Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

Completion of 120 credits of the programme for the MA in Linguistics with an average mark of 50% or more

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to research a specialist subject in depth and, where appropriate, prepare themselves for doctoral study in the chosen area. It serves as the capstone of the MA in Linguistics by building on research skills and knowledge gained in the taught elements of the programme.

Outline Of Syllabus

The assessment to be completed for this project is research-based. There is no formal teaching component. Students will have received all training and skills needed for completion of the assignment in the modules leading up to this. The topic relates to previous modules and will be arranged in consultation with the DPD and the potential supervisor.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

1. An in depth knowledge of a topic of the student’s choice within linguistics/language sciences
2. Understanding of how their chosen topic fits within relevant wider theoretical and empirical issues
3. Increased awareness of theoretical paradigms and how they relate to empirical studies
4. Critical perspectives on an area of the field

Intended Skill Outcomes

Participants should demonstrate the ability:
- to seek out, select, read and synthesise a substantial body of relevant scholarship
- to formulate aims, objectives and/or hypotheses and to use them to guide their research
- to choose, implement and justify appropriate research methods in the light of project aims and relevant research-methods literature
- to analyse their findings in the light of relevant theory and relevant previous research, and show their relevance to wider theoretical and empirical issues in the discipline
- to reflect critically on their own and others’ research methods and outcomes
- to report on all the above in a coherent, clearly-written and well-presented document which respects the academic conventions relevant to the topic-area and research methods chosen
- manage a project effectively

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The dissertation will give student an opportunity of researching a topic in depth, and of designing and carrying out an appropriate study in an area of linguistics.
Workshops guide students in
- Topic selection
- Understanding benchmarks for progress
Tutorials allow student and supervisor to
- ascertain progress
- identify problems
- plan study tactics
- develop an overall strategy for completion
and the supervisor to offer staged support through guided and progressively adjusted autonomous learning.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The dissertation will allow student to demonstrate higher intellectual skills of understanding, analysis and critical evaluation, and will provide written evidence of all the learning outcomes

General Notes

N/A