MA in Hispanic Linguistics
M.A. 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 M.A. 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 M.A. 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.
M.A. 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.)
M.A. Thesis and Report Options for Linguistics Students
The writing of the M.A. Report/Thesis is designed to determine successful completion of the M.A. degree and permission to continue on to the Ph.D program.
Part 1: Based upon successful completion of required and elective coursework (a minimum 3.4 GPA in the 5 required courses in the S & P Dept.) as reviewed by the graduate adviser and Hispanic Linguistics professors, M.A. 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 M.A. 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 M.A. Report/Thesis proposal. After a second review, if the M.A. 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 M.A. degree.
If students obtain a GPA below 3.4 in the 5 required courses in the S&P Dept., they may still write a report/thesis, but only to receive a terminal M.A. 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 M.A.
Part 2. The final written version of the M.A. Report/Thesis must be filed by no later than the end of the fifth semester. The final version of the M.A. Report/Thesis is evaluated by the Supervisor and the Second Reader. No later than two weeks after the candidates submit their final draft, the M.A. Report/Thesis committee (Supervisor and Reader) communicates in writing to the candidate whether the M.A. Report/Thesis is (1) satisfactory with permission to continue on to the Ph.D program, (2) satisfactory as a terminal M.A. or (3) unsatisfactory, in conjunction with a review of their performance in coursework. In the case of an M.A. Report/Thesis that was deemed unsatisfactory, the student may submit, within two months, one rewrite that will be considered for a terminal M.A. No thesis that is deemed satisfactory as a terminal M.A. may be rewritten and resubmitted for permission to continue on to the Ph.D program.
