Department
of Linguistics & TESOL
at the
University of Texas at Arlington
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Basic Information Sheet |
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Description of the Examination
The examination is a closed-book (no notes), hand-written
essay exam. You will have 3 hours for the first two questions and three for the second
two questions. It is recommended
that you spend 10-15 minutes at the start of each question planning your
answer—perhaps sketching a quick outline. Then you will have approximately one hour and 15 minutes to answer each of the four questions. Such outlines,
though, must be submitted at the end of each exam period.
Two exam periods are scheduled as follows (the order of the
topics has yet to be determined)
Part
One: 9:00
a.m.—12:00 a.m. two
sections
Break
for lunch
Part
Two: 1:00
p.m.—4:00 p.m. two
sections
After the exams are collected at the end of the first exam
period, you will not be able to go back and add to your first two responses.
Objectives of the Examination
The objective of the M.A. comprehensive examination (i.e.,
for both Linguistics and. TESOL graduate students) and the Ph.D. Diagnostic
examination is to determine whether graduate students entering their final
semesters before graduation or, in the case of doctoral students, before
advancing to more focused doctoral studies have developed a “Working Expertise”
in their fields of study (Apple & Krumsieg 2001). “Working Expertise” is defined as a graduate student’s
ability to:
(a) analyze the specific aspects
to a problematic issue or question in the four content areas of the
comprehensive examination (e.g., language in context, TESOL pedagogy, etc.);
(b) synthesize information
acquired within and across these content areas (i.e., identify linkages between
common concepts, themes, questions, and issues), developing well-supported and
well-reasoned generalizations or conclusions with regard to that problematic
question or issue; and,
(c) articulate such
generalizations or conclusions effectively to a broadly defined audience of
language professionals with diverse areas of interests and background knowledge
in fields of study related to linguistics and TESOL.
Parts of the Linguistics Examination
For both the M.A. Comprehensive and Ph.D. Diagnostic
Examination in Linguistics, these are the four content areas, along with the
some of the relevant courses upon which you might draw to answer exam questions. You will be given a choice of two
questions in each content area, from which you will select one and write your
response.
Sound Structure
LING 5300 (Linguistic Analysis)
LING 5307 (Pedagogical
Phonology of English)
LING5321 (Advanced Phonological Theory)
LING 5322
(Laboratory Phonology)
LING 5334 (Morphology)
LING 5370 (Survey of Linguistic Theories)
Meaning and Use
LING 5347 (Pragmatics) Grammatical Structure LING 5300 (Linguistic Analysis) Language in Context/Sociolinguistics LING
5310 (Sociolinguistics) Parts of the TESOL Examination For the M.A. TESOL Comprehensive Examination, these are the
four content areas, along with the some of the relevant courses upon which you
might draw to answer exam questions.
You will be given a choice of two questions in each content area, from
which you will select one and write your response. Linguistic
Analysis LING
5300 (Linguistic Analysis); LING 5304
(Pedagogical Grammar); LING 5307 (Pedagogical Phonology); LING
5350 (Text Analysis), etc. Second Language Acquisition LING
5305 (Second Language Acquisition); LING 5303 (Interlanguage Analysis), LING 5347
(Pragmatics), etc. Sociolinguistics LING
5310 (Sociolinguistics); LING 5311 (Sociolinguistics of Society); LING 5314 (Historical and Comparative
Linguistics); LING 5351 (Spoken Discourse); LING 5312 (Language & Gender); etc. TESOL
Methodology LING 5301 (TESOL Methods I); LING
5302 (TESOL Methods II); LING 5304 (Pedagogical Grammar); LING 5307 (Pedagogical
Phonology); LING 5306 (Curriculum Design), etc. ****NOTE: While
there is at least one course you've taken in each of the content areas, the
exam, indeed, is meant to be comprehensive, so you should consider incorporating information from anywhere in the
whole of your graduate career if it relates to a topic, even including outside
readings that you might have done.
For example, in answering your sociolinguistics question, you might
think of an example or a bit of data from your course in phonology, your course
in non-Western languages, second language acquisition, your TESOL practicum
observations, or even data from your own research—if it is relevant. GRADING
THE EXAMINATION Evaluation/Grading of Examinee Responses The questions will be jointly written by all the linguistics
faculty. Each question will then
be graded by three raters, some from the Linguistics faculty and some from
outside the department but from fields of study related to linguistics and
TESOL who are familiar with the specific content areas. Your exams will be
graded anonymously. We ask that
you write your answers in black ink because we will photocopy your answers to
pass out to the raters, and black ink will copy the clearest. It is recommended that you bring 3
black pens with you on the day of the exam. We will supply the paper. Each of your four answers will be rated by the three
different raters. Each rater will
give each question one of the following grades: F (fail) LP
(low pass) P
(pass) HP
(high pass) Each of the four questions you answer will be equally
weighted. To pass the M.A.
comprehensive exam, you must earn no more that 2 fails on any one question
OR no more than 3 fails total. See the Evaluation
Rubric that Raters Use in Scoring Your Exam M.A. student: You may obtain the results of your exam
from your committee chair when such scores are officially released; at that
time you should fill out and start getting your committee members' signatures
on your Final Master's Examination Report. This downloadable form is available (on the Virtual Graduate
Advisor Page) or as a pdf file here.
LING 5332: (Discourse Grammar)
LING 5345: (Semantics)
LING 5350: (Text Analysis)
LING 5351: (Spoken Discourse)
LING 5330 (Formal Syntax)
LING 5331 (Advanced Formal Syntax)
LING 5334
(Morphology)
LING 5332 (Discourse Grammar)
LING 5333 (Functional Typological
Grammar)
LING 5370 (Survey of Linguistic Theories)
LING 5311 (Sociolinguistics of Society)
LING 5314 (Historical and Comparative
Linguistics)
LING 5351 (Spoken Discourse)
LING 5312 (Language & Gender)
LING 5332 (Discourse Grammar)
LING 5333 (Functional Typological Grammar)
You must make sure to go on and submit the completed Report of Final Master’s Examination form to the Graduate School by the semester deadline.
Ph.D. students: You may obtain the results of your exam from the Ph.D. advisor when such scores are officially released; at that time you should fill out and start getting your committee members’ signatures on your Diagnostic Evaluation Report. This downloadable form is available (on the Virtual Graduate Advisor Page) or as a pdf file here.
You must make sure to go on and submit the completed Report of Final Master's Examination form to the Graduate School by the semester deadline.
This page last updated: Tuesday, September 26, 2007