Final Paper (25%)
Due by 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 16
Abstract due 5 p.m. Friday, February 21
For your final paper, you will explore a sociolinguistic topic of your choosing. You may complete a thorough, well-argued synthesis of literature on some topic that leads you to a new research question, critique or idea; conduct a small-scale analysis of a sociolinguistic phenomenon using existing data; or propose a sociolinguistic research study. You may expand on a squib from the quarter if you like, or choose to write about a new topic.
Every paper should be grounded in the theoretical notions that we have discussed and read about in class, including citations of work we have encountered and/or other academic texts to support all of your claims. Speculation or unsubstantiated claims should not be included in the research paper without clear introduction of these claims as speculative.
You will need to select your topic by the end of Week 7. One-paragraph proposed abstracts (approximately 200-250 words) should be submitted via Canvas by Friday, February 21 at 5 p.m., so you will have plenty of time to complete your paper with Annette's feedback. (Of course, you are always welcome to e-mail Annette, come to office hours, or set up an appointment to discuss your paper at any time). The abstract will not be graded, but will be worth 1 point toward your final grade. You will receive half a point if the abstract is turned in within 48 hours of the due date/time.
If you are conducting or proposing a study, you should include background literature that situates your study and provide information about your proposed or actual methods and analysis, using published sociolinguistic work as guides. Importantly, you must discuss the implications of the topic, or proposed study, for the study of sociolinguistic variation, couching your research question in theoretical concepts or frameworks we have covered in class.
Your introduction should include:
- An introduction of relevant theoretical concepts discussed in this course that will apply to your analysis and discussion.
- Previous research about the variables and/or styles that are relevant to your investigation
- Relevant background information about the speakers and/or community from which you are using data
You will then clearly outline the methods you used/will use to address your research question. Include information on the type of study, the participants, how you will delimit the community, variables, and scope, and how you will analyze the data. Explain and justify your choices. If you conduct a study, clearly present your results. If you propose a study, explain your hypotheses and what you expect to find if you are correct. Clearly connect your findings or expected findings to previous work in discussing your interpretation of (potential) results.
If you are conducting a literature review to lead you to a research question, this should not be simply a series of summaries of previous work, but a thoughtful synthesis of previous findings, highlighting important points made in previous work, offering connections and critiques, pointing out how papers tie together or disagree, etc. You should identify a missing piece or point in this body of previous work, which will lead you to offer a new research question that would help address this gap. If you like, you may use part of the paper to explain how you would go about studying your question.
This paper should be approximately 10-12 pages double-spaced. However, the number of pages you write is not as important as the quality of the paper, addressing the above criteria and illustrating an understanding and extension of class concepts. Use feedback on squibs, as well as the squib rubric, as a starting point. Submit your paper via Canvas by the deadline. Note that as stated on the syllabus, late final papers will not be accepted.