Research Paper and Presentation Guidelines
We Will Go Over All the of the Necessary Elements of the Paper During the Zoom Review Session for the Midterm Review, but in the Meantime, Here are the Basics:
NOTE: If registered in Ling 101 for Honors Credit, you will do a double-length paper (10-12 pages) or two 5-6 page papers. All the above points should be followed for all these papers.
Please use the MLA format for your paper. If you submit the paper in any other format, that will indicate that you got the paper online or that someone else did it, meaning the paper will not be accepted or at best will receive a very low grade.
Your paper needs to be a full five pages in length.
Your paper should not be more than six full pages in length.
The 5-6 pages do NOT include the Cover Page or Works Cited Page.
Choose any language/linguistic-related topic.
If you need suggestions, you can bounce ideas off me…but first do the things mentioned next.
There are dozens of videos and other additional pieces of information on each Unit’s Master Supplemental Materials Page. One reason I posted so many is in the hopes that you will be drawn to a particular topic that could become your research paper. So, check those out!
You could also do a Google search for “Linguistics Topics”; that will result in many possibilities.
The prospectus for your paper is due Wednesday BEFORE the Discussion Forum and the Midterm, so…please email the following BEFORE Wednesday at 11:59pm:
Prepare a 1-2 sentence description of your topic, and…
Please also (in 1-2 sentences) tell me why you have chosen this particular topic.
If you can’t decide between two or three topics, list both/all of them and I will give you my opinion.
Don’t forget that the Discussion Forum this week!
You may get ideas for a topic from anywhere in our textbook, anywhere in my Class Notes, anywhere on the Supplemental Materials Page, or the internet.
You will need about five sources, which can come from books, scholarly journals, websites, etc. You must not use Wikipedia as a source, however.
The oral presentation of the paper will take place at the end of the week before finals (times will be scheduled in Zoom, the dates are already listed in the calendar and the times are open to schedule your meeting with me).
To Schedule your Presentation Time, go to Canvas Calendar and scroll to the last week of the semester to find the days with multiple times to choose from. Just click on Find Appointments and all the times will populate. Then just choose the time you’d like and reserve it. There are more time slots than people in the class, so please try to take one of the open times (first come, first served). If there is a problem with your schedule matching these days, contact me and we will find something for your presentations.
The presentation will be one-on-one with me on Zoom. The link is on our Home Page, plus I will send it in an announcement the day of the presentations.
The presentation should be 7-10 minutes long. The length of the time slot is 20 minutes, but I will have questions for you after your presentation.
You may use note cards to help you with the presentation, but please do not read the info to me, present it. Your points will be affected if you just read it.
You may certainly use visual aids (pictures, charts, Power Point–but don’t just put your paper sentences in a Power Point).
Please dress and present yourself in a professional manner for this presentation, just as you would for a job interview or job presentation.
The rubric is listed under the assignment, but here are the basics:
Cover page (how well you have designed and implemented a cover page that reflects your topic and shows your creativity), up to 15 points
Works Cited Page (how well you have followed the MLA format for bibliographies and chosen your sources), up to 15 points
Form (how much it looks like a research paper, how well it reads like a paper, spelling, grammar, etc.), up to 30 points
Content (how well you have chosen your sources and how well you have encapsulated the information and organized it without too many quotes and without any plagiarizing), up to 30 points
Creativity/Personalization (how much of you is in the paper rather than just what others have said), up to 30 points
Oral Presentation (how well you have explained what is in your paper, meaning the central ideas with a couple of details that you found interesting, fun, fascinating, etc. Note: I am going to read you paper right after you give it to me, so, again, I do NOT need/want you to just read me your paper or outline it for me in the same order you write it in for this presentation. That is a bit boring, wouldn’t you say? Rather, please, find a way to tell me what’s in your paper without following it too closely. So, come ready to discuss your main points and favorite parts. Thanks in advance! This is also up to 30 points.
Enjoy the process, which means pick a topic you are truly interested in, research and write it in a clear, logical, organized way, and present it to me in a way that shows you learned something worthwhile. I won’t judge you on your nerves (everyone gets them when presenting in front of someone), so try to relax.