Program Overview

The American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) defines Applied Linguistics as 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.

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Department
  • Languages and Applied Linguistics
Program Type
  • Major
Area of Focus
  • Humanities
  • Behavioral & Social Sciences

Requirements

Please view the requirements for the major here.

Career Outcomes

  • Applied Research Scientist, Text Understanding (e.g., with Facebook)
  • Assessment Specialist 
  • Bilingual K-12 Teacher (requires licensing)
  • Communication Analyst (for public or private companies)
  • Copy Editor
  • Foreign Service Officer
  • Forensic Linguist (e.g., language specialist for the FBI)
  • Language Specialist at Google, Apple, Duolingo, Babel, etc.
  • Linguistic Annotator at High-Tech Company
  • Peace Corps Volunteer (and later employee)
  • Reading and literacy specialist 
  • Speech-language Pathologist (requires certification)
  • Study Abroad Officer (at a university)
  • Teacher of English as a Second or Additional Language
  • Teacher of   Languages (e.g., Chinese, French, German, Spanish, etc.)
  • Technical Writer
  • Translator/Interpreter
  • Writer for a multilingual/multinational law firm

These are only samples of the field’s many possibilities

Program Contact

apartment 218 Cowell College

email languages@ucsc.edu

phone (831) 459-2054

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Program Keywords
  • Translator
  • Foreign
  • Language
  • Communications
  • Multilingual