RESEARCH PROJECTS – STAGE ONE Due 10/4

Rather than write several short papers, some people prefer to concentrate on one topic in depth. If you’re such a person, the Research Project option is for you! Do you have questions about how people use language? Why they use the language they do? Perhaps you are interested in historical issues: attempts to simplify spelling, create international languages, and so forth. Or maybe you're intrigued by some social-linguistic issues of the kinds raised in EL. Are there interesting language issues associated with your major or a potential career?

It may help to start broad, selecting a topic area such as slang, dictionaries, dialects (of region, religion, ethnicity, subculture), role of grammar or grammar teaching in the classroom, taboo languages, language of advertising, non-verbal language cues, and so forth. Once you do some brainstorming and background reading, you can narrow it down from there. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY TOPIC; ALL TOPICS REQUIRE ADVANCE APPROVAL.

The best topics are those where you can do some primary research, perhaps by conducting a student survey, sampling publications, media sources, or so forth. I have many bibliographies, books, and articles that may help you with your preliminary and advanced research.

For the first stage, prepare a proposal (about two pages) in which you 1) identify your topic or general area of study (please chat with me before you get too far); 2) explain your interest in this topic, especially emphasizing how it connects to your academic or personal interests; 3) report on our library’s resources to support a study of your topic; 4) propose a research question your paper will explore.

We'll follow this schedule:

10/3: Proposal
10/28: Bibliography & Progress Report
11/3-11/7: Oral Reports
11/10: Research Essay Due

Some reminders:

--The research project is worth 33% of your semester grade, so choose something you enjoy and with which you will do a good job

--You should have at least 10 different sources in your Works Cited list. Ideally, some of these will be your primary research. Of course, your essay should cite some secondary materials as well.

--The final document should be at least 12-15 pages and precisely documented with the MLA manuscript format (like your DISC 103 paper).

--Late papers will be docked 1/3 grade per class day late. If more than a week late, they will be read and graded but returned without written comments.

--Take advantage of my office hours (1:30-3:30 MWF, 8:30-11:00 T, 2:30-4:30 Th, and by coincidence or appointment). I'm available to talk about your projects at any stage of development.