University of Trier

FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

How to Write a Linguistics Term Paper

1 The Structure of the Term paper
Please note that this document describes the structures of an empirical term paper in linguistics.
If you want to write a theoretical paper, the structure will be different. Please contact your
instructor for more information.

Outline of the Paper

Your paper should contain the following parts:

• Cover sheet
• Table of contents
• (Table of figures) 1
• Introduction
• Sections (e.g. theoretical background, methodology, etc.)
• Conclusion
• List of references
• (Appendix)
• Affidavit
You can find more information on the respective sections below. The cover sheet, table of
contents and the list of references will be explained in more detail in 2 Formatting and Layout
and 3 Citation Methods and Bibliographical References below.
The main text of a typical paper is structured as follows.

Introduction
One of the most important functions of the introduction is to get the reader interested in the
topic. A good way to do this is to present examples of the phenomenon you are studying in your
term paper very early on (perhaps even at the very beginning, after saying “Consider examples
(1) - (3):”). Explain the phenomenon you are investigating and introduce the research
question(s). This has to be embedded in the context of existing research, e.g.: Is there a question
that remained unanswered in previous studies? In how far does your study extend or replicate
previous research? Finally, you can give an overview of the structure of your paper, to guide
the reader through your text.

Theoretical Background
The theoretical background section of your term paper provides an overview of the literature
and terminology relevant for your research question. More precisely, you need to give
definitions of the phenomenon/phenomena you are investigating and make clear which working

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You need to include a table of figures if you have several graphs or tables in your paper.
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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

definition you will use throughout your paper. For instance, if your term paper is about ‘non-
finite complements’, you need to define this term e.g. on the basis of some academic reference
grammar (for instance, The Cambridge grammar of English language by Huddleston & Pullum
(2002) or A comprehensive grammar of the English language by Quirk et al. (1985)).

Furthermore it is important to discuss the literature critically. You should also make clear how
your study contributes to the discussion and/or how it fills a research gap. To see how you can
include sources into your texts, see below:

­ According to Ellis (2002: 144), “[f]requency is […] a key determinant of

acquisition…”
­ Hoffmann (2005: 43) points out/argues/tests/shows/proves/claims/verifies/falsifies...
­ As early as 1969, Robertson developed...
­ For instance/On the other hand/In contrast/In accordance with X/Following X,
Weinreich (1953) identifies this kind of second language acquisition as subordinate
bilingualism.
­ Thus, according to Siyanova-Chanturia, (2015: 5), “formulaic sequences are processed
(i.e. comprehended and produced) quantitatively faster …”

• You are required to use specialised (linguistic) literature which you can find in: linguistic
journals (e.g. English Language and Linguistics, Journal of Pragmatics, Journal of
Sociolinguistics, etc.), textbooks (e.g. for a paper in syntax: Aarts (2013): English syntax
and argumentation or van Gelderen (2010): An introduction to the grammar of English),
reference grammars (see above) and linguistic dictionaries (e.g. Matthews (2007): The
concise Oxford dictionary of linguistics or Crystal (2011): Dictionary of linguistics and
phonetics).
• Non-academic websites (such as Wikipedia) are not acceptable sources for definitions of
linguistic terminology or for an evaluation of the current state of research. Why not, you
may wonder? The reason is that even though many pertinent articles may indeed be based
on good scholarship, using a Wikipedia article is a bit like using a text that you have found
accidentally beside a photocopying machine: You don’t really know who the author is, and
there is no way you can assess the quality of the contents.

Methodology
If you are doing empirical research for your term paper, the methodology section will be one
of the most important sections in your work because it will state which methods you have used
to generate new ideas, concepts, or findings in this paper.

The methodology section should be written in such way that someone reading it should be able
to replicate your study, and should then be able to compare his/her results with yours. Thus,
together with the appendix, this section guarantees the transparency of what you are doing, one
of the most essential properties of scientific research.

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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

Data

This section should include a precise description of the data you have used for your analysis.
You should refer to the following pieces of information:

• Explain the type and quantity of the data used. (Why did you choose this kind of data?)
• Describe the source of your data (text corpus, questionnaire, interview etc.) and include an
explanatory statement. (Why did you choose this source?)
• Description of the data source:
­ for corpora/dictionaries as data source:
o corpus/dictionary should be briefly described/introduced
­ for questionnaires as data source:
o The questionnaire should be introduced. The individual tasks of the
questionnaire should be explained and justified (Why did you choose
these tasks?)
o Give relevant personal details of participants (age, nationality, etc.) –
what is relevant may vary depending on the kind of study and the method
of data collection.
• Mention problems you had while collecting the data and explain how you dealt with
those problems.

Method
The following aspects should be considered here:
• Data analysis: How did you process/transform the original data you collected? How
did you analyse your data? According to which aspects/ principles /categories did you
classify the data? You should justify your choices.

Note that it is highly important to give examples of your own data to clarify your procedure of
analysis, i.e. while explaining your method of analysis give respective examples from your own
data in order to allow for transparency of your methods.

Results
In this section you will present your findings in detail and will provide examples from your
data. You should typically start from general facts and then proceed to more specific/detailed
sub-analyses. You can start with a very basic/general observation at the beginning such as how
frequent the linguistic phenomenon is in your data.
The best way to visualise quantitative data is to use tables or graphs (include them in the text
and do not hide them in the appendix). Note, however, that it is the purpose of tables and graphs
to complement the text, not to replace it. Thus, you need to make reference to them, and you
need to describe the most interesting/striking observations that we can see in the tables and
graphs. The text should still be meaningful and coherent, even if the tables and figures are
removed. Also provide examples from your data. Furthermore, you need to label your graphs

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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

and tables: They should all have a title (or caption), and axes (graphs) or rows and columns
(tables) should be given transparent and clear labels (e.g. Figure 2. Distribution of Complement
Types, in %).
It is important, however, that you clearly separate the description of the empirical findings itself
(e.g. the numbers and distributions) from the evaluation or interpretation of these findings (e.g.
in how far they support a certain theory or hypothesis). In a larger paper, the evaluation and
interpretation can be given a separate section (‘Discussion’, cf. below). In smaller papers, you
can include the results and the discussion in a single section.

Discussion (if there is one, cf. above)

The discussion section is where you critically discuss your findings with regard to your research
question(s). More precisely, you should show how your research question(s) can be answered
by means of the results of your research project.

Conclusion
The conclusion should be a self-contained text and should therefore be written in a way that
allows readers to understand it without having read the full paper. Also, many readers first read
the introduction (and give up reading the paper if they fail to see why it is interesting) and then
jump to the conclusion to check whether it is worth reading the rest. Keep this in mind when
writing the conclusion! Therefore, you should mention what your term paper was about and
what your research question was. Your conclusion should highlight the central points of your
analysis and state the answer to your research question. Furthermore, you should argue how
your results contribute to the field of study and what implications they might have.

Refer to the limits of your analysis (but don’t be too negative! You need to sell your findings
to the reader – and if you are too negative, they will feel frustrated) and state what could be
done in future research. Furthermore, you can also place your findings in a wider linguistic
context.

List of References
See 3 below.

Appendix
In your appendix, you can include e.g. the questionnaire, the spreadsheet you used to code your
data, further graphs, etc. In your text, you should make references to your appendix where
appropriate (e.g. “The questionnaire is provided in the appendix”). Make sure that the appendix
only includes material that is non-essential for following your paper. Don’t put tables/figures
in the appendix that you need for things to make sense.

Affidavit
The affidavit is an obligatory part of your term paper. By signing it, you confirm that you
have indicated any work which is not your own. This is very important because plagiarism
has serious consequences. Plagiarism is not only handing in someone else’s work as your own.
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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

Even if you merely forget to insert a citation or reference, you commit plagiarism! You must
give credit any time you make use of other people’s writings or ideas in quotations,
paraphrases or when simply referring to them. You will find more information on the
department’s policy on plagiarism at:
w w w . a n g l i s t i k . u n i - t r i e r . d e , s.v. ‘Examinations/Prüfungen’
Therefore, at the end of your paper, you must include the following statement and sign it:

„Hiermit versichere ich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbständig verfasst und keine
anderen als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel benutzt habe. Aus fremden Quellen
Übernommenes ist kenntlich gemacht.“
[Date] [Signature]

2 Formatting and Layout

Length of paper
The length of your paper depends on the type of the paper as well as on your study programme.
For instance, BA students have to write term papers of approx. 2,500-5,000 and a BA thesis of
12,000-15,000 words. MA students have to write between 4,000-6,000 words in term papers
and approx. 25,000 words in their MA thesis. If you are not sure about the requirements, look
into your ‘Modulhandbuch’ and/or ask your instructor. The cover sheet, table of contents,
tables, figures, appendix and the affidavit do not count.

Format
• Use an easily legible font (e.g. Times New Roman), standard font size (12pt for running
text).
• Use a 1.5 line spacing and a minimum of 2.5 cm margin to the left and right.
• Print on one side of the paper only, and number all pages, except for the cover page.

Cover Page and Table of Contents

Create a cover page which states the following information:

­ the title of your paper

­ your name
­ student number
­ contact details
­ degree program
­ the title of the course
­ the current semester
­ the supervisor's name and affiliation (Universität Trier, FB II/Anglistik)
­ the date of submission

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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

• The table of contents lists all sections of your paper in sequence (Arabic numerals), with
page numbers. Start page numbering with your introduction, e.g.:
1. Introduction 1
2. Simple and complex sentences 2
2.1. Simple sentences 3
2.2. Complex sentences 4
2.3. Subordination vs. coordination 6
(…)
3. Conclusion 12
4. References 13

Examples
Examples within the text should be italicized, as in: “The idiom to spill the beans is an abstract
construction […]”. If you use more than one example in a row they should be separated from
running text and numbered consecutively as shown below:

(1) Mary drives John crazy.

(2) *Mary drives John.
Another option is to italicise only the relevant parts of the examples to help readers e.g.:

(1) She enjoys reading books.

(2) It started to rain.

Just make sure that you are consistent.

If you have an ungrammatical sentence, you use an asterisk to indicate so as in example (2)
above. Other notational conventions are listed as follows:

• “Double quotation marks” are used for direct quotes.

• ‘Single quotes’ are used to express the meaning of a word or passage, as in
translations, e.g. In German, the lexical verb werden ‘become’ is used to express
future tense.
• Phonemic transcriptions are enclosed by /slashes/, e.g. /teIk/.
• Phonetic transcriptions are enclosed by [square brackets], e.g. [theIk].
• {Curly brackets} are used to identify morphemes, e.g. {writ} {-er}.
• <Angular brackets> indicate graphemes, use these if you want to refer explicitly to
the spelling of a linguistic item, e.g.: Both <sun> and <son> are pronounced /sᴧn/.
You should use double quotation marks for quotations only. It is not recommended to use
quotation marks (single or double) for marking emphasis or irony.

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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

Footnotes
Footnotes are only to be used to illustrate facts or thoughts which might interrupt the line of
argumentation in the running text. Different from literary studies, footnotes are not to be used
for bibliographical reference.

3 Citation methods and bibliographical reference

Quotations
Short quotations have to be put in quotation marks; quotations exceeding three lines have to be
indented and set apart from the running text, with single spacing but without quotation marks.
Bibliographical information – author, year, corresponding page number – has to follow the
quotation in brackets, e.g. (Stubbs 2001: 24). This helps to identify the quoted work from your
list of references. Use direct quotations sparingly! Bibliographical references in the running text
should only include information on author, year of publication and corresponding page number
(e.g. Kolbe-Hanna (2011: 194) points out…). Please keep in mind that all cited works must be
included in your bibliography. Do not include works you have not cited. Sometimes, you don’t
have access to the original source and therefore need to quote somebody’s text as it was quoted
in another scholar’s publication (e.g. “Tremblay 1947:25, quoted in Leech 2001:12)”. In this
case, both sources must be mentioned in the references section.

References
The list of references should contain all cited works alphabetically ordered by surname of the
author(s)/editor(s). The examples below illustrate a prototypical format for such bibliographic
information as found in many linguistic publications. There are three main types of
bibliographical information which differ in format but which are not separated in the list of
references: monographs, articles from journals, and articles from collective volumes. The list
of references should follow the conventions of the Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics (or similar
well established conventions such as the APA style – as long as you are consistent!), illustrated
in the following. A complete description can be found here:
http://celxj.org/downloads/USS-NoComments.pdf

Sample reference entries (following the “Unified style sheet for linguistics”)
Book (authored work):
Hoffmann, Sebastian, Evert, Stefan, Smith, Nicholas, Lee David YW & Ylva Berglund Prytz.
2008. Corpus linguistics with BNCweb - a practical guide. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech & Jan Svartvik. 1985. A comprehensive
grammar of the English language. London, New York: Longman.
Sand, Andrea. 1999. Linguistic variation in Jamaica - A corpus-based study of radio and
newspaper usage. Tübingen: Narr.

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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

Book (edited work):

Gippert, Jost, Nikolaus P. Himmelmann & Ulrike Mosel (eds.). 2006. Essentials of language
documentation (Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs 178). Berlin & New York:
Mouton de Gruyter.
Huddleston, Rodney D. & Geoffrey K. Pullum. 2002. The Cambridge grammar of the English
language. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.

Contribution in an edited work:

Arndt-Lappe, Sabine. 2015. Word-formation and analogy. In Peter O. Müller, Ingeborg
Ohnheiser, Susan Olsen, Franz Rainer (eds), Word-formation. An international handbook of
the languages of Europe, Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 822-841.
Kolbe-Hanna, Daniela & Benedikt Szmrecsanyi. 2015. Grammatical variation. In Douglas
Biber & Randi Reppen (eds.), The Cambridge handbook of English corpus linguistics.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 161-179.
→ Note: Entries for articles in edited works should always include full bibliographical information
for the edited work. Abbreviating the entry (e.g., with “In Müller et al., 822-841”) is not
acceptable.

Book also published electronically:

Hoffmann, Sebastian, Andrea Sand & Sabine Arndt-Lappe (eds.). 2017. Exploring recent
diachrony: Corpus studies of lexicogrammar and language practices in Late Modern English.
Studies in Variation, Contact and Change in English, Vol. 18. Helsinki: VARIENG.
http://www.helsinki.fi/varieng/series/volumes/18/index.html. (accessed 1 June 2017).
→ Note: Publication date = year of online publication or year of the latest update. The date on
which the URL was accessed should be provided in parentheses at the end of the entry.

Journal article:
Arndt-Lappe, Sabine & Ingo Plag. 2013. The role of prosodic structure in the formation of
English blends. English Language and Linguistics 17(3). 537-563.
Ellis, Nick C. 2002. Frequency effects in language processing: A review with implications for
theories of implicit and explicit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language
Acquisition 24(02). 143–188.
Gabrielatos, Costas, Torgersen, Eivind Nessa, Hoffmann, Sebastian & Susan Fox. 2010. A
corpus-based sociolinguistic study of indefinite article forms in London English. Journal of
English Linguistics, 38(4). 297-334.
Siyanova-Chanturia, Anna. 2015. On the ‘holistic’ nature of formulaic language. Corpus
Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 11(2). 285-301.

Journal article also published electronically:

Inkelas, Sharon. 2008. The dual theory of reduplication. Linguistics 46(2).
https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ling.2008.46.issue-2/ling.2008.013/ling.2008.013.xml
(accessed 2 June 2017).

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English Linguistics

→ Note: Publication date = year of online publication or year of the latest update. The date on
which the URL was accessed should be provided in parentheses at the end of the entry.

Special issue of a journal (cited as a whole):

Majid, Asifa & Melissa Bowerman (eds.). 2007. Cutting and breaking events: A crosslinguistic
perspective. [Special issue]. Cognitive Linguistics 18(2).

Reprint:
Jakobson, Roman & Morris Halle. 2002 [1956]. Fundamentals of language, 2nd edn. Berlin &
New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Thesis/dissertation:
Azazil, Lina. 2015. Frequency effects in L2 acquisition of English syntax: The case of the
catenative verb construction. Siegen: University of Siegen MA thesis.
Kim, Yong-Jin. 1990. Register variation in Korean: A corpus-based study. Columbia, SC:
University of South Carolina dissertation.

Translated title:
Haga, Yasushi. 1998. Nihongo no Shakai Shinri [Social psychology in the Japanese language].
Tokyo: Ningen no Kagaku Sha.
→ Note: The English translation of the title should not be capitalised.

Paper presented at a meeting or conference:

Sarangi, Srikant & Celia Roberts. 2000. Uptake of discourse research in inter-professional set-
tings: Reporting from medical consultancy. Paper presented at the International Conference
on Text and Talk at Work, University of Gent, 16–19 August.

Several works by one author/editor with the same publication date:

Vennemann, Theo. 2000a. From quantity to syllable cuts: On so-called lengthening in the
Germanic languages. Journal of Italian Linguistics/Rivista di Linguistica 12. 251–282.
Vennemann, Theo. 2000b. Triple-cluster reduction in Germanic: Etymology without sound
laws? Historische Sprachwissenschaft 113. 239–258

Corpora:
The British National Corpus, version 3 (BNC XML Edition). 2007. Distributed by Oxford
University Computing Services on behalf of the BNC Consortium.
http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
Davies, Mark. 2008- . The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): 520 million
words, 1990-present. http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/.
Davies, Mark. 2010- . The Corpus of Historical American English (COHA): 400 million words,
1810-2009. http://corpus.byu.edu/coha/.

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FB II, Anglistik
English Linguistics

4 Submission
You must submit your paper both as a hardcopy to your instructor and electronically on Stud.IP
(in the folder called ‘Hausarbeiten’).

5 Your Readership
It is important to say that you should think of your audience you are writing for beforehand. Of
course, the real audience is the course instructor, who will grade your work. Still, you should
write the paper as if it was intended for a larger audience consisting of readers with some
linguistic background who are, however, not specialists in the topic of the paper. One of the
most important – and at the same time difficult – aspects of writing a paper is to put yourself
into the minds of these readers. What do they know, what do I still need to tell them to make it
possible for them to follow my paper? This is difficult because you are a specialist in what you
are writing, so it may not always be immediately obvious to you what your readers know.

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