Linguistics Essay Topics & Examples

Linguistics Essay Topics & Examples

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876 samples

What is linguistics? It is a science that concerns structure and changes in human languages. There are several branches of linguistics: phonology and phonetics, morphology and syntax, pragmatics and semantics. Thus, linguists examine the meaning, critical discourse, and lots of other features.

With this diversity within one discipline, it can be pretty tricky to choose a topic for your linguistics essay. Of course, you should write about a specific research question. You can describe historical perspectives or reflect and share your opinion on the issue that you have picked. But where exactly should you start?

That’s why you ended up on this page: you need to figure out how to write an essay about linguistics. Our team has prepared helpful tips so that you can understand the structure and design of such an academic paper. We’ve also collected linguistics essay topics that you can use.

20 Unique Linguistics Essay Topics

As you might have guessed, your linguistics essay should be based on a good idea. The topic should limit the area that you will look at and analyze in your paper. Or it can indicate the intersections between the subdivisions you will study. In this section, we will help you deal with this problem.

You can use the following topics to write your own language and linguistics essay:

  1. Verbal linguistic learning style techniques and their efficiency.
  2. Gender-specific job title in the English language.
  3. English as a global language for tourists and professionals.
  4. The reasons why some languages are easier to learn.
  5. Noam Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar.
  6. Grammar in American and British sign languages.
  7. Passive voice misuse in modern linguistics.
  8. The history of sign language.
  9. The role of semantics in linguistics and language learning.
  10. How translation distorts the initial meaning.
  11. The main linguistic features of the English language.
  12. The typical features of formal English.
  13. Machine learning as a part of applied linguistics.
  14. The benefits of learning foreign languages.
  15. The evolution of linguistics as a science.
  16. Corpus linguistics in teaching languages.
  17. The analysis of Greek history through linguistics.
  18. A case study of modern slang.
  19. Long-term and short-term memory as explored by psycholinguists.
  20. The metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics.

Tips on Writing a Perfect Linguistics Essay

Here, you’ll see our recommendations for composing an essay about linguistics. There are some things you should keep in mind before and while writing your paper:

1. Plan your paper ahead. Decide what your arguments and position are. What should your research involve? Think about the audience of your paper to define your word choice. Search for some credible sources, such as articles about language that support your arguments. Outline your essay, paying close attention to your thesis statement.

2. Remember to be clear. There should be no surprises. State what your conclusion is about in the introduction. The first and the last paragraphs should be connected. Introduce your message as a whole in the thesis statement. Also, always define if you discuss someone else’s viewpoint or your thoughts.

3. Incorporate examples. Explain why you include the supporting evidence before introducing them. Don’t make your readers doubt their relevance. Define if you are citing another author or your own example. In the text, use italics and quotation marks if you need them.

4. Cite and reference. First of all, it is necessary to avoid plagiarism in your work. Secondly, references help to highlight the importance and credibility of your arguments. You can use linguistic articles in English or any other language. Just make sure that you follow the requirements of your institution. There is no exact number of references that you need to use while writing an essay about linguistics. Let’s say that you need more than one or two to make your argument look solid.

5. Work on your wording. Don’t make any firm judgments about your own or other authors’ work in this type of academic writing. Try not to use such words as “obviously” or “absurd.” Incorporate phrases like “clearly” and “without a doubt” carefully. The scientific questions you introduce should appear testable and empirical.

We hope our tips and topics were useful to you. Some good linguistics essay examples can also help you write a perfect paper – you can find them below.

875 Linguistics Essay Examples

Imaginary Homelands Summary & Analysis

The essay Imaginary Homelands describes the plight of the writers in the Diaspora as they attempt to reconnect with their homelands.
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2255

English Language Skills Improvement

To improve my English language skills, I will need to watch movies and read books in English and allot enough time for writing and speaking practice.
  • 4
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 591

The Experience of Learning English

The English taught in my school is much different than the English used day to day in the English speaking world.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1181

How to Write a Speech?

The main objectives of a writer when writing a speech is to engage the attention of the audience, use a language that is easy to understand, and present ideas in a way that makes them [...]
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1391

Use of Pathos: Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”

During his lifetime, Martin Luther King Junior had the privilege of giving several speeches whose main theme in almost all was on the freedom of the black Americans.'I have a dream' was among the many [...]
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 584

Nature of Translation and Its Process

Translation expresses that human beings have the ability to understand the facts and significance of the mind of the people in general; especially a distinctive group of people with some shared interest, and the culture [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1351

Speech and Written Forms of Communication

Due to the dynamism of speech as a means of communication, it has a great impact on the confidence, speaking, and listening skills of students while the static nature of written communication greatly affects writing [...]
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 813

Code Switching: Intersentential and Intrasentential

The paper finds out that code switching is more complicated than sometimes thought to only involve loaning and borrowing of words from one language to another, explained by the fact that code switching involves psychological, [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1976

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Pictographs

Indeed, given the fact that a range of images and icons have gained the status of international elements of the graphic lingua franca, such as the pictograms used in the digital setting to signify the [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 577

Language Flexibility in Education

Speaking about the flexibility of language, it is possible to provide numerous examples that evidence the existence of some forms and meanings of the same word.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 503

Importance of Phonology

One of the benefits of studying phonetics is that it shows the difference between languages through the different sounds that the languages in question have.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1329

Language Development in Early Childhood

The following are some of the ways through which a child's parent or caregiver can promote language development pertaining to the stage of development.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1227

“The Nobel Lecture in Literature” by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison's attitude towards the statist language as the dead one presents her vision of higher politics and expresses an idea that language is degraded because of political censorship.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 553

Types of Borrowing in Linguistics Essay

The result of the process of conventionalization is the total loss of connections with the source language according to the perception of the community of the word borrowers.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1397

“Sexism in English: Embodiment and Language”

In this essay, as well as in all of her essays from the collection titled "Sexism and Language," Alleen Pace Nilsen holds the view that the feminine eponyms identify a woman with her body, while [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 629

Multilingualism

This is because learning the second language involves learning new things or aspects about the language. The third and last phase is a product of first and second language learning.
  • 2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 584

Beowulf: Role of Women

Female characters in Beowulf are very important, as they help to understand of the entire poem and also the culture of the people in ancient times.
  • 1
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1391

The differences between American and British English

On the other hand, the English language being spoken by the people living in the British Commonwealth countries is what is referred to us as British English. One point in which the British and American [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Learning Foreign Languages: What Are the Benefits?

While it is true that there are numerous study areas for a student to become proficient in, having a good command of a foreign language enhances the overall learning capacity and may even improve your [...]
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 829

“The Atlanta Compromise Speech” by Booker T. Washington

The idea was that if it became clear to the whites that the black community was ready to contribute to national and global development, the barriers of social inequity and racial injustice would gradually diminish.
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1939

Peer Tutoring and English Language Learning

For example, a peer tutor should be taught about establishing the rules of confidentiality when reporting the learning progress; moreover, there is a need to teach tutors-to-be how to provide constructive feedback for the responses [...]
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2499

Language and Logic: The Similarities and Differences

A major function of language is that the symbols are subjective. There are various areas of study that will allow one to get the right interpretation of language and logic.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 586

Real Time and Apparent Time Studies

The dimensions of variations in the sociolinguistic paradigm includes the adoption of theoretical aspects such as the concept of function, stylistic and social meaning, variation and linguistic change, bi-directional relations between the synchronic and the [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 12
  • Words: 3223

Foreign Language Learning and Knowledge

This individual will not consider any of the languages as foreign regardless of the proportion of the individuals that speak the language.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2118

American English Dialect

The main focus of the project is to analyse the phonological, structural and lexical features of the American dialect. In terms of the phonological distinctness of General American English, the group found out that the [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1158

“Mother Tongue” Article by Amy Tan

In "Mother Tongue," Amy Tan considers the various implications of the different "Englishes" that she became acquainted with, and she pays particular attention to the "limited" and "broken" English used by her mother.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 398

Russian-Speaking Community in Southern California

Russian American population mainly includes people who came from Russia to the US, but the term also may refer to other immigrants who used to live in the territory of the Soviet Union.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1448

Pragmatic Failure in Successful Communication

The "How do you do?" utterance is a manner of formal greeting between the acquaintances and traditional response to this expression would be the same "How do you do?" Obviously, the Englishman, intending to greet [...]
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1997

English Language Learning: Students Difficulties

The research will come up with an understanding surrounding the grammar topics that are most challenging to the students. Additionally, it is likely that the said errors will be complicated and related to the daily [...]
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 658

Texting and the English Language

The main point proposed by the article is that the influx of technology has destroyed the uses of the English language through the introduction of the text message service.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 914

English vs. Arabic Phonology and Syntax

English dispersed to the rest of the world becoming a leading language of international communication due to the extensive influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 15
  • Words: 4316

Testing in Language Teaching

Since the result is crucial in teaching, an educator is to be able to measure the performance of the learners, their improvements, strengths and weaknesses and this is where testing is necessary.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2491

Main Components of a Language Classroom: How to Learn & Teach

This essay involves a discussion on the main components of language learning and teaching within the sheltered approach of language acquisition which involves the incorporation of content and language while dealing with the learners of [...]
  • 4
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 9
  • Words: 2670

Morphology and Syntax in Language

Syntax in linguistics includes; the placement of words in coherent phrases, the way a phrase is put together, and how it reads as a whole.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 604

All Roads Lead to Rome Expression

The measurement of magnitude with a direction is called a vector quantity. Thus, the force propels the driver towards the direction of the collusion.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 555

Wolof Language, Its Structure and Use

There are generally two types of Wolof, that is, Gambian Wolof spoken mainly by the Gambian people and the Senegal Wolof, which is the standard form of the language.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1420

Dialect: Development and Significance

The history of dialect is unique indeed and has close connection to numerous social, geographical, and cultural concepts; the relation to these factors makes dialect a considerably local term, a language variation with its own [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 15
  • Words: 4112

The Usefulness of the Skopos Theory

Thus, the possibility of sticking to the original aim of the text is the value and usefulness of the Skopos theory.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 579

Gloria Anzaldua: How to Tame a Wild Tongue

The author provides an example of her visit to a dentist as a child, which inspired Anzaldua to think about culture and its connection to the mother tongue. Anzaldua's work provides an understanding of the [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 253

The Role of Structuralism in Linguistics

However, the works by Ferdinand de Saussure remain to be the most significant sources which define the nature of structuralism and the development of structural linguistics.
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 352

Senses of Yellowstone National Park

The park is full of various mountains and canyons that seem to form waves in the landscape and turn it into the illimitable ocean of green plants and brown rocks.[METAPHOR] Except for that, when driving [...]
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 846

English as a Communication Language

The reason behind this is the fact that English has been considered for long as a foreign language in the Expanding Circles and therefore only suitable as an official medium of communication with the native [...]
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 13
  • Words: 3593

Morphology and Phonology

Morphology is a linguistic term that refers to the process of identifying and describing morphemes, parts of speech, intonations, affixes, and root words of a language. This knowledge is important in the improvement of reading [...]
  • 2.2
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 570

The Word “Illuminati” Definition

It is said that the word is derived from the Latin word "illuminare" which means either to enlighten or illuminate. Some people associated the word illuminati to a powerful satanic group or cult that came [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 544

Idioms in “A Piece of Cake”

The idiom A piece of Cake is used commonly in speech and literature in the modern world. Due to this fact therefore, the phrase has found a lot of application in the speech and English [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 548

Language Diversity in the Classroom

This is also due to the difference between the language spoken in their immediate environment and the language provided and used in the educational institution. Similarly, in personal life, this knowledge can provide an opportunity [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 336

Standard and Non-Standard Types of the English Language

Though the definitions of certain words and idioms may be different in different countries, the vocabulary words are mostly the same in all the varieties of the language. The comparison of standard and non-standard varieties [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 834

Issues in Learning English as a Second Language

However, it is a hard job to learn the language and use it in a proper way i.e.to achieve the objectives sought at the beginning of the learning as the language is not a good [...]
  • 3.5
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 872

Connected, but Alone

As it was implied in the introduction, Connected, but Alone tackles the main issue of post-industrial modernity in the West the fact that the passage of time seems to have a strongly detrimental effect on [...]
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1347

What Makes Today’s English Different from Its Early Versions

Such a phenomenon as the Great Vowel Shift also contributed to the gap between how English is written and spoken. The Internet is presently a powerful tool that permeates the language's spoken version, affecting vocabulary, [...]
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 356

English Language in Contemporary World

For instance, the borrowed from French word cafe is still unchanged in English."The Rennaissance is a time of freedom of ideas; for lalnguage that means freedom in creating and borrowing words".
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2362

Breakdown of Patton’s Speech

Through sheer inspiration and superlative leadership qualities, both on the battlefield and away from it, he exhorted his troops to fight on and was able to draw the best fighting spirits and display of valor [...]
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 569

Clutter in English Speech and Writing

To avoid clutters, a writer should avoid unnecessary words, avoid repetition and economize words. Highlighting and removing redundant and unnecessary words and phrases can help one to be a concise writer.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 173

Global English Language Development

As the paper reveals, irrespective of the dialect, the number of people who speak the English language across the world continues to rise.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1719

The Norman Conquest of the English Language

The conquest resulted in the development of two categories of the English language called the Old English and Middle English. Old English refers to the language used before the Norman Conquest, while the Middle English [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2747

Semantics

A group of words or a phrase that has been used to refer to the same object or concept is called a semantic field or a semantic domain, and gives meaning to a word in [...]
  • 2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 639

Theoretical Approaches to Syntax

The paper delves into the characteristics of the theme as highlighted in the theory and the problems with the SFG Notion of Theme.
  • 1
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 15
  • Words: 4285

Differences in Languages between Arabic and English

The teachers should assist the learners with the good writing skills or patterns while understanding that they are changing writing and thinking patterns also rather than being irritated on the repetition of endless sentences by [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 819

The Role of Media’s Influence

Generalization/Principles/Theories The effect of media on language and culture play a crucial role in the distinction of the American society and also affects it in national terms by comparing the American English and other varieties [...]
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3421

Arabic Language and Linguistics

It is fundamental to know the verbal and non-verbal linguistics of the Arabic dialect to categorize the aspect categories. Equally, the intentum and signum categorized the functionality of conjunctions in the Arabic contexts.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 11
  • Words: 3117

Portuguese Language and Cultural Facts

Although the first evidence of Portuguese as a distinct language had been found in Latin texts since the 9th century, it was recognized in 1290 after Portugal's independence and the foundation of the first university [...]
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 556

Per Aspera ad Astra: Phrase’s Extended Definition

Considering the second interpretation, "our aspiration takes us," it is possible to see the same dismissive attitude to the kind and the amount of work since only the desire matters here.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 834

Inflectional and Derivational Morphology

An analytic language is a language in which all relations between members of a phrase or a sentence are conveyed by grammatical means only, i.e.by means of the fixed word order, by the place of [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 982

The Yucatec Mayan Language: Description and Analysis

These characteristics make the Yucatec Mayan language quite similar to other Mayan languages, with the principle of articulation being prominent in the Mayan language family due to the recurrent use of the vowel-vowel sequence. Therefore, [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 846

Learning a New Language

Hence even if you speak the international language in your office, you need to learn how to speak the local language because you need to learn how to converse in the local language because it [...]
  • 5
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1398

The Ivilyuat Language of the Cahuilla Tribes

The expansion of the British colonists into North America through the 17th and 18th century, later followed by the complete takeover of the continent by the independent American colonists throughout the 19th and into the [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 872

Visual Literacy: Definition and Impact

Both Dondis and Kennedy agree that visual literacy enhances meaning and understanding of what one sees and the way one lives.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 561

Scientific Vocabulary for English Language Learners

In order to simplify and improve the comprehension and practical implementation of difficult scientific words for ELL and ESL students, an integrated approach is required, including associations of the words with certain patterns, actions, images, [...]
  • Subjects: Teaching
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1142

What Is the Relationship between Language and Humanity?

Biopolitics is crucial in the discussion of the relationship between humans and animals because it highlights the power of nature. In the same vein, man and animals have been differentiated by language, one of the [...]
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1101

Bilingualism and Multilingualism

However, to discuss the aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism, it is necessary to focus on the factor of the social motivation and psychological peculiarities of the ability to use two or more languages for interactions.
  • 2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1044

Pragmatics Application

This is due to the high level of understanding that exists between the individual who is sending the information and the one who is receiving it.
  • Subjects: Spoken Language
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2255

Mother Tongue Analysis Essay

It is important to note that Amy Tan not only uses the article to give us an insight into her world of writing and the continuous commitments she made to better her mastery of the [...]
  • 4.2
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1101

Multilingualism and Identity

Moreover, one is to keep in mind that multilingualism in the United States and "plurilingualism of individuals is one of the cornerstones of Europe".
  • 5
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1523

Origins of Human Languages

This hypothesis was put forward in the year 2004 to try and get a solution to the problem of language origin.
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 883

Color Coding for Learning Grammatical Constructions of English

The central focus of the present research project was to determine the effectiveness of the possibility of using color coding as a tool for better learning grammatical constructions of English as a foreign language.
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 20
  • Words: 5571

The Benefits of Knowing a Second Language

The first argument in favor of learning a second language is the fact that the development of cognitive abilities in the learning process helps maintain mental health.
  • Subjects: Importance of Language
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 613

Understanding Modern English

It is the above-mentioned changes in the international system that caused the rise of the English language, and so some linguists separate one more stage of development of the English language, Late Modern English or [...]
  • Subjects: Languages
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 575

Linguistic Identity. “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan

The primary purpose of the essay was to define and analyze Tan's struggles with linguistic identity and how she used her background and relationship with the English language to become a writer.
  • Subjects: Language Use
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 663

Teaching Standard English: Whose Standard?

Thus, it is the role of teachers to encourage students not to be afraid of making mistakes and sharing their thoughts, especially in language learning.
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 559

National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program

There are three main reasons why I choose this program: the possibility to learn the host culture and traditions, the necessity to improve my understanding of the Russian ideology, and the opportunity to develop my [...]
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 247

Saudi Cultural Values and Language Learning

The research at hand is devoted to cultural and religious factors that influence the learning of the English language by ESL students in Saudi Arabia.
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 12
  • Words: 3410

Overwriting Hate: The Queer Writing on the Bathroom Wall

Furthermore, the author reflects on his intentions regarding the investigation of this topic and states that the interest to interpretation and understanding motivated him to use graffiti letterforms to create a queer language with the [...]
  • Subjects: Written Speech
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 853

Orthographic Transcription

Here, the story is told and there is certain return to the beginning of the story. This section is the end of the story and reference to the point mentioned at the start.
  • Subjects: Stylistics
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2101

The Impact of English as a Tool of Global Communication

It is a good way to attract tourists and to serve them to increase the profit of the organization. It is more important whether this language can meet the needs of the speakers referring to [...]
  • Subjects: Language Acquisition
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2060

Typical and Atypical Language Development

Typical language development refers to the normal processes of language acquisition in which individuals learn given aspects of language such as phones and morphology.
  • Subjects: Language Development
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 787
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