About PhD Program,
Since 1967 the University of Toronto has been a centre for graduate training and research, offering funded MA and PhD programs. We are a vibrant community of internationally-recognized researchers, and a hub for linguistics in the greater Toronto area and Canada more broadly. Our 28 graduate faculty members span three campuses. We train students in the following areas of concentration:
- Formal Linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics)
- Sociolinguistics (Language Variation and Change, Dialectology, Language Documentation, Language Revitalization)
- Cognitive Science (Psycholinguistics, Language Acquisition, Computational Linguistics)
The Department also has strengths in experimental linguistics, research at interfaces, fieldwork, and understudied languages of Canada and the world. Find out more about the research underway in the department here.
See below for more information on how to apply to our program, available funding, and program requirements.
Note that we do not offer a specialization in applied linguistics. If this is your area of interest, you might consider the Languages and Literacies Education programs hosted by the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). We also do not offer a specialization in Speech Language Pathology. If this is your area of interest, you might consider the SLP program hosted by the Speech-Language Pathology department at the Faculty of Medicine.
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
The one-year MA program consist of coursework, which includes a year-length course that culminates in the submission of a “forum paper”. Before the fall semester begins, students are assigned an advisor by the Graduate Chair/Coordinator. MA students are also expected to contribute to and participate in department events as members of a community of scholars. This includes research groups, thesis proposals, and colloquia by guest speakers.
For all but Linguistic Forum, a student who has already taken any of these courses at the undergraduate level must select other graduate courses to bring the total to 3.5 full course equivalents. Other courses are chosen by the student in consultation with the Graduate Chair/Coordinator and their advisor.
A typical course schedule for the one-year MA program may look like this: Three courses in the fall (1.5 FCE), two courses in the winter (1.0 FCE), and Linguistics Forum from September to August (1.0 FCE).
The forum class meets regularly during the fall and winter terms, with one or two informal meetings during the summer. Regular meetings with the supervisor normally continue in the summer until the paper is completed. The language requirement exam, if required, is usually written in April or May.
PhD Funding Coverage,
The Department of Linguistics provides base funding packages of at least $21,750 CAD plus tuition and fees to all students in the funded cohort: MA students receive 1 year of funding, and PhD students are funded in years 1-4.
Funding comes from a variety of sources, including but not limited to:
- Teaching assistantships
- Research assistantships
- University of Toronto Fellowships (UTF)
- External scholarships
All students in the funded cohort receive an individual funding letter at the beginning of the academic year that outlines the funding package they will receive, including base funding and any known additional funding (e.g. extra TA hours). There are many factors that can influence the total funding a student receives, including top-up awards for major award recipients, extra TA hours, admission awards, and additional funding from other sources.
Application Requirement,
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Unofficial transcripts for all university programs you have enrolled in or completed
- If your highest degree in Linguistics is from a university outside of Canada and the US, please provide an additional document listing all the Linguistics courses you have taken and the textbook (or material) used in the course. Please be sure to make clear which courses these correspond to in the transcripts (e.g., correct course code and title).
- Only complete applications will be considered.
Application Deadline,
Jan 03, 2025
Application Fee,
There is a non-refundable application fee of $125 CAD, which can be paid by credit card. Payment of your application fee must be received by the School of Graduate Studies before we can consider your application.
