation for other top UK universities).

Why Linguistics?

Linguistics is the subject for people who don’t think two languages is enough.  Now, that’s not to say that it’s all about learning lots of languages at once. Far from it, in fact! Linguistics is even better than that. The truth is, the individual language is a worthwhile and valuable object of study in itself, but the aim of Linguistics is to go a little deeper (though you’ll certainly pick up bits from myriad languages along the way). 

We know that a lot of our language ability is something shared by every human: we all have at least one language, we all acquire languages in the same way as infants, we all use the same tools to make and understand speech (or sign language), and it seems like we might even (though it probably doesn’t feel like it sometimes!) be using the same grammatical “algorithm”, even if the thing that comes out of our mouths gets labelled as English, Malay, or Quechua. And that’s not all. I haven’t even talked about language’s interaction with psychology, neurology, or how language infuses and affects pretty much every aspect of society. Linguistics is, in brief, an “under-the-bonnet” look at what might be the one thing that makes humans unique in the animal kingdom.

So, if it’s so great, why isn’t it a more widespread and popular subject? Many students seem to “stumble upon” Linguistics by accident - but it’s odd that a subject so varied and fundamental to human existence is the sort of thing that needs a stumble to be found! In my opinion, it’s because it’s not a standard school subject. There is no GCSE in Linguistics, no course dedicated to it at A-Level or IB (though other subjects do borrow some of its tools, and vice versa). This can be at once daunting and liberating for a prospective student.  Where do you start? How best to prepare? What are interviewers at Oxbridge looking for?

What follows, for the entirety of this article, is my personal opinion. My specialities were historical linguistics (i.e. how languages change over time) and phonetics (i.e. the mechanics of sequencing and producing speech), but a specialist in e.g. Psycholinguistics might write a very different blog post! What I want to stress is: there is no right or wrong way to prepare for Linguistics . Some people see this as the curse of an interdisciplinary subject, but I see it as a joy. Always more to explore, ready for whenever you want - and it means that you can follow your nose to a large extent. Do you have an interest in speech disorders (often called “aphasia” for a general term)? Great! Indulge it as part of your preparation. Is computational linguistics your thing? Delve into that with gusto.

Let me put it another way. Linguists draw a distinction between prescriptive linguistics (“this is how you should speak and write” - or what most of the world thinks linguists do!) and descriptive linguistics (“let’s record and explain what people actually say and do”). The latter, descriptive linguistics, is what the vast, vast majority of linguists practice - and it’s what you’ll be studying. This guide aims to be similarly descriptive, and not prescriptive. I will suggest what is available, what might be good to pursue or to investigate, and point out some of the things that would make a strong candidate (it is impossible to be exhaustive). It is rare that I will be prescriptive; there are very few “you shoulds” in what follows.  Since Linguistics is a new subject for everyone at the start of university, aptitude and enthusiasm are prized above all else . Our focus will be on how to make the most of that aptitude, and how best to channel that enthusiasm.

Why are you applying?

Before you begin preparing for your linguistics application, it is worth taking a few minutes to think about the reasons why you wish to study the course. This will be crucial for personal statement writing and you may be asked about your motivations for applying at interview.

Reading Around the Subject

As you can tell, this blog post is going to take a highly permissive approach to what counts as useful preparation - but, because of the nature of the UK application process (with the personal statement and maybe an interview, depending on university), some reading and discussion of what you’ve learnt from reading is something that will definitely feature. I should make clear that you should feel no compulsion to tackle any academic texts at this point. Why would you have to - you don’t have any formal training yet! Things on the ambitious side of popular science / written for general consumption by the public will be fine.

A common starting point is Oxford’s Very Short Introduction To Linguistics , and I can see why. You can read it in an afternoon, and it will give a broad overview of what different disciplines in Linguistics there are.  From there, you can take a mosey down whatever route you like - maybe even multiple routes if you aren’t sure. Some of these routes - such as Sociolinguistics - even have Very Short Introductions of their own.

Another fantastic starting point, quite a bit longer but very digestible, is The Story of Human Language by John McWhorter .  This is actually a series of recorded lectures available as an audiobook (or direct from The Great Courses) that has an accompanying PDF with things like diagrams, charts, and so on. I think that, despite the slightly chintzy format of the recording (the between-chapter music really is awful), the content is excellent - and it has the advantage of encouraging you to head off in the direction you choose. Note what makes you prick up your ears - literally - and take your reading from there.

A good touchstone - not necessarily a cover-to-cover read, but a touchstone - is Limits of Language by Mikael Parkvall . If, like me, your only pre-university knowledge of languages is of European languages, this is a great way to dive in to some of the world’s linguistic diversity. I also find that it has a good indication of the different sub-themes encompassed in the discipline - so again, one to dip in and out of, and to reference if needed.

Many universities - including Oxford - only offer Linguistics as a joint course (in Oxford’s case, this means with Psychology, or Philosophy, or a modern language). This is an opportunity for some crossover reading. If you’re studying Linguistics with Italian, for example, it’s worth knowing a little about what Italian is and where it comes from (no, just saying Latin isn’t going to cut the mustard!).  If paired with Psychology, then something on how language operates in the brain is probably a good place to start (perhaps The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker is where to go first).

At Cambridge, you spend part of your first year studying the history and development of English itself - and one of the most readable and engaging introductions to that which I’ve found is another John McWhorter book, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue .  In fact, I’d go so far as recommending it to all applicants; since you will be studying with English as the medium, it’s no surprise that many examples you encounter will be from English - and therefore a knowledge of the language’s history itself is a boon.

Some very common texts to appear on personal statements are The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker , Through The Language Glass by Guy Deutscher ,  Linguistics: a Complete Introduction by David Hornsby , and any of a number of books by Jean Aitchison or David Crystal .  These are all popular for a reason - they’re really good! I will not highlight one of them in particular, however. Remember, outside reading is not about swallowing a chunk of prescribed knowledge; it’s about what you do with the knowledge you acquire. It is easy to tell when a student has read book X because “it’s what you’re supposed to do, isn’t it?”. It is far preferable for a student to have read a small number of texts, or to have developed a special interest and the ability to speak interestingly about it. It’s also far easier to show enthusiasm when you’re in that position, as that enthusiasm won’t be artificial.

Other Non-Book Sources

Podcasts are my go-to when it comes to learning about ... well, anything really.  For me, the format is great. Portable, almost always free, and pitched at just the right level: designed to hold attention, but sturdy enough for a good piece of knowledge to be acquired. Again, the ones that are going to appeal most is a matter of personal choice. But there’s plenty out there, and I think the majority of them are fairly good at covering a wide range of topics. The back-catalogues of some of them are copious (you do not need to listen to them all!), so be choosy - start with the episodes that whet your appetite, and then delve deeper if you develop a taste.  Some back-catalogues into which to delve are (in no particular order) Lingthusiasm , BBC Word of Mouth , The Allusionist , Lexicon Valley , The History of English .

YouTube and a few other video sites (such as TED) will also provide a good overview of certain subjects and topics - and, even better, some of them will allow you to get an idea of what other languages sound like along the way. Some of my favourite channels are NativLang , Tom Scott’s Language Files , and The Ling Space , though there are others to explore as well - again, feel free to act like a magpie here, and pounce on whatever seems shiny to you.

If you live in a large city, you might find talks and lectures on Linguistics that can be attended as well ... but honestly, this isn’t something you need to lose sleep over. I didn’t have access to these when I applied, for instance, and did not feel any poorer for it. Nor is Linguistics the sort of mass-appeal subject that, say, history or a science is - so it might be hard to find suitable lectures in the first place!

Either way, whether it’s books or some of the other avenues mentioned above, what matters is the benefit that engaging with them has given you. It all relates back to the undefined nature of what a good linguist will look like, and how there is no single body of knowledge, no syllabus, that is expected of you. The utility in these books, podcasts, and videos is what you learn, and how well you can demonstrate that learning - and that’s always easier if you have a genuine interest. Hence the emphasis above on enjoyment. If it’s not captivating you, try something else!

Special Interests for Linguistics

This is another facet of the qualities of a linguist being a little shapeless (or, if we’re kinder, flexible and open). As mentioned, Linguistics is a subject that people stumble upon, often by accident. It’s really common for that to be a specialist interest in something that intersects with Linguistics. 

I had one of these: Old Norse and Modern Icelandic, both of which had captured my imagination years before thinking about university. Whilst one might find a couple (only 2 or 3, to my knowledge) of places where these can be studied in the UK as the main component of your degree, I chose to go for Linguistics instead: that interest in Old Norse led to other things - especially language change - and from there to Linguistics itself (and yes, I did get to look at Old Norse as one exam paper within the degree). This is a trait that I’ve noticed with other students as well: previous students of mine have had interests in American Sign Language, or Mongolian, or bilingualism in young children, or how language use intersects with gender. I am happy to bet that you have some kind of Linguistics-related special interest as well. So: hone it.

There is no set method for this; it really is an open field. If it’s a language, then it’s worth looking at how that language works (not just how to speak it, but also its grammar, culture, sounds or signs, and history). If it’s something more thematic, like bilingualism, then I’d say that it’s worth looking for in-depth discussions, texts, or articles about it.  But I’ll guess that, if you’re looking at this page, you’ve started doing that for your special interest already. In short, give yourself the time to geek out about it! I was asked about Icelandic in every university interview I had, even the interviews which were not related to Old Norse, Icelandic, or Linguistics at all - another indication that there are many routes to demonstrating interest, and that the ball really is in your court.

Things You Don’t Need to Worry About for Linguistics

From-scratch subjects are a little different to others. If you’re applying for a language, then yes, some experience using that language (or, if feasible, time in a place where that language is spoken) is always welcome. For some other courses, having work experience is a major advantage, even a quasi-prerequisite. Not so with Linguistics! Many generalist guides to university application will chat about demonstrating your interest in a subject in a practical way, but fear not - this doesn’t apply here.

Some schools encourage students to write essays for prizes. I know of one for Linguistics, run by Trinity College at Cambridge (there may be more, this just happens to be the one I know) - you will need to be in Year 12/Lower Sixth or equivalent to be eligible, and the deadline is early August. You might find them useful as practice in researching a linguistic topic, and the topic (for 2021 at time of writing) is interesting, however, don’t consider them a priority and don’t be discouraged if you don’t win!

You also don’t need to know of any particular theories within Linguistics itself, nor really of any current affairs or developments (like I would expect for, say, a Modern Languages candidate). As you’ll find out soon enough, there are many theories which attempt to explain the mechanisms by which we produce speech.  For example, I guarantee that you’ll hear about Noam Chomsky and Generative Grammar in at least one of the books you read. A background outline of Chomsky’s ideas will be sufficient - but do not feel like you need an understanding of the theory itself.  Or, in other words, it’s good to know what it is, but it’s certainly not necessary to know how it works! 

Admissions Tests for Linguistics

Only Cambridge requires an admissions exam dedicated to Linguistics. Oxford used to do so, and students will still need to sit a test for the other “half” of their degree (either the Modern Languages Admissions Test ( see U2 blog ) if paired with a language, or the TSA (See U2 blog) if paired with Philosophy or Psychology), but the Linguistics-specific portion is no longer offered. This is (in my personal opinion) a shame, as they were actually rather absorbing!

That’s not to say that there’s no longer any usefulness in looking at Oxford’s tests, in fact, I think it’s super-helpful no matter which university you choose!  See other sections below.

The Cambridge test is taken at-interview, lasts an hour, and is split into three equal-time and equal-mark parts: some questions on an unknown language, some data analysis (usually of graphs, but sometimes of charts), and a short essay based on a linguistics-themed topic. You will need to attempt all questions. You do not need specialist terminology or knowledge to complete these tests - that’s not what it’s about! It’s a gauge of a few things: your aptitude, your ability to process data, and a snapshot of your essay-writing ability. There are a few past papers available on the Cambridge website itself (on the Entry Requirements tab, at time of writing this guide) , and you will of course find it useful to practice with these. I do have a couple of other ideas as well, in case you run out:

There are a few more tips on the linguistic analysis below, so I won’t repeat that here.  For the graphs section, this is something that can be practised a little with Oxford’s past papers (link below), which also have graphs and charts to analyse (though, as the test for Oxford was half the length of Cambridge’s, they’re a little bit more simple - but still good practice!). But do not be intimidated by the graphs; they are (by my eye) no more complex than the chart/graph skills needed for GCSE Science, and some questions related to the graphs are often speculative (e.g. “the graphs show that younger people say XYZ but older people say ABC ; why might that be?”) - so the graphs themselves are usually no big deal.

The essay-writing section is what students find hardest, in my experience - and this is because a 20-minute essay is something unusual and not really expected in most other areas of study!  What I think is best is: to plan the essay, even just a rough plan, for a few minutes.  A look at the mark scheme shows us that there are marks for style and structure, so they’re expecting you to display both! The essay should be short, relevant, to-the-point, and organised. Often a structure is implied in the question, so this is easier than I’m making it sound - you’ll see what I mean. When writing, ensure that you have answered every aspect of the question - and nothing more (you don’t have time for more). This essay (indeed the whole test) is a skill, and as with any skill, practice leads to improvement.

Linguistic Analysis/ Dealing with Unfamiliar Languages

I’ve separated this out from other parts of this discussion, as it’s part of the process for everyone at some point: being presented with unfamiliar utterances in a language, being asked to draw conclusions and generalisations about the language’s form and grammar, and (sometimes) to make new sentences according to the grammar rules that you notice. This might sound terrifying, but trust me - once you start, it’s really fun!

This is where Oxford’s past papers are a great well of resources for some practice (on the How Do I Prepare? tab, at time of writing this guide) .  The Linguistics test is (well, was) part of the Modern Languages Admissions Test. PDFs of the whole thing are freely available on Oxford’s website, and available for download. Most of them also have mark schemes available - but you don’t need to worry about exam technique.  Instead, try and solve the little language-based puzzles (and most of them are puzzles, in a way). Gain a method for analysing and systematising the data, and explain it aloud to yourself - even if it makes you sound a little nuts! It’s what you’d need to do in an interview setting, so it’s decent practice. I found that coloured pens or a set of highlighters will be useful; it helps you notice and mark the commonalities and patterns (or grammar rules, in short) - and they’ll be ready if you need to use them to generate a new phrase in the language. I think you’ll be surprised at how engaging - fun, even - these will turn out to be. If applying for Cambridge, give Oxford’s papers a go: they help you get accustomed to the first and second questions in the Cambridge paper.

Some schools and students also participate in the UK Linguistics Olympiad . This is, again, a competition based on linguistic and grammatical analysis, or pattern finding. If your school offers it, great! Give it a try. But I certainly don’t think it’s an obligatory step in preparation - I didn’t even know what it was when applying! That said, I think it’s a brilliant resource for practising. Many of the papers from previous years, with explanations, are freely available on the UKLO website; you can practice solo with past questions from there. Again, I think these are great fun, and I think you will too! But you needn’t approach it in any formalised way if that option is unavailable or un-enticing.

This is an example problem from the Linguistics Olympiad - their training materials are excellent practice!

How to Prepare for the Linguistics Interview

The interview is often the section of the application process which most worries applicants. The info below is mostly for Oxford and Cambridge, though other courses with Linguistics as a component (e.g. BA Language and Culture at UCL) may also require an interview. What I find interesting is that there seems to be no set agenda for the interviews, no checklist, no recurring topic, and no “this will definitely happen” task or question. Again, I think it’s best to see this as a liberation rather than a worry. Feedback from previous students does indicate one commonality: the interviews themselves were more entertaining - pleasant, even - than expected. What follows is a list of things that I’ve heard of that crop up in interviews. You might experience all of these, or just some - and it’s no indication of a good or poor performance if you aren’t asked them all. Some are my own experiences, some from old classmates, some from old students of mine. They’re in no particular order:

•  A language puzzle . These are common, but not universal. Oxford in particular seems to be setting them, now that the paper-based test has been retired. I had one of these with an East African language. Often (but not always) you will be given the stimulus in advance of the interview - so it won’t necessarily be something you have to deal with on the spot!

•  Analysis of English grammar . This might ask you to explain and codify what’s going on in some English sentences - which might involve a bit of wordplay, or ambiguous sentences, or use of a particular word in a variety of contexts. Again, you are usually given a bit of alone time to look at these before the interview. The techniques for this are the same as for any other language puzzle: systematise, organise, find commonalities, and explain.

•  Discussion of your personal statement . With no grades or (in most cases) Linguistics-specific teacher reference to draw on, this is often the interviewers’ main source of information about you before the interview itself. If you’ve done your preparation right, there will be plenty of avenues waiting for the interviewer to pick up.

•  Discussion of any clear special interests . This is something that’ll likely make itself clear in your personal statement, but I’ve separated it out because (personal opinion alert!) it’s often the most interesting thing from the interviewer’s perspective. A nice source of variety. As mentioned earlier, I was asked about Icelandic in every interview, and I recall it being the topic which most interested the interviewers. When I give mock interviews, I pounce on any clear special subjects. It’s usually the area where you are most able to demonstrate aptitude, interest, and a drive to investigate something of your own volition - so keep chipping away at the special interest, whatever it is, and it will be easy for that interest to radiate out.

Overall, then, it seems to me that the interview is as open and flexible as the rest of what we’ve discussed so far. There are, of course, plenty of things that one can do in order to come across well. Most of these, like getting used to language puzzles, developing a special interest, and knowing the content of your personal statement, can be prepared in advance. But there is an element of unpredictability - and that is, of course, deliberate . It’s another indication that the interviewers are hunting for aptitude. This doesn’t mean they’re trying to catch you out! The opposite, in fact: since your ability is something of a blank slate (no indicative grades to look at, say), they’re trying to reel you in. I find it quite fitting that it’s often called an “invitation” to interview - because that’s exactly what it is. They’re asking you to come with an open mind, and to show them how that mind works.

I half-suspect that this guide might not have been what you expected. Many “how-to” guides are, by definition, prescriptive; this was descriptive. I’ve purposefully avoided that as much as I can (though inevitably there’s a bit of prescription above). It’s all because of those two central things that are most prized in the selection for Linguistics (and indeed some other from-scratch subjects): interest, and aptitude. The intention of this guide has not been to push you in a particular direction, because there is no set direction in which you should be pushed. If you’ve read this far in this (really quite long!) blog post, it’s a safe bet that you’re already interested in Linguistics. You probably already know what the special interest is as well - the thing that first caught your eye, the thing that makes your knowledge and investigation unique. What’s laid out above are just tools that you can use to sharpen your own aptitude, to augment your interests. I emphasise it so frequently because I think it really matters.  Treat the information above not as a route laid out on a map, but merely the unscrolled map itself . It is up to you to chart the course you’ll most enjoy - and it will, I promise, be enjoyable.

Are You Applying For Linguistics or Joint Honours Linguistics (E.g. PPL) at Oxbridge?

Oxbridge Linguistics Mentoring

U2 offers ad hoc sessions as well as wider Oxbridge Mentoring programmes ( book a free consultation to discuss options). We have a great team of Oxbridge-educated Linguistics mentors including 1st Class, Master’s and PhD level graduates.

The Process:

1) We suggest an Oxbridge Linguistics graduate as a mentor and send their full CV for review. Our mentors are deeply familiar with the admissions process to study Linguistics/ Joint Honours with Linguistics at the University of Oxford and Cambridge, and are well-placed to guide you through personal statement curation, the entrance exam (if applicable) and interview process. 

2) We typically suggest beginning with a 1.5 hour informal assessment/ taster session , where the mentor will informally assess the student’s current performance level for application, including test and interview. Following this, we issue a report with feedback, and structure a plan to best prepare.

3) U2’s approach for regular Linguistics application sessions: The main focus of tutorial sessions will be to explore material that can be discussed in the personal statement and at interview. Mentors ensure each student refines their interests within Linguistics, and is exposed to a range of approaches and new concepts, guiding students in their reading and wider subject exploration. Together, we build a case for the student, exploring their special interests in the subject and honing skills for the admissions test if applicable.

Frequency of sessions can be decided between student and mentor. Students can take either ad hoc sessions, or we structure a full programme for preparation, which may include further co-curricular opportunities such as our research projects , our Languages Summer Schools and Oxbridge mock interview days. Oxbridge mentoring presents a wonderful opportunity to learn from and be inspired by some extraordinary academic minds. We would be delighted to support you through what can be a challenging, but hugely rewarding process.

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Tips to answer multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay-type questions in exams

E xams are a stressful affair and they require smart strategies and techniques to excel. While in-depth learning is crucial, different types of questions demand specific strategies and approaches for solving.

Exams may appear in several formats including multiple choice questions, short answers and essays, each requiring different techniques of answering.

Below is a comprehensive guide to solving exams with different types of question patterns:

TIPS TO ANSWER MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

• The first and foremost thing to do is to read the questions properly. Often, students miss out on important details due to a lack of focus. Paying attention to each and every piece of information and reading with attention is crucial.
• After reading the question, try to predict the answer without referring to the given options. This increases your chances of selecting the correct answer through educated guessing.
• Using the process of elimination can do wonders. In this method, you eliminate the options you believe are incorrect. This narrows down your choices and aids in identifying the correct response.
• Paying attention to words such as 'always,' 'never,' 'sometimes,' 'most,' 'only,' 'many,' 'but,' and 'often' can help us better understand the sentence. These words tend to alter the meaning of the sentence and hence should be paid attention to and read properly.
•  Understanding concepts thoroughly enables you to grasp the context of questions accurately and answer them correctly.

TIPS TO ANSWER SHORT QUESTIONS

• Read the question properly and comprehend it well. Understand whether you need to give a definition, provide examples, write a brief summary or offer comparisons.
• Write the answer to the point, avoiding unnecessary explanations and using keywords. This increases your chances of scoring higher.
• Use simple language and avoid complex terms, as they can confuse the examiner. The simpler your answer, the higher your score.
• Write your answers in a logical and organised manner. Structure your answers with separate paragraphs, bullet points, flowcharts, tables, etc., as this makes it easier for the examiner to read and understand your answer.
• During the preparatory phase, use colourful pens, flashcards, charts, and drawings to learn concepts well. This method helps in recollecting the answers during exams.
• Indulge in self-testing methods by practicing sample question papers, demo tests, and solving previous year question papers to understand the probable questions and the exam pattern.
• Having a time management strategy in place is important. Allocate time for different types of questions and try to solve them within the given time frame.

TIPS TO WRITE ESSAYS

• Understand the topic well and follow the instructions.
• Brainstorm ideas on the topic and plan the points you intend to include.
• Begin with an informative yet concise introduction, followed by a detailed body and a conclusion that summarizes your essay.
• Ensure the essay is well-structured and divided into a minimum of 3-4 paragraphs.
• Use quotations and examples to support the information you have written.
• Adhere to the specified time and word limits.
• Ensure your essay is written in simple and clear language.
• Always remember to proofread the essay to eliminate grammatical and spelling errors.
• Make reading a regular practice to enhance language proficiency and facilitate a smoother flow of thoughts.

By implementing such strategic approaches, you can efficiently answer your questions. It is important to study diligently and practice with sample papers.

During the exam, take the time to read the question paper properly during the allocated reading time and manage your time effectively.

- Article by Nischal Narayanam, mathematical child prodigy, winner of the National Child Award (Gold Medal), youngest double Guinness World Record holder in memory power, first Indian to win the World Memory Championship title, youngest CA, and Founder and Mentor at Nischals

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My daughter prefers going by a short nickname than her long name. I wish I had just named her that.

• My 5-year-old daughter is named Elizabeth and goes by Ella.
• She still gets confused about how the names are related.
• I try to use her longer name, but she prefers the nickname.

My second daughter arrived in the world in a rush. I waddled into the hospital at exactly 3 a.m., and she was in my arms at 3:17, caught by a midwife who was still wearing her street clothes. I scooped the baby up, admiring her red hair and perfect features. There was only one problem, I thought: she still didn't have a name.

I found out we were having another girl early on in the pregnancy , and my husband and I started tossing around monikers. Our first daughter is Harriet, a name we agreed on almost instantly. I loved its old-time appeal and the fact that I'd never met a Harriet before her. My husband, an English immigrant, liked that the name was sweet and familiar, having been used by many of his classmates.

Nearly five years later, he was wiser about American culture, and we were at an impasse. I liked more unique names while he preferred something well-known. For months, we went back and forth over a name for our second, consistently coming up short.

I settled on her name but kept nickname options open

By the time my due date came and went, I realized we might need to — dare I say it — settle. So, we put together a shortlist. Rose was in the running, and so was Elizabeth. As I looked at my little redhead , Rose was crossed off the list — while the colorful connotation might have been fun for some families, it seemed too much for me.

So, Elizabeth it was. My husband has a distant family member with the name who goes by Elle. That pairing seemed like a good fit for us: a well-known name to please my husband, but a less common spin on Elizabeth's many nicknames . Elle felt a bit metropolitan for an infant, so we started calling the baby Ella.

Related stories

As I wrote Elizabeth on the birth certificate , I was satisfied, but part of me wondered if I was just kicking the proverbial can, choosing a name that has infinite nicknames to avoid actually settling on one.

In school, she started requesting to go by her nickname

Ella settled into our family perfectly, but her name occasionally nagged at me. I wanted to use Elizabeth, and not just when she was in trouble, but the name felt awkward on my tongue. Other family members weren't too bothered. My husband rarely used the baby's formal name and my sister confessed that she sometimes forgot about Ella's longer given name.

When it came time for school, the teacher (Ms. Elizabeth, who went by Liz), emailed me. What name did I want my daughter to go by? I decided school would be a perfect place to practice using Ella's formal name. But three weeks in, my daughter asked with frustration why her teachers didn't call her Ella.

At her request, teachers made the switch but continued to use the longer name for written communication and name-writing practice. But before long, "E-L-L-A" was scrawled across all the papers. I couldn't blame her — what preschooler would want to spell out Elizabeth when Ella would cut it?

Explaining a nickname is complicated

During that school year, I started to wonder if I had made Ella's life more difficult by giving her a formal name and a nickname. Part of me wishes I had just gone with Ella, and saved us the confusion of the little-used formal name.

Ella is nearly 6, and she still doesn't quite understand how her names fit together. Her sister and cousin have a first name and middle name, but she has this strange formal name thrown in there too. In trying to explain a nickname to Ella, I've realized just how complicated the concept is. I have yet to find a good way to explain it, though I point out other loved ones with formal names, like my dad William, who exclusively goes by Bill.

Growing up, I always wanted a nickname. I thought it was so sophisticated the way some classmates had a formal name and then something else that they were called. On the flip side, I have an aunt who legally changed her name to her nickname as an adult, because she never connected with the formal moniker. Only time will tell where Ella will land.

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