Future Students

Linguistics

The Area Of Study

Linguistics is the systematic study of human language and its uses and applications in human society. It covers a range of subject areas such as phonetics (the sounds of language), grammar (the way sentences are constructed), and semantics (meaning in language).

Combinations of these three basic components of any linguistics study can lead into the study of:

  • stylistics (which may be combined with English literature and music)
  • sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics (useful to students of education, law, politics and social history, as well as sociology, anthropology and human geography)
  • psycholinguistics (covering such issues as child language acquisition, traumatic language loss, etc)
  • the linguistics of the English language (discoursal and computational study of English)
  • speech and hearing sciences (leading to clinical studies in audiology and speech pathology)

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Degree Program Information

Degree UAI 2008 CSP Course Duration
Bachelor of Arts 76.00 3 years full-time/equivalent part-time
Bachelor of Science 73.00 3 years full-time/equivalent part-time
Bachelor of Social Science 76.10 3 years full-time/equivalent part-time
Bachelor of Arts with Bachelor of Laws 95.45 5 years full-time
Bachelor of Science with Bachelor of Laws 96.00 5 years full-time

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What You Will Study

You must complete a program of study (major) in one of the following:

  • Linguistics
  • Language and Communication
  • Language and Speech
  • Linguistics and ESL
  • Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology
  • Linguistics and Computing
  • Linguistics and Intercultural Communication
  • Linguistics and Policy
  • Linguistics and Social Psychology
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Linguistics and Psychology

Your program of study may include units from the subject areas listed below:

  • phonetic and phonology
  • grammar and semantics
  • sociolinguistics
  • psycholinguistics
  • language, culture and communication
  • language research
  • audiology
  • speech physiology
  • computing
  • anthropology
  • cultural studies

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Recommended Prior Knowledge

First-year linguistics units do not require any assumed knowledge, prerequisites or recommended studies. Other units taken as part of a degree may require assumed knowledge, prerequisites or recommended studies and you should refer to the Macquarie University Handbook of Undergraduate Studies for full degree requirements.

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Career Options

  • administration and management
  • audiology
  • broadcasting, television and film
  • counseling
  • editing and publishing
  • industry training programs
  • journalism
  • library and archives management
  • marketing
  • public relations
  • research and policy

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Some Major Employers

  • media organisations
  • banks and financial institutions
  • the arts and publishing
  • computing industry
  • local, state and federal government
  • state and federal police forces
  • retail and marketing

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Further Information:

Department of Linguistics
Macquarie University, NSW, 2109
Email: linguistics@mq.edu.au
Telephone:  (02) 9850 8740
Fax: (02) 9850 9199
Web:  www.ling.mq.edu.au

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