Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Problem
Imagine that you are baking banana bread. You have all the ingredients necessary to bake the most
flavorful, moist banana bread but you realize that there is something wrong with the oven. You
already combined all the wet and dry ingredients but because of the defective oven, the banana
bread cannot be baked. Like any task, preparing and planning is crucial for success. Even though
you had the perfect recipe, that recipe will never be complete without tools to bring it to life.
The communications major at the University of Maryland requires all of its students to enroll in one
structural analysis of language course. Structural analysis of language courses, popularly known as
Linguistics, study language and its structuresyntax, phonetics, and semantics. According to
business psychologist, Niket Karajagi, linguistics is a powerful skill that adds tremendous
convincing ability in our communication, (Karajagi). A journal published by the National Council
of Teachers of English noted that communications often fail because they fail to emphasize speech
understanding the structure of the English language is imperative in improving writing, speech and
communication skills.
However, the enrollment in these language courses is very limited and often difficult to enroll in for
many underclassmen. For instance, HESP120 has only two classes and is open to only 4 students
this upcoming fall semester. Although LING200 has 4 open classes with 30 students per class for
this upcoming fall semester, from my personal experience, it becomes very difficult when competing
with other Linguistics and communications majors who are also enrolling in similar classes. For
junior and senior communications majors, this is problematic for numerous reasons. If they are
unable to fulfill the language requirement early on, they will not be able to graduate on time. In
addition, communications is a writing intensive major and by learning Linguistics early on, it can
significantly improve ones writing and speech skills. However, enrolling in such classes as an
underclassman is almost impossible due to their late registration dates. The School of
Communications here at Maryland should allow higher enrollment in these language courses and
Connection
As a rising senior communications major, this issue is extremely concerning because for the past
three semesters, I was unable to enroll in any language courses. Similarly, my fellow communications
peers have encountered same issue. After initial research, I realized just how important and
beneficial studying linguistics can be and the fact that I missed out on such opportunities due to a
mere late class registration date is absurd. Now, I wonder how different my writing and speech skills
would be if I had the opportunity to take a linguistics courses during my freshmen and/or
sophomore year.
If the University of Maryland and the School of Communications earnestly wants their students to
excel in all aspects of communications, change is required. For rising seniors who are preparing to
graduate, this issue also causes stress and anxiety. It would be unfortunate to delay graduation
Audiences
The primary audience for this final project will be Erica Mudd, the College of Arts and Humanities
development coordinator at the University of Maryland. Because the linguistics minor is under the
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Arts and Humanities department, any form of action must begin at the core. Thus, the final project
must appeal to and propose viable solutions that work alongside the College of Arts and Humanities
program policies and academic curriculum. As the departments coordinator, Mudd is responsible for
The secondary audience will be TC Anthony, the undergraduate program coordinator for the
Anthony oversees developments and curriculum changes within the four different tracks of the
communication major.
The tertiary audience for the final project will be communications majors at the University of
Maryland who have not enrolled in a structured analysis of language course yet. I believe that many
of this primary audience will consist of many upperclassmen who have encountered issues due to
the enrollment cap in many of the structured analysis of language courses. In addition, these
extensive knowledge in writing and communications practices. The solutions presented through this
project will allow members of this audience to improve their communications skills and help prepare
Research Description
First and foremost, my final project will briefly discuss the importance of studying structural analysis
language courses and how it provides practical applications in various career fields. How can
linguistics be used in various career fields? International business? Social work? STEM fields?
Government? Because my audiences already understand and accept the value of structured analysis
of language courses, there is no need to delve deep into researching the benefits of structured
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Next, I must conduct my own research through surveys and personal interviews of communications
majors at the University of Maryland. I would conduct different interviews of students who have
and have not taken a structured analysis of language course. For students that have already taken the
structured analysis of language course, I would ask them whether or not they encountered any
difficulties when registering for those classes and if they deliberately chose to take the course during
their underclassmen or upperclassmen years. Also, I would ask them about their experiences in the
structured analysis of language course and if they feel that those courses have improved their writing
and communications skills. Interviewing students who have already fulfilled the linguistics
requirement will allow me to gauge the effectiveness of the linguistics courses available at the
University of Maryland and will provide necessary information to help me propose viable solutions
to the issue at hand. For students who have not taken a structured analysis of language course, I
would ask them why they have not taken a course yet. I would also ask them if they are aware of the
structured analysis of language courses available at the University of Maryland and if they
understand the purpose of linguistics in a communications field. These interviews will reveal reasons
as to why students, upperclassmen in particular, have not yet enrolled in a structured analysis of
language course. It will provide me with unique, individual perspectives of students that I would not
find in empirical research and/or interviews with faculty and staff members at the Department of
After interviewing students, I plan to interview both Erica Mudd and TC Anthony as well as
advisors in the School of Communications and the College of Arts and Humanities based off of the
responses I get from the student interviews. In order for the department interviews to go smoothly
and effectively, I must ensure that the student interviews get conducted in a timely manner. In
addition, conducting department interviews will provide accurate and credible information on the
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communications major and its various major requirements. For instance, I will ask: why is linguistics
required for the communications major? Have students struggled enrolling in the past? Has there
been incidents where students could not graduate on time because they failed to meet the linguistics
requirement? Are those incidents rare? Through these interviews, I hope to uncover the logistical
reasons behind the low enrollment caps in the numerous linguistic courses and observational
information from faculty members. I also hope that faculty members will be able to direct me to the
I believe that the most substantial information and data will come from my own personal surveys
and interviews. I will also reference scholarly journals, newspaper articles, and valid academic
Working Bibliography
Williams, Joanna R. Intercultural Communication Studies. Vol. 24. International Association for
Akmajian, Adrian, Richard A. Demers, Ann K. Farmer, and Robert M. Harnish. Linguistics: An
Introduction to Language and Communication. 5th ed. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001. Print.
Chen, Stephen, Ronald Geluykens, and Chong Ju Choi. "The Importance of Language in Global
Teams: A Linguistic Perspective." Management International Review 46.6 (2006): 679-96. Jstor.
"Communications." College Composition and Communication 17 (1996): 181-82. Jstor. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.
Hultzen, Lee S. "Communication in Linguistics." American Speech 28 (1953): 3-11. Jstor. Web. 27 Mar.
2017.
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Karajagi, Niket. "Linguistics - A Soft Skill for Effective Communication." LinkedIn. 15 Feb. 2016.
Macaulay, Monica, and Kristen Syrett. "Why Major in Linguistics?" Linguistic Society of America. Web.
27 Mar. 2017.
Sapir, E. "The Status of Linguistics as a Science." Language 5 (1929): 207-14. Jstor. Web. 27 Mar.
2017.
Proposed Schedule