In
the semester preceding the one in which the student wishes to
defend his or her M.A. thesis, the student should consult with
faculty members in the Linguistics Concentration (David Herman,
Erik Thomas, Tracey Weldon, and Walt Wolfram). A thesis committee
with three faculty members needs to be assembled, with one member
of the committee serving as Chair. Sharon Johnson has a form that
needs to be filled out and signed by the student and by each committee
member.
The student
should then consult with the Chair of his or her committee and
establish a timetable for completion of individual chapters of
the thesis and of the thesis as a whole. During the writing of
the thesis, the student should give individual chapters to the
committee Chair and to any other committee members who would like
to see drafts of each chapter. The assumption is that the Chair
will supervise the writing of individual chapters, whereas the
other committee members will read and provide feedback on all
the chapters once the whole thesis has been written.
At least
two weeks (10 working days) prior to the date of the defense,
the student will turn in a draft of the entire thesis to all three
members of his or her committee. The committee will return this
draft (with comments) in a week's time. The student will then
distribute a re-revised draft to committee members at least three
days prior to the date of the defense.
At the defense,
the student should prepare an overview (lasting approximately
15 to 20 minutes) of the subject, methodology, and conclusions
of the thesis. The student can either present this overview extemporaneously
or else read from a portion of the written text as a script. Handouts
are encouraged. In other words, the student's presentation should
simulate the kind of oral presentation that would be given at
a scholarly conference in the field. During the second part of
the defense, committee members (and others in attendance) will
ask the student questions based on his or her presentation.
Prior to
turning in the thesis, the student should check the graduate school's
guidelines for formatting theses. Sharon Johnson has a copy of
the guidelines, and they can also be purchased at the university
bookstore. Further, the student can check with Sharon about the
option of submitting theses electronically. In addition, M.A.
candidates need to schedule a meeting with the graduate school's
thesis editor (currently, Nancy Pollack) before they turn in the
final version of their theses.
