This course is an introduction to Austronesian languages, exploring the history, and the linguistic and socio-cultural-political diversity of the Austronesian world. Austronesian is the world's largest language family in terms of geographical spread, spanning more than half the globe: from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from Taiwan to New Zealand. This vast and diverse language family is also one of the best documented. It includes both major world languages with millions of speakers, like Indonesian and Tagalog, and tiny Oceanic languages spoken on remote islands with only a couple of hundred speakers. During the course, students will learn about the migration and dispersion of the Austronesian people and salient features characterising their languages, social organisations and cultures. Case studies are used to represent certain salient Austronesian features in relation to particular (sub)regions and societies to cover topics in Austronesian sound systems and grammars, writing systems, ritual language and religions, language contact and change, language ecology, the politics of language, language landscape and verbal arts.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the key terminology, concepts and issues of the field of linguistics and its relevance to Austronesian languages;
- Identify, explore and discuss the salient linguistic and socio-cultural attributes characterising the various (sub)groups within the Austronesian language family;
- Evaluate and critically analyse the prevailing arguments concerning the historical development and typological features of Austronesian languages;
- Conduct detailed and insightful comparative analyses of linguistic systems and their associated sociocultural and political dimensions grounded in empirical data;
- Conduct guided research and data analysis, emphasising a selected topic for a designated Austronesian project, with a critical assessment of the appropriateness of a specific theoretical framework.
- Articulate and substantiate research findings with precision and coherence in oral presentations and written reports, incorporating a thorough evaluation of the relevance of the chosen theoretical framework for the Austronesian project.
Indicative Assessment
- Two problem sets, each comprising 1500 words (excluding data). (30) [LO 1,4]
- Research plan (1000 words max) (5) [LO 4,5]
- Critical summary (1000 words) (5) [LO 1,2,3]
- Oral presentation (10) [LO 2,3,4,6]
- Research essay (3250 words) (50) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6]
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Workload
The total workload for this 6-unit course is 130 hours. This workload is distributed across approximately 10 hours per week for various activities, encompassing 3 contact hours (2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of tutorials), and approximately 7 hours dedicated to weekly self-directed study time (including readings, tutorial preparation, and completion of assessment items such as problem sets and term papers).
Lectures are designed to equip students with background knowledge and skills relevant to the weekly topics, while tutorials offer practical exercises and facilitate further discussions on the subjects covered in lectures, addressing specific problems, issues, and crucial points. Home assignments, typically in the form of problem sets and basic research, are assigned to assess students' progress in learning and acquiring new knowledge and skills. Students are expected to complete these assignments, showcasing their understanding and application of the course material.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Blust, Robert. 2013. The Austronesian languages (the revised edition). Canberra: Asia-Pacific LinguisticsAssumed Knowledge
The course assumes some prior knowledge in linguistics.Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7969 | 21 Jul 2025 | 28 Jul 2025 | 31 Aug 2025 | 24 Oct 2025 | In Person | N/A |
