Description
Linguistics is the study of human language. Linguists study languages from various points of view, including structure, acquisition, evolution and function in society. There are special branches of linguistics devoted to different aspects of languages, such as their sounds (phonetics and phonology), sentence structures (syntax), conversation and text structures (discourse), and the meanings they convey (semantics).
Of the courses taught by the Program, some are devoted to the theory and methods, while others deal with a variety of applied issues, such as language policy and language teaching.
In these courses, students are exposed to data from a wide variety of languages and may do detailed work on a number of different languages and language families. Thorough training is given in linguistic theory and its application to a variety of empirical problems. Attention is also directed to research methods, the application of linguistics to language teaching, language planning and socio-linguistic issues.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Due to structural changes in the undergraduate program rules in 2012, the courses that make up the new 2012 majors may be different to the pre-2012 majors, and therefore some courses cannot be counted between majors. Students are advised to contact the CASS Student Office if they are unsure about their Majors.
Learning outcomes
Graduates within the Linguistics Major will have the knowledge and skills to:
- demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the structures found in all human languages
- demonstrate an understanding of how people use languages to communicate, and of the role of language in human society
- describe the most important sorts of variation found in human languages
- make in-depth analysis in at least one linguistic sub-structure
- evaluate popular beliefs and arguments concerning language use and language diversity
Requirements
This major requires the completion of 48 units, which must include:
6 units from completion of the following course(s):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LING1001 | Introduction to the Study of Language | 6 |
A maximum of 12 units may come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LING1002 | Language and Society | 6 |
| LING1021 | Cross-Cultural Communication | 6 |
| AUST1001 | Learning an Indigenous Australian Language | 6 |
A minimum of 12 units must come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| LING2003 | Introduction to Syntax | 6 |
| LING2008 | Semantics | 6 |
| LING2010 | Phonetics: Sounds of the World's Languages - Later Year | 6 |
A minimum of 24 units must come from completion of courses from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ASIA2001 | Language in Asia | 6 |
| ASIA2103 | Language in Asia (L) | 6 |
| GERM2110 | Structure of German | 6 |
| GERM2048 | Spoken Interaction in German: Theory and Practice | 6 |
| GERM3048 | Spoken Interaction in German: Theory and Practice | 6 |
| INDN2101 | Linguistic Aspects of Indonesian | 6 |
| ITAL3018 | Italiano/Standard e Regionale: Aspects of Spoken Italian | 6 |
| JPNS2007 | Japanese Linguistics | 6 |
| JPNS2009 | Japanese Lexicon | 6 |
| JPNS2019 | Japanese Phonetics and Phonology | 6 |
| JPNS2024 | Japanese Grammar | 6 |
| JPNS3011 | Language Variation and Change in the Japanese Archipelago | 6 |
| LANG2103 | Acquiring Pragmatics of a Second Language | 6 |
| LANG3001 | Translation across Languages: the translation of literary texts | 6 |
| LANG3002 | Translation across Languages: specialised material | 6 |
| LANG3004 | Language and Society in Latin America | 6 |
| LANG3005 | Language and Identity in a European Context | 6 |
| LING2003 | Introduction to Syntax | 6 |
| LING2005 | Language Change and Linguistic Reconstruction | 6 |
| LING2007 | Morphology | 6 |
| LING2008 | Semantics | 6 |
| LING2009 | Field Methods | 6 |
| LING2010 | Phonetics: Sounds of the World's Languages - Later Year | 6 |
| LING2013 | Teaching Languages | 6 |
| LING2015 | Language, Culture, Translation | 6 |
| LING2016 | Language in Indigenous Australia | 6 |
| LING2017 | Chinese Linguistics | 6 |
| LING2018 | Languages in Contact | 6 |
| LING2019 | Phonological Analysis | 6 |
| LING2020 | Structure of English | 6 |
| LING2021 | Cross Cultural Communication (L) | 6 |
| LING2022 | Language Policy and Language Politics | 6 |
| LING2023 | Dictionaries and Dictionary-Making | 6 |
| LING2026 | Syntactic Theory | 6 |
| LING2027 | Language and Society in Latin America | 6 |
| LING2101 | Second Language Acquisition | 6 |
| LING2103 | Language Power and Identity | 6 |
| LING2104 | The History of the English Language | 6 |
| LING2105 | Language and the law: introduction to forensic linguistics | 6 |
| LING2106 | Language and Social Interaction | 6 |
| LING3005 | Acoustics of Voice | 6 |
| LING3008 | Study of A Language Family | 6 |
| LING3021 | Child Language Acquisition | 6 |
| LING3022 | Seminar on Semantics | 6 |
| LING3025 | Special Topics in Linguistics | 6 |
| PASI2010 | Talking the Pacific: Melanesian pidgins and creoles in social context | 6 |
| PASI2020 | An introduction to Languages of the Pacific | 6 |
| PHIL2016 | Philosophy of Language | 6 |
| PHIL2080 | Logic | 6 |
| SPAN2601 | The Sounds of Spanish | 6 |
| SPAN2602 | The Structure of Spanish | 6 |
| SPAN2603 | History of the Spanish language. A linguistic time travel | 6 |
| SPAN2604 | Language variation across the Spanish-speaking world | 6 |
| SPAN3031 | Advanced Spanish Topics in Language and Linguistics | 6 |
| HUMN2001 | Hashtag humanities: text and beyond in the digital age | 6 |