Certificate code CTLATU

College of Arts and Sciences 
Linguistics Department
Gordy Hall 383
Athens, OH 45701
740-593-0297
www.ohio.edu/cas/linguistics

David Bell, certificate coordinator/contact person
belld@ohio.edu

Program Overview

This certificate explores the interaction of language and technology. Language has been constantly shaped by changing technologies from the varying media used to convey texts in diferent writing systems to the invention of the printing press and moveable type and the portability of books to the recording and broadcasting of speech to the ultimate portability of the language device of the smart phone and the AI-driven invention of speech recognition and human voice simulation. Such changes give rise to such questions as: How has the human invention of reading changed our brains and our ability to think and is the development of digital literacy still further impacting the plasticity of human cognition? Does the use of online grammar and spelling checkers ultimately lead to the standardization and homogenization of written language? Likewise, does the growth of voice recognition devices and speech simulation inevitably lead to a standardization of speech forms and accents? And on the flipside, does the internet offer tools to preserving endangered languages and dialects? Is texting a new language system complete with its own grammar and syntax and the use of symbols to reflect the pragmatic meanings conveyed by speech? Does the emergence of AI-driven voice chatbots augur the demise of the human language teacher?

Admissions Information

Freshman/First-Year Admission

Any undergraduate student in good standing enrolled in any college or major is eligible to enroll in the certificate program. Students should consult with the certificate director, Dr. David Bell (belld@ohio.edu) before registering for the certificate program.

Change of Program Policy

Any undergraduate student in good standing enrolled in any college or major is eligible to enroll in the certificate program. Students should consult with the certificate director, Dr. David Bell (belld@ohio.edu) before registering for the certificate program.

External Transfer Admission

Any undergraduate student in good standing enrolled in any college or major is eligible to enroll in the certificate program. Students should consult with the certificate director, Dr. David Bell (belld@ohio.edu) before registering for the certificate program.

Opportunities Upon Graduation

Recent technological innovations are having a major impact on language. It is important for all students - whatever their field of study and future professional life - to understand these impacts and how to manage them and explain these impacts to others. The knowledge gained from this certificate would benefit graduates entering into any number of fields.

Requirements