Please note:
To view the Summer 2025 Academic Calendar, go to www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/2025/summer.html.
Linguistics Major
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Requirements
An overall 2.25 cumulative GPA and a passing grade in LING 220 is required for admission to the major and all minor programs.
Continuation Requirements
After a student has completed 60 units, a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of not less than 2.25 is required for continuance in the major program. Students whose CGPA falls below 2.25 cannot enroll in any upper division LING courses. After their CGPA is restored to 2.25, students must meet with the departmental advisor to redeclare into the program.
Program Requirements
Students complete 120 units, as specified below.
Lower Division Requirements
Students complete all of
Explores how language works. Introduces students to the systematic nature of language by exploring the patterns of sounds, words, sentences and meanings in English and other languages. Develops problem-solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on training in pattern recognition and language data analysis. Open to all students. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Ashley Farris-Trimble |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D101 |
Ashley Farris-Trimble |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
D102 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D103 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D104 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D105 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 10:30–11:20 a.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D106 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D107 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 12:30–1:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Develops skills in language analysis by focusing on reading and writing of linguistic argumentation. Explores the foundations of such argumentation in the core areas of linguistics. Students read and discuss primary literature in linguistics in order to understand how to formulate hypotheses and evaluate them. They also learn how to use writing to construct their own solutions to challenging linguistic problems. Prerequisite: LING 220. Writing.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
TBD | |||
Heather Bliss |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
B101 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
B102 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
B103 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 5:30–6:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
and nine additional lower division LING and/or INLG units.
Upper Division Requirements
Students complete one of
Advanced study of the styles of written argumentation that are used in linguistic research. Prerequisite: LING 282W. Students with credit for LING 301 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
and 27 additional upper division units in LING and/or INLG courses.
NOTE: ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV students accepted in the accelerated master’s within the Department of Linguistics may apply a maximum of 10 graduate course units, taken while completing the bachelor's degree, towards the upper division electives of the bachelor’s program and the requirements of the master's degree. For more information go to: /gradstudies/apply/programs/accelerated-masters.html and .
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Degree Requirements
For all bachelor of arts (BA) programs, students complete 120 units, which includes
- at least 60 units that must be completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV
- at least 45 upper division units, of which at least 30 upper division units must be completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV
- at least 60 units (including 21 upper division units) in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences courses
- satisfaction of the writing, quantitative, and breadth requirements
- an overall cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and upper division overall CGPA of at least 2.0, and program CGPA and upper division program CGPA of at least 2.0 on the course work used to satisfy the minimum program requirements. FASS departments may define additional GPA requirements for their respective programs.
FASS-Exeter Dual Degree Program Stream
This major stream is for declared students in the FASS-Exeter BA/LLB dual degree program.
Lower Division Requirements
Students complete a minimum of 15 lower division LING and/or INLG units, including all of
Explores the foundations of human language from a variety of perspectives. Young children acquire language effortlessly. How is this possible, and why is it so much more challenging to learn a new language later in life? How does the human brain use complex grammatical systems to communicate? Students will learn new ways to think critically about language and communication. Open to all students. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Heather Bliss |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
Cecile Vigouroux |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Surrey |
Examines the relationship between language use and social structure. Considers how social factors such as gender, class, age, and ethnicity may be reflected in language use, as well as "big picture" topics that include multilingualism, dialect variation, language policy and linguistic stereotypes. Encourages students to think critically about the social dimensions of language. Open to all students. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Suzanne Hilgendorf |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Explores how language works. Introduces students to the systematic nature of language by exploring the patterns of sounds, words, sentences and meanings in English and other languages. Develops problem-solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on training in pattern recognition and language data analysis. Open to all students. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Ashley Farris-Trimble |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D101 |
Ashley Farris-Trimble |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
D102 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D103 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Tue, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D104 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D105 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 10:30–11:20 a.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D106 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D107 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 12:30–1:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Develops skills in language analysis by focusing on reading and writing of linguistic argumentation. Explores the foundations of such argumentation in the core areas of linguistics. Students read and discuss primary literature in linguistics in order to understand how to formulate hypotheses and evaluate them. They also learn how to use writing to construct their own solutions to challenging linguistic problems. Prerequisite: LING 220. Writing.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
TBD | |||
Heather Bliss |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
B101 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
B102 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 4:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
B103 |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 5:30–6:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Upper Division Requirements
Students complete a minimum of 30 upper division LING and/or INLG units, including all of
An overview of theoretical principles in phonology. Prerequisite: LING 220.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Ashley Farris-Trimble |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Introduces theories of sentence structure. Prerequisite: LING 220.
Basic formal aspects of meaning (e.g. compositional semantics, truth conditional semantics and quantification in natural language) and how they are distinguished from pragmatic aspects of meaning. Prerequisite: LING 220. Quantitative.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
TBD | |||
Chung-hye Han |
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Wed, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
and at least one of
Advanced study of the styles of written argumentation that are used in linguistic research. Prerequisite: LING 282W. Students with credit for LING 301 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
To view full requirements for the dual degree program, please see /students/calendar/faculties-research/faculty-arts-social-sciences/ba-ddp.html.
Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements
Students admitted to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.
WQB Graduation Requirements
A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit
Requirement |
Units |
Notes | |
W - Writing |
6 |
Must include at least one upper division course, taken at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV within the student's major subject; two courses (minimum three units each) |
|
Q - Quantitative |
6 |
Q courses may be lower or upper division; two courses (total six units or more) | |
B - Breadth |
18 |
Designated Breadth |
Must be outside the student's major subject, and may be lower or upper division: Two courses (total six units or more) Social Sciences: B-Soc |
6 |
Additional Breadth |
Two courses (total six units or more) outside the student's major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements). Students choosing to complete a joint major, joint honours, double major, two extended minors, an extended minor and a minor, or two minors may satisfy the breadth requirements (designated or not designated) with courses completed in either one or both program areas. |
Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit
- At least half of the program's total units must be earned through ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV study.
- At least two thirds of the program's total upper division units must be earned through ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV study.
Elective Courses
In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.