2- Advertising and Marketing

Instructions for Term Paper

The term paper is a course requirement. The main aim of this paper is to show that you have acquired the skill of doing linguistic research and that you can present your results in the form of an academic paper. The paper should show that you know how to find relevant literature for your topic, how to provide a brief overview of the research literature on the topic you selected. In addition, you should collect your own data, describe the data and methodology and provide a thorough analysis according to some categories discussed in your theoretical part. You must also adhere to the conventions of academic writing in your respective field.

Background reading:
Once you have selected your general topic area you should start collecting relevant research literature. You should use all the library resources for this purpose. Of course, since this is a course in linguistics, you will mainly consult sources in linguistics. This also applies to definitions of terms. In many cases you will not find a whole book on your specific topic. Often you will have to look for specific chapters in books or articles in linguistic journals. Some useful journals in the fields of pragmatics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, are: Journal of Pragmatics, Pragmatics and Society, Text and Talk, Discourse Studies, Language in Society, Discourse and Society, Applied Linguistics, etc.. Specific journals for language and ecology/ecolinguistics are Environmental Communication, Language & Ecology (the online journal of the Ecolinguistics Association: http://ecolinguistics-association.org/journal/4563035324). Internet sources should only be used if they are from serious academic journals and publishers (your data are an exception, but are not discussed in this section). (Please be aware that there are a great number of low quality publications available on the internet which you should avoid!).
If you define linguistic terminology, these definitions have to be based on linguistics sources and not general dictionaries or sources outside of academia. You always need to include complete bibliographical references (author, year of publication, title of article or book, etc.) for all the sources listed in the bibliography (see chapter on ‘Using sources’ as well as the Style Sheet for instructions).

Once you have identified some relevant research literature, the bibliography of each of your sources will help you to find additional literature. As a result of your
literature search you should produce a bibliography (including books, articles) which should be extended throughout the course. This research literature will provide the basis for your theoretical background. You are required to use a minimum of ten sources for your seminar paper, ideally more, as you need to show that you have read the relevant sources connected to your topic.
Once you have done some preliminary reading you will often find that you will have to narrow down your topic. Once you have completed your reading you should provide a brief theoretical overview /literature review of your topic which should also include some critical evaluation. The categories which you will use for the analysis of your data will be developed on the basis of this theoretical chapter.

Data collection:
Based on your research question you should decide what kind of data you want to use for your analysis. The data can be spoken, written or any combination of these including visual data. For spoken data, you can use your own audio-recordings, radio or TV data, internet data. Written data will often be texts from newspapers, magazines, companies and organisations, documents, etc. Internet data take spoken, written and visual forms and may also be a combination of these.
In some cases, you might also want to use interview or questionnaire data.

Data analysis:
Your data analysis must be based on some theoretical concept(s) and categories which you have discussed in your theoretical part (which is based on your background reading). In most cases the data analysis will form a substantial part of your paper. The data analysis should not be presented in the order of your analysis but on the basis of the categories used for your analysis. Raw data should be added at the end of your paper in the form of an appendix and not as part of the text. However, every concrete passage/example which you discuss in your analysis has to be included in the text of your paper and should be numbered in the order of their occurrence in your text (yet should be excluded from the word count).
Any example, figure, graph, etc. which you present in your analysis also has to be numbered consecutively and needs to be discussed. The reader should not be left without your interpretation. This means that every example, figure, table needs to be explained to the reader. Tables and graphs also need to be given a heading/title.

Writing up of results:

The paper should be structured as follows:
• Title page
• Table of contents I WILL DO THAT
• Introduction
• Literature Review/ Theoretical background (find an appropriate title that reflects the contents of this chapter, e.g. ‘Indirectness in language’, ‘Impoliteness’, ‘Multimodal Discourse Analysis’, etc.)
• Data and methodology
• Analysis of the data/Results/Discussion (again, an appropriate title which is more creative than “analysis of the data” should ideally be selected
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

STRUCTURE AND FORM OF YOUR TERM PAPER

LENGTH and FORMAT: 5000 words (excluding table of contents, bibliographies, appendices or extensive textual examples integrated into the main body of the text; max of 10% deviation allowed) produced on computer, 1 1/2 spacing, 12 pt.
It is obligatory to state the word count at the end of your assignment. Work that does not adhere to the word count will be marked, but ignoring the word limit will negatively affect your grade.

STRUCTURE: Include title page, table of contents, headings to show the structure of your paper, bibliography at the end of your paper, provide references to your sources in your text (in parenthesis), including page numbers.

LANGUAGE: Your paper must be written in English. Your mark will mainly be based on content, but also formal criteria such correct text references, application of the style sheet both in the text and the bibliography. However, it is also expected that you thoroughly proofread your paper and provide a clear structure and argumentation.

STYLE: If you want to highlight terms use single inverted commas (‘…’) or italics. Double inverted commas (“…”) should only be used for quotations.

If you are working on a group project you still need to submit individual papers.

Hand in your term paper electronically. Always keep a copy of the term paper for yourself too!

USING SOURCES

It is a requirement in any type of academic writing that you discuss the research available on your topic. In most cases you will need to paraphrase somebody else’s work for this purpose. In rarer cases you might want to use quotations, particularly if the exact wording appears to be relevant. In both cases you will have to include references to your sources in the text of your paper itself (by providing author, year and page of the publication in brackets, e.g. (Yule 1996: 43)). In addition, the complete bibliographical information has to be provided in the bibliography.

The bibliography is listed in alphabetical order; there is not division into primary and secondary sources in linguistics papers. Do not use footnotes for bibliographical references!
The following passages provide some more detailed information on how to cite and paraphrase the work of others.

CITING THE WORK OF OTHERS

(adapted from: Harris, David, P. (1989). “Some Suggestions on the Preparation of Master’s Research Papers”. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press (unpublished)

The best academic writers adhere to very high standards in the matter of giving other scholars their due recognition. Therefore, whenever you present, or refer to, information which is not your own and which is not general knowledge, you must cite your source(s). Even distinctive phraseology, if borrowed, should be attributed to its source.

Reference to a particular work:

Example:
In her book on gender differences Tannen (1990) shows us that men and women use very different styles of talking, which often results in mutual misunderstanding. Women use language to establish closeness and connections whereas men use it to negotiate status.

[The author of the book is identified by her last name, followed by the date of the book’s publication in parentheses. Full information on this book will be provided in the list of references (Bibliography) at the end of your paper.]

Using quotations

When you quote somebody else’s words you must indicate this by either using inverted commas (“….”) if the quotation is less than three lines or, if it is longer, by indenting the quotation and printing the text single spaced. In both cases you must also provide the name of the author, the year of publication and the page number in parentheses. In general, however, you should use paraphrases rather than quotations, unless you really want to point out the original wording of a passage.
Do not use italics for quotations.

Example:
Cameron argues that “Sexist language teaches us what those who use it and disseminate it think women’s place ought to be” (Cameron 1985: 91).

Example:

Sexist language teaches us what those who use it and disseminate it think women’s place ought to be: second-class citizens, neither seen nor heard, eternal sex-objects and personifications of evil. Within the perspective I have labelled theoretical reformism, our feminist response is clear. We must expose the falseness of this language, and refuse to tolerate its continued use, providing where necessary a set of neutral, and thus inoffensive, alternatives (Cameron 1985: 91).

Paraphrasing someone else’s ideas:

Instead of giving a direct quotation from one of your sources, you may wish to paraphrase the original – to put it into your own words. Generally a paraphrase is shorter than the original text:

Example:

The original:

Of course, many institutions and individuals – perhaps most – continue to use sexist language, and to defend its use. Their argument in doing so, however, has had to change. Instead of denying that a male bias exists, they pretend to object to change on the grounds that one should not tamper with grammar, that non-sexist forms are aesthetically inferior or even, as a last resort, that any willed change in language automatically ushers in 1984 (Cameron 1985: 73).

A paraphrase:

Cameron argues that many individuals and institutions defend their continued use of sexist language on the basis of grammar, aesthetically inferior non-sexist forms and references to 1984 (Cameron 1985: 73).

Even if the paraphrase is worded very differently from the original, the ideas must be attributted to the original author. A ‘paraphrase’ which changes only a few words from the original cannot be regarded as a legitimate paraphrase.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

In your bibliography (or list of references) you list all the books and other sources which you have used (articles, films, internet sources, etc.) in alphabetical order at the end of your paper (see example of bibliography at the end of this chapter). Include all references in your bibliography which you actually used and referred to in your paper.
You should list your references according to the examples of style provided below (see current Linguistics Stylesheet for more detailed explanations; my adapted version of this will be uploaded on Moodle!). Be aware that we do not categorise the references used into ‘Primärliteratur/primary sources’ and ‘Sekundärliteratur/secondary sources’ in linguistics. You could have a separate category for your data if you use newpaper texts or various internet data, for example.
In the examples below, books and articles are listed in separate categories to illustrate the different ways of providing citations for these sources. However, your bibliography should list the sources in alphabetical order (independently of whether they are books, articles, etc.). Articles published in edited books need to be listed by their author (not the editor of the volume!).

If you access books or articles through the internet you still need to provide the complete bibliographical information. With online journals you should also add the webaddress. [Platforms such as researchgate or academia.edu should not be considered as webaddresses, just like you would not include the information from which library you borrowed your book/journal].

Books:

Cameron, Deborah (1985). Feminism and Linguistic Theory. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.

Tannen, Deborah (1990). You Just Don’t Understand. Women and Men in Conversation. New York: Ballantine.

Articles in books/edited volumes:

Henley, Nancy, M. and Cheris Kramarae (1991). “Gender, Power, and Miscommunication.” In: Camille Roman, Suzanne Juhasz and Christanne Miller, eds. (1994). The Women & Language Debate. A Sourcebook. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 383-406.

Articles in journals:

Holmes, Janet (1992). “Women’s talk in public contexts.” Discourse & Society 3(2): 131-150.

Nicaise, Laurent (2013). “Can love conquer all in business media discourse? An
assessment of gender-specific metaphorical use.” Metaphorik.de 24(2013): 65-87. https://www.metaphorik.de/en/journal/24/can-love-conquer-all-business-media-discourse-assessment-gender-specific-metaphorical-use.html

In your bibliography you then include all your sources in alphabethical order (see list below: Bibliography).

Bibliography:

Cameron, Deborah (1985). Feminism and Linguistic Theory. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.

Harris, David P. (1989). “Some Suggestions on the Preparation of Master’s Research Papers.” Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press (unpublished).

Henley, Nancy M. and Cheris Kramarae (1991). “Gender, Power, and Miscommunication.” In: Camille Roman, Suzanne Juhasz and Christanne Miller, eds. (1994). The Women & Language Debate. A Sourcebook. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 383-406.

Holmes, Janet (1992). “Women’s talk in public contexts,” Discourse & Society 3(2): 131-150.

Nicaise, Laurent (2013). “Can love conquer all in business media discourse? An
assessment of gender-specific metaphorical use.” Metaphorik.de 24(2013): 65-87.

Roman, Camille, Juhasz Suzanne and Christanne Miller, eds. (1994). The Women & Language Debate. A Sourcebook. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

Tannen, Deborah (1990). You Just Don’t Understand. Women and Men in Conversation. New York: Ballantine.

Wray, Alison, Kate Trott and Aileen Bloomer (1998). Projects in Linguistics. A Practical Guide to Researching Language. London, etc. : Arnold.