Term Paper Assignment

Choosing a topic

By now we’ve covered a variety of topics in core areas of linguistics at a superficial level. The term paper provides you with an opportunity to explore a topic in more depth. For the term paper assignment you may pick any topic that has come up in the class, or you may explore a language topic that you are interested in, but the class has somehow managed to overlook.

Developing a topic

I will ask you to develop your paper in stages according to the following timetable:

      April 3      Email me a sentence (or two) describing your topic.

      April 10    Email me a paragraph that describes the linguistic significance of your topic and lists two articles or books on this topic.

      April 24    Make a 10-minute presentation on your topic in class. The presentation should identify the topic, discuss its linguistic significance, and discuss one discovery that you learned about the topic.

      May 9       Turn in your final paper.

Once you have a topic for your paper, you should make an appointment to discuss it with me. IMPORTANT—consult with me BEFORE April 10th to start discussing your paper. I will help you find articles related to your chosen topic. I will also help you formulate an outline for your paper. Your goal in writing the paper should be to demonstrate how current research has dealt with the topic and provide an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of this research. I encourage you to suggest ways to improve research on your topic, but this is not required. You may conduct your own experimental study depending on the topic you select.

The paper

Your paper should be at least 10 pages long with full references to the books or articles you use in your paper. Make sure that you avoid plagiarism by citing your reference sources in your paper. The paper should begin with a clear statement of your thesis topic and provide an overview of how you have approached the topic. The paper should discuss some of the current research that is being done on the topic and your assessment of this research. It should conclude with your suggestions for improving the research. The final version of your term paper should appear in the Linguistics Department office or my email by 5 p.m., Wednesday, May 9th.

Grading the paper

I will use the following rubric to assign a grade to the term papers and class presentations.

      1. Clarity of purpose statement

            What is the goal of your project? Do you have a clear thesis statement?

            What is the relation of your project to child language acquisition?

      2. Literature review

            Do you discuss one or two journal articles or books related to your project?

            Did you identify old and new articles related to your project?

            Do you cite the articles in a reference section?

            Do you assess critical strengths and weaknesses of the research in these articles?

            Do you make original suggestions based on these articles?

      3. Clarity of method

            What methods did you use for your project?

            Do the methods support the goal of your project?

            Did you identify and attempt to control the variables associated with this method?

            Do the methods lead to clear predictions?

            Do you identify the weaknesses in your research methods?

      4. Clarity of results

            Do you clearly identify the results of your research?

            Do you discuss the significance of your results?

      5. Clarity of writing

            Are the topics, literature review, methods and results presented in a clear, concise manner?

            Is the presentation overly repetitive?

            Are there few mechanical errors in spelling and grammar?

      6. Clarity of presentation

            Do you clearly identify the goal of your research?

            Do you identify and discuss previous studies?

            Do you present your own conclusions?

Example 1

Tense is an important part of language, so important, in fact, that it is considered an aspect of universal grammar. But how universal is it? The clearest way to test this is to see how easily aspects of grammar carry over from a first language into a second, in this case, French to English. There are many factors that could influence this, but the most evident is the Aspect Hypothesis, which is still not completely comprehensive.

This paragraph confuses importance with language universals. It does not define a language universal or tense, or provide a reference to any articles on language universals or tense. A linguistic feature is either universal or not; there are no mostly universals. A universal feature should appear in all languages. A comparison between two languages will not establish that any feature is universal. A comparison of English and French is a poor choice for testing language universals since English and French have borrowed many features from one another. Borrowing must be ruled out before claiming that a feature is universal element of the linguistic capacity. A linguistic hypothesis will attempt to explain linguistic features. An hypothesis will not influence linguistic features. The Aspect Hypothesis is introduced without a description or references to the literature. This paper would be improved by focusing on a description of tense in English.

Example 2

The United States is a fairly new country in comparison to the rest of the world. Having a diverse range of ethnicities and backgrounds, it is surprising that America not only has one obvious dialect or accent, but many across the different regions of the states. When did Americans begin to drop their native accents and begin acquiring new ones? How did accents and dialects change in certain ways in one region and differently in another region? How did these dialects even begin and why are they still recognizable to the rest of the world as American? These are the questions that linguists ask and research today. It is important to first understand dialects, the history of the research, methods used to research, and the different regions before questions can start to be answered.

This paper begins with a flurry of questions without stating the primary thesis. It would take several dissertations to address all of the issues introduced in this paragraph. This paragraph does not define the key term ‘dialect’ or provide references to any articles on American dialects. The paper assumes that there was originally one American dialect that split into various dialects. The paper does not distinguish between regional dialects and ethnic dialects. The paper would be improved by identifying a single topic such as describing the linguistic features of Kansas English and describing its history.

Example 3

African American Vernacular English (AAVE), more commonly known as Ebonics, has been the center of much debate since the Oakland board of education raised a resolution to use AAVE in schools in 1996. After a nationwide debate ensued, the resolution was not passed until a revised version was drafted in 1997. The debate revealed valuable information about American language ideology and a large degree of misunderstanding about language dialects (Wolfram 1998:118). Though linguists have still not come to a consensus on whether AAVE is a dialect or a language, the Linguistic Society of America stated in 1977 that AAVE “is systematic and rule-governed like all natural speech varieties” (quoted in Wolfram 117). In this essay, I will discuss the origins, phonological and grammatical features of AAVE, as well as language prejudice and its role in the Ebonics debate.

This paper identifies its main topic immediately as well as its significance. A reference is provided to support the argument. The paper focuses on one English dialect and describes its linguistic features as well as what it reveals about attitudes towards ethnic dialects in the United States.