Kichwa and Waorani Linguistics and Literacy

Join us in experiencing the ethnically and linguistically diverse Amazonian Ecuador! In this study abroad, students travel to a field school in Ecuador as well as to various communities of speakers. They will study Kichwa and Waorani—underdocumented and underdescribed languages. Students will collaborate with native speakers to learn and document these languages while helping to create literacy materials for use within their communities. We will guide you in developing skills essential for engaging in field linguistics and intercultural collaboration. An important outcome is that you achieve deeper understandings of our commonalities and distinctive differences with respect to grammar, culture, and cosmology.

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Courses

Students will enroll in 6–9 credit hours from the following courses while on this program:

ANTHR 495R—Ethnographic Field Project (3 credit hours)
FLANG 101R—First Year Quechua (3 credit hours)
FLANG 102R—First Year Quechua (3 credit hours)
FLANG 201R—Second Year Quechua (3 credit hours)
LING 110—Introduction to Human Language (3 credit hours)
LING 449R—Mentored Research in Linguistics (1 credit hour)
LING 551—Anthropological Linguistics (3 credit hours; counts as elective credit for Linguistics majors) LING 542 – Field Methods (3 credit hours)

Anthropology students doing thesis research usually enroll for 6 credits of ANTHR 495R. Students may not take any other courses on this program, including BYU Online courses, without approval by the program director and ISP.

Cost

$5,400–5,900

Includes Latter-day Saint undergraduate full tuition (increased cost for graduate and non–Latter-day Saint students), housing, three meals each day, in-country transportation, and international health insurance coverage.

Does not include airfare or personal expenses. Students are also responsible for any travel they may wish to do in other parts of Ecuador during the break outside of the study abroad dates.

Funding Sources

Regular BYU tuition scholarships, Pell Grants, and Federal Insured Student Loans may be applied to study abroad programs.

Students who submit the financial aid section of the ISP application and who have a current FAFSA form on file at the Financial Aid Office (A-41 ASB) will be considered for a Study Abroad scholarship.

Academic departments and colleges may assist with scholarships and grants.

Private grants and scholarships outside of BYU may also assist (see kennedy.byu.edu/scholarships).

Preparation

Students wishing to conduct linguistic fieldwork are strongly encouraged to complete at least one of the following courses before leaving for Ecuador:

LING 201—Intro to Linguistics (Modern)
ELING 223—Intro to the English Language

LING 210, 220, 230, and 240 are also strongly encouraged but not required.

Anthropology students are encouraged to take ANTHR 442—Ethnographic Research Design and Method prior to departure.

Accepted students are required to participate in an international, cross-cultural preparation course (IAS 201R, 1 credit hour). This class will be held during the second block of the winter 2026 semester. Part-time BYU students and non-BYU students will need to pay an additional tuition fee.

Students must meet all country- and program-specific COVID and health requirements for travel.

International study programs are physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing and you must be in good health to participate. These programs often take place in international locations that do not have the same level of safety and services in terms of transportation, living conditions, residential accommodations, food, public behavior, and policing that you may be used to on campus. If you have further questions or concerns on this, please see https://kennedy.byu.edu/isp-travel-policy.

Housing

Students will be comfortably accommodated at the Andes and Amazon Field School, which is housed within the Centro Iyarina, near Tena, Ecuador. See iyarina.org.

Travel

Students are responsible for purchasing their own airfare to and from the program sites. Airline reservations must be made through BYU Travel. Students should contact a BYU Travel agent.

BYU Travel
280 HRCB
(801) 422-6293
travel@byu.edu

Application Process

Students must be 18 years of age or older to participate.

Complete the online application here. A nonrefundable $35 application fee is required; applicants will be interviewed once the application is complete.

Students will be notified via e-mail of their acceptance into the program. The first payment is due upon acceptance; please refer to the Payment Information page.

Application Deadline: 1 December 2025

Program Adjustments

International Study Programs (ISP) reserves the right to cancel this program, revise its offerings, or make any adjustments to the preliminary cost.

If it becomes necessary for ISP to cancel a program, all program payments made to BYU ISP will be refunded to the student’s BYU Financial account.

ISP is the only office authorized to cancel any of its programs.

Faculty

Janis Nuckolls teaches semantics, anthropological linguistics, and Kichwa classes in the Department of Linguistics. She has extensive research experience in Amazonian Ecuador.

4055 JFSB
(801) 422-3448
janis_nuckolls@byu.edu

Chris Rogers specializes in language documentation, description, typology and inferential analyses of language systems.

4047 JFSB
(801) 422-4707
chris_rogers@byu.edu

Contact Us

International Study Programs
101 HRCB
(801) 422-3686
isp@byu.edu

ISP Student Handbook

To see the student handbook, click here.

Payment Schedule

To see the payment schedule, click here.

Kichwa and Waorani Linguistics and Literacy

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FAQ

More Information

Courses

Cost

Funding Sources

Preparation

Housing

Travel

Application Process

Program Adjustments

Faculty

Contact Us

ISP Student Handbook

Payment Schedule