Linguistics studies: Why Study Linguistics?

Engage in the fascinating study of language

If you have been puzzled by how language works or why it sometimes doesn’t show the properties that you might expect, or if you’ve wondered how children learn language, what happens in our brain when we process language and how we are able to produce and understand sentences we’ve never heard before, so have we. You are welcome to join our linguistics studies,  looking for answers to these exciting questions, and many more like them, and to become part of the lively and quickly developing field of modern linguistics, which is not only the study of language but also the study of the human ability to acquire and use language.

Linguistic studies with an open minded approach 

During linguistics studies you will find that studying any branch of linguistics involves strong training in analytical skills that can be used in any endeavour. Modern linguistics attempts to advance scientific research of natural language, and it interacts with areas like cognitive psychology, computer science, and brain science. The Linguistics Division in our department emphasizes an interdisciplinary and open minded approach to language; we deal both with the theoretical fields of linguistics (such as syntax, semantics, and phonology) and with the applied and experimental fields (such as first and second language acquisition, bilingualism and language impairments). Our unique MA/PhD program in Linguistics in Clinical Research allows students coming from a background in fields such as communication disorders to deepen their understanding of the mechanisms involved in human language use.

For any further information regarding linguistics studies at Bar-Ilan University, kindly contact our office here.

Get a Solid Foundation with linguistics studies

After completing your linguistics studies at our department, there are many possible directions that you can take. The wide variety of topics that we teach, covering both theoretical and experimental fields of linguistics, means that you will have a solid foundation that would prepare you for advanced studies, at Bar Ilan or any other university in Israel or abroad. If you decide to continue to an advanced degree in a different field than linguistics studies, you will benefit from the tools and skills that you acquire during your linguistics studies. These skills are useful not only in the academic world, and our graduates have established successful careers in areas such as hi-tech, editing, translation, teaching and many more.

Linguistics studies allow you to be a Citizen of the World

Since our linguistics studies are conducted in English, you will get the significant advantage of having practiced reading, writing and communicating in today’s international language. You don’t have to speak perfect English in order to learn linguistics studies in our department: Our students come from different countries and cultures, and many of them are native speakers of Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, or other languages. The years that you will spend with us will expose you to academic as well as ordinarily spoken English and give you ample opportunities to use these varieties of English and to improve your speech and writing skills, an important and useful tool in whatever you decide to do later in your life. 

Enjoy a Warm Friendly Environment

Our department is small and friendly, and we believe that it is important that you enjoy not only the content of your linguistics studies but also the atmosphere and interactions that you have while learning. We do our best to make our students’ experience as pleasant as possible, and you are always welcome to contact us with any problem or question that you may have.

For any further information regarding linguistics studies at Bar-Ilan University, kindly contact our office here.