Electives: Fall 2026
Looking for an interesting elective to take this Fall term? By taking LING 220: Introduction to Linguistics you will gain access to the majority of upper division Linguistics courses, as this course is the key prerequisite. Browse our other elective offerings that cover topics relevant in today's world, such as sociolinguistics and speech science, as well as practical skills such as Python programming.
LING 100: Communication and Language (B-SOC)
Explores the foundations of human language from a variety of perspectives. Young children acquire language effortlessly. How is this possible, and why is it so much more challenging to learn a new language later in life? How does the human brain use complex grammatical systems to communicate? Students will learn new ways to think critically about language and communication. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Download the course flyer for Burnaby campus.
Download the course flyer for Surrey campus.
LING 111: The Wonder of Words
Introduces students to theories about words and vocabulary. Explores topics such as the roots of the English vocabulary, how we create new words and how we learn them. Also discusses practical applications such as constructed languages for use in science fiction, and word recognition in artificial intelligence.
Download the course flyer.
LING 160: Language, Culture and Society (B-SOC)
Examines the relationship between language use and social structure. Considers how social factors such as gender, class, age, and ethnicity may be reflected in language use, as well as "big picture" topics that include multilingualism, dialect variation, language policy and linguistic stereotypes. Encourages students to think critically about the social dimensions of language. Open to all students. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Download the course flyer.
LING 190: The Science of Speech
Introduces the scientific study of speech, focusing on the mechanisms of speech production and perception, the ways in which speech is described and analyzed, the relationship between speech and technology, and the practical applications of phonetic science.
Download the course flyer.
LING 220: Introduction to Linguistics
Explores how language works. Introduces students to the systematic nature of language by exploring the patterns of sounds, words, sentences and meanings in English and other languages. Develops problem-solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on training in pattern recognition and language data analysis.
Download the course flyer.
LING 250: Computational Text Analysis
Introduces basics of text analysis through Python programming. Core concepts include: data capture and manipulation; data cleaning and preprocessing; database management; big data; natural language processing; introductory machine learning; text classification. Students with credit for SDA 250 may not take this course for further credit.
Download the course flyer.
