As a linguistics student, you will be exposed to both theoretical and practical applications of language. At first, you will learn about principles of phonetics and phonemes, semantics, morphology and syntax. Ideally, you'll learn about these applications as they apply, not only to the English language, but other world languages as well.
You will be learning about the sounds of language, phonetics, word structure and how syntax is structured so you can help students develop a proficiency in a new language.
You work on linguistics exercises so you can learn the origin of speech sounds such as "s" or "t." These sounds, called "allophones," are influenced by their placement in different words.
When you are working with other languages, you will learn how variations in speech classify the words as allophones or phonemes. You will also cover how words, letters and phrases are pronounced classifies them as a phoneme or allophones of a phoneme.
Your professor will teach you how phonological rules affect such linguistic factors as word or morpheme boundaries, how vowels are stressed, syllabic segments of consonants and vowels, syllable boundaries and lengthened vowels. When you do these phonological exercises, you will have to figure out what rules of linguistics do to parts of the English language.
In 2002 and 2003, prior to the invasion of Iraq, members of the U.S. military were given a basic course in Arabic linguistics. Military linguists were instructed to speak basic Arabic words and phrases so they could communicate with residents of Iraq. Part of this instruction included learning cultural sensitivity, as in the meanings of the word "jihad." The more well-known definition of this word is "holy war against infidels." The second meaning of jihad is "jihad in your heart" or allegiance to Allah.
Because of the nature of the war in Iraq, forces of the coalition needed to begin stabilizing Iraq as quickly as possible. Linguists who trained U.S. and coalition forces to communicate with Iraqis played a significant role in developing different strategies that were used after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Psychological operation units ("psy-ops") trained in speaking Arabic used their new language skills to enhance crowd control and public safety.