Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis and a thesis proposal

Assignment 8015
Part A

Notice a couple of features of these topics.
a. Each of them is phrased in a neutral way, so to speak. However, your essay must do more
than just present information with no clear purpose other than for the reader’s
edification. We want you to go further and demonstrate evidence of higher-order skills
(esp. critical thinking). In the present context, we recommend that you try to meet this
requirement by using either of two basic approaches to your topic: (i) take up a position
vis-a-vis the topic, and persuade the reader to agree with you; or (ii) identify some
problems in the situation in question, and suggest ways in which these problems might be
alleviated. For example, you could apply approach (i) to topic (7) above, and show that
the evidence is inconclusive. Likewise, you could apply approach (ii) to topic (3) by first
identifying some effects (both positive and negative), and then suggesting ways in which
the negative effects might be reduced (if indeed they can be). Note also that some topics
will be more suited to approach (i) than (ii), while others will be more suited to (ii) than
(i).
b. When you formulate the wording of your topic, you can keep it neutral, as in examples
(1) to (9), or you can incorporate the overriding purpose of the essay into the topic. It
doesn’t really matter either way. For example, suppose you want to do topic (6), and you
aim to show that interviews are basically unsuitable for use in sociolinguistic research
with this particular target population for various reasons. You could phrase your topic
like this: “The use of interviews in sociolinguistic research involving children: some
intractable problems”.
c. Even though none of (1) to (9) makes the purpose of the essay explicit, none of these
topics is phrased in very broad terms either (e.g., compare (4) with “Codeswitching”, or
even “Codeswitching among children”). In most of these topics, there is a limitation of
the coverage of the topic in geographical terms. In (5), the limitation is also
chronological. Given that the essay itself needs to be fairly short, your topic needs to be
very specific. Note also that it’s usually easier to start off too narrow and then broaden
your coverage of a particular area, than to go in the opposite direction.
d. The structure of your essay will inevitably reflect the character of the topic you have
selected. For example, for (1), you could look at each difference one by one and compare
women vs. men in terms of that particular difference. Another approach might be to
group together all of the pertinent features of women’s language, and then group together
all of the pertinent features of men’s language. The comparisons across the two genders
could be done next (though this might give rise to some redundancy). In short, you need
to employ the structure that works best for the particular topic you have chosen.
Writer’s block?
Suppose you have read and (at least partly) understood some of the sources for your essay,
but you are finding it difficult to start actually writing. If so, try the following approach.
Forget about the sources altogether, and write a short version of your essay using only what
you know about the topic. When you write the short version, don’t worry too much about
expression, structure etc.. Just write the short version as quickly as possible without
overthinking it. At the same time, don’t use point form: you want to produce a text that is at
least somewhat essay-like. Nor will it matter if most or even all of what you include in the
short version actually derives from the sources that you have read. We aren’t worried about
appropriate attribution at this stage.
Thus reassured (we hope!), you can now start to modify the short version in three main ways:
1. Add citations for the ideas that you’ve taken from your sources.
2. Put in some additional ideas from these sources; for example, refine your explanation of
a particular issue, and deepen your critical evaluation of the significance of this issue.
Needless to say, these additional ideas also need to be acknowledged appropriately.
3. Tidy up the expression, structure etc.
Marking criteria
Your essay will be marked on the following criteria:
grade
content (a) quality, quantity and relevance of ideas /8
(b) use of evidence to support ideas /7
form (c) organisation and integration of ideas /6
(d) referencing: in-text citations and reference list /3
(e) other technical issues: register, word choice,
expression, grammar, sentence structure, spelling,
punctuation, presentation, formatting etc.
/6
TOTAL /30
Do not include the table above within your submission.
Here is some detailed guidance about how to do well on each criterion:
(a) quality, quantity and relevance of ideas
1. As mentioned earlier, your essay needs to have an overriding purpose. Ensure that this
purpose is clear at all times.
2. Answer the question. Avoid drifting off-topic, or ‘padding out’ the essay with content
which is irrelevant to the essay topic.
3. Check that the word count falls within the stipulated range (1350–1650 in this instance).
(b) use of evidence to support ideas
1. Support your position with solid evidence wherever possible. In general, the strength of
your own position depends largely on the strength of the evidence that you present in
favour of that position. Thus, if your evidence is weak, then your own position will seem
weak too. If you have just written a long stretch of text which has no citations in it, stop
and check to see if you can strengthen your position with evidence.
2. When you select sources, you should avoid sources that are not refereed. Generally
speaking, refereed sources are journal articles, book chapters and textbooks. By
definition, anything self-published does not carry this imprimatur. The main type of nonrefereed
source that is generally OK to use is a thesis (= dissertation): insofar as it has
been marked and passed, a thesis bids fair to be described as refereed (sort of). While
sources like Wikipedia can be useful in other contexts, please give this type of source a
wide berth when searching for materials for your essay. It follows that you should avoid
relying on anecdotal evidence in an academic context as well. Note also that drawing
upon the research literature does not imply compromising or even sacrificing your
originality; rather, aim to present an original point of view as your first objective, and
then back it up with robust research findings.
© University of Southern Queensland
LIN8015 – Introduction to sociolinguistics 15
3. Please use a minimum of eight suitable sources for this essay. If you use fewer than this,
you may lose marks on this criterion.
4. Where possible, use more than one source to support a given assertion. This will help to
make your coverage of the issue more representative.
5. Adopt a critical perspective towards your evidence. For instance, if some of it suffers
from a particular shortcoming, acknowledge this openly.
6. Avoid dealing in vague generalities: use specific examples as evidence.
(c) organisation and integration of ideas
(i) intro
1. The purpose of the background is to situate the specific topic of your essay within a
broader context.
2. The thesis statement must make the purpose of your essay explicit.
3. It is possible to combine the thesis statement with a preview of the body of the essay.
(ii) body
1. Each body paragraph must be coherent (i.e., the ideas in the paragraph are well–
organised) and cohesive (i.e., the ideas in the paragraph are glued together effectively).
2. Each body paragraph must state and then develop a single controlling idea.
3. Each body paragraph must begin with a clear topic sentence which (i) relates directly to
the thesis statement, (ii) shows how the paragraph fits into the overall essay structure,
and (iii) states the controlling idea of the paragraph (e.g., The first issue discussed here is
…).
(iii) conclusion
1. The conclusion should not be a short ‘tour’ of the body of the essay (e.g., First, I
summarised …. Then I evaluated … After that, I examined … ). Instead, the conclusion
should be integrative. What are the main points? How do they fit together?
2. As a rule, you should avoid introducing new ideas in your conclusion; however, it is
customary to include a closing comment (e.g., a recommendation for future research, or
an evaluation of the importance of the issue at hand) in this section as well.
(d) referencing: in-text citations and reference list
1. Your referencing must conform to APA guidelines.
Click on ‘To reference items’ and then ‘APA referencing guide’.
2. In the reference list, only include the sources that you have actually referred to in the
essay. In other words, if you read something but did not feel the need to quote or refer to
that reading, you must not include that source in the list.
3. Don’t cite the lecture notes as a source (e.g., as “Van Rensburg (2014)” or similar). Use
only refereed sources for the essay.
(e) other technical issues: register, word choice, expression, grammar, sentence structure,
spelling, punctuation, presentation, formatting etc.
1. Express your ideas using an appropriate academic register: avoid adopting a very
informal approach. Use words like ‘every’ and ‘all’ judiciously: it’s rarely possible to
make these kinds of sweeping statements with 100% certainty, simply because the world
is rarely this well–behaved. Avoid using excessively elaborate language in an attempt to
strike an ‘academic’ pose. Make clarity your priority. Use of first person (singular or
plural) is acceptable in LIN8015; however, this might not be true of other courses.
2. Quotes should be used sparingly, and only if there is something distinctive about the
writer’s words that you want to preserve. Otherwise, just use a paraphrase.
3. You may use sub-headings if desired.
4. If you wish to include notes in your essay, please include them as footnotes rather than
appendices. The total word count for the footnotes must not exceed 100 words (no 10%
leeway).
5. State the word count. (Incidentally, the word count covers the essay only (including intext
citations, quotes, subheadings etc.). It does not include the title page, the reference
list or (if any) the footnotes.)
6. Don’t forget to include the topic of the essay right at the start.

(b) research proposal (20%)
Your task is to write a research proposal of 1000 words (+/– 10%) on a topic in
sociolinguistics that interests you. Note that no data will be collected for this task – it is a
proposal only.
Please do not recycle a research proposal that you have previously submitted for another
course. There’s a good chance that the proposal will be in the TurnItIn database.
If you’re having difficulty coming up with a topic, you can use or adapt one of the
hypothetical topics listed in part (a) above. Note, however, that this topic needs to be
significantly different from the one you used for your essay.
Your proposal must be structured as follows (i.e., in five sections plus a reference list). Use a
subheading for each section, plus each smaller section within section 4.
1. Background to the study (1–2 paragraphs)
● Place your study within the broader context of research in the relevant area (esp. by
very briefly summarising the literature review to come)
● State the focus and objectives of the study
2. Literature review
● Summarise at least three key studies which are concerned with your topic
LIN8015 – Introduction to sociolinguistics 17
3. Research question(s)
Formulate at least one question which flows naturally from the literature review
4. Methodology (1 (brief) paragraph per subsection)
4.1 Participants
● Who will take part? How will these participants be recruited? etc.
4.2 Procedure
● How will the study be conducted? Where? By whom? etc.
4.3 Data analysis
● How will the data be analysed (e.g., software, statistical tests)? Who will analyse it?
etc.
4.4 Anticipated problems and possible solutions
5. Limitations of the study (1–2 paragraphs)
6. References
Note that the bullet points within this outline are just intended to help you to meet the
requirements of the task. Please do not include these bullet points within your proposal.
If your proposed study relies on a quantitative approach, you will not be required to nominate
the statistical test(s) (e.g., t-test, ANOVA, logistic regression) that is/are appropriate for the
particular research design that you are using. (If you do nominate the test(s) plus this is done
incorrectly, you won’t lose any marks.)
The research proposal will be marked on the following criteria:
grade
1. Background to the study /2
2. Literature review /8
3. Research questions /2
4. Methodology /4
5. Limitations of the study /2
6. Reference list
referencing: in–text citations and reference list /2
TOTAL /20
In each of sections 1 to 5, half of the available marks will be allocated to the content of the
section, and half to form (i.e., organisation and integration of ideas, register, word choice,
expression, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, presentation, formatting etc.)
(cf. the marking criteria for the essay).
The literature review must identify the specific gap/inadequacy in the existing research
literature that your study is intended to fill/remedy. As this section is the core of the
proposal, a sample is provided below. (The sample has been taken from a study in second
language acquisition rather than sociolinguistics; however, the relevant structural features are
still present.)

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