Doctoral Program

KU Linguistics Department

Our Ph.D. program in Linguistics requires the student to develop a solid understanding of the core areas of the discipline in addition to an in-depth specialty in one of the many areas available through the research interests of the faculty and associate faculty.

The student will work with his/her academic advisor to devise a course of study that best suits the student's research interests.

Prerequisites

M.A. in Linguistics with a thesis.
Breadth in course requirements is addressed at the M.A. level. Students with an M.A. in Linguistics from another institution may be required to make up any deficiencies in breadth through additional course work.

Minimum Course Requirements

24 credit hours, consisting of:

Methods Requirement: LING 741 Field Methods in Linguistic Description. If already taken (for MA), the replace with one of the following:
- LING 720: Research Methods in Linguistics
- LING 740: Linguistic Data Processing
- LING 782: Research Methods in Child Language
Three of the following second level courses:
- LING 707: Phonetics II
- LING 714: Phonology II
- LING 716: Second Language Acquisition II
- LING 726: Syntax II
- LING 731 Semantics
- LING 737: Psycholinguistics II
- LING 791: Morphology
- LING 822: Seminar on Acquisition of Language
4 electives (12 credit hours)

Additional Requirements

Language Requirement:
The MA language requirement: Reading ability in a foreign language (not English) with a significant linguistic literature.
Research Skills Requirement:
One of the following:
- A course in a computer programming language
- Computational Linguistics (LING 783)
- A course in Statistics

Qualifying Papers

The student needs to write two qualifying papers -- a major paper in the area of specialization and a minor paper in a different area. Both papers should represent original work. The major paper may be an expanded version of the M.A. thesis and should be of publishable quality. The minimum lengths of the major and minor papers are 25 pages and 15 pages, respectively.

The major and minor papers are developed in close consultation with an Advisory Committee (3 faculty members) and the two papers should be supervised by different faculty members when possible. The adequacy of the papers is evaluated on the quality of the literature review, theoretical contribution, and research integration as well as the basis of their logical coherence and organization. The student does not need to orally defend the qualifying papers.

Dissertation Proposal and the Oral Comprehensive Exam

When the major and minor qualifying papers have been approved by the Advisory Committee, the student may form a Ph.D. committee (4 inside members, 1 outside member), which helps the student work on the dissertation, starting from the dissertation proposal. The proposal should clearly identify the research questions that the dissertation will address, include a comprehensive literature review, lay out the methodology for the research, discuss preliminary data and results, if any, and present a timetable for the dissertation research. The minimum length for the dissertation proposal is 10 pages.

The Oral Comprehensive Exam is the official exam required by Research and Graduate Studies and consists of an oral defense of the dissertation proposal and the answering of any other questions related to the fields of study of the dissertation research. It must be taken within two months (excluding summer) after the student has turned in the dissertation proposal. The oral exam will typically last two to three hours

Dissertation and Dissertation Defense

The dissertation is developed in consultation with the Ph.D. committee. The dissertation must be orally defended in front of the Ph.D. committee. The student will be asked first to summarize his/her dissertation and evidence, and then will be questioned by the committee. The defense will normally last one to one and one-half hours.

Starting in the Fall of 2011, Linguistics dissertations will be evaluated in terms of a number of specific components. Click here for an overview of those components.