The department offers both PhD and MA degrees in linguistics. The requirements for the completion of each degree are summarized below. The department also offers a combined BA/MA degree for its undergraduate majors. Students complete a minimum of thirteen courses (65 units). In the first year, students take a core sequence of courses in phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, semantics, syntax, and field or experimental methods. By the end of the second year, most of the required coursework (including in addition a research seminar and seminars in three distinct areas) has normally been completed.<br><br>Reading competence in one foreign language is demonstrated by examination, ideally early in the graduate career. The function of the exam is to test reading comprehension at a level which will allow effective use of the language in reading linguistic material.