Dialect experts and forensic linguists are professionals used in law enforcement, and like other forensic analysts, they study the evidence of a case and offer expert opinions and evaluations that could change the course of an investigation or trial. They may be employed by police departments, the FBI or even private law firms. The science of dialectology requires you to determine a speaker's dialect, which could, for example, help identify the speaker on a tape recording, making you an asset to a criminal investigation.
Instructions
1. Enroll in an undergraduate-level linguistics program. At this level, linguistics majors develop a broad understanding of linguistics including aspects like morphology, syntax, semantics and dialectology. During your course of study, you may need to learn another language and are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary study. For example, if you want to be a forensic linguist, you may pursue dual majors in linguistics and criminal justice.
2. Apply to and enroll in a master's program so that you can develop a specialized knowledge of dialectology. Dialectology is just one aspect of linguistics that you learn at the undergraduate level, and your master's-level education gives you the opportunity to specialize in this one subfield. You may enroll in either a linguistics Master of Arts program that offers a specialty in dialectology or even a program specifically in forensic linguistics.
3. Seek employment, either with a private firm that specializes in providing professional experts like linguists, a law firm, a police department or even the FBI. When you are applying for jobs like these, the experience you gained in school -- such as learning another language -- makes you a competitive candidate.
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