Those who have a passion for linguistics and languages sometimes wonder how they will be able to pay the bills! However, the field of linguistics is extremely diverse and interrelated with a host of desirable professions. A degree in linguistics can provide you with a valued and respected foundation for many career paths, landing you at the top of the hiring list of many world-class institutions. As a linguistics major you will:
- develop expertise in the major content areas of phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics
- acquire a body of knowledge concerning the structures and usage of language
- become well-acquainted with languages and cultures from around the world
- develop skills in areas such as critical thinking, data analysis, research, argumentation, and problem-solving, writing and editing all of which are sought-after skills.
Here are specific careers that require a linguistics background.
Professional linguist
- Professorship
- Researcher
- Author
Language instructor
- Teaching English
- Teaching English as a foreign language
- Teaching foreign languages
- Education and advocation in literacy
Health professions
- Speech pathology
- Audiology
- Voice specialist
- Psychiatry
- Brain injury rehabilitation
Computer programming
- Speech recognition
- Computational linguistics
- Computer-assisted language learning
Publishing
- Editing
- Writing for the web, journals, blogs
- Writing reviews
Fieldwork
- Documenting languages
- Text translations (Bible, i.e., SIL)
Forensics
- Language specialist for government agencies
- Law enforcement
- Legal consulting
Overview: Forensic Language Analysis
Other
- Interpreter/translator
- Professional singer/actor
- Accent reduction
- Advertising
- Lexigraphy
