Linguistics: Language Acquisition (Ph.D.)
Offered by: Linguistics (Faculty of Arts)
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Program Description
Students must satisfy all program requirements for the Ph.D. in Linguistics. The Ph.D. thesis must be on a topic relating to language acquisition.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please refer to Visual Schedule Builder. A technical issue is causing the "Terms offered" field to incorrectly report "this course is not currently offered" for many courses in the Course Catalogue.
Thesis
A thesis for the doctoral degree must constitute original scholarship and must be a distinct contribution to knowledge. It must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to plan and carry out research, organize results, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner. The research presented must meet current standards of the discipline; as well, the thesis must clearly demonstrate how the research advances knowledge in the field. Finally, the thesis must be written in compliance with norms for academic and scholarly expression and for publication in the public domain.
Required Courses (27 credits)
Note: LING 706 Ph.D. Evaluation 1. and LING 707 Ph.D. Evaluation 2. must be completed before proceeding to thesis research.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LING 601 | Graduate Research Seminar 1. | 3 |
Graduate Research Seminar 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A seminar dedicated to graduate student research and professional training. | ||
| LING 602 | Graduate Research Seminar 2. | 3 |
Graduate Research Seminar 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A seminar dedicated to graduate student research and professional training. | ||
| LING 630 | Phonetics 3. | 3 |
Phonetics 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the current state of the field of phonetics, covering articulation, acoustics, and theories of perception and production. | ||
| LING 631 | Phonology 3. | 3 |
Phonology 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Foundations of phonological theory, focusing on issues in segmental and prosodic structure. | ||
| LING 635 | Phonetics and Phonology 4. | 3 |
Phonetics and Phonology 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced course on current issues in phonetic and phonological theory. | ||
| LING 660 | Semantics 3. | 3 |
Semantics 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to the basics of natural language semantics. | ||
| LING 671 | Syntax 3. | 3 |
Syntax 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth overview of current issues in theoretical syntax. Emphasis will be placed on the logic and development of argumentation in syntactic theory. | ||
| LING 706 | Ph.D. Evaluation 1. | 0 |
Ph.D. Evaluation 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Research and writing of the first research paper required in the Ph.D program. | ||
| LING 707 | Ph.D. Evaluation 2. | 0 |
Ph.D. Evaluation 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Research and writing of the second research paper required in the in the Ph.D program. | ||
| LING 710 | Language Acquisition Issues 2. | 2 |
Language Acquisition Issues 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examination and discussion of the leterature on a selected topic in language acquisition. | ||
| PSYC 709 | Language Acquisition Issues 1. | 2 |
Language Acquisition Issues 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in language acquisition issues. | ||
| SCSD 712 | Language Acquisition Issues 4. | 2 |
Language Acquisition Issues 4. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An examination that must be passed by all doctoral candidates in order to continue in the doctoral program. | ||
Complementary Courses (18 credits)
Students who have taken an equivalent course in statistics, or are currently taking an equivalent course as part of their Ph.D. program requirements, will be deemed to have satisfied this requirement for the Language Acquisition Option.
3 credits of statistics from the following list:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDPE 676 | Intermediate Statistics. | 3 |
Intermediate Statistics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Concepts and procedures of conducting basic descriptive and inferential statistics, including analysis of variance, correlation, and regression models. Provides experience with data-analysis tools. | ||
| EDPE 682 | Univariate/Multivariate Analysis. | 3 |
Univariate/Multivariate Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. General linear model as a unified data analytic system for estimation and hypothesis testing that subsumes regression, analysis of variance, and analysis of covariance for single dependent variables. Introduction to generalizations involving multiple dependent (criterion) variables. Applications oriented toward education, educational psychology and counselling psychology. Experience with data-analysis tools. | ||
| LING 620 | Experimental Linguistics: Methods. 1 | 3 |
Experimental Linguistics: Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to experimental research methods for linguists. | ||
| PSYC 650 | Advanced Statistics 1. | 3 |
Advanced Statistics 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course in advanced statistics with specialization in experimental design. | ||
| PSYC 651 | Advanced Statistics 2. | 3 |
Advanced Statistics 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course in advanced statistics with specialization in multivariate techniques. | ||
- 1
If LING 620 Experimental Linguistics: Methods. is taken to satisfy both the Statistics and the Methods complementary requirements, then 3 additional credits should be taken at the 500, 600, or 700 level.
3 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LING 665 | Semantics 4. | 3 |
Semantics 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Further introduction to the basics of natural language semantics. | ||
| LING 675 | Syntax 4. | 3 |
Syntax 4. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Continuation of LING 671. | ||
6 credits from the following methods courses:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LING 610 | Linguistic Field Research. | 3 |
Linguistic Field Research. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Explores theoretically relevant questions in a less familiar and under-studied language, working with a language consultant. Basic methods of how to approach a new language and culture in the field are covered, as well as issues of language documentation and language preservation. | ||
| LING 620 | Experimental Linguistics: Methods. 1 | 3 |
Experimental Linguistics: Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to experimental research methods for linguists. | ||
| LING 645 | Computational Research on Language. | 3 |
Computational Research on Language. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to computational tools and methods for addressing research questions in language sciences, including analysis of text and speech datasets. | ||
| LING 661 | Advanced Formal Methods. | 3 |
Advanced Formal Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course presents the formal methods used in the study of syntax or semantics. Topics include basic set theory as well as partial orders and lattices. | ||
- 1
If LING 620 Experimental Linguistics: Methods. is taken to satisfy both the Statistics and the Methods complementary requirements, then 3 additional credits should be taken at the 500, 600, or 700 level.
6 additional credits at the 500, 600, or 700 level, at least 3 credits selected from the following list:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDSL 620 | Social Justice Issues in Second Language Education. | 3 |
Social Justice Issues in Second Language Education. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of social identity, non-dominant languages, and power relations among speakers, and their impact on the nature of second/additional language teaching, learning and use, from the perspective of critical applied linguistics. Topics range from the micro level of the individual to the macro level of language planning and policy-making. | ||
| EDSL 623 | Second Language Learning. | 3 |
Second Language Learning. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar in second language acquisition theory and research and their relevance to teaching a second language. | ||
| EDSL 624 | Educational Sociolinguistics. | 3 |
Educational Sociolinguistics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar in the social, cultural and political dimensions of English second language learning and teaching. | ||
| EDSL 627 | Instructed Second Language Acquisition Research. | 3 |
Instructed Second Language Acquisition Research. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar in second language classroom-centred research focusing on instructional procedures and practices in relationship to learning outcomes. | ||
| EDSL 632 | Second Language Literacy Development. | 3 |
Second Language Literacy Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Theory and research related to the teaching and learning of second language literacy. The orientation is on reading and writing as a socio-cognitive activity. | ||
| LING 651 | Topics in Acquisition of Phonology. | 3 |
Topics in Acquisition of Phonology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An examination of theoretically informed work on the first language acquisition of phonology. | ||
| PSYC 545 | Topics in Language Acquisition. | 3 |
Topics in Language Acquisition. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Psychological mechanisms and theories of first language acquisition in infancy and early childhood. Topics such as: infant speech perception, acquisition of grammar, word learning, pidgin and Creole languages, critical and sensitive periods, genetic and evolutionary bases of language. | ||
| PSYC 735 | Developmental Psychology and Language. | 3 |
Developmental Psychology and Language. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced area seminar on a topic in developmental psychology and language. | ||
| SCSD 619 | Phonological Development. | 3 |
Phonological Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Theories and research related to normal and abnormal phonological development in children will be studied. | ||
| SCSD 632 | Phonological Disorders: Children. | 3 |
Phonological Disorders: Children. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The nature of phonological disorders and clinical approaches for their remediation in children will be presented. | ||
| SCSD 637 | Developmental Language Disorders 1. | 3 |
Developmental Language Disorders 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The nature of developmental language disorders and the assessment of language competence and performance in both speaking and non-speaking children will be studied. | ||
| SCSD 643 | Developmental Language Disorders 2. | 3 |
Developmental Language Disorders 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Major theories of language disorders are translated into intervention principles used in language treatment programs. Adaptations of intervention techniques to suit specific disorders (including augmentative communication) will be explored. | ||
| SCSD 652 | Advanced Research Seminar 1. | 3 |
Advanced Research Seminar 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Pro seminar in which current research topics in communication disorders will be discussed. | ||
| SCSD 653 | Advanced Research Seminar 2. | 3 |
Advanced Research Seminar 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Pro seminar in which current research topics in communication disorders will be discussed. | ||
0-2 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDPE 713 | Language Acquisition Issues 5. | 2 |
Language Acquisition Issues 5. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar on language science controversies and their associating literature, and practical implications in education and learning in general. | ||
| EDSL 711 | Language Acquisition Issues 3. | 2 |
Language Acquisition Issues 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Review of language acquisition issues. | ||