An Associate of Arts, also known as AA, is a two-year degree program designed to provide undergraduates with a foundation in liberal arts and humanities. With the right focus courses, an Associate of Arts can build credentials for entering or advancing a career or for transferring to a four-year university.

What is an Associate of Arts in Linguistics? This program – often listed as a concentration for an AA in English, Anthropology, or Foreign Languages – provides courses on the study of language as it is constructed and used. Course material may cover phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics – the basic components of speech, the construction of words and sentences, and the conveyance of meaning, respectively. Theoretical and applied linguistics may also intersect with psychology, sociology, history, and communications.

By pursuing an Associate of Arts in Linguistics, students may build an understanding of research methods and analysis and improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They can also develop insight into communication as well as into human behavior and themselves.

An Associate in Arts typically takes only two years to complete compared to the four years for a Bachelor’s. Though the tuition cost per credit hour is usually the same for each program at a given school, the shorter program makes an AA relatively inexpensive. Some institutions do have different rates for each program, though.

An Associate of Arts in Linguistics is the start of a path towards a number of careers across multiple fields. Translation services and teaching English as a second or foreign language are common, and theoretical linguists often work primarily as researchers. More technical jobs exist that rely on linguistics, especially in more recent years; companies invested in developing software or computers that can interpret human languages or communicate back to users are in need of linguists with some computer science knowledge, for instance.

Earning an Associate in Arts can pave the way for a strong academic and professional future, and doing so is easier nowadays with online programs offered by many schools. To start, search for your program below and contact directly the admission office of the school of your choice by filling in the lead form.