Fundamentally, linguistics at Macquarie strives to understand and improve communication. We endeavour to understand human speech production and reception, language processing, as well as language acquisition, across the lifespan. In doing so, linguistics at Macquarie spans a wide range of research areas and disciplines within the broader areas of theoretical and Applied Linguistics, while we also contribute substantially to translational research in collaboration with major industry partners.



The department is well known nationally and internationally for our cutting-edge research in the fields of hearing research, language processing, child language acquisition, professional communication, indigenous languages and adult language learning. We are ranked at number 28 in the world in the QS Rankings, and in the top 3 linguistics departments in Australia, ahead of all other Sydney universities.

At undergraduate level we have an established and well-renowned Bachelor of Speech and Hearing Sciences which forms a pathway to our two clinical postgraduate courses: The Master of Speech and Language Pathology and The Master of Clinical Audiology. The new Bachelor of Linguistics and Language Sciences capitalises on our world-leading expertise in the field of linguistics to provide a degree that can lead to a range of linguistic career options, to further study in Applied Linguistics and TESOL or Translation and Interpreting, or to pursue a Higher Research Degree.