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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… In him was life, and that life was the light of men… to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
How can people hear the Word of God and receive Him if they cannot hear and understand the Word in the language of their hearts? How can believers grow fully in their faith and “be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17) if they cannot study the Word in their mother tongue?
Of the more than 6, 800 languages of the world only 2,212 have some or all of the Bible. More than 2,000 languages, or, more than 440 million people, still need to have the Bible translated. Needed are more than 1,500 workers who are willing to become al things to all men so that by all possible means they might save some (1 Cor. 9: 22); workers willing to acquire new languages and cultures. Needed are workers trained as Bible translators, linguists, or literacy specialists to complete this very important task. |
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Program Strengths:
- Combining the quality academic training of AGS with the extensive experience of TAP and SIL International offering integrated academic and practical training and pre-field preparation.
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- A proven track record in equipping Asians for cross-cultural ministries.
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- Strong emphasis on and quality training in the Biblical disciplines and languages.
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- National and international faculty with extensive ministry and cross-cultural experience.
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- An international student body.
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The Applied Linguistics Program aims to train linguists, translators, and multi-lingual education specialists who are able to:
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Learn a new language and study the culture of a people group.
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Analyze the sound system and describe the grammar of a language.
- Help speakers of a previously unwritten language design an alphabeth and writing system.
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Assit speakers to publish reading materials in their own language.
- Translate the Bible.
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Facilitate the development of multi-lingual education programs in local communities.
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Diploma (33 units) |
M.A. (70 units) Focus:Bible Translation |
M.A. (64 units) Focus: Language Development |
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| Research Seminars |
1 sems |
1 sem |
1 sem |
| Growth Groups |
2 sems |
4 sems |
4 sems |
| Bible |
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6 units |
6 units |
| Biblical Languages |
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12 units |
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| Theology |
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6 units |
6 units |
| Christian History |
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| Leadership & Spiritual Formation |
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6 units |
6 units |
| Professional Core |
32 units |
32 units |
32 units |
| Professional Electives |
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6 units |
12 units |
| LIFE |
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2 units |
2 units |
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| Professional Core |
Professional/Open Electives |
- Introduction to Linguistics
- Articulatory Phonetics
- Cultural Anthropology
- Language & Culture Acquisition
- Phonology
- Morphology and Syntax
- Semantics
- Linguistic Field Methods
- Computer Data Management
- Applied Sociolinguistics & Program Planning
- Literacy Principles
- Translation Principles
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- Translation 2
- Issues in Comprehensive Grammar Writing
- Multi-lingual Education for Minority Languages
- Literacy Materials Production
- Issues in Community Literacy
- Survey Principles
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COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
This course is an introduction to language as it is used in social interaction. The goal is to give a picture of what the world is like today in terms of the varieties of languages and the social factors that influence language attitudes and use. The emphasis of much of the course is on the concepts and issues of sociolinguistics so that towards the end of the course an understanding of these concepts will fit the student for appropriate applications where needed in language programs. This is an entry-level course and is intended only as an introduction to the large area of study included in sociolinguistics. The general topics discussed in this class include language variation and some social uses of language, language attitudes, multilingualism, issues involving languages in contact, and language and nation issues.
In this course the student learns to recognize and transcribe the sounds of language, produce sounds from a transcription, and to mimic the sounds heard. The student acquires skills to understand the mechanisms by which sounds are produced, effectively use computer tools available for speech analysis, and teach others these same skills.
Applied Linguistics LIFE - Internship
Students coming from organizations that have specific internship requirements will do their internship according to those requirements upon approval by the program director. AGS will give credit for such internship upon receipt of the necessary evaluation reports. Such students will still be required to participate in the LIFE seminars and group discussions.
Computer Use in Data Management
This course is a training program enabling students to use a computer to analyze and manage the data collected in linguistic field research. Students learn to use the FieldWorks and Phonology Assistant programs to analyze Phonology and Interlinear Texts and to create a Lexicon in the language which they are studying. For writing up their findings, they learn how to use advanced features of MS-Word and OpenOffice.
(Prerequisites: Phonetics, Phonology, Grammar 1: Morphology and Syntax, or equivalents.)
Cultural Anthropology / Ethnography
A study of the principles and skills that students need for effective cross-cultural ministry. They also gain an understanding of their own cultural identity, as well as the similarities and differences between themselves and the people of another culture. The Ethnography portion of the course focuses on field methodology for gathering and interpreting cultural and behavioral data. This is learned by writing an ethnography, based on cultural research carried out by the student.
Students acquire linguistic knowledge, especially in morphology and syntax, linguistic analysis skills and theory.
Language and Culture Acquisition
Is an introduction to self-directed second language acquisition, accomplished through working with a native speaker of another language. Students will learn to identify and apply their own language learning style characteristics, plan and manage their language learning, use appropriate techniques and activities to develop second language competence at the novice level, and describe techniques and activities suitable for language learning at more advanced levels.
Linguistics Field Methods
Gives students an opportunity to apply the theories and skills they have learned in Articulatory Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology and Syntax in a laboratory situation. Students are taught to elicit, record and transcribe linguistic data by working with a speaker of a non-Western language, use external sources plus the elicited data to formulate hypotheses, and test those hypotheses and refine them.
(Prerequisites: Phonetics, Phonology, Grammar 1: Morphology and Syntax, or equivalents)
Literacy Principles for Multilingual Settings
Students gain the skills and commitment to be facilitators for people who want to plan and implement community-based and community-managed literacy- for- development programs.
This course is an introduction to phonology, the study of sound systems of human language. The discussions focus on the principles of phonological analysis. Ample time is spent in applying these principles to a wide range of natural language data.
Explores the nature of meaning - specifically, how people communicate meaning via language. Discussions focus on the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, and the semantic relationships which exist between such units. Some attention is given to various theoretical approaches to the study of meaning, though the emphasis is on understanding various issues (e.g., polysemy, homonymy, lexical relationships), and on procedures for investigating and describing the semantic network of a given language. Attempts will be made throughout the course to relate insights from Semantics to other areas of study; especially hermeneutics, translation, and interpersonal communication.
Translation Principles
Translation I introduces the student to the principles and practice of translating Scripture in an experiential learning environment. The course is designed to develop the attitudes, skills, and knowledge needed to do faithful and natural translation of the Scripture into another language. The students need to synthesize information from preceding courses in linguistic and semantic analysis, anthropology and personal spiritual development. In many ways this course is where all the separate pieces of their training begin to coalesce into a whole. Students examine personal cognitive schema, cultural distance, communication theory, and semantics in relation to the practice of Bible translation. In addition, students discover appropriate strategies for translating idioms, figures of speech, unknown ideas, skewed grammatical constructions (like rhetorical questions, genitive constructions and passive constructions), and implicit information.
LIFE
Students coming from organizations that have specific internship requirements will do their internship according to those requirements upon approval by the Program Director. AGS would give credit for such internship upon receipt of the necessary evaluation reports. Such students would still be required to participate in the LIFE seminars and group discussions.
Other students will do a LIFE program similar to that of the Missions Program with the only difference that the internship must involve a translation, linguistics, or literacy ministry/project. |
