Score: 88 This was my favourite subject at Uni so far, which is unexpected because I actually completed it as a breadth. You learn about a range of linguistic branches: morphology, syntax, pragmatics, phonetics, phonology, neurolinguistics, FLA and SLA, sociolinguistics and finally historical linguistics. It does help if you've learnt or are currently learning another language, but don't stress if you haven't because Jonathan (the lecturer) does a great job of introducing all the ideas. Also, don't worry about learning IPA beforehand since there were multiple tutorials/external resources provided and you also get the IPA chart for the exam. I found the assignments very intuitive and a lot of the students, including myself, were really happy with the exam as it was a fair assessment of what we've learned throughout the semester. You could also bring in a double sided cheat sheet! As long as you attend each tutorial and are confident with the exercises, then this subject will be great. For any fellow Science or Biomed students who are interested in this subject as a breadth, I would highly recommend it! I'm really happy I chose a subject that I'm passionate about and was really interested in studying instead of a bludge subject that probably would have been a waste of money (this subject only costs $555 as well!). Furthermore, it's the most 'science-y' of all the Arts subjects because the answers are very objective (eg, what is the manner of articulation of this phone?) and requires you to logically problem solve application questions. Shoutout to my tutor, Caanan, for being super helpful and giving us really useful tips for phonology :)

A very interesting subject and a great introduction to the field of linguistics. Pretty much you just work through all the basic areas of linguistics, such as phonetics and syntax. There isn't much opportunity to go deep into any of the areas, so it's a great surface-level introduction to help you figure out what areas (if any) you're interested in. Rachel was a great lecturer and Tula was a great tutor! If you watch all the lectures you should have no trouble <3

Extremely interesting subject which served as a passable introduction for linguistics. Highly recommended for those who are interested in pursuing linguistics as a major, since it covers topics like phonetics and syntax which are second year core subjects for the major. Sadly, in my experience the lectures weren’t too engaging (actually they were rather bland) and at times difficult to follow since certain aspects of linguistics like syntax and phonology require problem-solving and aren’t merely ‘discussed’. This was unfortunate since the assessments and exams require similar problem solving strategies. However, if you’re willing to put in /a lot/ of work, solve the exercises given for each topic, and engage in tutorials it’s possible to get a high mark.

I found the subject quite difficult having never done linguistics before. It did not help that the lectures were very dry and the lecture slides were disorganised and concepts were not explained properly. I relied heavily on the workbook and basically self-taught myself. Not a great subject to do online either as there is a lot of group work in class

This subject has some great reviews but I don't know what happened in 2021. The lecturer (Brett) was very boring and couldn't explain things. My tutor, Rikke, was ok at explaining things but not very engaging and clearly didn't want to be there. I've generally only heard good things about it but I guess it depends on the year.

Brilliant subject! Peter is passionate and engaging, and so was my tutor, Nick. The topics can be challenging at times, but finally understanding them is so rewarding. Gives you a good overview of the different areas of linguistics if you are planning to major in it!

I took this subject as breadth in my first year, and it was my favourite subject! It's very well organised, you get a taste of lots of different aspects of linguistics but it doesn't feel rushed. Some topics are harder than others, especially the more applied ones (e.g. phonology and historical linguistics) but as long as you've paid attention to the earlier topics (especially phonetics!) it's manageable and very interesting. I had Peter as both lecturer and tutor and he was amazing, he really helped us to engage with the content and his genuine love for the subject was infectious! The assessment was always clear and straight-forward, and the question formats were consistent between tutes, assignments and the exam. The assessment feels like word puzzles, and there's no essays which was a plus for me. The tutorial document also has notes with all of the information from the lectures so you don't even have to take your own notes. I didn't take notes or do any of the readings, but still felt like I understood the concepts really well from the practice you get in tutorials. Overall, it's an easy H1 if you pay attention in the lectures and do the tutorial questions. Highly recommend!!

I took this as a breadth in the first year of my degree, and I loved it! The lecturer, Peter, was phenomenal. He was so knowledgeable in his field and he was very engaging during tutes. My tutor, Nick, was probably the best tutor I've had. He was immensely passionate about linguistics and he made each week very interesting and informative, building very well upon the lectures for that week. It's a fantastic introductory subject to linguistics and it ties into a variety of other disciplines, so there is something interesting for everyone. I highly recommend this subject as a breadth because it's so broad and you gain a rich understanding of linguistics and how it fits with other subjects. I did English Language in VCE and I thought it would be similar, and while it's useful to have the background knowledge, this subject is so much more in-depth and covers a wider variety of topics. Highly recommend this subject to everyone! It's structured super well and clearly. You have enough time on the assignments, and the marking scheme is very clear, so it's easy to know what to do to obtain good marks. The exam was challenging, but if you had been keeping up with the material and had a good understanding of it, it was interesting to apply your knowledge to some more difficult problem sets.

I took this as a breadth subject in the final semester of my degree and absolutely loved it! The content was fascinating, provided you took the time to really engage with it. If you do dedicate enough time to it, this subject can really boost your WAM. Peter's passion for the subject made it particularly enjoyable! I would also highly recommend joining and connecting with a reading group in this subject, as they got me through the semester :)

Honestly found this subject more challenging than it should have been. This definitely sucked the fun out of it for me. Haven’t done the exam yet but the assignments have been ok. No long essays, but sometimes there are tricky problems. Felt like a lot of content was smushed into 12 weeks but you get a feel for all areas of linguistics which was helpful to me