Papers, Exams Checklist. DG

Dafydd Gibbon

Checklist for preparing reports, papers, exams
(see also style sheet )

General remarks: Remember that scientific discussion, in the sense in which it affects studies in linguistics, differs from other forms of communication in function, content and form:

In function: To persuade the scientific community of the relevance, value and innovative value of results.
In content: To present new results of specific investigations which are of general interest (general is a relative notion, of course...), and which were reached in accordance with accepted procedures of empirical and formal research.
In form: To present results in a systematically and conventionally structured fashion in order not to distract the reader from the content.

Practical hints: These hints are not a recipe but more like answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

Introduction: State your goal in relation to the problem (don't start with sweeping statements about how the ancient Greeks and Romans were already interested in the issue ...), give plausible examples (see further information below), and give a brief overview of the sections of your paper.
Main sections: A linguistics paper is, in informal terms, 50% `theory' (background, accurate formulation of the problem, systematic - perhaps formal - argumentation and presentation of the results), and 50% `practice' (analysis of language data, perhaps experiments, description of the data).
Conclusion: It is important to give a summary of what you have done and of your (yes, your) results. Further, problems which occurred, and open questions which remain need to be mentioned. Finally, possible applications of the results and possible further developments can be mentioned, where relevant.
Use examples to illustrate your argumentation (don't just speculate for pages on end about what is `mostly' the case...).
Distinguish clearly between what you find in the literature (with adequate and systematic references) and your own contribution.
Use a standard style of presentation. You will find standard examples of how to format a linguistics paper (sections, quotations, bibliography etc.) in linguistic periodicals such as Journal of Linguistics, or Language in Society in the library.
Proof-read what you have written very carefully. Remember that the reader (me - or whoever!) does not want to be distracted by trivial language errors. Double check your bibliographical references!
Read what you have written aloud - perhaps to someone else. Then you will notice awkward formulations, many other kinds of error, and also - the positive side - understand better how to structure your writing and get new ideas.
A detail: avoid first and second person pronouns (`I', `you', ...) - you are not writing to a pen-friend or expressing a simple opinion but carefully formulating results which are intended to be more generally valid.

Class reports:

Conditions: All participants are expected to give a class report in each class. Apart from the obvious reason of encouraging intensive participation by all (seminars are supposed to be different from lectures!), giving a report is a prerequisite for both attendance certificates and preparing term papers.
Goal: To structure your material to help your listeners to understand and to encourage discussion.
Method: Make sure you have read and understood the material thoroughly (if in doubt, ask!); prepare a clear overview of the talk to start with; illustrate the body of the talk with relevant clear examples, diagrammes and tables; prepare questions to the audience (their own definitions, experience in the area you are discussing), and exercises and questions for discussion; summarise results, open issues, problems at the end; prepare and use overhead slides, handouts, blackboard, computer, as appropriate ... (sometimes `the medium is the message' - Marshall McLuhan).
Result: Address your listeners (particularly those in the back row), point out where you had problems in understanding (your listeners will have the same problems); time your paper for a 20 minute talk, and remember that questions, clarification, further examples will make it longer; hand in a written version (about 6 pages, following the Term Paper format), and provide me with a version to include in the class notes on the web (by floppy disk, email or putting the file(s) it on your own web site for me to pick up).
Planning: Preferably discuss your plans with me beforehand, at the latest in the office hour immediately before the class in which you will be holding your report.

No shows: If you are prevented from holding the report by illness or accident, please let me know as soon as possible - by email or phone. A `no show' is a serious breach of confidence and very inconsiderate towards your fellow students (and me).

Term Papers:

Goal: To show that you are capable of defining, independently researching, presenting and discussing a scientific topic.
Method: (See also: Practical Hints) To help find and define the topic, make a good sized bibliography, research it in overview books, maybe also in the Web (both our local pages and worldwide), then specialist literature; narrow down the topic in discussion with me; collect data for descriptive and experimental work
Result: present results in standard Term Paper style and format (cover page, contents, main body, conclusion, references, appendices with other reference material, data, etc.); the main text of the paper should be about 15 pages (Grundstudium), 20 pages (Hauptstudium), references and appendices not included; at least 10 references (Grundstudium) and 15 (Hauptstudium); structure the paper carefully, for example: Introduction to the Topic, State of the Art, Method of Analysis, Results, Discussion of Results, Conclusion (i.e. summary, open issues, open problems, applications, outlook). Lists and tables of data, computer code etc., should be put into an additional Appendix.
Planning Feel free to consult me for advice at each stage. Whatever you do, proof read the result as carefully as possible, if only as a mark of respect for the reader! Papers must be handed in before the end of the semester break following the class.

Final exams:

Thinking ahead: Think about possible areas of interest (and examiners) for special topics in the early stages of your Hauptstudium.
Reliable information: Do not rely on hearsay from friends and relatives - a respectable old Germanic tradition, but not suitable in this context! - but check the current regulations with the SI/SII or MA examinations office (Prüfungsamt).
Thesis (Schriftliche Hausarbeit): If you are planning to do your thesis under my supervision, please contact me well before you register for the exam, in order to discuss the topic. What is valid for written term papers is also valid for the thesis - but more so. It is very important to plan your time well: initial stage (clarification of the problem, bibliography, design of the thesis); intermediate stage (your own research and formulation work); final stage (checking, technical formatting).
Topics: Discuss the general topics for written and oral with your examiner in good time before you register for the exam.
Written exam (Klausur): Discuss the topic areas in good time. For the M.A. written exam, three topics are required, which should be spread over different areas to ensure breadth of coverage.
Oral exam: Come to the office hour reasonably regularly in order to discuss your preparations in English. At least two weeks before the oral exam I will require the following:

a Thesis List of 5 or 6 theses (state the thesis in 1-2 lines, with about half a page of argumentation in support of - or agains! - each);
a select list of books and articles used in preparation (maybe 5 or 6);
if you have borrowed these books from the library, I will need them on loan for about 2 days (or copies of the relevant sections) at the time you hand in your Thesis List, in order to prepare some directly relevant question material (note that there will also be more general questions, and questions on related topics).

Grades: My general interpretation of the grading scale is as follows (the categories are to be understood as `typical'; each performance or paper is different in detail, of course):

Sehr gut (1): Excellent, original ideas and critique, well presented.
Noch sehr gut (1-): Very good, original ideas and critique, rather well presented, some weaknesses.
Gut (2): Good, not just a correct account of the facts but awareness of their relevance to the field and to other approaches. Quite a good presentation.
Befriedigend (3): Satisfactory: a correct account of the problem and the facts, not too well presented.
Ausreichend (4): Rather weak, most facts dealt with, but not well structured, a number of persistent errors, just scraped through.

Dafydd Gibbon	Checklist for preparing reports, papers, exams (see also style sheet )
General remarks:	Remember that scientific discussion, in the sense in which it affects studies in linguistics, differs from other forms of communication in function, content and form: In function: To persuade the scientific community of the relevance, value and innovative value of results. In content: To present new results of specific investigations which are of general interest (general is a relative notion, of course...), and which were reached in accordance with accepted procedures of empirical and formal research. In form: To present results in a systematically and conventionally structured fashion in order not to distract the reader from the content.
Practical hints:	These hints are not a recipe but more like answers to Frequently Asked Questions: Introduction: State your goal in relation to the problem (don't start with sweeping statements about how the ancient Greeks and Romans were already interested in the issue ...), give plausible examples (see further information below), and give a brief overview of the sections of your paper. Main sections: A linguistics paper is, in informal terms, 50% `theory' (background, accurate formulation of the problem, systematic - perhaps formal - argumentation and presentation of the results), and 50% `practice' (analysis of language data, perhaps experiments, description of the data). Conclusion: It is important to give a summary of what you have done and of your (yes, your) results. Further, problems which occurred, and open questions which remain need to be mentioned. Finally, possible applications of the results and possible further developments can be mentioned, where relevant. Use examples to illustrate your argumentation (don't just speculate for pages on end about what is `mostly' the case...). Distinguish clearly between what you find in the literature (with adequate and systematic references) and your own contribution. Use a standard style of presentation. You will find standard examples of how to format a linguistics paper (sections, quotations, bibliography etc.) in linguistic periodicals such as Journal of Linguistics, or Language in Society in the library. Proof-read what you have written very carefully. Remember that the reader (me - or whoever!) does not want to be distracted by trivial language errors. Double check your bibliographical references! Read what you have written aloud - perhaps to someone else. Then you will notice awkward formulations, many other kinds of error, and also - the positive side - understand better how to structure your writing and get new ideas. A detail: avoid first and second person pronouns (`I', `you', ...) - you are not writing to a pen-friend or expressing a simple opinion but carefully formulating results which are intended to be more generally valid.
Class reports:	Conditions: All participants are expected to give a class report in each class. Apart from the obvious reason of encouraging intensive participation by all (seminars are supposed to be different from lectures!), giving a report is a prerequisite for both attendance certificates and preparing term papers. Goal: To structure your material to help your listeners to understand and to encourage discussion. Method: Make sure you have read and understood the material thoroughly (if in doubt, ask!); prepare a clear overview of the talk to start with; illustrate the body of the talk with relevant clear examples, diagrammes and tables; prepare questions to the audience (their own definitions, experience in the area you are discussing), and exercises and questions for discussion; summarise results, open issues, problems at the end; prepare and use overhead slides, handouts, blackboard, computer, as appropriate ... (sometimes `the medium is the message' - Marshall McLuhan). Result: Address your listeners (particularly those in the back row), point out where you had problems in understanding (your listeners will have the same problems); time your paper for a 20 minute talk, and remember that questions, clarification, further examples will make it longer; hand in a written version (about 6 pages, following the Term Paper format), and provide me with a version to include in the class notes on the web (by floppy disk, email or putting the file(s) it on your own web site for me to pick up). Planning: Preferably discuss your plans with me beforehand, at the latest in the office hour immediately before the class in which you will be holding your report. No shows: If you are prevented from holding the report by illness or accident, please let me know as soon as possible - by email or phone. A `no show' is a serious breach of confidence and very inconsiderate towards your fellow students (and me).
Term Papers:	Goal: To show that you are capable of defining, independently researching, presenting and discussing a scientific topic. Method: (See also: Practical Hints) To help find and define the topic, make a good sized bibliography, research it in overview books, maybe also in the Web (both our local pages and worldwide), then specialist literature; narrow down the topic in discussion with me; collect data for descriptive and experimental work Result: present results in standard Term Paper style and format (cover page, contents, main body, conclusion, references, appendices with other reference material, data, etc.); the main text of the paper should be about 15 pages (Grundstudium), 20 pages (Hauptstudium), references and appendices not included; at least 10 references (Grundstudium) and 15 (Hauptstudium); structure the paper carefully, for example: Introduction to the Topic, State of the Art, Method of Analysis, Results, Discussion of Results, Conclusion (i.e. summary, open issues, open problems, applications, outlook). Lists and tables of data, computer code etc., should be put into an additional Appendix. Planning Feel free to consult me for advice at each stage. Whatever you do, proof read the result as carefully as possible, if only as a mark of respect for the reader! Papers must be handed in before the end of the semester break following the class.
Final exams:	Thinking ahead: Think about possible areas of interest (and examiners) for special topics in the early stages of your Hauptstudium. Reliable information: Do not rely on hearsay from friends and relatives - a respectable old Germanic tradition, but not suitable in this context! - but check the current regulations with the SI/SII or MA examinations office (Prüfungsamt). Thesis (Schriftliche Hausarbeit): If you are planning to do your thesis under my supervision, please contact me well before you register for the exam, in order to discuss the topic. What is valid for written term papers is also valid for the thesis - but more so. It is very important to plan your time well: initial stage (clarification of the problem, bibliography, design of the thesis); intermediate stage (your own research and formulation work); final stage (checking, technical formatting). Topics: Discuss the general topics for written and oral with your examiner in good time before you register for the exam. Written exam (Klausur): Discuss the topic areas in good time. For the M.A. written exam, three topics are required, which should be spread over different areas to ensure breadth of coverage. Oral exam: Come to the office hour reasonably regularly in order to discuss your preparations in English. At least two weeks before the oral exam I will require the following: a Thesis List of 5 or 6 theses (state the thesis in 1-2 lines, with about half a page of argumentation in support of - or agains! - each); a select list of books and articles used in preparation (maybe 5 or 6); if you have borrowed these books from the library, I will need them on loan for about 2 days (or copies of the relevant sections) at the time you hand in your Thesis List, in order to prepare some directly relevant question material (note that there will also be more general questions, and questions on related topics).
Grades:	My general interpretation of the grading scale is as follows (the categories are to be understood as `typical'; each performance or paper is different in detail, of course): Sehr gut (1): Excellent, original ideas and critique, well presented. Noch sehr gut (1-): Very good, original ideas and critique, rather well presented, some weaknesses. Gut (2): Good, not just a correct account of the facts but awareness of their relevance to the field and to other approaches. Quite a good presentation. Befriedigend (3): Satisfactory: a correct account of the problem and the facts, not too well presented. Ausreichend (4): Rather weak, most facts dealt with, but not well structured, a number of persistent errors, just scraped through.