Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics
The GIAL Applied Linguistics Department offers a Certificate in Applied Linguistics and a Master of Arts with a major in Applied Linguistics.
Students enrolled in this degree program may designate a concentration in:
Graduates of this program will be qualified to serve in specialist roles in Bible Translation, Linguistics, or Cross-Cultural ministry (depending on the concentration selected). This degree consists of three components, and requires successful completion of all three:
| Course | Sem Hrs |
| Field Methods and Linguistic Analysis | 4 |
| Field Data Management | 2 |
| Discourse Analysis | 3 |
| Cross-Cultural Teaching Seminar | 1 |
Semantics
Culture, Language and Mind OR
Semantics and Pragmatics | 3
____ |
| Total core hours | 13 |
Graduates of this degree program will be qualified to serve in specialist cross-cultural roles. In particular, SIL International will recognize graduates of this program as having completed the minimum academic training requirements to serve with that organization in the specialist role of Bible translator. [Note: SIL International may also require field experience, or impose other criteria, before confirming fitness for service in any specialist role.]
This page identifies requirements for the Bible Translation Concentration with a thesis or non-thesis option.
Translation Course Requirements
| Course | Sem Hrs |
Culture, Language and Mind OR
Semantics and Pragmatics (if not taken in the General Core) | 3 |
| Theory and Practice of Translation | 3 |
| New Testament Greek for Translators 1 OR | |
| Biblical Hebrew for Translators 1 | |
New Testament Greek for Translators 2 OR
Biblical Hebrew for Translators 2 | 3 |
Principles of New Testament Exegesis OR
Principles of Old Testament Exegesis | 3 |
| NON-THESIS OPTION | |
| 3 Electives | 9 |
| THESIS OPTION | |
| 1 Elective | 3 |
| Thesis credit hours | 6 |
|
| Total translation concentration hours | 24 |
| Total AL degree hours (minimum) | 37 |
GIAL has a cooperative agreement with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) whereby students with a prior relationship with SWBTS may be admitted to GIAL and, having successfully completed a specified program of study, graduate with a Master’s degree from GIAL. These students may transfer up to 18 semester hours from SWBTS to GIAL toward the Master’s degree with a Cross-cultural Service Concentration. Students in this concentration must be fully admitted at both GIAL and SWBTS.
This page identifies requirements for the Cross-Cultural Service Concentration with a thesis or non-thesis option.
Cross-Cultural Service Common Courses
| Course | Sem Hrs |
| Religion & Worldview | 3 |
| Christianity Across Cultures | 3 |
| Biblical Language | 6 |
| Missiology (from approved list below) | 6 |
| Biblical Studies (from approved list below) | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
|
| Total cross-cultural service concentration hours | 24 |
| Total AL degree hours (minimum) | 37 |
SWBTS students may transfer six (6) semester hours of Hebrew or Greek for the language requirement. Pre-approved courses for the Missiology and Biblical Studies components of this concentration are listed below. Any of these may also be used for the elective.
Missiology
- MISSN 3363 Intro to Missiology
- MISSN 4333 World Religions
- MISSN 4393 Church Planting
- MUMIN 3902 Applied Ethnomusicology
Biblical Studies
- BIBHST 3323 Biblical Backgrounds
- BIBST 3203 Biblical Hermeneutics
- SYSTH 3003 Systematic Theology I
- SYSTH 3013 Systematic Theology II
In addition to the 18 hours of transfer specified above, SWBTS students may also take MISSN 4373 Missionary Anthropology at SWBTS in lieu of the GIAL prerequisite course LD4370 Cultural Anthropology that is part of the Certificate in Applied Linguistics.
Graduates of this degree program will be qualified to serve in specialist cross-cultural roles. In particular, SIL International will recognize graduates of this program as having completed the minimum academic training requirements to serve with that organization in the specialist role of linguist. [Note: SIL International may also require field experience, or impose other criteria, before confirming fitness for service in any specialist role.]
This page identifies requirements for the Descriptive Linguistics Concentration with a thesis or non-thesis option.
Descriptive Linguistics Course Requirements
| Course | Sem Hrs |
| Advanced Phonological Analysis | 3 |
| Advanced Grammatical Analysis | 3 |
| Current Issues in Descriptive Linguistics | 3 |
Other advanced linguistics courses from the list below. | 6 |
NON-THESIS OPTION | |
| 3 Electives | 9 |
THESIS OPTION | |
| Electives | 3 |
| Thesis | 6 |
|
| Total Descriptive Linguistics concentration hours | 24 |
| Total AL degree hours (minimum) | 37 |
Approved advanced linguistics courses for the
Descriptive Linguistics concentration:
| *AL 5314 | Culture, Language and Mind | *(if not taken to satisfy the core requirement) |
| *AL 5315 | Semantics and Pragmatics | |
| AL 5323 | Discourse Features of NT Greek | |
| AL 5328 | Discourse Features of Bib. Hebrew | |
| AL 5394 | Readings in Applied Linguistics | (ling. topic) |
| AL 5396 | Conference Course in Appl. Ling. | (ling. topic) |
| AL 5398 | Seminar in Appl. Ling. | (ling. topic) |
Prerequisites for Unconditional Admission- status
- Satisfactory completion of courses required for the (or their equivalent), defined as an average GPA of at least 3.0 for these courses. [Note: Students who have taken equivalent courses at another university may petition, with proper documentation, to waive specific certificate courses as prerequisites for graduate studies at GIAL. The AL5406 “Field Methods” and AL5207 “Field Data Management” courses of the certificate program may be reserved for graduate credit.]