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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Linguistics Program

Preparing the master's essay

A master's essay guide for linguistics students.

What makes a good essay

  • It's more than a term paper – you should say something new.
  • State your goals at the beginning and summarize at the end.
  • Don't pad.
  • Write so any linguist can understand it.
  • There is standard formatting for glossing foreign language data (The Leipzig Glossing Rules).
  • Write as needed. There is no standard length.

Finding a topic

  • Start thinking about it early.
  • Select a subject that is interesting to you.
  • Most topics are usually based on class material or an extension of a term paper.
  • Sometimes a topic can be derived from an offhand remark by a professor or classmate or something that is bothering you about a language you know (why is X the way it is?).

Getting started

  • Once you identify a topic, spend some time refining it. Initially, your topic will be too big – guaranteed!
  • Read widely and talk to your friends and instructors.
  • Try to write a paragraph-long thesis statement.
  • Expect several false starts.

Building a bibliography

  • Wikipedia is the beginning, not the end.
  • Library databases are your friends, e.g., MLA, LLBA and specialized bibliographies.
  • Follow leads in bibliographies of books and articles.
  • Hope for a recent book or review article with an extensive bibliography.

Setting up the committee

  • Approach someone you would like to work with and ask for their mentorship. Prior to doing so, evaluate their expertise and compatibility for you.
  • Remember that not everyone always has the time.
  • The rest of the committee (at least two more) are generally all from the linguistics program.
  • Consider their expert knowledge (e.g., statistics, phonetics).
  • Find out how they want to see the essay (by section, not until the end…).

Getting feedback

  • Work with your advisor on a timeline for submission to the advisor and the rest of the committee. Learn the deadlines and work backward.
  • Expect feedback and the need for multiple versions.
  • Give committee members time to read the draft (two weeks is fair) but do not hesitate to check with them if you haven't received any feedback by then.

Human subjects

  • Required only for living people as a source of data. This includes interviews, surveys (including online), experiments and classroom-centered research.
  • Pre-existent data (i.e., corpora, databases) do not need IRB clearance.
  • Procedures (before starting the work):

Research and writing

  • Check in with your advisor regularly.
  • Consult with the rest of your committee and others who are not on the committee but could help.
  • Contact scholars elsewhere. Don't be shy since even famous linguists often respond.
  • Back up your data and text in two different places.
  • Form a support group.

Bibliography

For the bibliography use one of the Journal of the Linguistic Society of America's language style sheet. Use the bibliography of any article in language as your guide. Exception: Psycholinguistics and speech science use APA.

Oral exam

  • Bring enough copies of the cover page for signatures.
  • The oral is attended by the committee, moderator and your cheering squad.

Format of the oral exam

  • 15-minute summary
  • Questions around the table and from the sidelines

Following the completion of your presentation, you'll receive your final feedback from the committee.

Is it possible to fail?

No – the oral will not happen until your advisor thinks you are ready.

Final revisions and submission

  • Final revisions happen, so allow time!
  • Ensure your format is correct (see guidelines for master's essay).
  • Allow time for printing.
  • Follow the guidelines scrupulously for binding and deposit.

By Professors Geoffrey Nathan and Margaret Winters