Coordinator: Director of Undergraduate Studies

Description: The Linguistic Thesis allows a candidate to undertake a research project using the analytic tools acquired in the core areas of Linguistics. The thesis need not be on original data collected by the students themselves, but should contain points of theoretical interest/reflection. The chosen topic may overlap with any subject on which the candidate offers a paper, but candidates should avoid repetition of material. The analysis of the data may focus on an aspect or combination of aspects of linguistic structure or usage. For help in choosing a topic, formulating a research question, and collecting and analysing data, see the Guidance for Linguistic Research document, available in the FHS Linguistics Overview area of Canvas.

For this option, students receive 6-8 hours of supervision, which may include meetings during the second year for project planning, background tutorials in the project area, email contact with the supervisor, and discussion of a first draft of the thesis. Students must keep in contact with their supervisors and keep them updated on their progress, as well as making their supervisors aware of any problems or concerns that they may have.

The method of examination is a thesis of between 10,000 and 12,000 words, to be submitted by noon on Friday of the week before Trinity Full Term of the examination. For further details and a complete list of the exam regulations, consult the Thesis section in the Linguistics in all Honour Schools including Linguistics under the Examination Regulations.

Timetable: It is vital to begin planning the project as soon as possible in the second year, including arranging for ethical approval, if required (see the Timetable below). This involves discussing the proposed topic with your college tutor, with the project supervisor, and with the course co-ordinator. Once a topic has been provisionally agreed on, it must be approved by the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics.

To apply for thesis topic approval, you must submit, through your college, to the Director of Undergraduate Studies of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics:

• a completed Thesis Topic Approval form (available here), including a signed statement from the project supervisor and a signed statement from a college tutor;
• a brief description of the project (about 50 words);
• a statement regarding ethical approval.

The official deadline for submitting the topic for approval is Wednesday of 2nd Week of Michaelmas Term of the year of examination; however, students are strongly encouraged to submit their proposals for approval by the beginning of Trinity Term of their second year.

Ethical approval: If the research involves human subjects, ethical approval must be secured before the research can begin (please refer to the Before you start for CUREC to see whether ethical approval is needed). Approval is granted via the ethical review and approval from the Social Sciences and Humanities Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee (SSH IDREC) webpage, which has information on ethics approval and links to the CUREC 1A ethics approval form. Full ethical approval is not normally needed for research with adults who are competent to consent to decide whether or not to participate. Research with under-18s, such as school children, will generally require a full CUREC/2 application. The course coordinator can assist with this process. It should be noted that an application for approval of such a project will take some time to draw up and be considered by CUREC, and it may be necessary to make subsequent revisions to the research plan. You should allow at least six weeks for approval. For more information, see the Social Sciences and Humanities Interdivisional Research Ethics Committee (SSH IDREC) webpage and the Guidance for Linguistic Research document, or contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Format and submission: The completed thesis should be uploaded to Inspera by noon on Friday of the week before Trinity Full Term of the year of the examination. One copy must be uploaded to Inspera and a copy must be retained by the candidate. Candidates shall present a one-page summary of the arguments at the beginning of their thesis. Theses shall be in the range 10,000-12,000 words (exclusive of the footnotes, the bibliography, any appendices, and summary). No person or body shall have authority to permit the limit of 12,000 words to be exceeded, except that, in the case of a commentary on a text, and at the discretion of the Chair of the Examiners, any substantial quoting of that text need not be included in the word limit. The examiners will not take account of such parts of an essay as are beyond these limits. There must be a select bibliography, listing all primary and secondary sources cited in the thesis, and full details must be given of all citations at the end of the thesis. All theses must be typed in double-spacing on A4 paper. One copy must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform, Inspera, and a copy must be retained by the candidate. For more information, consult the Exam Regulations.

•  Sample cover page (DOC)
•  Sample declaration (DOC)

Suggested timetable at a glance:

You can also refer to the Descriptors for the Thesis in Linguistics to see the criteria against which your thesis will be evaluated.

Updated March 2023