Linguistics

Please refer to the course planner for information regarding prerequisites.

Please note that UCHUMLIN31: Language and Acquisition: Modern Linguistics alternates with UCHUMLIN32: Multilingualism and Language Contact.

UCHUMLIN11 leads to both level 2 Linguistics courses, and is, additionally, the only fixed prerequisite course for UCHUMLIN32, UCINTLIN33 and UCINTLIN34. UCHUMLIN11 is essential for exposing students to the range of phenomena treated in the discipline, but students with a more narrow focus can potentially enter UCHUMLIN21, UCHUMLIN22 and UCINTLIN33 via other paths (see alternative prerequisites published for these courses).

Complete tracks in Linguistics can be constructed in several ways, as specified below. It should, however, be noted that a minimum track may not always give adequate preparation for a Master's Programme in Linguistics.

General Linguistics

Sociolinguistics

Psycholinguistics

Linguistics has direct relationships to fields like Philosophy, Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, Law, and Cognitive Neuroscience, and contributes to areas in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, as well as language teaching and education more broadly.

• If you have a focus on Philosophy and want to explore the relationship of thought to language, consider UCHUMLIN11 and UCHUMLIN21. UCHUMLIN21, in particular, complements the analytic philosophy and the philosophy of language treated in UCHUMPHI23.
• If you have a focus on Anthropology and want to explore the relationship of culture to language, consider UCHUMLIN11, UCHUMLIN21 and UCHUMLIN32. UCHUMLIN32 is open to students who have completed UCHUMLIN11 and UCSSCANT21 or UCSSCANT22.
• If you have a focus on Psychology and want to understand the development of language and communication as part of human behaviour, consider UCHUMLIN11, UCHUMLIN22 and UCHUMLIN31. UCHUMLIN22 is accessible with UCSSCPSY11 and complements UCSSCPSY22 and UCSSCPSY28.
• If you have a focus on Sociology and want to understand issues of language in a societal context, consider UCHUMLIN11, UCHUMLIN32, and UCINTLIN34. UCHUMLIN32 is open to students who have completed UCHUMLIN11 and UCSSCSOC21, UCSSCSOC26 or UCSSCSOC28, and can complement UCSSCPSY31. UCINTLIN34 is open to students who have completed UCHUMLIN11 and at least one level 2 course in either Humanities or Social Sciences.
• If you have a focus on Cognitive Neuroscience and want to understand language as part of human cognition, consider UCHUMLIN11, UCHUMLIN21, UCHUMLIN22, UCHUMLIN31 and UCINTLIN33. UCINTLIN33 is open to students who have completed either UCHUMLIN21, UCHUMLIN22 or UCSCICOG21. These courses complement the courses in the COG track.
• If you are interested in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, and what needs to be taken into account to get computers to understand and use language, consider UCHUMLIN11, UCHUMLIN21, UCHUMLIN22 and/or UCHUMLIN31.
• For students with an interest in study and teaching of foreign languages, knowledge of Linguistics is increasingly an essential requirement alongside fluency in the target language, and a minimal track consisting of UCHUMLIN11, UCHUMLIN21 and UCHUMLIN31 is useful. For students interested in education more broadly, UCHUMLIN11 and UCHUMLIN32 are good complements to courses in Psychology and Sociology.

Relevant Master's Programmes at University Utrecht – depending on how Linguistics is combined with other tracks – include: 

Artificial Intelligence, Communicatie & Organisatie (in Dutch), Communicatie, Beleid & Management (in Dutch), Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction, Intercultural Communication,  Language Education & Communication, Logopediewetenschap (in Dutch), Linguistics, Maatschappelijke Opvoedingsvraagstukken (in Dutch), Multilingualism and Language Development, Neuroscience and Cognition, Onderwijswetenschappen (in Dutch), Orthopedagogiek (in Dutch), Translation Studies, Youth Studies, and Youth, Education and Society.

All Master's programmes look for capable students who have clearly demonstrated their intellectual abilities in the previous stage of their education. The wide-ranging nature of the Master's programmes that might be interesting for students with a track in Linguistics, however, leads to diversity in their policies on admission. Students considering a Master's programme specifically in Linguistics per se should take as many Linguistics courses as possible.

Other programmes look for students with specific training and may admit candidates without this training only under the condition that they complete pre-Master's courses. Fortunately, most of these programmes publish their admission requirements or are happy to provide information about the requirements.

University College Utrecht does not offer all courses that might be required by such programmes. This means that candidates who might want to continue their education in such programmes should consider supplementing their University College Utrecht curriculum with off-campus or exchange courses, as well as courses offered in summer or winter by Landelijke Onderzoekschool Taalwetenschap (LOT), all taught in English by international scholars in the field – (see LOT website).