Mondays, 4:00 - 6:30 p.m., 7105 Helen C. White Hall
 Instructors |
Assignments |
| Aims of the Course |
Assessment and Grading |
| Course Outline |
This course is jointly managed by the English Language and Linguistics faculty and the students enrolled in the course. Faculty include specialists in second language acquisition, language socialization, syntax, phonology, research methods, historical linguistics, language variation, discourse analysis, and critical applied linguistics.
Professor Richard F Young
|
Professor Jane Zuengler 6103 Helen C. White Hall |
Use the class e-mail list as a public bulletin board for discussions about the class. You may send e-mail messages to faculty instructors and to all students registered for this course through this e-mail list. Send your messages to english713-1-f05 at lists dot wisc dot edu.
An important part of graduate student training is socialization into the practices of researchers in the academic field in which the student will become a member. In English 713 students will be given guided experience in a practice integral to their field, namely, preparing and delivering a paper to an academic audience. Activity in the course involves developing plans for, writing, and presenting a paper on one’s research or theoretical interests. The event will be a symposium, organized by and consisting of presentations by the participants in English 713. It will be held here on campus on December 5. Students will ask fellow students and faculty in their area to attend.
English 713 is organized as a seminar in which several of the English Language and Linguistics faculty participate. I (Richard Young, as organizer) will serve as advisor in the planning of the symposium and the presentations, and Prof Zuengler and I will serve as readers, where relevant, of your written paper on which your presentation is based. (Where necessary, other faculty might be asked to read and respond to particular papers.) English 713 is student-centered with input from the faculty participants.
During our first few meetings, we will develop a friendly but serious seminar environment. Students will choose and commit to a goal for the semester. Goals may include developing research begun in other courses, engaging in a literature review, and/or writing a research paper that supports preparation for a comprehensive examination.
The symposium, to be held on December 5, will be planned and run by members of the class. Toward that end, students will be asked to take the following responsibilities/roles:
General coordinators (Isabelle and Michele). These people will be the contact persons for any questions or problems that come up, and will be in charge of ensuring that the planning schedule that we come up with proceeds on time. They will be in touch with all of the others in the planning process and will contact people (including the advisor) whenever necessary.
Abstract coordinators (Renée and Uni). While everyone will write and submit an abstract, the coordinators will arrange the process of who reads which abstracts, what criteria and means of feedback will be asked of readers, and will distribute revised abstracts to members of the class. Additionally, coordinators will assemble the short summaries which accompany the abstracts and give them to the program committee for inclusion in the symposium brochure.
Program committee (Michele, Andy, and Leah). This committee will be responsible for determining the symposium program organization and schedule, determining (in consultation with everyone else) the date and time, title, room/s, any necessary A/V equipment, and advertising.
Rehearsal coordinators (Sooyeon, Uni, and Leah). Responsibilities include scheduling of rehearsals of presentations (1-2 rehearsals), determining whether to provide videotaped feedback sessions and/or written feedback forms
In addition to the specific responsibilities above, all class members will be involved in the symposium process in these additional ways, as:
Abstract readers and responders (as guided by the abstract coordinators and the advisor). When/if relevant, Prof Zuengler—or other professors—may be asked to read and respond to specific abstracts.
Audience members during rehearsals and during the symposium
Moderators/Session chairs during the symposium
A written proposal outlining your research question and methodology, including a bibliography of no more than 12 relevant previous studies is due on Monday, October 17. LATE PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
The written paper on which your symposium presentation is based (15-25 pages not including title page, abstract, references, or appendix). The research paper is due on Monday, December 12. LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Both proposal and final paper should be formatted using the conventions of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition, 2001), which is available in the University Book Store and in the ELL Library.
Ten percent extra credit will be awarded if you submit a proposal for a paper or poster presentation at next year's AAAL conference in Montreal. In order to get the extra credit, you must submit your proposal according to the guidelines published at www.aaal.org before the October 14 deadline, and show me that the conference chair has acknowledged receipt of your proposal.
Letter grades will be awarded for the Research Paper Proposal (20%), the Symposium Presentation (30%) and for the written Research Paper (50%).
Your written research paper will be evaluated according to the following checklist.
1. Style. Is the report formatted in a consistent and appropriate style (e.g., APA)?
2. Title. Is the title informative and memorable?
3. Abstract. Has the author correctly summarized the paper? Are the following items included?
a. Statement of the topic and purpose
b. Description of the participants, materials, and procedures
c. Explanation of the statistical analyses
d. Summary of results and implications
4. Introduction. Is the framework of the study clear?
a. Literature Review. Can you tell where the study fits in?
Is the background or rationale provided?
Is the relationship to previous research clear?
b. Definitions. Are key terms defined and are these definitions used consistently?
c. Statement of purpose. Can you tell where the study is heading? Are any of the following included?
Purpose
Research questions
Research hypotheses
5. Method. Is the study replicable?
a. Participants
Is the description of the participants adequate?
Is the method of selection clear?
b. Materials
Is there a description of tests, questionnaires, rating scales, and so forth?
Are the materials included as appendixes?
Do the variables represent reasonable operational definitions of the underlying constructs or characteristics involved?
Is there a description or drawing of any equipment (when applicable)?
c. Procedures
Is there a description of the preparation of materials, administration, scoring, and so on?
Is there a description of the conditions during the study?
d. Analyses
Is there a description of the arrangement and grouping of the data?
Are the statistical tests listed in order of use?
Is the confidence level (alpha) specified?
6. Results
a. Are all the statistical tests previously listed represented as results?
b. Is there a prose explanation?
7. Discussion/Conclusion
a. Is the original research question, or questions, answered?
b. Is there an explanation of why the results were as they were?
If the conclusion is based on previous research, is it well supported and reasoned?
If the conclusion is speculative, is it qualified as such and well reasoned?
Are suggestions for further research provided?
8. List of References and Endnotes
a. Are all the references cited in the test included?
b. Are any pertinent references missing?
c. Is the list of references in APA style?
9. Appendixes
a. Are they necessary?
b. Are they complete?
Incompletes. The grade of "Incomplete" will only be used for a student who has carried the course with a passing grade until near the end of the semester and then, because of illness or other unusual and substantial cause beyond his/her control, is unable to complete the research project.
| Date | Activity |
|
September |
|
| September 12 | The first meeting of the course will be an introduction to the course, a brief discussion of the course goals, and a preliminary schedule for the semester. |
| September 19 | Informal oral presentations of research interests by Suyeon, Andy, and Michele |
| September 26 | Informal oral presentations of research interests by Paula, Renée, Isabelle, and Uni |
October |
|
| October 3 4:00 - 5:15 |
Renée, Uni, Paula, and Suyeon meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss semester goals. |
| October 3 5:15 - 6:30 |
Michele, Isabelle, and Andy meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss semester goals. |
| October 10 4:00 - 5:15 |
Four students meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss semester goals. |
| October 10 5:15 - 6:30 |
Four students meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss semester goals. |
| October 17 | DEADLINE! All students submit copies of Research Paper Proposals to faculty mentors and to all the other members of their interest group. All students make oral presentations of their Research Paper Proposals at a plenary class meeting in 7105 HCW. |
| October 24 | No class meeting. Meet with your faculty mentor during the week. |
| October 31 4:00 - 5:15 |
Two students meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss how their work is progressing. |
| October 31 5:15 - 6:30 |
Two students meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss how their work is progressing. |
|
November |
|
| November 7 4:00 - 5:15 |
Two students meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss how their work is progressing. |
| November 7 5:15 - 6:30 |
Two students meet informally in 7105 HCW to discuss how their work is progressing. |
| November 14 |
No class meeting. Meet with your faculty mentor during the week. |
| November 21 | No class meeting. Meet with your faculty mentor during the week. |
| November 28 |
No class meeting. Meet with your faculty mentor during the week. |
|
December |
|
| December 5 | DEADLINE! Graduate Student Symposium |
| December 12 | DEADLINE! All students submit final written Research Papers. Send them as email attachments to rfyoung at wisc dot edu as Microsoft Word documents (.dot), Rich Text Files (.rtf), or in Portable Document Format (.pdf). Please don’t send the whole paper in the body of an email message. |
This page last revised May 19, 2006.
Back to top