There's much more to language than meets the eye, or ear.  Did you realize?...

• Everyone knows things about their language(s) that they were never explicitly taught.
• There’s a single alphabet that can be used to write sound sequences for all languages of the world.
• Some statements cannot be fully understood without knowing who is saying them, and when, and where.

Organized by the Ohio State University Department of Linguistics, the Summer Linguistic Institute for Youth Scholars (SLIYS) introduces high school students to linguistics, the scientific study of human language.  Through daily live sessions, participants learn about the fundamentals of the discipline and practice analyzing language at different levels of structure.

SLIYS provides interactive linguistics experiences that self-study or standard classroom study cannot.  In addition to content-focused lectures, the program includes both fieldwork and experimental components.

• Fieldwork: scholars meet daily with a native speaker of an unfamiliar language, and use their developing knowledge of linguistics to ask strategic questions that reveal the sounds and structures of that language
• Experimental: scholars meet with researchers and discuss recently completed and ongoing language experiments

These components give scholars the opportunity to engage in the study of language like a working linguist.

Questions? Contact SLIYS@osu.edu.