Educational goals

The Master's degree in Theoretical, Applied and Modern Language Linguistics aims to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the various theoretical and methodological aspects of the analysis of language and natural languages, as well as the implications of such analysis within the more general framework of cognitive, social and communication sciences. In the first year, the course subjects include a common, compulsory methodological course subject, Empirical Data and Linguistic Theories. This comprises a theoretical module (Syntax and Semantics) and a laboratory module (Laboratory of Linguistic Data Analysis). In addition to acquiring a general yet advanced understanding of the phonetic, morphological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic analysis of natural languages (building upon the foundational knowledge obtained in the preceding course of study), students are presented with the prospect of attaining in-depth expertise and achieving autonomy of judgement in the primary domains of linguistic research (three course subjects in year I and one in year II). These include the analysis of linguistic change, classification, and reconstruction, especially in the field of Indo-European linguistics; interlinguistic comparison (linguistic typology, contrastive linguistics); pragmatics, implicit, inclusive, and accessible communication, sociolinguistics; English linguistics; computational linguistics, with special reference to the construction and processing of linguistic resources (corpora, databases, etc.), the creation and application of statistical and computational models of analysis applied to different linguistic data and phenomena, annotation systems, and the creation of ontologies; acquisition linguistics; second language learning and teaching; the science of inter- and intralinguistic, intersemiotic, and audiovisual translation; the linguistics and philology of specific languages or language families. The educational path encompasses an in-depth study of or introduction to one or more European and non-European languages, with the objective of encouraging students to gain analytical, metalinguistic and descriptive skills, together with proficiency in utilising languages for diverse language resource management activities, text revision, interlingual and intercultural communication and mediation, and in various national and international sociolinguistic contexts. The programme is structured such that students undertake three subjects in year I and one subject in year II. In the second year, the course includes a curricular traineeship as an alternative to gaining additional language or other knowledge deemed useful in a work environment. A total of 36 credits are allocated to the composition of the thesis. Department lecturers also encourage inclusion of undergraduates in their research projects to give them the opportunity to acquire research skills. During the period of study for a Master's degree, study trips abroad are encouraged as part of international exchanges with universities with which Department lecturers collaborate. In a similar vein, the Department regularly invites distinguished lecturers from Italian and foreign universities to conduct mobility periods, thereby providing students with a more extensive opportunity to engage with a range of theoretical, methodological and didactic approaches to the subjects studied. Historical and Indo-European linguistics area, language typology Students will acquire knowledge of the mechanisms of linguistic change and linguistic reconstruction, with a special focus on ancient Indo-European languages. Furthermore, students will become knowledgeable about the fundamentals of typological comparison, including with respect to non-Indo-European languages. Graduates will master the methodologies of comparative and typological research, including the creation of specific linguistic resources, data collection techniques, sampling and statistical modelling. They will also be able to make critical use of existing data and resources for typological and historical research. The skills associated with this educational path are related to language technology, research and teaching. Applied Linguistics, Pragmatics and Sociolinguistics Area Students will explore the topics of social variation of language, its use in concrete communicative contexts, language acquisition and glottodidactics. Additionally, they will become familiar with the psycholinguistic mechanisms, which facilitate the representation and processing of languages, their acquisition and loss, and the principal experimental techniques employed to observe these mechanisms. Graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills to utilise the primary data collection techniques and to construct language-specific resources. They will also have acquired the necessary skills to teach Italian and English as L2 and to analyse the communicative effectiveness, accessibility and level of inclusion of texts. Students will be able to read and replicate experimental studies. The skills and functions associated with this path are related to mediation, research, teaching and communication. Modern Languages and English Linguistics Area Theoretical and applied aspects of English and other modern European languages are explored, including learning and didactics, linguistic variation, pragmatics, textual and applied linguistics, translation including audiovisual translation and its ethical and social implications, corpus management, and philology of specific language families. Graduates will be able to (i) critically analyse, produce, translate and revise different text genres in different languages and in academic and professional contexts where cross-cutting communicative skills are required; (ii) draft and adapt accessible and inclusive texts; (iii) translate and/or revise texts (including audiovisual) translated into L1; (iv) handle simplified varieties (e.g. Plain English and Easy English); (v) navigate between different L2 teaching models. The skills and functions associated with this path are related to mediation, research, teaching, translation and accessible and inclusive communication. Theoretical and Computational Linguistics Area This course sets out to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the following subjects: theoretical linguistics, theories of mental language competence, theoretical and practical foundations of computational linguistics, language processing, corpus linguistics, data management and statistical and computational modelling. The following subjects are covered: large language models, natural language generation and comprehension, natural language recognition (ASR) and speech synthesis (TTS), as well as the related ethical implications. The programme is designed to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with the theoretical and practical aspects involved in the creation and management of corpora and databases. They will be able to apply statistical methods to analyse linguistic data and phenomena, acquire the fundamentals required to develop chatbots and ASR and TTS systems, and critically assess the ethical and social impact of language technologies. The skills associated with this educational path are related to language technology, research and translation. All educational paths will introduce students to research and are linked to the areas of interest of the Doctorate programme in Linguistics (from cycle XXXIX). A breakdown of the curricula is provided below: General, typological and historical linguistics; Applied and computational linguistics; Sociolinguistics and pragmatics; English language and linguistics. Important: In this context and in general in all the texts of this Annual Study Programme Sheet (SUA) and the University Teaching Regulations, plural words such as students, undergraduates, graduates, with or without an article, shall be deemed to mean "persons enrolled in the degree course, about to graduate, who have graduated", etc., and shall be construed as importing all genders.

Career opportunities

Professionals in language data analysis and language technology development. Operators and consultants in professional fields such as information technology and the processing of oral and written linguistic databases, journalism, industry, and public and private administrative sectors. Experts in linguistic and cultural mediation. - Consultants at regional and provincial authorities in the field of the protection of dialects, minority and immigrant languages; - Operators and consultants in the fields of international relations and integration policies at national and European institutions. - Operators and trainers in the field of language course subjects, multilingualism and multiculturalism, in public and private contexts (schools, courts of law, public offices, social and health facilities and companies); - Experts in the field of business correspondence, research and document management in foreign languages, event organisation, and public relations in an international context. Researchers, translators (including audiovisual), editors and proofreaders, experts in public, accessible and inclusive communication. - Linguists and philologists; - Operators and consultants specialising in translation, particularly active translation (translating into one's mother tongue) and intralinguistic translation (translating into the same language as the source text). - Lexicographers at companies and firms producing dictionaries and online language resources; - Consultants in technical languages; - Providing support in certain areas of medical research relating to speech-related problems (speech therapy, audiology, speech rehabilitation, neurolinguistics); - Forensic specialists for activities such as transcription and analysis of phonic signals, management of transcription expert reports; - Proofreaders; - Consultants specialising in public communication, including political, institutional, journalistic and advertising communication, with a focus on inclusivity and accessibility. - Consultants specialising in communicative accessibility. Experts in language training. - Language teachers in institutions, organisations, schools, associations, companies - Teacher trainers - Secondary, post-secondary and equivalent school teachers (following the additional education paths required by the regulations in force)

Admission requirements

For admission to the Master’s Programme, students must hold a degree (which may a degree obtained according to the regulations in force prior to Ministerial Decree 509/99, as amended) or a three-year university degree or another qualification obtained abroad that has been recognised by the relevant bodies of the University. Curricular requirements and the adequacy of the candidates' background are also required. Curricular requirements include the skills and knowledge acquired by candidates during their previous education (including IT skills) as reflected by the number of credits relating to the following specific scientific and subject areas: At least 10 CFUs in the following scientific and subject-specific areas: L-LIN/01 (GLOT-01/A) Glottology and Linguistics and/or L-LIN/02 (GLOT- 01/B) Modern Language Didactics, of which at least 5 acquired in a core course called “General Linguistics” or “Glottology”. 20 CFUs in one or more of the following scientific and subject areas: L- LIN/01 (GLOT-01/A) Glottology and Linguistics, L-LIN/02 (GLOT-01/B) Modern language teaching, L-FIL- LET/03, Italic, Illyrian, Celtic philology, L-FIL-LET/02 (HELL- 01/B) Greek language and literature L-FIL- LET/04 (LATI-01/A) Latin language and literature, L-FIL-LET/05 (FICP-01/A) Classical philology, L-FIL-LET/09 (FLMR-01/B) Romance philology and linguistics, L-FIL-LET/12 (LIFI-01/A) Italian linguistics, L-FIL- LET/15 (GERM-01/A) Germanic philology L-LIN/04 (FRAN- 01/B) Language and Translation - French Language, L-LIN/07 (SPAN-01/C) Language and Translation - Spanish Language, L-LIN/09 (FLMR-01/D) Language and Translation - Portuguese and Brazilian Languages, L-LIN/12 (ANGL-01/C) Language and Translation - English Language L- LIN/14 (GERM-01/C) Language and translation - German language, L- LIN/15 (GERM-01/D) Nordic languages and literature, L-LIN/16 (GERM-01/E) Dutch language and literature, L- LIN/17 (FLMR-01/E) Romanian language and literature L-LIN/18 (GLOT- 01/C) Albanian language and literature, L-LIN/19 (GLOT-01/D) Finno-Ugric philology, L-LIN/21 (SLAV-01/A) Slavistics, L- OR/02 (STAA-01/B) Egyptology and Coptic civilisation, L-OR/03 (STAA-01/C) Assyriology, L-OR/04 (STAA-01/D) Anatolistics L-OR/07 (STAA-01/G) Semitistics - languages and literatures of Ethiopia, L- OR/08 (STAA-01/H) Hebrew, L-OR/09 (STAA- 01/I) African languages and literatures, L-OR/12 (STAA-01/L) Arabic language and literature, L-OR/13 (STAA-01/M) Armenistics, Caucasology, Mongolistics and Turkicology, L-OR/15 Persian language and literature (STAA-01/O Neo-Persian language and literature and history of Iran in Islamic times), L-OR/18 (ASIA-01/C) Indology and Tibetology L-OR/19 (ASIA-01/D) Modern languages and literatures of the Indian subcontinent, L- OR/21 ASIA-01/F Languages and literatures of China and South-East Asia, L-OR/22 (ASIA-01/G) Languages and literatures of Japan and Korea, M-FIL/05 (PHIL-04/B) Philosophy and theory of languages. Of these, up to 10 CFUs may alternatively have been acquired in the following areas: INF/01 (INFO- 01/A) Computer Science, M-FIL/02 (PHIL-02/A) Logic and Philosophy of Science, M-PSI/04 (PSIC-02/A) Developmental Psychology and Educational Psychology, MAT/01 (MATH-01/A) Mathematical Logic, SECS- S/01 (STAT-01/A) Statistics, SECS-S/05 (STAT-03/B) Social Statistics, SPS/08 (GSPS-06/A) Sociology of Cultural and Communicative Processes. Alternatively, candidates must have acquired a total of at least 24 CFUs in the following scientific subject-specific areas: L-LIN/01 (GLOT-01/A) Glottology and Linguistics and/or L-LIN/02 (GLOT- 01/B) Modern Language Didactics, of which at least 5 in a core course called “General Linguistics” or “Glottology”. The Teaching Regulations also set out the procedures for assessing the adequacy of the students’ background.