Honors in Linguistics - Classes of 2027 and beyond

NEW SYSTEM

Honors Linguistics Major

The Honors major in Linguistics consists of nine required courses in Linguistics plus an Honors portfolio, totalling 10 to 11 credits:

  1. A course in Phonetics & Phonology: LING 45 (1 credit)
  2. A course in Syntax: LING 50 (1 credit)
  3. A course in Semantics: LING 40 (1 credit)
  4. A course in language, culture, and society (see course major) (1 credit)
  5. A course in the Structure of a Non-Indo-European Language: (see course major) (1-2 credits)
  6. A thesis preparation course, generally Advanced Research Methods (LING 090) (1 credit)
  7. Seniors Honors Thesis: LING 195. This course constitutes the comprehensive requirement for the major (1 credit)
  8. Two electives in linguistics (1-2 credits each)
  9. Complete and defend an Honors major portfolio as explained below (up to 1 additional credit).

Honors Major Portfolio

Honors majors must complete an Honors portfolio consisting of an Honors thesis and two Honors portfolio papers.

Honors Thesis:

Honors students are required to write a two-credit thesis, by registering for 1 credit in LING 195 (Senior Honors Thesis) during the fall of their senior year, after completing a 1-credit prerequisite methods course, generally Advanced Research Methods (LING 090 or Bi-Co equivalent; comparable courses by advisor and chair permission only).

As with a non-Honors thesis, the thesis may be on any topic in linguistics for which the student has sufficient background (coursework and/or research experiences). It is especially important that Honors students complete and defend their thesis in the fall semester, though they may continue with additional revisions into the spring. At the end of the fall semester students in Ling 195 are given a grade of IP. Near the end of the Spring semester, their completed thesis is sent to an external Honors examiner, who will then conduct an oral examination consisting of a discussion of 45 to 60 minutes during Honors weekend. The final thesis grade is determined by the external examiner.

Honors Portfolio Papers:

In addition to the Honors thesis, students are required to write two research papers, which may also be on any topic in linguistics. These portfolio papers are associated with a total of four credits (two per paper) of coursework which counts towards the Linguistics major.

Portfolio papers will be subject to an external review and oral examination during the spring of senior year (see “Honors Portfolio Paper Submission and Examination Process” below). Each paper should be about 3,000 words at the point when it is sent to external reviewers.

Each Honors Portfolio Paper must take one of two possible forms: an Honors seminar portfolio paper or an independent portfolio paper.

Honors seminar portfolio papers: Some advanced courses in Linguistics will be offered as Honors seminars, meaning that they can optionally be taken for 2 credits (rather than the non-Honors 1-credit version). To enroll in the Honors version of a course, students will enroll in the 1-credit course plus a 1-credit Honors section (e.g. LING 085 section 01 and LING 085 section H). Note that this Honors section does not constitute a separate elective; students will still need to take two distinct courses to complete the elective requirement for the major.

All Honors sections will involve writing a research paper related to the seminar topic; the expectation is that an Honors seminar portfolio paper will require a higher level of work and be of higher quality than a non-Honors seminar paper, if one is required of non-Honors students. An Honors seminar portfolio paper will then become one of the two required Honors Portfolio Papers which will be sent to an external Honors examiner to form the basis of a written Honors exam (see “Honors Portfolio Paper Submission and Examination Process” below). In order to prepare for the Honors examination, Honors seminar portfolio papers must be completed in a course taken senior fall or earlier.

Independent portfolio papers: An Honors Portfolio Paper may also take the form of an independent portfolio paper. These papers are written independently under the guidance of a faculty supervisor. The topic of an independent portfolio paper should be at the intersection of two linguistics courses previously taken by the student (e.g., Syntax II and Semantics, Morphology and Structure of Navajo). Any LING courses that count towards the LING major may be used (except Intro); other courses may be used with chair permission (e.g. Psycholinguistics is a PSYC course but a chair may give an Honors student permission to combine it with a LING course to constitute an Honors prep.) No course may be used by a student as an Honors prep in more than one department.

Independent portfolio papers may be written in any term through senior spring, but for papers written in senior spring, the topic will need to be set by the end of senior fall so that the paper may be submitted to examiners by the mid-March deadline.

Students must find a faculty member to supervise the independent portfolio paper. Major advisors can offer advice about which faculty member(s) to approach. For each independent portfolio paper, students enroll in 0.5 credits of LING 199 (Senior Honors Study) with the faculty supervisor for that paper. Faculty supervisors can assist with establishing a topic for the paper.

Honors Portfolio Paper Submission and Examination Process:

  1. When portfolio papers are written:
    1. Honors seminar portfolio papers must be completed in a course taken senior fall or earlier. They may be revised until the submission deadline (see (2) below).
    2. Independent portfolio papers may be written in any term through senior spring, but papers written in senior spring will still need to be sent to examiners at the same submission deadline (see (2) below), and the topic will need to be set by the end of senior fall.
  2. Portfolio papers are submitted to external Honors examiners by the Linguistics chair by the date specified in the Honors Handbook as the deadline for “materials sent to examiners” for the purpose of creating written exams; generally mid-March. Students must submit their papers to the Linguistics chair (at least) two days before this deadline.
  3. Examiners provide a written exam for each portfolio paper consisting of questions about the paper. Questions may ask the student to revise or defend their work, or they may prompt the student to extend their analysis to additional data or a related problem. Examiners must supply the written exams by the "receive written examinations" deadline, generally in April (date specified yearly in the Honors Handbook).
  4. Students must prepare a written response to the exam and submit it to the Linguistics chair by two days before the end of finals period of their senior spring. This will then be immediately forwarded by the chair to the examiner for them to assess before Honors weekend. The written response may be a revised version of the original portfolio paper with a cover letter explaining how the revisions address examiner questions (no greater than 4,000 words combined) or may take the form of a short essay answering examiner questions that go beyond the scope of the original paper (generally around 1,000 words, but no more than 2,000). Per the Honors Handbook, faculty cannot discuss written exams with students; students may talk to faculty about concepts from coursework, but not specifics of the exam. The Linguistics department chair can act as an intermediary between student and examiner for clarification questions.
  5. In the spring Honors examination period, the examiner will perform a 30-45 minute oral examination. The discussion will cover the portfolio paper, written response to the exam, and any other material pertinent to the two credits of coursework offered in preparation for the paper.
  6. The written exam response and oral examination together form the basis for the student’s LING 199 grade, which is set by the examiner.

Honors Minor

If a student is an Honors Minor in Linguistics, they are expected to complete one Honors preparation from the options listed for Honors majors above (i.e. Honors thesis, Honors seminar paper, or independent portfolio paper).

If a student is a course major in Linguistics as well as an Honors minor in Linguistics, they must complete a thesis to complete the course major; therefore it is recommended to complete an Honors thesis (including completing a 1-credit prerequisite methods course; see “Honors Thesis” section above) so they do not need to complete an additional Honors preparation. However, if a student wishes, they are allowed to complete a non-Honors thesis and an additional Honors preparation (Honors seminar paper or independent portfolio paper).

Honors majors in Linguistics & Languages:

When students complete this major as an Honors major, they do not have an Honors minor. Instead, they complete the following four Honors preparations:

  • Write an Honors thesis in Linguistics (including completing a 1-credit prerequisite methods course; see “Honors Thesis” section above)
  • Write one Honors Portfolio Paper in Linguistics
  • Take two additional Honors exams, one administered by each of the relevant language sections or departments according to their requirements

FAQ:

What kind of extra work makes a seminar an Honors seminar?

→ You may be assigned extra readings, response questions, discussion facilitation, an additional revision of a term paper, have longer length requirements or harder homework problem sets, or any combination of these. You should expect roughly double the time/work of the 1-credit version of the class.

How are LING 199 (Portfolio paper) supervisors assigned?

→ Once a student has chosen a topic, they approach a faculty member in the Linguistics department with expertise in that topic and ask them to supervise the portfolio paper. Students who want advice on how to choose a faculty supervisor may ask the Chair for guidance; academic (major) advisors can also support the student in this process.

How is LING 199 graded?

→  LING 199 papers receive a grade of HHH, HH, H, or NH, determined by the Honors examiner.

What if a student only realizes in retrospect that they want to do an Honors version of a class?

→ If a student gets to senior year and realises they should've taken that one seminar from a previous semester as an Honors seminar, then they can just pair that (advanced) class with another class (e.g., the intro level for it, like for Phon II + Phon/Phon or for Syntax II + Syntax I) and write an independent portfolio paper, likely building on/revising their existing final paper.

What if a student only decides to do Honors in their senior fall semester?

→ The college-wide deadline for a student to finalize their Honors plans is set in that year's Honors handbook, generally at the end of September in their senior year. The chair and the student’s advisor should consult on whether the student is adequately prepared for Honors, but the timeline for soliciting Honors examiners requires some amount of forethought. We hope that encouraging all majors and minors to attend an Honors orientation in junior year will help students make a decision in a timely fashion. The chair is allowed to give dispensation to students to propose a reasonable alternate course towards Honors if it is well-supported.

Important dates & deadlines:

  1. Mid-March: Honors theses and Portfolio Papers sent to examiners
    (2025: March 15)
  2. Mid-April: Examiner sends back a written exam for Portfolio Papers
    (2025: April 10)
  3. Early May: Honors theses sent to examiners
    (2025: May 2)
  4. April/May student “takes” written exam; due 2 days before the end of Finals period
    (2025: May 13)
  5. Mid/Late May: Oral exams during Honors weekend
    (2025: May 18-20)