Term
paper guidelines
Length of paper
Proseminar:
The paper should be type-written (1.5 spaced) and between 10 and 15
pages in length.
Hauptseminar:
Papers should be type-written (1.5 spaced) and between 20 to 25 pages
long.
Structure
Term papers should be composed of the following sections:
Title page
Table of contents
Introduction
Literature review
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix
Generally, the introduction and theoretical part should account for
a third of the paper and the remaining sections (methododology, results,
discussion, conclusion) two thirds of the paper. Each of these parts are
addressed in the following.
Title page
The title page is the first page of a term paper. It is not numbered.
It contains details of:
-
the title of the paper
-
the title of the seminar and of the course leader's/ leaders' name(s)
-
the author's/ authors' name(s) and email address(es) or other contact details
-
the date of submission
A good title is
-
focused (tells the reader what to expect of the paper)
-
awakens interest
Sometimes the use of a sub-title is necessary in order to fulfill both
criteria.
Avoid reference to particular researchers in the title. For example,
a sub-title such as "(following the study Discourse functions and pragmatics
of mixing: Advertising across cultures by T.K. Bhatia (1992))" is inappropriate.
Table of contents
Let's have a look at a "good" and a "bad" table of contents to start
our discussion of this section of the term paper.
Inappropriate table of contents
Appropriate table of contents
Table of contents in brief
Inappropriate table
of contents
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Categorisation
3. Results
3.1 The German data
3.2 The British data
4. Evaluation
5. Literature
Now let's think what's less than satisfactory about this table of contents
taken from an empirical term paper.
The first question you should ask yourself is whether all the necessary
parts of a table of contents are present. The answer is, of course, no.
There is no conclusion, nor is there a review of previous literature. A
section on method is also missing. The section entitled "categorisation"
should rather be a sub-point of a chapter on methodology. Finally, there
is no appendix which would include the data collected in the empirical
study.
Next question: Do you know what the term paper is about? Well, it appears
to be empirical and contrastive, doesn't it? However, you will admit that
this table of contents could have been taken from a number of contrastive
empirical studies from one on speech act realisations to the use of language
in the media across cultures. In other words, it is too vague and, therefore,
does not serve as a good guide for the reader.
What else can we say? Well, let us put ourselves in the reader's position
again. Do you think this table of contents will be useful in helping him/
her find his/her way around the text. To a certain extent yes: The results
come after the introduction, etc., but there are no sub-points included
to make the reader's job easier except those which differentiate between
the presentation of the German and British data. Even here, however, the
structuring is not ideal. Indeed, it appears rather simplistic and less
than reader-friendly to structure an empirical study around the German
and British data rather than around a specific linguistic strategy or feature
of the data at hand.
Finally, of course, no page numbers have been included - the reader
has to flick through the text to search for some orientation.
Now, let us turn to a more suitable Table of Contents.
Appropriate table
of contents
Table of contents
1 Introduction.........................................................................................................
1
2 Apologies............................................................................................................
2
2.1 What is an apology?.....................................................................................
3
2.2 Apology strategies........................................................................................
4
3 Method...............................................................................................................
6
3.1 Instrument....................................................................................................
6
3.2 Informants....................................................................................................
7
3.3 Data collection procedure.............................................................................
7
4 Findings..............................................................................................................
8
4.1 Frequency of apology strategies....................................................................
8
4.2 Realisations of illocutionary force indicating
devices..................................... 10
5 Discussion........................................................................................................
12
6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................
15
Bibliography........................................................................................................
16
Appendices.........................................................................................................
18
Appendix 1 Apology speech act set .....................................................................
18
Appendix 2 Production questionnaire...................................................................
19
Appendix 3 Production questionnaires collected...................................................
20
Table of contents -
in brief
Include all pertinent sections in the table of contents (i.e. Introduction,
Literature review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Bibliography,
Appendix)
Number your table of contents
Include page numbers
Use sub-points and indent these
Use explicit but brief titles and sub-titles
Structure your paper according to your focus of interest
Introduction
The introduction follows the table of contents and is the first page
of the project which is numbered.
The aspects to be addressed in the introduction include:
-
Question posed in paper
Tell your reader what the paper is about - i.e. what is the research
area?, what is the question posed in the paper?
-
Motivation for research (e.g. research gap, desire for replication
of results, ...)
Motivations, such as "During the seminar on "Language in the Media"
we investigated the use of proverbs in the media and I found this interesting
... " are sometimes mentioned in term papers. These are not appropriate
and should not be included in a term paper. Remember you are writing
a scholarly piece of research not a story-book. Instead you should provide
a justification for your research developed out of the readings you have
read together with your own personal experience, if relevant. You should
also address the theorietical or practidal importance of the research.
In other words, tell the reader why you decided on this research project
- why is it interesting and worthwhile: why should it be read? This section
should be kept brief in the introduction - the literature review provides
a futher opportunity to argue for what you want to do.
-
Brief details of research conducted
What research method was employed in the paper? Who were the informants?
Only brief details should be given at this point.
-
Paper structure
The point of detailing the structure of the paper is to guide the reader.
You know what is coming next but the reader does not. Tell him/ her what
to expect.
Literature review
An academic paper should reflect a wide reading of the subject area
and a good understanding of key concepts and findings. The use of examples
is one of the best ways of exhibiting your familiarity with important concepts
and it also enhances the reader-friendliness of the paper.
You are expected to be critical in your reading of academic papers.
In other words, you should demonstrate that you are aware of previous research
findings but also that you do not believe everything you read but rather
look critically at each study, especially those of primary interest to
your research task. Such a critical awareness may be demonstrated, for
example, by referring to contradictory findings from different researchers,
by highlighting the failings of previous studies (e.g. limited analysis/
less than ideal methodology, etc.) and also by showing an awareness of
questions which remain unanswered.
You should organise your literature review as clearly as possible.
Make sure to select only those studies most directly related to the question
at hand. You should not simply provide a summary of each studybut rather
tie together the results of the studies so that their relevance is clear.
When conflicting findings are reported in different studies, suggest possible
explanations.
Finally, in line with the introduction, make the case that the research
area reviewed is incomplete or requires extension. This establishes the
need for research in the area.
Methodology
The method employed in the empirical project conducted should be explicitly
detailed. If the project involves an analysis of a particular corpus, relevant
information may include:
-
what genre and sub-genre (e.g. advertisements (display/ classified
advertisements?; ...), editorial (service info copy/ opinion copy/ news
copy [hard news/ feature article/ special topic news/ headlines?]) broadcast
news (hard news (news bulletins)/ current or public affairs programs/ special-topic
news/ ...?), ...)?
-
which media outlets (e.g. publications (newspapers [daily/ weekly?],
magazines), TV channels, radio stations)?
-
reason for choice of outlet (e.g. researcher's interest, geographical
area, audience type or size, time of day, quality vs. popular press, interest
in production or reception, ...)
-
detail on outputs (i.e. what time period was covered?, specific
issues or bulletins to be sampled within this period?)
Alternatively/ additionally, if elicited data forms the empirical
basis of your study, relevant details include those concerning:
-
informants chosen (how many?, average age?, male/ female ratio?,
mother tongue?, foreign/ second languages ...? Usually the more homogeneous
the informants, the better the research design).
-
research instrument employed (choice of instruments?, reasons for
choice of particular instrument?, design of instrument?, etc. A copy of
the materials used (e.g. questionnaire, roleplay cards, ...) should be
included in an appendix).
-
data collection procedure (when was the research conducted?, in
what setting?, ...).
-
the strengths and limitations of the methodology employed.
In either case, it is also important to give details of:
-
the strengths and limitations of the research design employed.
-
the scheme employed for the categorisation/ coding of data (if relevant)
(e.g. in a study on the use of proverbs in advertising, you should detail
the different categories of proverbs found (e.g. fully lexicalised/ contextualised/
non-lexicalised/ ...).
Results
Results should be presented in a reader-friendly manner. The use of
tables and graphs is recommended (the use of colour is by no means obligatory).
Tables and graphs should be either included in the main text, or alternatively
(if they are large in number) included in an appendix. In the latter case,
however, the appendix must be referenced (i.e. cf. Appendix 1) otherwise
the reader will not know to look there).
As well as presenting the results, it is also your task to guide the
reader through the results in a clear and logical manner. This by no means
means that every detail included in the table/ graph should be commented
on, but it does mean that the most interesting results should be highlighted
for the reader.
Discussion
The discussion section either follows the results or may alternatively
be integrated in the results section. This is a matter of style although
the former style tends to be easier for the writer and clearer for the
reader and is, thus, recommended. The section should consist of a discussion
of the results of the study focusing on the question posed in the research
paper. In addition, it should serve to compare your results to previous
research findings (i.e. do the present findings reflect/ refute previous
findings?). You should also demonstrate an awareness of the limitations
of your study in this section.
Conclusion
The conclusion is often thought of as the easiest part of the paper
but should by no means be disregarded. There are a number of key components
which should not be omitted. These include:
-
summary of question posed
-
summary of findings
-
summary of main limitations of the study at hand
-
details of possibilities for related future research
You should note that the conclusion is not the place to introduce new insights
into the question at hand. All ideas and thoughts should have been already
mentioned at this stage. New thoughts should refer to future research questions.
Bibliography
From the very beginning of a research project, you should be careful
to note all details of articles gathered. ,
a free program designed specifically for keeping track of references,
can be downloaded from the philosophical faculty of the University of Düsseldorf.
References filed in this system may be copied easily into MS Word. Alternatively,
a simple Word table or a system of cards may be used. Find the system which
is best for you.
The bibliography should contain ALL references included in the paper.
References not included in the text in any form should NOT be included
in the bibliography.
The key to a good bibliography is consistency. Choose a particular convention
and stick to this. If you wish to include a full-stop after the date of
publication, make sure you do this consistently; alternatively if you wish
to put a comma after the date, do this in all cases.
Bibliographical conventions:
What follows is one possible format which you may use for your bibliography.
It follows linguistic conventions. The researchers' surnames are given
first, followed by the initials of the researchers' first names. After
the names follows the year. Titles of edited books, monographs and journals
are given in italics. Details of the publishing house follows those of
the place of publication.
Take note of all commas, full-stops and formatting details (e.g. use
of italics, etc.)
Monographs
Crystal, D. (2001), Language and the internet. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Edited volumes
Gass, S./Neu, J. (eds.) (1996), Speech acts across cultures. Challenges
to communication in a second language. Berlin/ NY: Mouton de Gruyter.
[(eds.) is used when there is more than one editor; and (ed.) where
there is only one editor. In German the abbreviation used is (Hrsg.) for
Herausgeber].
Edited articles
Schmidt, R./Shimura, A./Wang, Z./Jeong, H. (1996), Suggestions to buy:
Television commercials from the U.S., Japan, China, and Korea. In: Gass,
S./Neu, J. (eds.) (1996), Speech acts across cultures. Challenges to
communication in a second language. Berlin/ NY: Mouton de Gruyter:
285-316.
* If a number of articles from a particular edited volume are included
in the bibliography, there is no need to list the edited volume each time.
Instead the edited volume itself should be listed once and each reference
from the volume in the following short format:
Schmidt, R./Shimura, A./Wang, Z./Jeong, H. (1996), Suggestions to buy:
Television commercials from the U.S., Japan, China, and Korea. In: Gass,
S./Neu, J. (eds.) (1996): 285-316.
i.e. it is not necessary to give the name of the edited volume, the
place of publication or the publisher each time.
Journal articles:
McQuarrie, E.F./Mick, D.G. (1992), On resonance: A critical pluralistic
inquiry into advertising rhetoric. Journal of consumer research
19, 180-197.
Staczek, J.J. (1993), The English language and the Gulf War: Corpus
linguistics, variation, and word-formation. World Englishes 12,
1, 15-24.
Electronic book:
Chandler, D. (1994), Semiotics for beginners [HTML document].
Retrieved [5.10.'01] from the World Wide Web, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/.
Electronic journal articles:
Watts, S. (2000) Teaching talk: Should students learn 'real German'?
[HTML document]. German as a Foreign Language Journal [online] 1.
Retrieved [12.09.'00] from the World Wide Web, http://www.gfl-journal.com/.
Other websites:
Verterhus, S.A. (n.y.), Anglicisms in German car advertising. The problem
of gender assignment [HTML document]. Retrieved [13.10.'01] from the World
Wide Web, http://olaf.hiof.no/~sverrev/eng.html.
Unpublished papers:
Takahashi, S./DuFon, M.A. (1989), Cross-linguistic influence in indirectness:
The case of English directives performed by native Japanese speakers. Unpublished
paper, Department of English as a Second Language, University of Hawai'i
at Manoa, Honolulu.
Unpublished theses/ dissertations:
Möhl, S. (1996), Alltagssituationen im interkulturellen Vergleich:
Realisierung von Kritik und Ablehnung im Deutschen und Englischen. Unpublished
MA thesis, University of Hamburg.
Walsh, R. (1995), Language development and the year abroad: A study
of oral grammatical accuracy amongst adult learners of German as a foreign
language. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University College Dublin.
Also note:
-
Remember to follow linguistic rather than literature conventions
(i.e. the year of publication should be placed after researchers' names
rather than at the end of the reference).
-
The bibliography should be arranged in alphabetical order.
-
If you are referencing an internet article with no year given, include
the abbreviation n.y. where the year of publication would normally be included
(in brackets, if the above formating conventions are adopted).
-
Page numbers are not usually given for internet sources since
the number of pages differs with different computers/ printers.
-
a, b, c, ...: If a number of articles in your bibliography were
published by the same author in one particular year, these must be differentiated
by the use of letters after the relevant year.
e.g.
Crystal, D. (1999a),
The point of this convention is to make clear to the reader which article
is of importance at a particular point in the text.
-
Reference to original publication dates can be given in square brackets
following the reference.
-
Abbreviations may be given for places of publication. If
used, they should be used consistently,
e.g. Use "N.Y." for "New York" and "N.J." for "New Jersey", or just
"New York" and "New Jersey" but do not use "N.Y." and "New Jersey".
Appendix
The appendix should be used for data collected (e.g. questionnaires,
transcripts, ...) and for tables and graphs not included in the main text
due to their subsidiary nature or to space constraints in the main text.
Although the appendices should be listed in the table
of contents, it should be remembered that the appendices should be
read parallel to the main text, not following it. The reader cannot, however,
be expected to know exactly when each appendix is relevant and must, therefore,
be told when to refer to which appendix. To do this a simple (cf. Appendix
1) should be included at the relevant place in the text and all appendices
should be clearly numbered.
For example:
"This research instrument essentially requires respondents to write
both sides of an open roleplay or dialogue for a series of situations (cf.
Appendix 6 for an example) ..."
Citation guidelines
(i.e. referring to particular passages, books or authors in the text)
If you knowingly do not acknowledge other authors' thoughts, ideas
or research, you can be accused of plagerism.
Here we deal with the following issues:
Quotations
Referencing
Second-hand quoting/ referencing
It should be noted here that it is suggested here to only include minimal
citation details in the text (i.e. authors' names, year of publication
and page number(s), if relevant). For complete details, the reader is expected
to consult the bibliography.
Quotations
Incorporating quotations into the text:
a) Quotations of less than three lines in length should
be placed in quotation marks and incorporated into the main text. The quotation
details may or may not be included in the main text. An example where the
reference details are included in the text is the following:
Referencing quotations:
One author:
(Chandler 2001:23)
Two authors:
McQuarrie/Mick (1992:196)
More than two authors:
Schmidt et al. (1996:286)
Other conventions applying to quotations:
f = the page given plus that following;
e.g. 3f = pages 3 + 4
a, b, c, ...: If a number of articles are included in the bibliography
which were published by the same author in one particular year, these must
be differentiated by the use of letters.
e.g. Schneider 1999a
Schneider
1999b
The point of this convention is to make clear to the reader which article
is of importance at a particular point in the text.
Online sources: Page numbers should not be given where reference
is to an on-line source as page breaks differ for many users.
Referencing
Referencing quotations:
The same conventions occur here as for quotation
sources.
One author:
(Chandler 2001:23)
Two authors:
McQuarrie/Mick (1992:196)
More than two authors:
Schmidt et al. (1996:286)
Integrating references into the main text:
There are a number of possibilities here. Examples include:
Crystal (2001:23) reports that ....
or
As McQuarrie/Mick (1992:195f) state ...
or
... A further reason relating to the lack of concern with pragmatic
issues in the foreign language classroom is that research on the teaching
of L2 pragmatic competence is still in its infancy (cf. Tateyama et al.
1997:163, Kasper 2000c:383).
or
In the past years, many researchers (e.g. Crystal 2001:23) have commented
on ...
Other citation conventions applying to references:
f = the page given plus that following;
e.g. 3f = pages 3 + 4
ff = the page given plus those following
e.g. 3ff = pages 3 and those following
passim = the page given plus elsewhere in the text
e.g. 3 passim = page 3 and also other places in the text
a, b, c, ...: If a number of articles are included in the bibliography
which were published by the same author in one particular year, these must
be differentiated by the use of letters.
e.g. Barron 1999a
Barron 1999b
The point of this convention is to make clear to the reader which article
is of importance at a particular point in the text.
Online sources: Page numbers should not be given where reference
is to an on-line source as page breaks differ for many users.
Second-hand quoting/ referencing
On no account should you include any quotations which you have not
read yourself nor should you strictly speaking refer to other research
which you have not consulted yourself. If the latter case cannot be avoided,
you should note this in the text and include both this reference and the
original reference in your bibliography.
Style/ accuracy
Term papers should not be written in a casual conversational style.
They are academic papers and should therefore be written in an academic
style.
Some points to note:
-
Academic English or indeed German involves use of a broad, appropriately
used vocabulary and a wide variety of relatively complex sentence
structures - i.e. avoid overuse of high frequency vocabulary, repetitiveness
and the use of short, simple sentences. Your task is to communicate your
ideas and results to your reader in a clear, explicit, straightforward
manner. Your use of language should facilitate this aim.
-
Consistent orthography: When writing in English, use the orthography
of one variety consistently - i.e. do not switch between British English
and American English orthography.
If writing in German, choose the old or the new orthography conventions
and do not switch from one to the other.
-
When referring to yourself in the paper, you should try to avoid
the use of "I" (although this convention appears to be changing somewhat
recently). Alternatives to "I" include the use of the passive (e.g. "The
questionnaire was distributed to 30 informants") or constructions, such
as "the researcher" (e.g. "The researcher was present at all times during
the data collection").
-
Do not start a new paragraph unless you wish to introduce a new
point or idea.
-
Never include vague statements such as "Many researchers ...." without
mentioning the researchers in question.
-
When including numbers in your paper, note that the numbers up to
ten should be written out (e.g. five magazines). Over ten, the figure itself
may be included (e.g. 20 newspapers).
-
All abbreviations used should be introduced in the first instance
with the word written out in full. Also, if a number of abbreviations are
used, a list of these should be included on a separate page following the
table of contents.
-
Ensure you have no spelling mistakes or typing errors in the paper.
The spell check included with word processing packages is advisable in
this regard. However, do not rely exclusively on spell checks. Instead,
read through your paper yourself or preferably ask someone else to read
it through for you. Ensure in particular that all key words and researchers'
names are spellt correctly.
A search for blank spaces is also worthwhile as these prove
quite annoying to readers. This is easily done with a simple search (rather
than searching for a word, search for two blank spaces).
-
Punctuation errors are also common. If unsure, consult a reference
book.
-
If writing in a foreign language, you should have your paper read
by a native speaker before submission.
Presentation/ formating
Attending to the formal appearance of your paper is also an important
aspect of writing term papers. The following are some general guidelines:
-
Papers should be submitted in a neat manner. Pages should be bound
together in some manner - the use of a folder is recommended for this purpose.
Use of a word processor and a good quality printer also adds to the quality
of presentation.
-
One and a half spacing is recommended. Times New Roman 12 is a suitable
font size. Wide margins are necessary for comments by the person correcting.
A top margin of 2.5 cm, a bottom margin of 2 cm, a left-hand margin of
4 cm and a right-hand margin of 2 cm is recommended.
-
Occasional use of lists set apart from the main text is also a welcome
relief to the reader. They are clearer and are also quicker to read than
the same list included as part of the main text.
-
Main headings and sub-headings should be given in different sizes
in the main text.
-
Bold print, italics and bulleting can also be employed to enhance
the clarity of organisation and structure of the paper. However, avoid
overuse. In the main text, generally speaking,
-
bold print should be used for headings and sub-headings (and
for titles of graphs/ tables included).
-
bulleting can be used for lists.
-
Italics can be used for examples but see the section on the
inclusion
of examples.
-
Underlining can be used for emphasis.
-
All tables and graphs should be clearly numbered and given
an appropriate title.
e.g. Figure 1: Frequency of the politeness marker 'bitte' ('please')
with conventionally direct request strategies
e.g. Table 1: Terms used by Irish learners to describe the German people
prior to the year abroad.
-
All sections should be numbered as in the table of contents.
-
Inverted commas should be used consistently. In German, use the
following inverted commas: „ “. In English, choose between the use of double
(" ") or single (' ') quotation marks. Generally speaking, double quotation
marks are associated with American English and single with British English.
However, such conventions are not as either/or as they once were and the
reader may become confused by the use of ' for both single quotation marks
and apostrophees (e.g. the researcher's).
Inclusion of examples
It is recommended to include some of the data gathered in your investigation
in the text of your paper for illustratory purposes. Examples taking the
form of sentences should start on a new line and be indented, as in the
following example:
An example of the present learners' use of the politeness
marker 'bitte' ('please') include:
(1) A2F:
Judith, kann ich bitte deine Aufzeichnungen ausleihen, weil ...
(A2F (translation): Judith, can I borrow your notes, please because ...
)
* (1) refers to the number of the example. This is recommended where
a number of examples are given and examples are referred to on a number
of occasions. A2F refers to the informant who gave this response on the
questionnaire employed.
Shorter examples (e.g. words or phrases) do not need to be set apart
from the main text but they should be formated in some consistent way -
e.g. italicised throughout the text.
Whether long or short, where necessary, examples given should also be
translated. The translated version should be marked as such.
Footnotes/ endnotes
Footnotes should not generally be used for references as this is very
space-consuming and not reader-friendly. Instead, incorporate your references
into the main text (cf. citation/ referencing
guidelines). Of course, if a number of researchers' findings are of
relevance at a particular point in the text, including these in a footnote
may be more reader-friendly than including a long list in the main text.
Use your intuition on this point.
Footnotes are designed to enhance the reader-friendly nature of the
text. They are used to give further information which is not directly relevant
to the text and which the reader does not have to read to understand the
argument/ discussion at hand.
Comments on plagerism
What is plagerism?
Plagerism is when you knowingly use the intellectual work of others
without acknowledgement. It can take the form of direct copying from the
writings of others or the presentation of the ideas of others in a paraphrased
form - without acknowledgement.
If you like the ideas of a researcher, you may of course refer to these
ideas or indeed quote from the writings of this person as long as you formally
acknowledge their work but you may not simply adopt his/ her ideas as your
own. This also applies to works written in a different language. Translation
of ideas or writings is also plagerism if the original author is not acknowledged.
What about internet materials?
Internet materials used should be cited just as all other sources used.
What are the reprecussions, if I plagerise in a term paper submitted
to the English Department in the University of Bonn?
Term papers may in certain instances be failed on the grounds of plagerism
alone.
Want to read more on plagerism?
Have a look at Laura MacGregor's (2001) article "A
student guide to plagerism"
Major
pitfalls of writing term papers
-
Lack of focus
Before writing a term paper, you should ensure you have a question
which you attempt to answer in your paper. This question should be kept
in mind throughout the paper. Answer this question and only this question.
Include only information/ details/ analyses of relevance to the question
at hand. Waffle and irrelevancies only serve to annoy your readers - remember
they have many more papers to read besides yours. Keep them interested
and don't waste their time.
Sometimes, the relevance of a particular section may be clear to you
but not to your readers. To avoid this, ensure you briefly explain the
relevance of every section.
-
Badly structured
Your text should flow from one sentence to the next, from one paragraph
to the next, and from one section to the next. In other words, you should
attempt to hold your reader's attention at all times, from the beginning
to the end of the paper.
Generally speaking, you should not introduce a new paragraph unless
you are addressing a new point - and if you are, ensure you do use a new
paragraph. Put yourself in the reader's position or better still, ask someone
else to read your text before you submit it (preferably someone not familar
with the area) - can they follow your line of argument?; do the different
sections link well?
-
Are all headings/ sub-headings formatted consistently (size/ italics/ bold/
font/ ..)?
-
Have you consistently either left a space between paragraphs or not left
a space?
-
Are all your bibliographical details complete? From the beginning of your
research efforts, you should ensure that you take exact notes of researchers'
names, titles of articles, edited editions and monographs, place of publication
details, details of the relevant publishing house, and also page number
for
articles. In the bibliography section above,
I referred to the use of ,
a free program designed specifically for keeping track of references.
This is one of many possibilities.
-
Are your bibliographical details formated in a consistent manner? The bibliography
is the easiest part of a term paper to write but also that part which is
often the most careless part of students' term papers and that which causes
the most annoyance to lecturers correcting papers so it is well worth putting
some effort into (check the guidelines).
Assessment sheet
The following is the assessment sheet used in the Chair of Applied Linguistics
in the English Department of the University of Bonn to correct term papers.
As you will note, all points detailed above are taken into account in the
final grading.
Names:
Title:
Seminar:
| Length of paper: |
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| Appearance of paper: |
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| Typing errors, etc.: |
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| Language/ style: |
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| Title: |
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| Focus of paper: |
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| Table of contents/ structure: |
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| Introduction: |
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| Conclusion: |
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| Bibliography: |
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| Choice of literature: |
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| Method of citation: |
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| Integration of literature: |
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| Method: |
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| Analysis/ discussion: |
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Date:
Grade:
Links to term paper guidelines
Further
readings
Alley, M. (1987), The craft of scientific writing. Englewood
Cliffs/ N.J.: Prentice.
Buenting, K.-D./Bitterlich, A./Pospiech, U. (2000), Schreiben im
Studium mit Erfolg: ein Leitfaden. 2nd revised ed. Berlin: Cornelsen
Scriptor.
Eco, U. (1991), Wie man eine wissenschaftliche Abschlußarbeit
schreibt. Doktor-, Diplom- und Magisterarbeit in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften.
4th
ed. Heidelberg: Müller.
Gibaldi, J. (ed.) (1992), Introduction to scholarship in modern languages
and literatures. 2nd ed. N.Y.: MLA Publications.
Greenbaum, S./ Whitcut, J. (1988), Guide to English usage. London:
Longman.
Peck, J. (1999), The student's guide to writing. Grammar, punctuation
and spelling. Basingstoke, etc.: Macmillan.
Poenicke, K. (1988), Duden: Wie verfaßt man wissenschaftliche
Arbeiten? Ein Leitfaden vom 1. Studiensemester bis zur Promotion. 2nd
revised ed. Mannheim, etc.: Dudenverlag.
Poenicke, K. (1989), Die schriftliche Arbeit: Materialsammlung und
Manuskriptgestaltung für Fach-, Seminar- und Abschlußarbeiten
an Schule und Universität. 2nd ed. Mannheim, etc.: Dudenverlag.
Standop, E. (1990), Die Form der wissenschaftlichen Arbeit. 13th
ed. Heidelberg: Quelle & Myer.
Wilkinson, A.M. (1991), The scientist's handbook for writing papers
and dissertations. Englewood Cliffs/ N.J.: Prentice Hall.
References
to possible ideas for projects in linguistics
Wray, A./ Trott, K./ Bloomer, A. (1998), Projects in linguistics.
A practical guide to researching language. London, etc.: Arnold.
The
University of Maryland Undergraduate Essay Prize in Linguistics
is an international competition open to all undergraduate students of linguistics
around the world. Topics of interest include computational linguistics,
formal semantics, language acquisition, language change, lexical semantics,
neurolinguistics, phonology, psycholinguistics, and formal syntax. Students
of "Language and the Media" interested in writing a paper on language change,
for example, may be interested in applying.
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