The MA program in linguistics and applied linguistics focuses on the study of human language and the application of that study to the human condition.

At the master's degree level, the program provides foundational training in several interdisciplinary areas, including discourse analysis, Indigenous American linguistics, language and cognition, language contact and change, language revitalization, language planning, phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, second language acquisition, second-language teaching and learning, semantics, sociolinguistics, syntax, teaching English to speakers of other languages, World Englishes, and professional practices.