100-level

LING101
How Language Works
Description
This course introduces students to the study of the English language, its words, sounds and sentences. It also introduces the conceptual and analytical tools which linguists use to understand how languages are constructed.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Semester One 2025 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Restrictions
ENGL123, ENLA101
LING102
Language and Society in New Zealand and Beyond
Description
What do babies know about language when they're born? And how do our experiences as we get older affect both how we use language and what we think about other people's language behaviour? Why, for example, do people think some languages, or some dialects, are 'better' than others? And is there any truth behind such beliefs? In this course we consider a range of research from the field of linguistics that addresses these and other questions. The role of language experience will emerge as a recurrent theme: the experience that the infant has with a particular language; how our early experience with language affects how we speak and how we listen, and how our beliefs about language are created and maintained in connection to other experiences in our social lives.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Semester Two 2025 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Restrictions
ENLA102

200-level

LING212
Sounds and Words
Description
This course is an exploration in the structure of speech sounds. We will deal with with phonetics (how sounds are made or perceived by humans), phonology (how sounds are distributed across different languages) and morphology (how sounds combine to make meaningful units in a language). The goal of the course is to equip students with some of the basic tools necessary to conduct speech sound analysis of any language or linguistic variety.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Semester One 2025 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at any level from LING
Restrictions
LING 215 LING 216
LING217
Grammatical structure
Description
This course introduces grammatical structures ranging from clauses to sentences to paragraphs. These layers of structure are essential parts of how languages encode meaning. The goal of the course is to understand both the range of syntactic structures that are found in language as well as the ways in which these structures express meaning.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Semester Two 2025 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at any level from LING.
Restrictions
LING201, LING206, LING211
LING221
Psychology of Language
Description
This course is designed to provide you with a basic knowledge of psycholinguistics. We will look at language from a psychological standpoint, learning about scientific methods that researchers use to study the mental processes involved in language use. We will focus on three sets of processes - language comprehension (how we perceive and understand speech), language production (how we combine words to convey non-linguistic thoughts), and language acquisition (how we acquire language). This course will help you understand how language functions as one component of the general cognitive system. The course readings will be drawn from textbooks and other sources such as news articles. The course is meant to be an accessible introduction for both Arts and Sciences undergraduates and does not require a particular background in linguistics or psychology.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
LING101, PSYC105, or PSYC107
Restrictions
PSYC221
LING222
Te Matai Reo Maori: The Grammar and Linguistics of Te Reo Maori
Description
This course will explore the grammar and linguistics of Te Reo Maori. We will be studying Maori phonology (sound system), morphology (word structure), and syntax (sentence structure), and also learning more about the history of the language, alongside its social context in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
15 points in Linguistics, or 30 points in Te Reo Maori
Restrictions
TREO222
LING225
Language and Social Justice
Description
How can we use linguistic evidence to solve crimes? What does linguistic analysis tell us about legal language? In this course, students learn how to use linguistics for forensic purposes. What can a piece of spoken or written language tell us about its authors? Can linguistic analysis expose inequalities in the legal system? What are the implications of using linguistic evidence for commercial or defense purposes?
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Semester Two 2025 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at any level from any subject.
LING226
Discourse, Communication and Society
Description
Interaction is at the heart of our social worlds. But how do context, ideologies and the "way we do things around here" shape those interactions? By learning about pragmatics and discourse analysis, we will explore the impact of language use on all aspects of our lives: our identities, our communities and our employment. You will be introduced to analytic techniques that allow us to make the connection between language and pressing societal issues.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
15 points in any 100 level paper

300-level

LING310
Linguistics Research Project
Description
This course supports students to conduct their own empirical research project. Students will design their own research, and write a research paper reporting on their novel findings. The course will begin with orientation to New Zealand English, and learning about some empirical studies that have been done on this variety. Students will then develop their own empirical research question, using the New Zealand Institute of Language Brain and Behaviour's internationally renowned corpora, or by collecting their own data using a questionnaire or language experiment. Course content will be adapted to suit student interests, and the class will work together as a group to support the development of each other's projects.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Semester Two 2025 (Distance)
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 15 points at 200 level from LING.
Restrictions
ENLA310
LING320
History of English
Description
This course explores language variation and change, and illustrates these notions through a survey of the way in which English has varied and changed during its recorded history. It will look both at the social history of the language and the linguistic changes that have taken place over the last 1400 years.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Semester One 2025 (Distance)
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
LING101 and any 15 points at 200 level from any subject.
Restrictions
LING220, ENLA320

Not Offered Courses in 2025

200-level

LING210
Sociolinguistic methods
Description
This course explores the sociolinguistic study of language variation and change. We examine how language varies both between individuals (e.g. accents) and within individuals (e.g. style). You will also learn transferable research skills. Students will record a sociolinguistic interview and analyse it to uncover hidden linguistic patterns.
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2020 , 2021 , 2022
For further information see LING210 course details
Points
15 points
LING219
Language Acquisition
Description
This course deals with key aspects of how human language is acquired by children, from infancy to adolescence. Selected topics in bilingual and second language development are also covered.
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2020 , 2021 , 2022 , 2023 , 2024
For further information see LING219 course details
Points
15 points
LING223
Text Analytics
Description
This course introduces computational methods for understanding the vast amount of information and human knowledge that has been stored as language data. This field is also known as computational linguistics or natural language processing.
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2023 , 2024
For further information see LING223 course details
Points
15 points
LING230
Special Topics in Linguistics
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2019 , 2022 , 2023 , 2024
For further information see LING230 course details
Points
15 points

300-level

LING306
Topics in Syntactic Theory
Description
This course follows on from second-year syntax, covering selected advanced topics and current research in syntactic theory.
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2018 , 2019 , 2020 , 2021 , 2023
For further information see LING306 course details
Points
30 points
LING307
Topics in Phonetics and Phonology
Description
This course follows on from second-year phonetics and phonology, covering selected advanced topics and current research in phonetics and phonological theory.
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2019 , 2020 , 2021 , 2022 , 2024
For further information see LING307 course details
Points
30 points
LING309
Topics in Morphology and Word Formation
Description
Words have an internal structure and, in many languages, words also take inflections. Theories relating to these basic properties predict that there are limits on both word formation and inflection. They also predict that there will be interface conditions with the phonology, syntax and semantics of languages. This course will explore and test some of these theories by reference to a range of languages.
Occurrences
Not offered 2025
For further information see LING309 course details
Points
30 points