Linguistics & Applied Linguistics

If you are interested in graduate studies in linguistics, you will want to learn from the best in the world and immerse yourself in the field

Graduate research enquiry

Degrees offered

Graduate studies in linguistics at ANU draws upon the expertise of the largest concentration of linguists in the southern hemisphere. For more than 20 years research in linguistics at ANU has focused on the descriptive and comparative study of the languages of Australia, Papua-New Guinea, the Pacific Islands, Indonesia and China. We offer teaching in field and formal linguistics and research across more languages than any other Australian University.

Linguistics

Linguistics involves studying the nature of human language, from a scientific point of view. It seeks to understand the nature of language as a universal human faculty and means of communication. Graduate courses in Linguistics are designed to cater for the needs of students who are specialising in the study of a particular language or language family; want to help extend the frontiers of what is known about the nature of human language; or have an interest in meaning, communication and cognitive studies.

Applied Linguistics

ANU has a strong and vibrant Applied Linguistics program. Whereas many other Applied Linguistics programs focus primarily on the teaching and learning of languages, specifically through their TESOL offerings, the ANU does not limit itself to Applied Linguistics in this traditional sense.

This program is in close contact with the Linguistics program, the Translation program, the European languages programs (French, Spanish, German, Italian), and Applied Linguistics within the College of Asia & the Pacific (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian). This means that students studying Applied Linguistics at the ANU can draw on the expertise of a variety of researchers who are working within very different, yet related, fields.