Linguistics and Language Development (LLD) materials are collected to support a minor, a BA in Linguistics, a MA in Linguistics, and a certificate in Computational Linguistics. In addition, the library book and periodical collection supports programs in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) which includes both a BA and MA as well as a TESOL Teaching Certificate. The Linguistics and Language Development curriculum is designed to focus on two major areas: understanding how the languages of the world work and addressing the English language needs of our culturally diverse society.
The University Library serves as the University's main resource for academic resources on the subject of Linguistics and Language Development. The Linguistics Department in Clark Hall has a Computational Linguistics Lab and owns and provides access to corpora for faculty and student research.
Linguistics and Language Development shares areas of mutual interest with these subjects: English (writing pedagogy, communication studies (aspects of language), psychology (psycholinguistics), education (bilingual education), anthropology (linguistic anthropology), and sociology (sociology of language). Librarians responsible for these areas consult when appropriate.
King Library has linguistics coverage in both the San Jose Public Library area on the 3rd floor and with the University collection on the 7th floor. The San Jose Public Library collection tends to feature books which provide a broad overview of a linguistics topic; the University Library purchases academic monographs that treat linguistic topics in greater depth.
A. Special materials. Databases are considered for purchase at faculty request, provided that the conditions of license agreements are within library policy.
B. Languages. Material is primarily in English or about the English language. Pacific Rim languages and Spanish of the American Southwest are also of interest.
C. Geographical areas. Material about the United States as well as other countries is collected. World Englishes or emerging localized or indigenized varieties of English, especially varieties that have developed in territories influenced by the United Kingdom or the United States, is also an area of interest.
D. Current/retrospective materials. Contemporary material is primarily collected, with lower priority given to materials related to earlier periods.
Electronic databases with coverage of Linguistics and Language Development, especially Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, provide very good coverage of linguistics journals and recent books. The Reference Collection includes a good selection of linguistics encyclopedias and dictionaries.
According to Academic Senate Library Policy S15-10, periodic evaluations of the print collection are required to maintain the high quality of the academic collection, with the primary goals of improving the effectiveness of browsing and providing space for new acquisitions.
Significant progress has been made in past years towards building a balanced collection of journals, monographs and instructional media to support the LLD Department.