HELP! MA/PhD Programs specialized in First Language Acquisition, ASL, or Cognitive Linguistics

[LING18]

Hi there, 

I'm going to apply to MA and PhD programs in linguistics for fall 2018. Since May I've been constantly revising the list of schools I want to apply to and still haven't come to a final decision. At this point, I might have done too much research on too many different programs to keep track of all the options. I'm completely confused and need advice! As writing my SOPs is on my agenda for August, I'm desperate to settle on a reasonable number of schools ASAP! I'm particularly interested in First Language Acquisition, Cognitive Linguistics, and ASL.

Which schools are specialized in one of these areas? I feel like a lot of programs offer Language Acquisition and Cognitive Linguistics as possible areas of specialization. Are there any schools that are particularly known for expertise in one of these fields?  Any suggestions or recommendations? 

My GPA is 3.8, I have a little bit of relevant research experience, and spent a year studying abroad. Because of my lack of research experience, I don't think I should shoot for the most competitive programs. 

Thanks folks! Your comments are highly appreciated!

[historicallinguist]

On 7/31/2017 at 8:03 AM, Jani127 said:

Hi there, 

I'm going to apply to MA and PhD programs in linguistics for fall 2018. Since May I've been constantly revising the list of schools I want to apply to and still haven't come to a final decision. At this point, I might have done too much research on too many different programs to keep track of all the options. I'm completely confused and need advice! As writing my SOPs is on my agenda for August, I'm desperate to settle on a reasonable number of schools ASAP! I'm particularly interested in First Language Acquisition, Cognitive Linguistics, and ASL.

Which schools are specialized in one of these areas? I feel like a lot of programs offer Language Acquisition and Cognitive Linguistics as possible areas of specialization. Are there any schools that are particularly known for expertise in one of these fields?  Any suggestions or recommendations? 

My GPA is 3.8, I have a little bit of relevant research experience, and spent a year studying abroad. Because of my lack of research experience, I don't think I should shoot for the most competitive programs. 

Thanks folks! Your comments are highly appreciated!

Check UCSD for cognitive linguistics. Also, I do not think too many schools offer cognitive linguistics as a field of specialization.

For L1 acquisition, many schools have this specialization. In fact, you should also check the psychology departments, and schools of education of the school you want to apply, and should not limit your options to only linguistics departments in the schools you are interested in, when you are trying to find a place to do L1 acquisition research.

For ASL, the first school that comes to mind is Gallaudet University. You should check its website for further details.

Finally, I feel the three things you mentioned are very different stuffs, and should not be packed into a single personal statement. Be a bit more specific in a single subfield you mentioned when you are writing your personal statement. For example, if you are doing  L1 acquisition, tell the reader more specifically the L1 acquisition of what (e.g. syntax?phonology?) you are interested in, what experimental approaches you are interested in using and why, what theoretical frameworks you would like to work within and why, etc, etc.

 

Hope this helps!

[LING18]

Thanks! I really appreciate your advice!  I have no idea why I didn't realize before that I should be a lot more specific in my personal statements. 

Unfortunately, Gallaudet University requires prospective graduate students to be fluent in ASL by the time they apply to the program. I'm at an intermediate level at best...

UCSD is definitely one of my dream schools! I checked out their program and it's just impressive. I'm just worried that I don't stand a chance in the admission process. I know that the most important factor is to be a good fit for the department but a teensy part of me is dying to know how many people usually apply. Just to make sure I'm not only applying to programs that are out of reach. Unfortunately, very few schools seem to publish admission rates. 

 

[ides-of-july]

Take the following with a big grain of salt, because I'm not too familiar with your areas or your situation.  However...

You might consider looking at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.  I'm not actually very familiar with the school at all, but a quick look through the Linguistic Society of America listings turned up a masters program in cognitive linguistics.  If they have funding--something that, frankly, wasn't obvious to me at a glance, so that doesn't bode well--it might be worth going somewhere that tops out at a master's first, so that you can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond (and accumulate research experience, glowing LORs, et cetera) for the PhD round of admissions to come later.*  I also note that there are MA and PhD programs in what they call "Communication Sciences" that might be relevant, especially if the guy who was billing himself as the cognitive linguistics guy plays a part for them.

Anyway, these are definitely only leads for you to follow up, but maybe there's something positive here for you.  I'll be interested to know whether that's true.

(PS.  A quick note on the LSA listings: They're definitely not perfect, but they can provide some useful leads.  If you haven't worked through their listings yet, try various combinations and see whether you can find some hidden gem you didn't already know about.  It's worth an hour of your time.)

*(PPS. I'm doing more or less the same thing, so there's no negative judgment.  I am way out of the mainstream of applicants, so I need to re-foundationalize myself, but there's no shame in it.  It's just the game. )

[jmarzzle]

I just saw this posting and thought I might throw my ideas in though its a bit late. I am not sure how set you are on Linguistics programs per se but will offer suggestions in and out of Linguistics (sign language acquisition in deaf children, though not my current research right now, is pretty much the field I work in -- mini disclosure I'm a student at one of these programs)

Diane Lilo-Martin (in Linguistics) and Marie Coppola (Developmental Psychology) do work on language development and American Sign Language, you could look into those departments. Coppola also works on Nicaraguan Sign Language. If by cognitive linguistics you mean "not generative", both professors have a strong generative streak so you may want to be wary.

Rachel Mayberry in Linguistics at UCSD also has done work on language development in Deaf children, I think she has also done work on literacy and deaf children. UCSD is also famous for sign language research and have several professors across Linguistics, Communication Studies, and Psychology who do research on sign language.

At Gallaudet you have a few options you might find interesting -- I think Guarav Mathur in Linguistics works on language development, and the students in PEN program (Educational Neuroscience) often do too. Gallaudet linguistics program is also pretty cognitive (anti-generative) but not the best with funding. As for ASL, yes you'd want to be as good as possible.... the requirements vary by department and you don't have to be fluent but I think you have to be able take classes in ASL for Linguistics at least.

David Quinto-Pozos at UT Austin is a sign language linguist who has recently shifted to more developmental (and clinically-applicable) work, and I think is theoretically oriented towards cognitive linguistics. Richard Meier I believe is also still there -- he works on ASL but not development.

At U Chicago, Susan Goldin-Meadow (Developmental Psychology) has done work on language creation with deaf children (homesign) and now collaborates some with Diane Brentari (Linguistics), who is a sign language phonologist, who I think has done a bit of L1 ASL acquisition (not much) -- but between them you could probably do work on language acquisition and ASL.

If you are interested in psycholinguistics and sign language both David Corina at UC Davis and Karen Emmorey at San Diego State do relevant work (just not with kids) -- oh and Jill Morford at University of New Mexico does work on bilingual language processing with Deaf and hearing ASL signers

I think DCAL, a center at UCL in London for sign language research has done developmental research, but don't know much about who, or if it still running. Also its another country and another sign language (BSL), so there's that.

P.S. if you were interested in also the possibility of just an MA first, I think Gallaudet and New Mexico at least have a fair number of students who do an MA there and then a PhD elsewhere.