UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Undergraduates in Hawaii have many good reasons to study
Linguistics -
either by majoring in Linguistics or
through a certificate program.
- Knowledge about language is more important here than in
most places
in the country, because of the State's unique diversity of languages -
hundreds of languages from all over the world are spoken here.
- Hawaii offers a natural laboratory for trying to understand
multilingualism, code-mixing (changing from one language to another
mid-sentence), second language learning, language endangerment and
revitalization (of the Hawaiian language, for example), and pidgins and
creoles.
- Languages are closely tied to cultural, geographic, and
ethnic identity, issues that are central to Hawaii's education and
politics.
Students at UH who study Linguistics discover that it helps
them
understand a number of different
things.
- how language is used as a means to gain and maintain power
- how it is used to influence people
- how it is tied to ethnic and geographical identity.
- how it is processed by the mind
- how children acquire it
There are many opportunities for undergraduates to engage in Linguistic
research, both inside and outside of classes. Aside from the State's
natural laboratory, students also have access to the Language Analysis and
Experimentation Laboratories, where they can conduct research on
phonetics (the details of how speech sounds are produced), language
perception, reading, computer models of language, and various other
topics. Other library and funding
resources are also available. |
