Spring 2025 Linguistics Courses

LING 150 – Introduction to the Study of Language
On Campus.3 sections. TR 8:00- 9:15AM  &  9:30-10:45AM  & TR 11:00-12:15PM
You use language all the time, but do you know about the structures that make up language? In this course, you will learn how we produce and organize sounds, build words, and understand the difference between “time flies like an arrow” and “fruit flies like a banana.” Here you’ll make sense of why people have accents, what teachers should know about language, and why good AI speech recognition is so darn hard to achieve.

Gen Ed credits in “Individual and Society”

LING 160 – Language and Society
On Campus. Two sections. TR 8:00- 9:15AM & TR 9:30-10:45PM
How does language change over time? How do children’s animation films racialize language? What’s with all the pronouns? This course introduces students to language as it socially constructs place, status, gender, ethnicity, and other aspects of identity through intimate conversations all the way to national language policies. Bring your lived experiences and learn to process them through current sociolinguistic lenses.

Gen Ed Credits in “Individual and Society” & “US Society”

LING 210 – Introduction to Natural Language Syntax
On Campus. TR 2:00-3:15PM
Syntactic analysis is crucial for linguistic data processing and  building linguistic data structure. This course gives you introduction to the hidden nature of even simple sentences using a scientific approach to data analysis. We will also make connections to other areas of linguistics and human cognition more generally, and we will touch on real world applications of syntactic analysis.
• Prerequisite(s): LING 150; or consent of the instructor.

LING 220 – Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology 
On Campus. TR 12:30-1:45PM
What sounds exist in the world’s languages? What are the mechanics behind speech production and perception? How can we analyze human speech and categorize sounds to understand underlying patterns? How do we acquire the sounds of our languages, whether as children or later in life? What do the sound systems of bilinguals look like, and why? In this course, we’ll explore these key questions about the sounds of human language and more.
• Prerequisite(s): LING 150; or consent of the instructor.

LING 230 – Semantics, Pragmatics, and Discourse
On Campus. MW 3:00-4:15PM
What is meaning? How is meaning communicated? How does meaning change in context? How does meaning change according to genre, style and modes of communication? Does new technology create new meaning? How do chatbots understand human language? Should chatbots be made polite? This course will explore these questions and more. We will study a range of linguistic approaches to meaning and look at real world examples.
• Prerequisite(s): LING 150; or consent of the instructor.

LING 260 – Language Contact, Language Acquisition and Bilingualism 
On Campus. TR 2:00-3:15PM
The social and psychological aspects of three major areas of language acquisition and use will be addressed: child language acquisition, adult second language acquisition and bilingualism/language contact.

Gen Ed Credits in “Individual and Society” & “US Society”

(New!) LING 300 – Urban Linguistic Field Methods 
On Campus. TR 12:30-1:45PM
This course introduces students to foundational and state-of-the-art theories and methods in language documentation and reclamation. Following a deep dive into practical and ethical considerations involved in work with languages and users, students will collaborate with peers and community consultants to build knowledge about under-studied, under-resourced language varieties in the Chicago area. This work will culminate in a comprehensive linguistic sketch with ethnographic context, glossary, sound system, and rules for word and sentence construction. Final projects will be determined collaboratively with input from the community consultants; possibilities include an open-access web repository, academic or community language presentations, teaching materials, videos, and toolkit.

• Prerequisite(s): LING 150; or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: Credit in at least one 200-level LING course.

* LING300 is a topics course – its general title is Seminar in Linguistic Analysis. Students can take LING 300 twice up to 6 credits when the topics are different.

(New!) LING/CHIN 330 – A Linguistic Introduction to Chinese
Hybrid: On Campus MW 12:00-12:50; Friday self-paced with deadlines
This course is designed for anyone interested in learning more about the Chinese language. It is taught in English, making it accessible to both Chinese foreign language learners and native or heritage speakers. We will explore the Chinese language within the context of cultural and societal change, dialectal variation, global migration, technological innovation, and the interaction of Chinese with other languages. Whether your goal is to improve your proficiency, facilitate your interactions with Chinese-speaking communities worldwide, or explore language’s role for personal and cultural identity, this course offers valuable insights. It is also relevant for students interested in equitable Chinese Natural Language Processing.

• Prerequisite: Chinese 101 or its equivalent (i.e., some basic understanding of how Chinese works).

LING 360 – Basic Statistics for Language Research **
On Campus W 3:00-5:30PM
This course introduces basic statistical techniques and procedures for research in language sciences, aiming for reproducible research practices in quantitative research. Topics includes handling quantitative data, understanding assumptions and procedures of common statistical methods, and applying these methods to data analysis. Students are afforded an opportunity to work with R (a well-known computational language for statistics and visualisations) under Rstudio (an integrated development environment) in their class participation, data analysis assignments, and research projects. Students also have chances to lead sessions covering some of the techniques. No prior knowledge of inferential statistics or computer programming is required for this course, but you are expected to spend a good amount of time (i) setting up your own device(s) suitable for R programming and (ii) troubleshooting technical issues firstly and actively by consulting online platforms (e.g., Stack Overflow).

• Prerequisite(s): LING 150; or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: Credit in at least one 200-level LING course.

**This course was initially taught in Spring 2024 under the LING459 Topics in Linguistics general topics-title. It is the same course . If you’ve already taken that version of LING 459 with Shin, do not repeat this course and choose another 300-level.

LING 370 Introduction to Computational Linguistics
On Campus TR 9:30-10:45AM
This course explores how computers process data for language research. Students are afforded an opportunity to work with Python to practice common Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques that can be used to facilitate data mining and information extraction. Students learn how to apply NLP techniques to language-data-related tasks, together with underlying mechanisms and approaches pertaining to these techniques. Students also have chances to lead sessions covering some of the techniques. This ensures that students learn about major NLP issues and solutions, as well as becoming agile with NLP programming. No prior knowledge of digital technologies or computer programming is required for this course, but students are expected to spend a good amount of time in (i) setting up their own device(s) suitable for Python programming (through Jupyter Notebook) and (ii) troubleshooting technical issues firstly and actively by consulting online platforms (e.g., Stack Overflow).

• Prerequisite(s): LING 150; or consent of the instructor. Recommended background: Credit in at least one 200-level LING course.