Research Thesis Linguistics

Course goals

The aim of the thesis is to independently write a report of research driven by the student's own questions, conducted under the supervision of a senior researcher (and co-supervisors in some cases). The thesis shows how the knowledge and skills acquired during the RMA programme has equipped the students with the research, academic and communicative skills to carry out original research.

Content

Together with the internship, the thesis constitutes the individual trajectory of the student. During the internship, the focus is on research questions defined by the project the student is participating in. For the thesis, emphasis is placed on original research driven by the student's own questions. The exact activities/tasks, mode of working, schedule and expected outcomes may vary across thesis research projects, but they are all always agreed upon at the beginning of the thesis project. Students are responsible for finding their own supervisor, and for bringing up their own creative ideas and research questions. In all cases student must have an internal supervisor affiliated with ILS. A student may have an additional internal or external supervisor. An external supervisor is a senior researcher affiliated with an institution other than ILS. The responsibility for the final grade and its entering in Osiris lies always on the internal supervisor. The output of the thesis research is a report that meets the standards of a scientific publication in the subdiscipline of linguistics at hand. The thesis should be structured around a central research question to which it provides an answer. The central research question should be clearly formulated at the beginning and its relevance to scholarly discussions within the discipline set out. The body of the text should show how the question was answered, why the approach chosen is adequate, and what the final outcomes are. The conclusion should contain an analysis of the findings in the light of the original question, and explain the broader implications of the research carried out. There are no strict guidelines as to length, but most theses are between 30 and 70 pages long (including notes, bibliography and appendices).Most students write the thesis in the second semester of the second year. A thesis seminar is run in that semester for group and individual support. 

Thesis seminar. The thesis seminar aims at supporting students during the process of thesis research and writing, and at students offering each other help during this process. Students do not earn EC for the thesis seminar, yet participation is obligatory. Thesis seminar topics include: planning the last semester, getting started on thesis research, making progress on thesis research, what does an MA thesis look like, MA thesis structure and writing, publishing in linguistics, how to prepare for a job interview, and any other topics that students would like to discuss. There will be seven triweekly meetings in blocks 3 and 4. The thesis seminar is supported by a Brightspace environment for communication, as for making available slides and other materials. Towards the end of block 4, you participate in the thesis fair, where you present your thesis project to your fellow first and second year RMA Linguistics students, RMA staff and ILS researchers.

 

Additional information

Career orientation:
Orientation on a future research oriented career in academia or outside of academia

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