The FACULTY BOARD OF MODERN AND MEDIEVAL LANGUAGES beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. The Linguistics Tripos is currently available as a one- or two-year single Part. Students therefore come to the Linguistics Tripos having completed a Part I in some other Tripos. Approximately half transfer from Modern and Medieval Languages, the rest coming from a diverse range of subjects including Mathematics, English, and Music.
2. The introduction of English Language A-level in schools has created a pool of potential applicants who are not able or willing to apply to read for Part I of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos. English Language is currently (2006) the 11th most commonly taken A-level, and a high proportion (95.2% in 2006) of students taking the A-level is in the maintained sector. The options to continue with it at Cambridge however appear to such students to be very limited as it is not possible to apply to Cambridge to study Linguistics (or English Language) from the start. Talented A-level students wishing to pursue the subject to degree level are likely therefore to apply instead to universities with a three- or four-year degree programme in Linguistics or English Language, such as UCL, Edinburgh, Manchester, or Newcastle. However, since the study of language as a phenomenon involves a wide range of disciplines, including sciences, the Faculty Board do not intend to impose any specific subject requirements for entry to the course.
3. For these reasons, the Faculty Board propose the creation of a two-part Linguistics Tripos, consisting of a one-year Part I followed by a two-year Part II (Parts IIA and IIB), and abolition of the current Preliminary Examination. The proposal is constructed with the aim of allowing students to pursue any of the following routes:
| (i) | direct admission to Linguistics Part I with progression on to Part II; |
| (ii) | a two-year version of Part II (Parts IIA and IIB) of the Tripos after a one-year Part I in another subject; |
| (iii) | a one-year version of Part II (Part IIA) after a two-year Part I in another subject. |
4. The proposed Part I will be an introduction to all areas of linguistics, consisting of four compulsory papers. These papers would also be made available in the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos at Part IB. In Part IIA students would be required to choose four papers from a number of options; those who had not taken Part I would be required to substitute two of these with two specified papers from Part I. Part IIB would consist of a choice of three papers, including the option of borrowing one paper from a specified list from other Triposes, and a compulsory dissertation. Papers 'borrowed' from the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos would continue to be regarded as part of the Tripos.
5. The Faculty Board have considered the resource implications of the introduction of a full Tripos and have concluded that the additional teaching and administrative burden will be minimal. The proposal will bring significant advantages by allowing recruitment from a new pool of potential applicants, whilst maintaining the appeal of the Tripos to existing applicants who wish to combine Linguistics with Modern Languages or some other subject. It will also allow the abolition of the Preliminary Examination, a move which has general support from the Colleges and the General Board. The Council for the School of Arts and Humanities have given their approval to the new structure.
6. The Faculty Board propose that the new Tripos be introduced with effect from 1 October 2010, with the first examination in Part I being held in 2011, for Part IIA in 2011, and for Part IIB in 2012. The current Tripos would be examined for the last time in 2011.
7. The introduction of the new Tripos will necessitate changes to the papers in the subject Linguistics in the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos. Amendments to the regulations for this Tripos will be announced in due course.
8. The Faculty Boards of other Faculties involved in the Tripos have given their approval to the changes in the patterns of borrowed papers in the new regulations.
9. The Faculty Board accordingly recommend:
I. That the regulations for the Linguistics Tripos be amended as set out in the Annex to this Report with effect from 1 October 2010.
II. That the regulations for Affiliated Students (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 173) be amended, with effect from the same date, so that the entry for Linguistics reads:
The right to take Part IIA of the Linguistics Tripos in the second term after the student's first term of actual residence and to take Part IIB not earlier than the fifth term after the student's first term of actual residence, under the same conditions as if he or she had previously obtained honours in another Honours Examination.
| 18 February 2008 | D. W. HOLTON, Chair | M. H. GRIFFIN | B. VAUX |
| A. BREITBARTH | S. JARVIS | G. WALKDEN | |
| J. BURRIS | A. KüNZL-SNODGRASS | N. J. WHITE | |
| A. E. COBBY | A. N. LEDGEWAY | E. F.WILSON | |
| E. CULLEN | F. J. NOLAN | C. E. WOODFORD | |
| S. C. FRANKLIN | A. SINCLAIR |
ANNEX
1. The Linguistics Tripos shall consist of three Parts: Part I, Part IIA, and Part IIB. There shall be a separate class-list for each Part.
2. A student who has not obtained honours in an Honours Examination may be a candidate for honours in Part I, provided that he or she has kept one term and that three complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.
3. A student who has obtained honours in another Honours Examination may be a candidate for honours in Part IIA,1 in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept four terms and that twelve complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.
4. A student who has obtained honours in Part IIA of the Linguistics Tripos may be a candidate for honours in Part IIB,1 in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept seven terms and that fifteen terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.
5. No student shall be a candidate for more than one Part, or for one Part and also for another Honours Examination, in the same term.
6. No student who has been a candidate for any Part shall again be a candidate for the same Part.
7. For each Part of the Tripos, the Faculty Board of Modern and Medieval Languages shall nominate such number of Examiners as they think sufficient to conduct the examination, and shall have power to nominate one or more Assessors to assist the Examiners in any of the subjects of the examination. If required to do so, Assessors shall set papers in the subject or subjects assigned to them, shall mark the answers of the candidates in those papers, shall assess dissertations, and shall advise the Examiners on the performance of candidates in the examination. Assessors may be summoned to meetings of the Examiners for the purpose of consultation and advice, but shall not be entitled to vote.
8. The papers set by each Examiner or Assessor shall be submitted to the Chairman of the Examiners and one other Examiner for their approval.
9. The Faculty Board shall have power:
| (a) | to issue from time to time supplementary regulations defining or limiting all or any of the subjects of examination and determining the scope and character of the papers, and to amend or withdraw such supplementary regulations as occasion may require, due care being taken that sufficient notice is given of any change; |
| (b) | to determine the credit to be assigned to each paper, and to establish guidelines to be followed by the Examiners for assessing candidates' work in the examination and for drawing up the class-list; |
| (c) | to specify papers which shall include course-work or other exercises in addition to the written paper. The details of the course-work or other exercises required of candidates and the arrangements for the submission of such course-work or other exercises shall be prescribed by the Faculty Board from time to time. Each candidate will be required to sign a declaration that the course-work or other written exercises are her or his own work, unaided except as may be specified in the declaration, and that they do not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose. |
10. Before the end of the Easter Term each year the Faculty Board shall give notice of any variable subjects for the examination to be held in the academical year next but one following; provided that the Board shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and if they are satisfied that no student's preparation for the examination is adversely affected.
11. In the class-lists for each Part of the Tripos the names of the candidates who obtain honours shall be placed in three classes, of which the second shall be divided into two divisions. The names in the first and third classes, and in each division of the second class, shall be arranged in alphabetical order. For special excellence a mark of distinction may be awarded.
12. The papers for the Linguistics Tripos, which shall be divided into three Groups A-C, shall be as follows:
| Paper 1. | Sounds and words. |
| Paper 2. | Structures and meanings. |
| Paper 3. | Language, brain, and society. |
| Paper 4. | History and varieties of English. |
| Paper 5. | Phonetics. |
| Paper 6. | Foundations of speech communication. |
| Paper 7. | Phonology and morphology. |
| Paper 8. | Syntax. |
| Paper 9. | Semantics and pragmatics. |
| Paper 10. | Historical linguistics (also serves as Paper 15 of Part II of the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic Tripos). |
| Paper 11. | Linguistic theory. |
| Paper 13. | The language of Italy (Paper It. 10 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 14. | The Hispanic languages (Paper Sp. 11 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 15. | Aspects of the history of the German language (Paper Ge. 11 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 16. | The history of the French language (Paper Fr. 13 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 17. | The history of the Russian language (Paper Ru. 9 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 18. | The history and structure of modern Greek (Paper Gr. 7 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 19. | The Romance languages (Paper CS 1 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 20. | The Slavonic languages (Paper CS 3 of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos). |
| Paper 21. | Experimental psychology (the subject Experimental Psychology in Part IB of the Natural Sciences Tripos). |
| Paper 22. | Celtic philology (Paper 12 of Part II of the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic Tripos). |
| Paper 23. | The Greek language (Paper E2. of Part II of the Classical Tripos). |
| Paper 24. | The Latin language (Paper E3. of Part II of the Classical Tripos). |
| Paper 25. | Germanic philology (Paper 11 of Part II of the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic Tripos). |
13. A candidate for Part I of the Linguistics Tripos shall offer Papers 1-4.
14. (i) A candidate who takes the examination for Part IIA after obtaining honours in Part I of the Linguistics Tripos shall offer four papers chosen from Papers 5-10, 13-21.
| (ii) | A candidate who takes the examination for Part IIA in the year next after obtaining honours in another Honours Examination shall offer: |
| (a) | Papers 1 and 2; |
| (b) | two papers chosen from Papers 5-10, 13-21; |
provided that a candidate who has previously offered one or both of Papers 1 and 2 in a previous Honours Examination shall substitute that paper or both papers by either one further paper or two further papers, respectively, chosen from Papers 5-10, 13-21.
15. A candidate who takes the examination for Part IIB shall offer:
| (a) | Paper 11; |
| (b) | two papers chosen from Papers 5-10, 13-25, provided that a candidate shall not offer a paper that he or she has previously offered in another Honours Examination; |
| (c) | a dissertation submitted under the provisions of Regulation 16. |
16. The following provisions shall apply to a dissertation offered under Regulation 15:
| (a) | Every dissertation shall be on a subject that falls within the scope of Papers 5-10 from Group B. A candidate shall not offer a dissertation on a subject that falls substantially within the scope of any paper that he or she intends to offer in the examination. |
| (b) | A candidate shall submit the proposed title of the dissertation, together with a statement of the scheme of papers to be offered in the examination, through her or his Tutor to the Secretary of the Faculty Board so as to arrive not later than the third Friday of the Full Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination. A candidate shall obtain the approval of the proposed title by the Faculty Board not later than the last day of that Full Term. |
| (c) | A dissertation shall be in English, but quotations from primary sources may be given in the language of the original provided an English translation is also given. A dissertation shall be typewritten, except where a non-Roman or symbolic typeface is necessary and cannot be provided; in such a case hand-written or photocopied extracts may be inserted. A dissertation shall normally be of not less than 8,000 words and in any case not more than 10,000 words in length (including notes but excluding appendices and bibliography). |
| (d) | Two copies of the dissertation shall be submitted, in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Faculty Board, so as to reach the Secretary of the Faculty Board not later than the Monday of the last week of the Full Lent Term next preceding the examination. Each candidate will be required to sign a declaration that the dissertation is her or his own work, unaided except as may be specified in the declaration, and that it does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose. |
| (e) | A candidate may be called for viva voce examination on the subject of her or his dissertation. |
17. The examinations for the Linguistics Tripos shall be held under the New Regulations for the first time
for Part I in 2011,
for Part IIA in 2011,
for Part IIB in 2012.
The examinations for the Linguistics Tripos shall be held under the Old Regulations for the last time in 2011.
1 See also the regulations for Affiliated Students.