Leiden University

BA Linguistics

English and Dutch

A major part of this programme is taught in English. The specialisation Taal en Communicatie is taught in Dutch.

First-year

The programme’s first year focuses on a variety of aspects of linguistics. In courses such as Phonology, Historical Linguistics and Sociolinguistics, you will learn about the research methods used in linguistics. You will also be introduced to aspects of human communication and will learn to see the relationship between various language-related disciplines. Courses include lectures, seminars and tutorials. During the second semester, you will select and follow two courses that will prepare you for your chosen specialisation. These courses can range from Psycholinguistics to Argumentation and Persuasion, and from Word and Meaning to Gothic.

Second year

During your second year, you will take courses related to your chosen area of specialisation. Four specialised tracks are available: Descriptive Linguistics, Language and Cognition, Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (all taught in English) or Taal en Communicatie (taught in Dutch). You may also take courses from other specialisations, such as Old Norse or Introduction to the Study of Sign Languages and Gesture Studies. During this year, you will also improve your research and general academic skills, such as analysing, writing, and presenting.

Third year

Half of your third year consists of elective space: you can choose to do an internship, follow a fixed minor programme, or a personalised ‘study package’ consisting of electives from another programme. If you wish, you could also spend a semester studying abroad. This is an opportunity for you to tailor your degree to suit your goals. In the second semester of your third year, you will conclude your BA with a thesis. This will give you the chance to apply what you have learned:  searching for specific information, critically analysing that information and reporting on it.

Overview

The bachelor’s in Linguistics is a three-year programme, taught in Dutch or English depending upon the specialisation you choose.

Programme structure

In the first year, the Linguistics programme will give you a sound basis for specialisation, while training your academic competencies. In the second year, you will choose one of our four specialisations. While focusing on this track in your second and third year, you may also choose electives outside of your specialisation if you wish.

Specialisations

Comparative Indo-European Linguistics

Proto-Indo-European was spoken more than five thousand years ago by people who probably lived north of the Black Sea. Languages such as Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin originate from this ancient language, as do Dutch, English, French and Russian. Yet the Indo-Europeans did not leave behind any written sources. In Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, we try to reconstruct the language of the Indo-Europeans by learning, analysing, and comparing many different languages. In this specialisation, you will acquire the basics of several languages, such as Hittite, Gothic, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek and Lithuanian.

Descriptive Linguistics

All languages have a grammatical structure, but of the roughly six thousand languages in the world, only about five hundred have been documented to a reasonable extent. Thousands of languages are still waiting for an eager linguist to discover and document their structure before they disappear into oblivion. If these languages are described, education can be set up so that people can learn to read and write their language. Language description is also important because each newly described language teaches us about language variation. Descriptive Linguistics focuses on this important and highly relevant aspect of the linguistic field.

Language and Cognition

Language is a system, and this system is what we study in linguistics. In the Language and Cognition specialisation, we explore language models that try to explain how language is represented in the brain, how children develop language systems, and how brain damage can affect these systems. This specialisation touches on numerous research fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and computer science. In this specialisation, you will learn to develop and conduct language experiments while working in one of our four language laboratories: the Babylab, EEG lab, Phonetics lab, or the Eye-tracking lab.

Taal en Communicatie (Language and Communication, taught in Dutch)

We mainly use language to inform, entertain or convince. Which principles and rules do people apply when using language in this way? Taught in Dutch, the specialisation Taal en Communicatie is about how language is used and explores the similarities and differences between languages and their associated cultures. This specialisation also explores how linguistic and non-linguistic communication interact, and how culture plays an important role. You will explore, among others, rhetoric, political language, street language and social media language.

Some of the courses

• Sociolinguistics
• Phonology
• Language use and diversity
• Speech sounds of the world

What is your preferred career path? Would you like to teach? Do you enjoy doing research? Or would you prefer a job that involves writing and editing? You will find that your Linguistics degree is a perfect preparation for the career of your choice.

These skills will help you

As a Linguistics graduate, you will have developed not only strong academic skills but also resourcefulness, the ability to set priorities, to work independently, to process complex information, and to be self-motivated. These skills will greatly enhance your appeal to future employers. If you also have gained relevant work experience during your studies, this will help you find the job of your dreams even faster.

Our job market survey shows that 85% of our graduates find a job within two months and of those, 85% is a highly qualified job.

What will your professional field be?

Your degree in Linguistics makes you an attractive candidate for a variety of potential employers. For example, you could work in research, education, IT, or communication and marketing.

Our graduates have found employment in organizations such as:

• Brill Publishers
• Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
• McKinsey & Company | Global
• Consultancy bureaus
• Translation bureaus
• PhD positions at various universities
• Institute for Dutch Language

Is Linguistics for you?

For this program you need to have a good command of English, and if you wish to pursue our Dutch-taught track, a good command of Dutch as well. However, you do not need to speak and write any other languages when starting this program. It is, however, very important that you are deeply interested in language as a phenomenon. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you like to immerse yourself in language?
• Do you like to explore and solve complicated questions?
• Do you like the challenge of reading complex scientific papers?
• Do you consider yourself curious, persistent, and self-disciplined?
• Do you enjoy studying in an international environment?