The Minor in Linguistics at California State University, Bakersfield consists of 20 upper division units (four five-unit courses) from the following list. 

English is the most taught second language in the world, and institutions of higher education in the United States and most foreign countries are constantly advertising for well prepared instructors, usually those with a Master's Degree in linguistics or English as a second language (ESL). A minor in linguistics enables students to more easily enter such graduate programs because appropriate courses in the minor can fulfill most if not all of the prerequisites for admissions. 

In California, community college instructors can teach ESL even without an MA in linguistics or ESL provided they have an MA in a cognate field such as English or foreign languages and a certificate in ESL or its evaluated equivalent. If students take English/linguistics 319, 415, 418 and 420, they will fulfill two-thirds of the state recognized certificate requirements.

Finally, the minor in linguistics is also useful for instructors at the primary and secondary levels of education. Most teachers in California, even those who do not specifically teach in bilingual programs or teach ESL as a subject, will have language minority students in their classrooms. The minor in linguistics will enable teachers to better understand why those students speak with an accent and produce certain types of morphological and syntactic structures. Teachers will also better understand the process of second language acquisition and the relationship between language and academic achievement which will make them more sensitive to the educational needs of their students.

Students can learn more about the minor in linguistics by contacting one of the four instructors of linguistics listed below. 

1. Dr. Sophia Adjaye
   • (661) 654-2362
   • sadjaye@csub.edu.
    
2. Dr. Robert S. Carlisle
   • (661) 654-2127
   • rcarlisle@csub.edu.
    
3. Dr. Andy Troup
   • (661) 654-2286
   • atroup@csub.edu.
     
     
4. Dr. Emerson D. Case
   • (661) 654-6281
   • ecase@csub.edu.