Skip to Main Content

The University of Tennessee

College of Arts & Sciences

Frequently Used Tools:



Welcome! » Graduate Certificate


Graduate Certificate

See Also: Course Description

The Linguistics Program offers a graduate certificate, designed to meet the needs of individuals wishing to apply linguistics in various professional fields. It draws upon the strengths of faculty members in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and theoretical linguistics. The requirements focus upon the central aspects of the discipline of Linguistics and aim to develop students' basic knowledge and skills in the central aspects of the discipline. 

Upon successful completion of this program, students should have an understanding of the basic theoretical concepts and approaches of the discipline and have gained experience in the use of analytic and research techniques. It is also designed to meet the specific needs of those students who are preparing to teach foreign language or English as a Second Language at the high school/junior college level and/or to obtain advanced level proficiency in linguistics and cultural knowledge.

Prospective candidates for the certificate may take up to 6 hours of certificate classes before making application for admission to the Certificate Program. Once admitted to the program they must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0. Application to the Certificate Program must be made to the Chair of the Interdisciplinary Linguistics Program by submitting a letter of application and copies of undergraduate transcripts (and graduate transcripts, if applicable). A minimum of eighteen credit hours is required; all courses must be selected in consultation with a program advisor, who must approve all courses for individual students prior to their being taken, except that, as noted above, up to six credit hours may be accepted from candidates upon admission. Students will satisfy the requirements of the Certificate program by selecting fifteen hours from the following lists, provided that those courses are selected in consultation with a program advisor, who approves their selection. A certificate cannot be earned without program approval by the advisor. The final three hours of credit are earned by successful completion of a capstone project under the direction of a program advisor.

(The Graduate Certificate Program in Linguistics is open to non-degree students as well as to students who have been admitted to a graduate degree program.)

Certificate Requirements

  1. At least one of the following courses: 
    • French 512
    • German 512
    • Spanish 512
    • Linguistics 423, 425

  2. Additional courses from the following list for a total of fifteen credit hours: 
    • Audiology and Speech Pathology 506, 526, 527, 601
    • English 508, 509, 575, 680
    • French 421, 422, 510
    • German 510, 541, 631, 632
    • Linguistics 400, 411, 426, 429, 435, 471, 472, 474, 475, 476, 477, 485, 490
    • Spanish 531
    • Psychology 400, 543, 617
    • Statistics 531
    • Other courses may, where appropriate, be substituted for the courses listed above with the permission of the Chair of the Linguistics Program.

  3. A three-credit capstone project, normally the preparation of a paper for presentation at a professional conference or for publication in a professional journal, planned and completed in consultation with a program advisor.

Graduate Courses

  • 400 - Topics in Linguistics (3) Content varies. May be repeated. Maximum 6 hrs.
  • 411 - Linguistic Anthropology (3) (Same as Anthropology 411.)
  • 423 - The Development of Diachronic and Synchronic Linguistics (3) Development of Western linguistic thought from Hebrews and Greeks through modern times. Readings from Boas, Sapir, Bloomfield, and others.
    Prereq: 9 hrs of courses required for Linguistics major (300-level or above) or consent of instructor.
  • 425  - Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics (3) (Same as French 425, German 425, and Spanish 425.)
  • 426  - Methods of Historical Linguistics (3) (Same as German 426, French 426, and Spanish 426.)
  • 429  - Romance Linguistics (3) (Same as French 429 and Spanish 429.)
  • 431  - Topics in Hispanic Linguistics (3) (Same as Spanish 430.)
  • 435  - Structure of the German Language (3) (Same as German 435.)
  • 436  - History of the German Language (3) (Same as German 436.)
  • 471  - Sociolinguistics (3) (Same as English 471 and Sociology 471.)
  • 472  - American English (3) (Same as English 472.)
  • 474  - Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language I (3) (Same as English 474.)
  • 476  - Second Language Acquisition (3) (Same as English 476.)
  • 477  - Pedagogical Grammar for ESL Teachers (3) (Same as English 477.)
  • 485  - Special Topics in Language (3) (Same as English 485.)
  • 490  - Language and Law (3) (Same as English 490 and Legal Studies 490.)
  • 510 - Special Topics (3) May be repeated. Maximum 6 hrs.