I want to double major in linguistics and history plus minor in teaching. Would I be allowed to do this??? Is this a good choice because I want to be able to have a choice between the two majors that I want to teach in. For linguistics I’m mostly just interested in learning about languages and sch rather than teaching it. I want to teach in history more.
It really would depend on the U. Those subjects may be in different colleges at a University which could make it hard to schedule. And I don’t know what minoring in teaching (education) gets you.
Yes, it really depends on the college/university you attend. I worked at a university where if you were planning to teach at the secondary level (high school) you majored in the subject (like history) and did a concentration in secondary education. Students who planned to teach at the elementary level majored in Elementary Education. So start with how each specific institution you are interested in handles the education major first, then you will know if you can also do a second major.
Yes, you could do this, depending on the school. Given your stated interests, however, it might make more sense to major in history and pursue minors in linguistics and education studies. Generally, colleges with flexible curricula make combinations of multiple majors or minors easier to plan.
At my school you’d easily be able to do this, but it really does depend on the school.
I second the suggestion of minoring in linguistics rather than double majoring in your case. Heck, you could just take linguistics classes that sound interesting and not have to worry about filling out requirements for either a major or a minor.
It’s not that you won’t be allowed - it’s that you likely won’t have the time.
Usually, when you go for initial teacher certification you don’t minor in education so much as you complete a program in education. The requirements vary from state to state - but for example, at City College of New York, you would take 25 credits of education classes. However, you also have to student-teach for a semester, so your last semester of school you may not be taking any classes other than just doing the student teaching credits. Add that to the 40 or so credits required by your major and you’ve already got a 65 credit load. Then there are general eds and divisional requirements. You may be able to squeeze in a linguistics minor…may. But maybe not.
Also, if you want to teach at the K-12 level…there are rarely classes at that level in linguistics. So you won’t really be giving yourself a choice between two areas; 99% of the time you’d teach in history. Besides, your certification/initial licensure is in one area.
Remember that linguistics is not learning languages. Linguistics is learning about the structure of language as a system that humans use to relate meaning to other humans. In linguistics coursework you will learn about language syntax, morphology, form, and meaning. You will learn about how languages function in context, though, and depending on the emphasis of the department may study how languages evolved different in different societies/contexts.
Take a look at the course listing of the University of Washington’s linguistics classes: http://www.washington.edu/students/crscat/ling.html. Lots of classes like Fundamentals of Grammar and Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Analysis. But also some classes like Origins of Germanic Languages and Swearing and Taboo in Language. Similar is Berkeley’s listing: http://guide.berkeley.edu/courses/linguis/. Language Typology and Linguistic Unviersals, Logical Semantics, and Introduction to Semantics and Syntax are some of your core classes. But there’s also Speech in Society and Pidgin and Creole Languages and Language and Sex.