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WS 2014/2015

Doing Linguistics

Marten Juskan

Academic writing

1 handing in your paper


1.1 electronic version
word or pdf format (only ONE file, please!)
file name: LAST NAME_first name_DLproject.doc/pdf
to be uploaded on ILIAS via the bung Library quiz & Project report
(at the bottom of the page, following all the individual sessions)

1.2 printout
single- or double-sided
in folder (Schnellhefter)
no staples
3 options for delivery:
i. in person
during office
hours

ii. pigeon hole of Lehrstuhl


Kortmann
(KG IV, ground floor,
opposite the
Geschftsfhrung)

deadline for BOTH versions: 28.02.2015

2 formatting
2.1 general
15002000 words (excluding graphs and tables)
font: Arial (size 11) or Times New Roman (size 12)
line spacing: 1.5
margins: 3 cm (left and right), 2 cm (top and bottom)

iii. mail to (Einschreiben


not necessary):
Marten Juskan
c/o Lehrstuhl Kortmann
Universitt Freiburg
Englisches Seminar
Rempartstrae 15
79098 Freiburg

WS 2014/2015

Doing Linguistics

Marten Juskan

page numbers (cover sheet is not counted and has no page numbering)
example words appear in italics
headline and new paragraph for each section
indented paragraphs within sections (but not after a headline, table, or graph)
no space between paragraphs
go easy on the footnotes!
mark tables as table, not figure

2.2 figures and statistics


use decimal point, not comma (e.g. 1.2 seconds instead of 1,2 seconds)
round means, df, t-, and p-values etc. to no more than 3 digits
t-test results are reported like this: (t(942.4911 ) = -1.95; p = 0.050)
Chi-square test results are reported like this: (2 = 23.74; df = 1; p < 0.001)
correlations are reported like this (r is the correlation coefficient):
(r = 0.865; t = 11.39; df = 14; p < 0.01)

3 structure
3.1 cover sheet
top (left corner):
name of university, institute, term, type and name of class, name of tutor/lecturer
centre: name of project
bottom (right corner): your name, Matrikelnummer, address, e-mail and Fachsemester

3.2 introduction
academic subfield, theoretical background
research question/hypothesis

3.3 method
sampling criteria
how/where did you obtain your data
equipment/software used
design of your questionnaire, structure of your interview/corpus etc.
in sum: all the info needed to replicate your project
1

degrees of freedom

WS 2014/2015

Doing Linguistics

Marten Juskan

3.4 results/analysis
general overview of your data (how many subjects/data points . . . )
thorough analysis of your data (means, medians, p-values . . . )
results of your comparisons/statistical tests
tables, graphs

3.5 discussion/conclusion
summary of your results (hypothesis confirmed?)
problems that occurred (methodological or other) and how they could be avoided
next time
constraints and restrictions (e.g. in terms of representativeness) of your study
suggestions about what one could do next

3.6 references/bibliography (if applicable)


starts on new page
works cited (books, articles, websites. . . )
for information on how to cite see the style sheet on Prof. Kortmanns website here

3.7 appendix (not required)


starts on new page
your questionnaire, word lists, flash cards. . .

4 general remarks
4.1 DOs
be precise and provide relevant details
(your reader should be able to replicate your results on the basis of your report)
make sure everything that enters the write-up is relevant with respect to your
hypothesis
get as much out of your data as possible
dont stop at the most basic comparison/analysis possible but also have a look at
subgroups, individual test items etc.
especially, but not only, if your hypothesis is not confirmed
use tables and graphs where appropriate
consider basic linguistic (phoneme, allomorph . . . ) and statistical (p-value, t-test
. . . ) concepts as known no need to explain them in your write-up

WS 2014/2015

Doing Linguistics

Marten Juskan

4.2 DONTs
avoid prescriptive vocabulary
dont prove your hypothesis because you cant
dont write a chronological narrative but provide a systematic overview
avoid personal or emotional statements (like if the project was fun or not)
dont just report those data that confirm your hypothesis
dont try to hush things up just state what the problem was
(and how it could be avoided next time)
dont give long lists of t-tests etc., but use tables
dont just let your graphs and tables speak for themselves
explain what you can see in your analysis/results section!
dont use pie charts!

5 language
aim for a formal register (for some people that includes things like cant cannot,
dont do not)
impersonal style is usually preferred (but dont overdo it)
often, simple and short sentences are better than long and complex ones
punctuation: Germans writing English tend to overuse the comma;
rules are less strict than in German, commas often correspond to pauses in speech
have your report proofread by someone else

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