what can you do with a phd in linguistics

Last Updated on December 14, 2022

#1. Foreign Language Teacher – $43,264

Foreign language instruction, one of the Linguistic degree jobs is more than just teaching. It is more than likely that people who choose this career path do it out of a passion for the language, and the culture of the people who speak it.

Also, it can be said that these people want to share their love for the language and the culture to a new generation of students.

Job Description

The role of a foreign language teacher is to teach courses in a specific language, which in modern curricula usually includes teaching in literature and intercultural studies.

They teach their language and demonstrate a high level of fluency in reading, writing, and spoken language. With these skills, instructors create an environment conducive to effective student learning.

Furthermore, foreign language teachers usually teach several levels at the same time, from beginner foreign-language speakers to students learning fluency.

Also, Teaching in foreign languages ​​includes vocabulary, grammar, and accent, as well as spelling and other linguistic mechanisms.

Salary

A Foreign Language Teacher earns an average salary of $43,264 per year.

#2. Editor – $50,955

Editing is a linguistic degree job that involves the process of selecting and preparing the written, visual, sound, and cinematographic media used to pass information.

Thus, the review process can include correction, condensation, organization, and many other changes made to produce the correct, consistent, accurate, and complete work.

Job Description

An editor performs several editorial tasks, such as design, indexing, and reviewing the content of written documents, for final publication.

Salary

The average pay for an Editor is $20.16 per hour. The average pay for an Editors is $50,955 per year.

#3. Accent/Dialect Coach – $53,685

Accent/Dialect coaches are acting coaches who assist actors design their voice and speech to suit that of a character based on the context of an on-camera (film, television, or commercial), stage (theatre, musical theatre, opera, etc.), radio or animation voiceover production.

Job Description

They often do original research on dialects and speech patterns, prepare training materials, provides instruction, and works on lines with the actor. Hence, a dialect coach will give the actor feedback focusing on issues of credibility, consistency, and clarity.

Also, a dialect coach may also be employed to help comedians hone impressions of celebrities, to train non-actor public speakers in vocal character and delivery, or to help singers improve in diction and attain a balance between tone and articulation, especially when singing in a second language.

Salary

A Dialect coach earns an average of $53,685, ranging from $40,731 at the 25th percentile to $63,495 at the 75th percentile, with top earners (the top 10%) earning more than $77,536.

#4. International Aid Worker

International aid is needed all over the globe and because of this, linguistics job opportunities are available to linguists. The priority of an international aid/development work is to aid and assist people and communities in developing countries.

Also, Humanitarian aid work most of the time involves responding to emergency situations, helping people affected by natural and man-made disasters, such as earthquakes and war.

Job Description

International aid workers are usually employed by charities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), volunteer groups, and international aid agencies.

This is a particularly broad area of work. Professionals in this area can perform a number of different functions, including hands-on relief work, fundraising, project management, and project planning.

Furthermore, they could be responsible for administrative support, budget control, collaborating with local agencies and authorities, training volunteers and preparing recommendations, evaluation reports, and other related paperwork.

Also, some international development workers work on the strategy and policy side of things, conducting research, negotiating with other NGOs, and persuading the government to gain support and sponsorship.

Salary

Entry-level workers in the humanitarian field often make $25,000 annually, while employees in upper-management positions sometimes make $100,000 or more a year.

#5. Lawyer – $55,870

This is also another linguistic degree job. A lawyer or attorney is a person who practices, prepares, interprets, and applies the law, but not as a paralegal or charter executive secretary.

Furthermore, as a lawyer, the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services.

Job Description

They represent clients in criminal and civil legal cases, and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions.

However, some of them may specialize in a single area or may practice broadly in many areas of law.

Salary

Some of the lowest paying salaries started at around $55,870 per year.

#6. Lexicographer – $35,000

Lexicographers ensure that a user can easily obtain the information they need. There are two branches of Lexicography that a Lexicographer can pursue – practical and theoretical. 

Job Description

Lexicographers are, by definition, those who work on creating dictionaries. They compile facts for dictionary entries, write the entries themselves, and edit the work of other lexicographers. Entry-level positions involve assisting senior workers in creating the dictionary.

Salary

Though the typical salary for a lexicographer is said to be about $35,000 annually. This can vary based on the type of employment. Those in this field are paid on a per-project or hourly rate and earn as much as $25-$45 per project or even per hour.

#7. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a sub-domain of computer science, information engineering, and artificial intelligence related to interactions between computers and (natural) human languages. 

In particular, it deals with how to program computers to process and analyze large amounts of data in natural language. In addition, there are also natural language processing internships you can apply for. This can suffice for a full-time NLP job temporarily.

Job Description

Natural Language Processing jobs involve changing natural language data into useful features using NLP techniques to feed classification algorithms to develop efficient self-learning NLP applications.

Salary

The Average Salary Natural Language Processing (NLP) jobs are as follows:

  • Data Scientist – $102,868
  • Machine Learning Engineer – $112,495
  • Software Engineer – $114,032
  • Senior Data Scientist – $137,455
  • Computational Linguist – $85,964
  • Sr. Software Engineer / Developer / Programmer – $124,958
  • Senior Software Engineer – $117,770

#8. Subtitler – $20,385

Subtitlers work as contractors through local partner firms and are compensated based on the volume of translation and subtitling they carry out for these firms.

Although, those who work for some of the best subtitling companies are compensated much more.

Job Description

Subtitlers are responsible for subtitling the transcribed audio version of any audio-visual material that needs subtitles to be displayed on a visual medium. No subtitling solution is equally adequate for any two target audiences with different auditory levels.

Salary

The average annual salary of a Subtitler is $20,385.

#9. Forensic Linguist – $77,501

Forensic Linguistics (also called Medical-legal linguistics), legal linguistics, or language and law, is the application of knowledge, methods and linguistic knowledge to the medical-legal context of the law, language, judicial investigation, trial, and judicial procedure. It is a branch of applied linguistics. Hence, it is part of the linguistic degree jobs. 

Job Description

Forensic Linguistics jobs involve forensic phonetics, which is a subspecialty of linguisticsAlso, they perform auditory and acoustic analysis of recordings. Furthermore, they may work with voice identification or reclamation of data from damaged sources.Finally, this work may be done for law enforcement or for audio or recording companies.

Salary

The average annual salary earned by Forensic linguists is $77,501.

#10. Publishing – $60,490

Publishing is also one of the linguistic degree jobs. A publishing editor’s main task is the style and content of the publication. This means that they mostly play managerial roles, especially in newspapers and magazines, where they are responsible for the entire content of any publication.

Job Description

Publishing editors work in a number of publishing areas. These include newspaper and magazine publishing, book publishing, and online publishing.

Salary

Editors, in general, earn an average yearly wage of $60,490.

#11. Linguistics Professor – $85,439

Linguistics is one of the main elements that give you an idea of ​​one of the most intriguing aspects of human knowledge and behavior. Majoring in linguistics means that you will learn many aspects of human language, including sounds (phonetics, phonology), words (morphology), sentences (syntax) and meaning (semantics). 

In addition, most of the people who major in Linguistics do it because of the passion they have for new language and culture not necessarily because of the linguistics salary they expect to earn. 

Job Description

 A PhD degree in Linguistics is useful for teaching abroad, publishing roles, and government administration roles. Others train as speech and language therapists or as teachers. Furthermore, others might find work teaching English as a foreign or second language. In addition, being a Linguistics professor opens you up to a host of Linguistics job opportunities.

Salary

The average pay for a Professor Of Linguistics is $85,439 annually.

ProfessorESL Teacher
(kindergarten and elementary schools)
ESL Teacher (adult education)
Degree RequiredDoctoral degreeBachelor’s degreeBachelor’s degree; master’s degree recommended
Education Field of StudyLinguistics;
foreign languages;
education
Education;
bilingual education;
linguistics
Adult education;
bilingual education;
linguistics;
foreign language of choice
Licensure/CertificationNoneState teaching licenseState teaching license recommended
Key ResponsibilitiesTeach graduate and undergraduate courses; design curricula; conduct research; publish scholarly articlesProvide individual and classroom instruction; design curricula; grade student work; assess student progress; work with parents and other teachersPlan curricula geared toward adult learners; evaluate student progress; provide classroom and one-on-one instruction
Job Growth (2018-2028)*11% growth (for all postsecondary teachers)3% growth (for all kindergarten and elementary teachers)10% decline (adult literacy and high school equivalency diploma teachers)
Median Salary (2018)*$66,590 (postsecondary English language and literature teachers)$58,230 (elementary school teachers except special ed)$53,630 (adult basic and secondary education and literacy teachers and instructors)

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