The Department of Applied Linguistics and Phonetics is the newest department within the Institute of Hungarian Linguistics and Finno-Ugric Studies. It was established in the summer of 2019 with the merger of the Department of Applied Linguistics and the Department of Phonetics, both of which had a long history.

Applied linguistics aims to address social issues with the help of language tools. Accordingly, we teach the different fields of applied linguistics based on the social embeddedness of language use to prepare students for intellectual and critical thinking, and independent problem-solving in fields related to language and language use: sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, specialist communication, etc. Graduates from the department’s predecessors in general and applied linguistics have gone on to forge successful careers in academia, higher education or in a corporate environment. 
Speech sciences (phonetics and psycholinguistics) examine the use and production of spoken language with experimental tools, often drawing on methods from natural sciences. This is why there is generally a strong emphasis on scientific methodology, research methodology and research-related ethical questions in the courses taught by the department’s lecturers. 
The members of the department are active in both national and international academia, and have received numerous awards for their work in the field of teaching and research, and for their public engagements.

The Language mentor specialisation minor is also available at the department as a four-semester bachelor programme that requires 50 credits for graduation. It may be completed as part of a Hungarian major or any foreign language major. The aim of the specialisation is to provide students of Hungarian and foreign language majors with a foundation in applied linguistics, and to guide and prepare them for the Master’s in Applied Linguistics. In addition to an introductory lecture and the basics of research methodology, the course is primarily based on the topics of linguistic methodology, communication, discourse analysis, speech sciences, the social aspects of language use (e.g. bilingualism, multilingualism and language rights) and interculturalism, and is taught through lectures and seminars.

The department also offers the four-semester Speech Science MA (120 credits). Here, we teach the production and processing of speech, starting from the brain’s functions, through the functioning of the organs, to the physical realisation of speech as a soundwave. The programme’s profile is heavily empirical, with a major emphasis on the methodological aspects of designing and conducting experiments, and on the ethical aspects of research, with particular attention to the participants.
Our department also runs the Doctoral Programme of Applied Linguistics within the Doctoral School of Linguistics at ELTE.

The Speech trainer, voice coach postgraduate specialist training course is a two-semester course worth 60 credits, and is intended to give students basic knowledge of speech production and speech perception, as well as features and disorders relating to the process of native language acquisition; to give them strong value judgment and the ability to judge the verbal speech of others, to teach them the rules of using language in different speech situations, and to enable them to develop the speaking skills of those working in mass communication, public life, business and the performing arts, whether individually or in groups. 

The department’s lecturers regularly teach classes within the Applied Linguistics Master’s Programme at the Institute of Hungarian Linguistics and Finno-Ugric Studies, and within the Hungarian Bachelor’s programme and the Hungarian Language And Literature Master’s Programme organised together by the Institute of Hungarian Linguistics and Finno-Ugric Studies and the Institute of Hungarian Literature and Cultural Studies, particularly in the fields of speech studies, research methodology, language history, communication studies and conversation analysis. We teach several courses in the Hungarian Teacher’s programme and in the practice-oriented Editing and Business Management minors, such as negotiation techniques, business correspondence, data handling, grammar and document editing.

The department runs two student workshops: the Applied Linguistics student workshop and the Phonetics and Psycholinguistics student workshop. Both workshops have a lively academic life, and our students regularly achieve success in student competitions and at scientific conferences. The Applied Linguistics workshop continues the tradition of organising the conference series of the National Meeting of Applied Linguistics departments and publishes the written versions of the spoken lectures in edited collections.

Department staff regularly organise national and international conferences. One of these was the Resling – Responsible Linguistics conference, organised in the autumn of 2021 and attended by members of other faculties.
The department organises the biennial children’s language conference, which was held under the title New pathways in children's language research in 2016, and The process of native language acquisition in 2018. In 2020, it was held under the title Language development from infancy to adolescence.
In addition, the department is committed to the promotion of science – its staff and students are therefore involved in the faculty events of the Researcher’s Night programme series, and the Lingual Articulation Research Group also organised programmes on the World Voice Day.
One of the department’s inherited responsibilities is to organise and coordinate the university-level competition Szép magyar beszéd (Beautiful Hungarian speech) named after Ferenc Kazinczy and to help organise the national finals and the annual pronunciation competition of University Mother Tongue Days. Since 2019, as part of the University Mother Tongue Days event series, the department has organised science communication competitions and panel discussions.
In 2024, connected to our Speech trainer, voice coach postgraduate specialist training course, we also started the tradition of organizing the Professional Day for Speech Trainers and Voice Coaches where our talented alumni introduce themselves as speech trainers to their peers and further interested persons.

Our department has academic relationships with the Institute of Phonetics at the University of Cologne (Germany), the University of Zagreb (Croatia), the Laboratory of Phonetics and Phonology at Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 (France), the University of Washington (USA), the University of Heidelberg (Germany), the University of Ghent (Belgium) and the University of Geneva (Switzerland).

The members of our department actively participate in the international academic life. They were awarded by numerous awards for their achievements in teaching, research, and scientific outreach activities.

Our department can also be found on the site of MNyFI, and ELTE.