Ling 425/709

Term Paper Assignment

Choosing a topic:

We will only have time this semester to cover a few topics in core areas of language acquisition. 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 discussions of the text book or supplementary articles, or you may explore a topic which we overlooked, as long as it is related to first language acquisition.

Developing a topic:

Once you have a topic for your paper, you should make an appointment to discuss it with me. IMPORTANT—see me BEFORE March 26 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 8 double-spaced pages long for 425 students and 10 pages long for 709 students 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 by 5 p.m., Wednesday, May 13^th.

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?