Field Methods | Final project and paper

Final project and paper
Linguistic Field Methods · Spring 2005

This page updated May 5. New information is highlighted.

Your final project may be done as an individual project or as a joint project with your elicitation partner.
You may also write part of your paper together with your partner (for example, if you wish to summarize and organize data together) and the rest individually. Just be sure to acknowledge your partner's collaboration wherever relevant.

Project proposal

Due M Apr 18
1-2 pages; consists of
- A description of your research question
- A sample of data you already have that is relevant for your research question, and a short explanation of why it is relevant or what it shows
- A brief description of the linguistic context that you will place your project in (could be a linguistic theory you learned in another class; could be something you have gotten from an outside reference)
- A bibliography, if you give any outside references in your proposal

Individual elicitation session

Each student may arrange a 30-min appointment with Eunsuk outside of class after your final-project proposals have been approved. If you work as a pair, you may meet for 60 min (or two 30-min sessions).
The individual elicitation session is optional, but if your project has a lot of "this would have been crucial data to check, but..." comments, it won't be received as well as if the crucial data had been checked.
If you do meet with Eunsuk outside of class, please mention this somewhere in your paper (perhaps in a "Methodology" or "Data" section).
Making a recording of your session is optional. If you would like to, I'll loan you the recorder and instructions for use. Recording directly to your laptop is another option, but you'll have to stop and save the file periodically. (Or you can use a cassette recorder; that can be converted to a WAV file (=digitized) as well.)
Eunsuk may agree to one extra meeting per student if he has time, but this is not guaranteed, so use your time wisely.

Final presentation

All final presentations will be held during the final exam period: Mon May 9, 12-3.
This is your final exam period for the course, so ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY (an absence will subtract 10/100 points from your final-project grade). See me ASAP if you have a conflict.
Requirements are like those for the midterm presentation. In particular, note that a handout or slide show is required.
- Time: 15 minutes, plus ~5 minutes for discussion
- You may use my laptop to project a file (PowerPoint, PDF, MS Word, etc.) if you wish. If so, it would help if you could e-mail me the file before 11:30 on Mon May 9 so that I can install it ahead of time. (Using your own laptop is also fine.)

Final write-up

Also due at noon on Mon May 9 (regardless of date of presentation)
Length: Approximately 10-15 pages is recommended. The paper may be longer than this if absolutely necessary (especially if you have large charts for data), but try to keep it clearly organized and focused on your main research question or subquestions.
See paper-writing tips page for more information.

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