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Hiya, folks! I'm a big fan of this show, and I figure this is probably a good community for this question:
I am nearing completion of my anthropology degree at the University of Texas at Austin (I'll be done partway through this summer). In my case, I have an additional academic option: Due to having already completed many of the required hours by means of cross-listed courses, I can take another two part-time semesters and ALSO claim a linguistics degree. I'd like the opinions of anyone willing to contribute their wisdom: Apart from all the logistical factors (what jobs I can take while also in school, being tied to this city for an extra 9 months, tuition, etc.), would it be worthwhile to go for this second degree? How does an undergraduate degree in linguistics (I currently have no plans for graduate school) help in the Real World, especially when it's one of two BAs on my resume? Suggested career paths, specific job titles/companies to look for, etc. are appreciated. Thanks in advance!
(Also: If I should have said "BA's" or "resumé"/"résumé," let me know. Not that I'll agree with you, or anything; I just like to discuss this stuff.)
That's a toughie, YiddishSoul. But I'll leave you with a few ideas. My wife is about to finish her PhD in sociolinguistics, I have friends and colleagues who are linguists, and from browsing LinguistList daily I have a good idea of the kinds of jobs that are out there.
First, a bachelor's in linguistics will do little but get you into a Master's or Doctorate degree program in linguistics or a related field. It's not a ticket to much else that you couldn't get with any BA. It counts mostly as a simple "BA" and not as a "linguistics BA."
Second, the linguistics field is loaded with stellar talent and competition for jobs is stiff.
Third, what jobs there are tend to be about computational linguistics, machine translation, and so forth. They tend to require a strong computer programming background and a technical bent. You'll also need a better-than-average understanding of statistics.
Fourth, those two degrees, anthropology and linguistics, seem to make you a good candidate for fieldwork, perhaps chronicling disappearing languages. Those jobs tend to be in academia as part of graduate degree programs or at SIL.
My general advice when I get this query (or one about lexicography, about which job prospects I know a great deal more) is to make a job for yourself. Find work that needs to be done, draft it as a proposal, and blanket the planet with it until you can find someone to fund it.
Great question, YiddishSoul. (And congrats on nearing completion of your degree!) Grant makes several excellent points. I would also suggest that you think about the kind of work you'd like to be doing -- what your ideal day would look like a few years from now when the degree itself doesn't loom so large. Would it be a day doing the kind of computational linguistics Grant is talking about? Or being out in the field talking to, say, elderly speakers of Appalachian English or something like that? Or . . . ?
Thanks, guys! It's looking like I'm gonna go ahead and do it, so that's cool, but I don't know yet how I'm gonna use it. I'm seeing an on-campus career advisor regularly now, to plan this stuff. He said what you said, Grant: I should be making up my ideal job and going for that. But what that is (and how I can achieve it) we'll figure out as time goes on.
BY THE WAY, I'll probably be calling the show soon with several somewhat lame questions, because I just want an excuse to talk to you folks on the radio. RADIO GOOD.
Hi Yiddish Soul and All,
I have a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Linguistics. My career has been in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), and it has been rich, rewarding and enriching intellectually, emotionally, culturally and financially. I have been lucky enough to get a full-time community college teaching job (22 years now), and I do useful program development and teaching. In addition, I have lived and worked in refugee camps overseas doing Cultural Orientation (to U.S-bound refugees), and I was able to work in Egypt with Fulbright and in Cambodia running a language school.
In addition, many of my CC colleagues have the same degrees I do. The Anthro degree has been invaluable in helping me understand my diverse students' cultures, especially when it comes to having many of them in the same classes.
Finally, for how to use these degrees (BA in both subjects) short of getting an MA in Linguistics (the degree of choice for the best ESL positions), I would recommend a couple of things: In the non-credit adult class sphere, your BA is generally sufficient in most places. For community college and other degree requirements, I recommend you go to Tesol.org. As an example, if you go to minimum qualifications under the Calfornia chapter, CATESOL.org, you will find the wide range of possible degree prep combinations for various levels. In many cases, you can add just an ESL certificate to your BA, and you can be qualified to do a lot of jobs.
ESL isn't very secure or lucrative unless you have a full-time job, but you can work overseas, learn much, enjoy your life, have freedom, and be fulfilled. If you would like more information, send me an email at pat.bennett@gcccd.edu.
Best of luck to you!
Pat
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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