MA in Hispanic Linguistics
MA Course Requirements
PLAN A: 9 courses (27 semester hours) and a thesis.
PLAN B: 10 courses (30 semester hours) and a report.
Course requirements are distributed as follows:
3 level-1 courses: Intro to Spanish Phonology/Phonetics, Intro to Spanish Syntax/Semantics, Intro to Spanish SLA
2 level-2 courses in the area of specialization in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese
2 level-2 courses in another area of study
1 course of MA report/thesis preparation (to be taken while writing the report/thesis)
2 undergraduate or graduate level literature courses in S & P, if not already taken prior to admission to the program (only graduate level literature courses will count toward the degree)
Language requirement in another language (up to 312L level; do not count for graduate credits), preferably Portuguese. See description of language requirement, below.
Total: 7 courses in Linguistics, plus 2-5 courses for: literature requirement (if not already taken prior to admission), elective hours, other language, and report/thesis preparation. The credits must total 27 hours of course work with a thesis, or 30 hours with a report.
Courses in supporting work may be taken within the Department of Spanish and Portuguese or in other departments depending on the student's academic interests.
Progress to Degree
Under normal circumstances the MA will be completed within four semesters. With the approval of the Graduate Adviser a maximum of six hours of graduate-level courses may be transferred from other institutions to satisfy course requirements. In certain circumstances the Graduate Adviser may allow coursework to be taken at the undergraduate level, or on a credit/no credit basis.
MA Language Requirement
This requirement must be fulfilled by EITHER:
1. Proficiency in Portuguese for students majoring in Spanish, or in Spanish for students majoring in Portuguese ("Proficiency" means the completion of POR 508 and POR 516, or SPN 508K and SPN 612, or the respective equivalents, with a grade of B or better);
OR
2. A reading knowledge of a language other than English, Spanish, or Portuguese relevant to the student's field ("Reading knowledge" may be demonstrated by the completion of a reading course approved by the graduate adviser, or a fourth semester of college-level study in the language, or by examination to be specified by the graduate adviser, in all cases with a grade of B or better.)
MA Thesis and Report Options for Linguistics Students
The writing of the MA Report/Thesis is designed to determine successful completion of the MA degree and permission to continue on to the PhD program.
Part 1: Based upon successful completion of required and elective coursework (a minimum 3.4 GPA in the 5 required courses in the Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese.) as reviewed by the graduate adviser and Hispanic Linguistics professors, MA candidates submit a written Report/Thesis proposal by no later than the end of the fourth week of their fourth semester. The proposal should have a minimum of ten pages and should include the title, abstract, the main body of the proposal, human subjects approval (if necessary) and a preliminary list of references. A minimum of six pages should be devoted to literature review, thesis, and research design. At the same time, the candidates select a Report/Thesis Supervisor and one Second Reader. No later than two weeks after the students submit their written proposal, the MA Report/Thesis Committee (Supervisor and Reader) communicates in writing to the candidates whether (1) they accept the proposal as is, (2) accept the proposal with suggested changes, or (3) request that the candidates resubmit the proposal at a later time. If the proposal is accepted with suggested changes, the candidates must implement those changes and turn in the Report/Thesis by no later than two weeks for approval. If the candidates' proposal is not accepted, in consultation with the graduate adviser and the Report/Thesis Supervisor, the candidates may resubmit, within one month, a new MA Report/Thesis proposal. After a second review, if the MA Report/Thesis Committee does not accept the new proposal (either as is or with modifications), the candidates are not allowed to continue and will not receive an MA degree.
If students obtain a GPA below 3.4 in the 5 required courses in the Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, they may still write a report/thesis, but only to receive a terminal MA degree. Any students who obtain an overall GPA below 3.0 in their coursework will not be allowed to receive any degree, including the terminal MA.
Part 2. The final written version of the MA Report/Thesis must be filed by no later than the end of the fifth semester. The final version of the MA Report/Thesis is evaluated by the Supervisor and the Second Reader. No later than two weeks after the candidates submit their final draft, the MA Report/Thesis committee (Supervisor and Reader) communicates in writing to the candidate whether the MA Report/Thesis is (1) satisfactory with permission to continue on to the PhD program, (2) satisfactory as a terminal MA or (3) unsatisfactory, in conjunction with a review of their performance in coursework. In the case of an MA Report/Thesis that was deemed unsatisfactory, the student may submit, within two months, one rewrite that will be considered for a terminal MA. No thesis that is deemed satisfactory as a terminal MA may be rewritten and resubmitted for permission to continue on to the PhD program.
