PhD in Applied Language & Speech Sciences
Our PhD in Applied Language and Speech Sciences program is widely regarded as one of the best and largest communicative disorder doctoral programs in the country.
The goal of the PhD in applied language program is to mentor students into published research. Our aim is to advance knowledge of how human communication works, how it sometimes breaks down, and how breakdowns can be remediated and/or managed.
We emphasize assessment, diagnosis, and measurement of communication and disorders in our PhD in applied language program. We study the efficacy of therapeutic and educational interventions. We examine the full range of linguistic systems applied in human communication. Our students team up with faculty members who are actively pursuing published research agendas.
Current and Prospective PhD students can access the Orientation Guide for the ALSS PhD program here.
Theoretical Foundations & Applications
The theoretical foundations of the PhD in speech and applied language program are based in the fields of study that are concerned with human communication. These include theoretical semiotics (the study of signs), linguistics, phonetics and phonology, and interaction studies such as ethnography, discourse and conversation analysis.
All these fields of inquiry have in the recent past been successfully applied to furthering our understanding of the nature of communicative disorders, and of the various contexts of language learning, such as first and second language acquisition.
Research Interests
To facilitate the discovery of new knowledge, our PhD in speech and applied language students are led into active research agendas through graduate seminars, the on-going Research Colloquium, and your own development of a personal research and publication agenda within active areas of faculty expertise. In its commitment to rigorous quantitative and qualitative research the PhD in speech and applied language program relies on both internal and external resources.
At the head of the list is the University of Louisiana Speech Language and Hearing Center (also known simply as "the Clinic"). In addition there are an abundance off-site settings in hospitals and external clinics which afford research opportunities. There are many language and literacy programs in private and public settings ranging from preschool to the universities and the community at large.The academic faculty list provides an overview of areas of research interest.