Prospective students! MLC applications for Fall 2013 semester are due by January 1, 2013.


For more up to date information and further resource, please visit our blog.

"Almost everything that we do in our everyday lives depends on language. We need language to make and enforce laws; obtain and distribute resources (both material and symbolic); create and maintain personal and public relationships; preserve our pasts and plan our futures. Linguists seek to understand how we use language to communicate in ways that interact with, and change, the external world."

- Deborah Schiffrin, Director of the MLC

"One of the wonderful things about the MLC Program is the flexibility. The program is small enough that each student gets a lot of individualized attention; we can sit down with each and every student and tailor a course of study that's attuned to their personal goals."

- Anna Marie Trester, Co-Director of the MLC





The M.A. in Language and Communication is a professionally-oriented program within the Linguistics Department at Georgetown University. This program cultivates strong research and analytical abilities in sociolinguistics, specifically discourse analysis (i.e. narrative analysis and cross cultural communication), variation analysis, and pragmatics. The program is designed to link these theories to practice in a range of professional fields.

MLC students participate in professional socialization events and career education activities targeted for sociolinguists. This personalized career development is designed to enable students to articulate how their skills and training are of particular value in workplace settings, institutions, and professions which depend largely upon language to accomplish their goals.

This program is designed for:

  • College graduates with B.A. or B.S., with majors including, but not limited to, humanities and social sciences
  • College graduates seeking further credentials for medical, law or, business school
  • Members of the workforce (public and private sectors) who seek advancement


    • Please navigate this site to learn more about the Masters in Language and Communication, including profiles on alumni and current students, and a more in depth look at the program through the eyes of our director and assistant director.

    Further details concerning requirements, standards and procedures for the MLC are given in the Linguistics Graduate Student Handbook and the Graduate Bulletin.