Linguistics 220: Language and Society

For your final paper, you will draw upon what you've learned in class to propose an original research study on a sociolinguistic variable of your choosing. You can propose a study of speech in the tradition of one of the three waves, an intra-speaker study of a variable, a perceptual study, a study of performances, etc. Crucially, you should propose a study that you would be able to carry out yourself, if you had enough time. Using theoretical frameworks and methods that we've read about and discussed, you will review previous literature on the variable and/or community that is relevant to your study,come up with a research question, propose hypotheses for your original study based on this background research, and explain and justify the community, speakers, or listeners you would investigate, the type of data you would need to find or collect, and the methods you would use to carry out the study.

Part One: Topic description and annotated bibliography (due Friday 11/13 at 11:59 p.m.)

Annotated bibliography: For your final paper, you will select one or more sociolinguistic variables that you are interested in, and conduct a review of previous literature that is relevant to these variables. Then you will propose an original research study in light of this previous work. The purpose of a literature review in research is to outline the existing work on the issue, and to lead you to your own research question on the topic. To facilitate your literature review, part one will include an annotated bibliography of three to five papers that you plan to cite in your paper. At least two of these papers must be papers we did not read as a class. All of the papers should be academic publications in linguistics or a related field that pertain to your variable, social context, or a theoretical concept you'll be using in your final paper. Google Scholar is a great resource for finding academic articles, as is the Northwestern Library website (be sure to log in first access full text of articles). If you have searched these resources and are still having trouble finding relevant articles, e-mail Prof. D'Onofrio or your TA, who can suggest search terms that will lead you to appropriate literature.

An annotated bibliography includes a citation for each paper (use either APA or MLA citation style, but be consistent), along with a short (~150 word) description of the paper and how it will be relevant to your research proposal. The Purdue Online Writing Lab is a great resource for helping with citations. For each of your papers, include not only a very brief summary of the paper (one or two sentences), but also an explanation of how this particular paper's framing, methods, and/or findings will inform your own research question.

Topic description Along with your annotated bibliography, you will submit a one-paragraph description of your planned paper. Your paragraph should include your research question, the variable you chose (and variants), the social factors you'd like to examine, and a brief note about the data collection and/or methods you plan to propose. Your research question and proposed methods should be formed in light of the previous literature you review in your annotated bibliography.

Upload your annotated bibliography and topic description as a doc or PDF to Canvas by the deadline. Annette will provide feedback on your description that you can use to complete the paper.

Part Two: Final Paper (due Wednesday 12/2 at 11:59 p.m.)

You will write up a research proposal, approximately 5-7 pages, double spaced. The paper should contain the following sections:

1. Introduction: Introduce your study, as well as the theoretical concepts that will be relevant to your proposal (for example, if you're studying a community of practice, introduce what this concept means and how it has been studied; if you are studying accommodation, introduce the concept and framework for analyzing this phenomenon).

2. Literature Review: Provide a thorough, synthesized review of previous work on your variable and its social patterning, highlighting findings that will be particularly relevant for your proposed project.

3. Research question: Clearly pose your research question in light of your introduction and literature review. What question would you like to answer? How will you answer it? What are your predictions, and why (based on previous findings)?

4. Methods: Explain in detail the data you would collect, how you would collect it, and why you have chosen this particular type of data. Explain and justify the community, speakers, or listeners you would investigate. Then explain how you will conduct an analysis of your variable once you have gathered this data.

5. Potential results and discussion: If your prediction is correct, what do you expect to find from your data? What patterns should you see? Explain how you will know whether your hypothesis is confirmed, and if it is, what this would mean in the broader picture of your literature review and the theoretical concepts we have discussed.

6. Be sure to include a list of references (works cited) at the end of your paper.

Submit your finished paper via Canvas by the deadline as a PDF or Word doc. Late papers will not be accepted.