College of Arts and Sciences

English Department

Graduate Program Director : Feryal Yavas

Department’s Phone Number : (305) 348-3935
Department’s FAX Number : (305) 348-3878

For More Information, go to

• Program's web site
• College of Arts and Sciences web site

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Brief Description of the Program:

        Linguistics at Florida International University is an interdisciplinary program, with most courses being taught through the departments of English and Modern Languages. FIU is an excellent place to study linguistics, since it is located in the veritable language laboratory of South Florida. Miami is the gateway city to Latin American and the Caribbean. Roughly half the population of the county speaks Spanish as a first language; almost half a million people speak Haitian Creole; and thousands speak other creole languages including Jamaican, Bahamian, Trinidadian, Papiamentu, and Sranan. South Floridians also speak French Canadian, Yiddish, Portuguese, Miccosuki (an indigenous American language), and Russian. Miami's unique linguistic situation contributes to an academic environment in which the study of the nature of language becomes relevant on a daily basis.

The FIU Linguistics Program is the home of The Carrier Pidgin, an international newsletter in creole studies, edited by Professor Tometro Hopkins.  FIU also organizes and hosts the biennial International Creole Language Workshop.

The M.A. in Linguistics is based on a strong core of courses in the traditional areas of linguistics (phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, and historical) with an additional emphasis on creole studies, language acquisition, sociolinguistics English linguistics, and Romance linguistics.

Application Requirements:

• BA degree in English or a related field with minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA
• No GRE required.
• 2 letters of recommendation from undergraduate or graduate professors
• Statement of purpose [indicate if interested in teaching assistantship]
• Writing sample (10 pages minimum)

Additional Requirements for International Students:

• Foreign graduate applicants are accepted subject to space and fiscal limitations
• Must be academically eligible for further study in their own country
• A score of at least 600 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and a minimum score of 50 on a Test of Spoken English (TSE) is required for international students whose native language is not English.