Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism Major

Thank you for your interest in the undergraduate major in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism.

The American Association for Applied Linguistics (our discipline's main international organization) defines Applied Linguistics in an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that addresses a broad range of language-related issues in order to understand their roles in the lives of individuals and conditions in society. It draws on a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches from various disciplines–from the humanities to the social and natural sciences–as it develops its own knowledge-base about language, its users and uses, and their underlying social and material conditions.

Accordingly, the undergraduate major in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism at UCSC is an interdisciplinary major, drawing on knowledge from Anthropology, Cognitive Sciences, Education, Languages, Linguistics, Psychology and Sociology.

Students who graduate with the major in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism will be well prepared for a variety of careers including, but not limited to: language education, speech pathology, translation/interpretation, international relations, and public service. Many of these careers require further study at the graduate level, and we anticipate that this major will be a solid academic foundation for students who wish to pursue an MA degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), MA in communication disorders/speech pathology, or Ph.D. programs in Second Language Studies or Second Language Acquisition (SLS or SLA programs).

Interested students should contact the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics office early in their college career to obtain essential information about prerequisites, course sequencing and graduation requirements.

In order to gain hands-on experience with multilingualism, students who wish to major in Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism are strongly encouraged to take advantage of study abroad opportunities. For information about locations, application deadlines and requirements, please visit: http://studyabroad.ucsc.edu/.