Beginning Your Paper
Writing in linguistics is largely based on data, both qualitative and quantitative. Some assignments will give you pre-collected data, often in the form of a graph or chart, and ask for your interpretation of the results. Other times, you’ll have to collect the data yourself or provide hypothetical examples.
Overall, the goal of a linguistics assignment is usually to form a logical, evidence-based argument. To do this, you might want to try these steps:
Refer back to the prompt
Are there any parts of the instructions that relate to key theories and concepts being covered in the course, or even recurring themes?
Look at the Data
Can you apply these theories to the data? Does doing so give you a new or different view of the situation? Consider the following:
Social “Lenses”
- How are the speakers’ uses of language connected to their gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, multilingual status, etc.? What concepts could be used to explain this?
“Scale” of the Data Source
- If working with just one or even a few speakers, it can help to give a full analysis of each speaker’s individual identity (e.g. gay, white, middle-class male in his 20s from Boston) and the situational context (professional setting).
- With a larger group, you might want to focus more on common traits (gay men from Boston).
Data Patterns
- You can also start by pulling out structural patterns in the data and working from there.
- This is especially useful if the assignment involves abstract theories or processes (you’ll probably find this with syntax, semantics, phonology, morphology, etc.)
- What specific features do all of these examples have in common? If you have ungrammatical examples, what makes them structurally different?
- Go to IPA charts, grammatical rules, etc. for help as necessary.
- If stuck, try freewriting about everything you notice.
Construct your Argument
- What overarching theme does your analysis present (e.g. language and identity, the role of modifiers, etc.)? How can you connect it to your data set?
- Look for relevant evidence, especially numbers or quotes, to back up your claim.
- If you think an alternative interpretation of the data is possible, include it, but explain your reasoning for ultimately going with the argument that you did.