LING 490

Spring 2026 All Classes

All Classes

Special Topics in Linguistics

SHOW FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Course provides an opportunity to focus on various subfields of the linguistic sciences, depending on the interests of the faculty and student.

3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated as topic varies to a maximum of 9 undergraduate hours or 12 graduate hours. Students may register for up to two sections in the same term. Prerequisite: LING 100, LING 400, or consent of instructor.

My Favorites

My Schedule

Section Status updates every 10 minutes.

LING 490 class schedule data for spring 2026
	CRN	Type	Section	Time	Day	Location	Instructor	Section Details
	36498	Lecture-Discussion	G4	3:30PM -4:50PM	TR	1120 Literatures, Cultures, & Ling	Nelson, S	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/20/26-05/06/26 Credit: 4 hours Section Info: Title: Learnability and Linguistic Theory Description: How an individual learns a language is a central question of linguistic inquiry. In order to answer this question, one first needs to define what it means to learn. In this class we will study computational learning theory and its relationship to linguistic theory. Computational learning theory provides mathematical definitions of learning and therefore provides a rigorous framework for thinking about how humans learn. The target audience for this course includes (1) students interested in language acquisition/psycholinguistics who might ask questions like, "what type of learning trajectories should we expect given different ideas about what it means to learn/what input data a learner receives?" (2) students interested in linguistic theory who might ask, "are the theories that we have proposed learnable under real conditions present in the natural world?" (3) computational linguistics students interested in questions like, "how do formal constraints on learning interact with empirical tests used in modern machine learning?" or "how do I evaluate my model to ensure that it has actually learned the pattern I want it to learn?" Prerequisites include LING 301 and LING 302 (or a similar set of courses), as well as comfort with formal notation. A prior class on machine learning is recommended but not required. Restriction(s): Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
	45941	Lecture-Discussion	UG3	3:30PM -4:50PM	TR	1120 Literatures, Cultures, & Ling	Nelson, S	Part of Term: 1 Date Range: 01/20/26-05/06/26 Credit: 3 hours Section Info: Title: Learnability and Linguistic Theory Description: How an individual learns a language is a central question of linguistic inquiry. In order to answer this question, one first needs to define what it means to learn. In this class we will study computational learning theory and its relationship to linguistic theory. Computational learning theory provides mathematical definitions of learning and therefore provides a rigorous framework for thinking about how humans learn. The target audience for this course includes (1) students interested in language acquisition/psycholinguistics who might ask questions like, "what type of learning trajectories should we expect given different ideas about what it means to learn/what input data a learner receives?" (2) students interested in linguistic theory who might ask, "are the theories that we have proposed learnable under real conditions present in the natural world?" (3) computational linguistics students interested in questions like, "how do formal constraints on learning interact with empirical tests used in modern machine learning?" or "how do I evaluate my model to ensure that it has actually learned the pattern I want it to learn?" Prerequisites include LING 301 and LING 302 (or a similar set of courses), as well as comfort with formal notation. A prior class on machine learning is recommended but not required. Restriction(s): Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.