Graduate Advising
Department of Linguistics
UCLA
Just as in your first year,
you will be signing up for at least 12 units, typically three courses, per
quarter.
For many of you, one of those
courses will be something to give you credit for the work you are doing as part
of your support package, as a TA (Ling. 375) or RA (Ling. 596). For half-time
work, you get four units.
The second course each quarter
should be set aside for working on your MA thesis: first, finding a topic, and
then starting the work. You'll take the MA thesis prep course (Ling. 444) together
as a class; this class is offered all three quarters. As part of your work in
this course, you will work with your MA thesis adviser outside of class. It is
important that you keep working on your thesis all year and complete it by the
end of your second year. The official requirements of Ling. 444 are somewhat
minimal, and sometimes students coast through thinking they are making progress
when really they are not. If you would like to make extra time for your MA
thesis this year, in the hopes of making quicker progress, you can enroll for
additional thesis units, in the form of Ling. 598, with your adviser.
That leaves at most one slot
per quarter for a regular course for most second year students. You're strongly
encouraged to use 2 quarters of that for Field Methods (Ling. 210AB). However,
you may need to delay taking Field Methods until third year for a number of
reasons: if you have too many MA elective courses still to take, or need to
take language courses for the foreign language exam, or some other sort of
courses outside our department for your MA research. Or maybe the particular
pro-seminars offered will be irresistable to you, and you feel they will help
you progress on your thesis. Finally, you may choose your Field Methods year
based on language area: generally, American and Austronesian languages are
studied in alternate years.
Any proseminars or other
regular courses for 4 units should be fit into your 3 courses per quarter. That
would include any courses outside the department that you choose to take (after
consulting your adviser, of course). Activities for 2 units (proseminars
without final papers, mini-courses, spectrogram reading, technology training,
research seminars, whatever) could be on top of the 12 units, just as your 411
orientation sessions were extra units in first year. In particular, you are
strongly encouraged to attend the weekly research seminar (Ling. 260, 261,
etc.) in the area of your MA thesis, so that you become familiar with related
work being done by your colleagues in the department. You may even be in a
position to present some preliminary results from your thesis work in Spring.
Study lists in the second
year
In your second year your study
list is signed by your academic adviser, who you have chosen based on your
interest in a possible MA thesis area/topic. This adviser approves your study
list so that you can be directed to courses that will aid your progress in your
chosen area of specialization (e.g. additional MA courses, proseminars, courses
outside the department).
A problem can arise, though,
because your adviser may not know all the MA requirements and probably will not
check your file to see if you’ve met them. It is very unlikely
that your thesis adviser will make sure that you have met the departmental
requirements for the MA degree. Nasty surprises can result. Therefore it really
is up to you to use the checklists
provided on this page to monitor your own progress towards the degree after
your first year. If you have any questions about the requirements for the
degree, it is recommended that you discuss them with the DGS or the SAO.
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Last Modified: 3/13/09