Overview

The Department of Modern Languages in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi offers the Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition with two emphases: Applied Linguistics and Spanish.

What you will learn

Students in the Applied Linguistics emphasis focus on linguistics, empirical research, and language pedagogy.

The curriculum is shaped by the scholarship of the department’s faculty.
Faculty expertise includes dialectology, discourse analysis, historical linguistics, language obsolescence, language pedagogy, language variation, second language phonology, anthropological linguistics, and sociolinguistics.

Students in the Spanish emphasis explore linguistics, culture, language, literature, and film across the Spanish-speaking world.

The curriculum provides students with a comprehensive understanding of Hispanic linguistics, literary criticism, and cultural and film studies.
Faculty expertise includes the study of languages in contact, literature from Spain and Latin America, film, indigenous languages of Latin America, and Hispanic sociolinguistics.

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Second Language Acquisition
Phonology
Morphology
Syntax
Pragmatics
Sociolinguistics
Linguistic Anthropology
Spanish

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 108 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-08-24 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-05-01 00:00:00
Starting 2027-01-19 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-10-01 00:00:00

Language

English

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110

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Credits

54 SCH

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Oxford, United States

Disciplines

Language Studies Linguistics View 70 other PhDs in Linguistics in United States

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Academic requirements

GPA

English requirements

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110

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TOEFL^® IBT

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PTE Academic

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Other requirements

General requirements

Admission to Applied Linguistics emphasis requires master’s degree in one of the following: Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, English Language, ESL, Foreign Language, Spanish, or a related field. Applicants should have graduate-level coursework in Linguistics.
Admission to Spanish emphasis requires master’s degree in Spanish or a related field.
Submit official transcripts.
Resume: a brief account of your education, work history, previous experience and qualifications.
Statement of purpose: a 2-page document describing your academic interests and specific reasons for pursuing a Ph.D. in Second Language Studies.
Writing sample: a polished publishable-quality sample (of about 8,000 words) of your best academic work from the M.A. If you do not have a writing sample of this length, two scholarly papers totaling 20-25 pages of writing are acceptable.
Three letters of recommendation: provide contact information for three recommenders.

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

30150 USD / year

≈ 30150 USD / year
Out-of-State

30150 USD / year

≈ 30150 USD / year
Domestic

Applies to you

In-State

9990 USD / year

≈ 9990 USD / year

Living costs

Oxford

United States

850 - 1300 USD / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find PhD's scholarship opportunities for Second Language Acquisition.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

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