An Overview

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language to describe its underlying structures and rules. The primary mission of Linguistics is to produce well-qualified teachers and experts in language-related fields. To do so, the department of Linguistics started its work in 1963 as a minor department, cooperating with different departments of the Faculty particularly the department of Persian Language and Literature in teaching Ancient Persian Languages and Culture, and General Linguistics. Turning independent, in 1985, the department admitted the first group of students to the Master’s degree program in Linguistics. Afterwards, the Master’s degree program in Teaching Persian as a Foreign Language and the Doctoral degree program in General Linguistics were also offered in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

1.Effective participation in the cultural, political, and economic development of the society by offering scientific and research services for language studies, aiming to expand human knowledge and give rise to linguistic studies.
2.Presenting necessary opportunities to produce experts in linguistics and Persian language teaching.
3.Creating areas for basic, applied, and developmental research.
4.Interdisciplinary production of linguistic knowledge with the aim of promoting science.
5.Providing educational services and scientific guidelines to different sectors to increase the capabilities of the Iranian community and respond to their field-related needs.

http://zabanshenasi.um.ac.ir

Dr. Ali Alizadeh

Academic Rank: Associate Professor

Homepage:   alalizadeh.profcms.um.ac.ir

E-mail:

Tel: 051-38806771

Azam Janatifar

Education: B.A. in Persian Language and Literature

E-mail:

Tel: 051-38806772

M.A. Program

1.A Master’s degree program must be completed within 5 semesters of enrollment. Thirty credit hours are earned within the first 3 semesters and 8 credit hours are earned in the final semester (excluding 4 thesis credits).

2.Although the prerequisite courses will not appear in the student’s report cards, students must take them all in the first semester of enrollment.

3.The number of credit hours required to earn a Master's degree (excluding 10 remedial credits and including 4 thesis credits), is 32.

4.Students must take no more than 4 semester credit hours of Master’s thesis research. From the 5^th semester of study, the students need to obtain a program extension and continue to register for thesis credits each semester until the completion of the thesis.

5.The semester load must range from 8 to 12 hours toward the degree.

6.A grade of pass indicates performance of no less than a 12 on each course.

7.Students who fail to achieve an average of 14 in two semesters, will be placed on probation and academically dismissed from the University.

8.Class attendance is mandatory. Students who are deemed absent for more than three class sessions will have a mark of zero entered for that course and will consequently be dropped from the course.

9.Decisions about the significance of term papers and the scores, are made by the professor for the course.

10.Master’s degree programs are delivered via weekly on-campus classes and are not offered as reading courses.

Ph.D. Program

1.Doctoral students need to complete 36 credit hours (excluding 4 remedial credits and including 20 dissertation credits) in a maximum of 8 academic semesters.

2.A grade of pass indicates performance of no less than a 14 on each course.

3.Students who fail to achieve an average of 16 in two semesters, must take additional credits to reach the minimum GPA required for graduation or will otherwise be academically dismissed from the University.

4.Writing a term paper is necessary for each course.

5.Doctoral degree programs are delivered via weekly on-campus classes and are not offered as reading courses.

6.Students should take their comprehensive exam at the end of their coursework before starting on the dissertation. The exam is conducted twice a year in February and June.

Research Highlights

1.Master’s students must choose their thesis topic at the beginning of the 3^rd semester of study. The thesis proposal must be developed and approved by the Graduate Council of the department no later than December 30.

2.Download the electronic form of the thesis proposal from the website of the department. Complete it and submit it to the department for approval in the 3^rd semester of study.

3.Subsequent to Graduate Council approval, students must complete the form for Research Project Number 3 (Proposal) in student portal.

4.Master’s students must take thesis credits in the 4^th semester of study.

5.Students who fail to meet proposal submission due dates will have a 1-point drop in their thesis grade for delaying graduation by a semester.

6.Subsequent to passing the comprehensive exam, Doctoral students must submit their dissertation proposal to the department. Students who fail to meet proposal submission due dates will have a 1-point drop in their thesis grade for delaying graduation by a semester. In this program, students must defend their proposals.

7.Doctoral students need to report the findings of their study to the department in the form of a lecture.

8.All graduate students must turn in thesis/dissertation progress reports approved by the supervisor(s) and advisor(s), every three months.

9.For further thesis/dissertation formalities (e.g., Thesis/Dissertation Defense Request Form, having the thesis/dissertation grade registered in the system etc.) please contact your supervisor.

10.The thesis/dissertation score is calculated out of 18.99. To get the full score the following ways are attempted:

M.A. Thesis

Publishing an extracted paper in or presenting a letter of acceptance from the journals included in the whitelist for Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

Publishing 4 extracted abstracts in the proceedings of national or international conferences. 

Publishing 2 extracted papers in the proceedings of national or international conferences. 

Ph.D. Dissertation

Publishing 2 extracted papers in or presenting the letters of acceptance from the journals included in the whitelist for Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

11.Students must attend to the changes that their examiners have suggested to make to their thesis. They must submit the revised draft electronically and use paper submission as well.

12.Follow thesis/dissertation writing guidelines provided by the department of Linguistics.

13.Department of Linguistics has a special library including 320 theses/dissertations and 200 books. You may use the library in person or borrow one week loan books.

14.Given the importance of research in future success, it is suggested to attend to research activities from the very beginning of the program and get familiar with different academic databases.

15.Graduate student are required to get the Certificate of Student Participation in Thesis/Dissertation Defense, take part in a minimum of 3 theses/dissertations defenses within the department, have each single certificate signed by the Graduate Council Representative of the session, and return them to the department for inclusion.