English (PHD)
Applied Linguistics Emphasis
Prepare yourself for a promising future in academia and work alongside respected professors in the dynamic field of applied linguistics.
Considering a Career in Applied Linguistics?
Considering a career in applied linguistics? With A&M-Commerce’s English Ph.D. program, our applied linguistics track is flexible and can be completed online or in person. Achieve your goals on your own terms.
(Note: Online track is only for US citizens and permanent residents. International students are welcome to attend the face-to-face program.)
Careers
A Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics can lead to teaching and research. Specializations like Natural Language Processing and teaching English as a Second Language are in high demand.
Career Possibilities and Current Median Salaries
US DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2022
See Yourself Succeed With a Ph.D. in English – Applied Linguistic Emphasis
Dedicated Faculty
Work alongside exceptional faculty who will improve your research competence and analytical skills. You’ll receive one-on-one mentorship as you explore the fields of applied linguistics.
Lead Students to Success
Enroll in our teaching assistant and writing program to gain valuable teaching skills. Teach a variety of subjects, including English composition and TESOL methods. Develop your teaching abilities as you earn your degree.
Focus Your Passion
The program has stages. Take courses in various areas of applied linguistics for several semesters. Choose an advisor and work on your dissertation based on your area of interest.
Supportive
Graduate students can earn teaching and research assistantships, scholarships, and conference support. Federal loans are also available.
What you will learn
The applied linguistics track of the English Ph.D. program will offer you the opportunity to:
- Work on collaborative research projects with faculty
- Participate in discussions with peers and professors, online and in person
- Benefit from small class sizes and one-on-one mentorship
- Engage in weekly professional development sessions covering a variety of topics
- Gain editorial experience working with the editors E-Journal, a diamond open-access journal founded by two of our alumnae in 2013
Experience the Classroom
Gain classroom experience through our teaching assistant program. You will have the opportunity to teach English composition and courses such as TESOL methods, language and society, English Grammar, language acquisition, word building, development of the English language, and more. Teaching assistantships are currently limited to the face-to-face program.
Research Opportunities
Our current research includes:
Advancing innovative technology-assisted practices in the language teacher education classes. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
Understanding the pragmatic performance and perceptions of language learners. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
The study of how different modalities visual, aural, gestural, prosodic, gaze-related, etc. contribute to communication, especially in the digital age. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
Precise knowledge about language and knowledge about knowledge as formalized by linguistic semanticists are essential to develop explainable and scalable intelligent technologies. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
The landscape of second language writing is changing through new and emerging technologies. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
Humor studies is a growing and exciting field ranging from the semantics and pragmatics of humor in new media to the phonology of word play and computational humor. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
Researchers study the speech patterns of AAC and non-AAC users and how that impacts their ability to do their jobs as they increase the number of valid, reliable studies available. Learn more.
Contributing Faculty and Students
Faculty Spotlight
Course Delivery
The Applied Linguistics track in the English Ph.D. is available both face-to-face and fully online. Face-to-face students can take 50% of their degree online. All courses are always available online. Many courses are also available face-to-face. Generally, face-to-face courses are in a dual-modality configuration (the same course is taught simultaneously face-to-face and online). Online courses are generally asynchronous (i.e., the students can watch the lectures and do assignments when convenient, during the week) but dual-modality courses can be both synchronous or asynchronous (students can attend the live lecture or watch it later).
There are three types of courses: the regular 16-week “long” semesters, summer terms (5 or 10 weeks), and “mini” terms which require daily engagement and cover a limited range of topics.
Please check the schedule of classes for locations and times. Locations and times are subject to change.
Alumni Profiles
Student Profiles
PROGRAM COSTS
Tuition and fees for graduate students taking nine credit hours are $3,669 for Texas residents and $7,341 for non-residents.
Admission
Your Path to Becoming a Lion
Deadlines
Fall admission consideration: ApplyTexas application due May 1. All documents due May 15.
Spring admission consideration: ApplyTexas Application due November 15. All documents due Dec. 1.
Summer admission consideration: ApplyTexas Application due April 1. All documents due April 15.
- Select “Create a new graduate school admissions application.”
- Select “Texas A&M University-Commerce (Commerce)” as your “Target University.”
- Select “English, PHD” as your “Major.”
Domestic Application Fee 395064
- Pay the $50 application fee.
Wait to receive an application confirmation email before proceeding to the next step.
- After you submit your application, the Graduate School will send a confirmation email within two business days to the personal email account you used for ApplyTexas.
Submit the following documents after you receive an application confirmation email.
- Upload your documents at myLeo > Apps > Check Admissions Application Status & Test Scores or email your documents to your graduate coordinator unless otherwise specified below.
Graduate Coordinator Dayla Burgin
Your Graduate Coordinator
Contact your previous institution(s) and request that they send your official transcripts to your graduate coordinator
- We recommend that you request transcripts for all of your academic work.
All international transcripts must be evaluated and the evaluation submitted to the Graduate School.
We accepts evaluations sent directly from the following Agencies.
- If a normal evaluation is submitted, official original transcripts with all marksheets will still need to be submitted.
- If a WES ICAP or equivalent is submitted, we will not need the official transcripts to be submitted separately.
To be considered for admission, one of the following is required
- a bachelor's degree with an overall GPA of 2.75 or higher, or
- a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 hours, or
- an awarded master's degree with an overall GPA of 3.4 or higher.
If you have a non-thesis master's degree, you must complete a thesis prior to doctoral candidacy (empirical thesis can be completed in our program en route to the dissertation and doctoral candidacy).
If your institution is unable to submit a digital copy, hard copies may be mailed to:
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Attn: Graduate School
PO Box 3011
Commerce, Texas 75429-3011
We will need official/original documents. If those documents are the only copies you have, the Graduate School can mail them back to you upon request. Contact your graduate coordinator for more information.
Submit a Statement of Goals (two pages, double-spaced) that addresses the following questions:
- What is your area of study? (linguistics, literature, etc)
- Why do you want to study that particular area?
- What do you hope this degree leads to? What are your goals?
- Are there any professors you would like to study under?
Submit a resume or curriculum vitae (CV) which includes your academic and professional history and achievements.
Submit a sample of your writing that contains:
- a one or two pieces of your academic prose (no more than 10 pages total) and
- a two-page statement of your background, interests and goals as they relate to your graduate work in English.
Record a video of yourself answering each of the prompts below, upload it to the platform of your choice, and share the link to your video with us via an email to your graduate coordinator.
Your video should not exceed 30 minutes in length.
- Begin with a brief self-introduction.
- What motivates you to pursue a Ph.D. degree in linguistics/applied linguistics?
- Do you think you are the right candidate for our Ph.D. program? Why?
- Have you conducted a research project before? If yes, please describe it briefly.
- What research areas would you explore and what research projects would you conduct if you were amitted to our Ph.D. program? Is there a particular faculty member that you would like to work with?
- What teaching experiences do you have?
- Are you interested in the online or face-to-face option?
- How much time/effort do you envisage the Ph.D. to require every week? Have you taken any online courses before?
- Do you have anything else you want us to know?
Note: Do not send the video file directly (e.g., as an attachment to an email). Be sure to use a platform, such as YouTube, which does not require registration or payment to upload the video and remember to check the accessibility of your link before submitting it to us (e.g., If using YouTube, the visibility setting of your video should either be public or unlisted, but not private). Visual aids (e.g., PPT slides) are encouraged but not required. If using visual aids, we would still like to see your face in the video (i.e., no voiceover presentations).
Request two signed letters of recommendation, on letterhead, from professionals who can attest to your goals and ability to succeed in the program. Those individuals should:
- Email the letter to your graduate coordinator or
- Send the letter to you. Then, you will utilize the upload system: myLeo > Apps > Check Admissions Application Status & Test Scores
One or both of the references should hold a doctoral degree.
Review the Application Packet for more information.
Look for application updates in myLeo > Apps > Check Application Status
- Once an admission decision has been made, you will receive an email to your student email account at myLeo > Apps > Leomail.
- Apply for scholarships and graduate assistantships once you are admitted.
- Apply for financial aid by submitting a FAFSA and sending it to school code 003565.
- Contact your financial aid advisor with any questions.
Once registration opens and you are eligible to enroll, your graduate enrollment specialist will contact you to complete registration.
- View your degree plan in DegreeWorks.
- To register for classes, go to myLeo > Student Resources > Registration Menu.
Contact your graduate enrollment specialist if you have any questions regarding your degree plan and registration.
Graduate Enrollment Specialist Jennifer Faunce
Your Graduate Enrollment Specialist
Deadlines
Fall admission consideration: May 15
Spring admission consideration: October 1
Summer admission consideration: February 15
- Select “Create a new graduate school admissions application.”
- Select “Texas A&M University-Commerce (Commerce)” as your “Target University.”
- Select “English, PHD” as your “Major.”
International Application Fee
- Pay the $75 application fee
Wait to receive an application confirmation email before proceeding to the next step.
- After you submit your application, the Graduate School will send a confirmation email within two business days to the personal email account you used for ApplyTexas.
Submit the following documents after you receive an application confirmation email.
- Upload your documents at myLeo > Apps > Check Admissions Application Status & Test Scores or email your documents to your graduate coordinator unless otherwise specified below.
Graduate Coordinator Dayla Burgin
Your Graduate Coordinator
Contact your previous institution(s) and request that they send your official transcripts to your graduate coordinator.
- We recommend that you request transcripts for all of your academic work.
To be considered for admission one of the following is required
- a bachelor's degree with an overall GPA of 2.75 or higher,
- a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 hours, or
- an awarded master's degree with an overall GPA of 3.4 or higher.
If your institution is unable to submit a digital copy, hard copies may be mailed to:
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Attn: Graduate School
PO Box 3011
Commerce, Texas 75429-3011
We will need official/original documents. If those documents are the only copies you have, the Graduate School can mail them back to you upon request. Contact your graduate coordinator for more information.
All international transcripts must be evaluated and the evaluation submitted to the Graduate School.
We accept evaluations sent directly from the following Agencies.
- If a normal evaluation is submitted, official original transcripts with all marksheets will still need to be submitted.
- If a WES ICAP or equivalent is submitted, we will not need the official transcripts to be submitted separately.
Submit a Statement of Goals (two pages, double-spaced) that addresses the following questions:
- What is your area of study? (linguistics, literature, etc)
- Why do you want to study that particular area?
- What do you hope this degree leads to? What are your goals?
- Are there any professors you would like to study under?
Submit a resume or curriculum vitae (CV) which includes your academic and professional history and achievements.
- a one or two pieces of your academic prose (no more than 10 pages total) and
- a two-page statement of your background, interests, and goals as they relate to your graduate work in English.
Request two signed letters of recommendation, on letterhead, from professionals who can attest to your goals and ability to succeed in the program. Those individuals should:
- Email the letter to your graduate coordinator or
- Send the letter to you. Then, you will utilize the upload system: myLeo > Apps > Check Admissions Application Status & Test Scores
One or both of the references should hold a doctoral degree.
Record a video of yourself answering each of the prompts below, upload it to the platform of your choice, and share the link to your video with us via an email to your graduate coordinator.
Your video should not exceed 30 minutes in length.
- Begin with a brief self-introduction.
- What motivates you to pursue a Ph.D. degree in linguistics/applied linguistics?
- Do you think you are the right candidate for our Ph.D. program? Why?
- Have you conducted a research project before? If yes, please describe it briefly.
- What research areas would you explore and what research projects would you conduct if you were amitted to our Ph.D. program? Is there a particular faculty member that you would like to work with?
- What teaching experiences do you have?
- Are you interested in the online or face-to-face option?
- How much time/effort do you envisage the Ph.D. to require every week? Have you taken any online courses before?
- Do you have anything else you want us to know?
Note: Do not send the video file directly (e.g., as an attachment to an email). Be sure to use a platform, such as YouTube, which does not require registration or payment to upload the video and remember to check the accessibility of your link before submitting it to us (e.g., If using YouTube, the visibility setting of your video should either be public or unlisted, but not private). Visual aids (e.g., PPT slides) are encouraged but not required. If using visual aids, we would still like to see your face in the video (i.e., no voiceover presentations).
Submit these documents to the Office of International Programs once you have been admitted
- Official sponsor statement
- Bank statement from the sponsor with a balance of at least $26,025 USD which is less than 1 year old
See the Office of International Program's “Confirmation of Financial Resource” for more details.
You do not need to submit test scores if you have completed (all years) of a bachelor's or higher degree from a regionally accredited university in the United States.
Request that your scores from one of the following be sent to Texas A&M University-Commerce:
- TOEFL (Minimum Scores: IBT 79, or CBT 213, or PBT 550)
- IELTS (Minimum Score: 6.00 band overall)
- PTE (Minimum Score: 53 overall or higher)
- Duo Lingo (Minimum Score: 105)
*Scores must be less than two years old.
Review the Application Packet for more information.
Look for application updates in myLeo > Apps > Check Application Status
- Once an admission decision has been made, you will receive an email to your student email account at myLeo > Apps > Leomail.
- Apply for scholarships and graduate assistantships once you are admitted.
- Apply for financial aid by submitting a FAFSA and sending it to school code 003565.
- Contact your financial aid advisor with any questions.
Once registration opens and you are eligible to enroll, your graduate enrollment specialist will contact you to complete registration.
- View your degree plan in DegreeWorks.
- To register for classes, go to myLeo > Student Resources > Registration Menu.
Contact your graduate enrollment specialist if you have any questions regarding your degree plan and registration.
Graduate Enrollment Specialist Jennifer Faunce
Your Graduate Enrollment Specialist
Featured Courses
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Contact Us
- Department of Literature and Languages
- 903.468.3260
- [email protected]
