ABSTRACT

Doing a Master’s Dissertation in TESOL and Applied Linguistics is a practical guide for master’s students tackling research and research writing for the first time. Structured for use in class or as part of an independent study, and divided into the four stages of designing, researching, writing up and submitting a dissertation, this book:

  • carefully guides readers from the very beginning of producing a research proposal, all the way through to assessment procedures and the provisions for resubmission;
  • covers publishing your dissertation and applying for higher research degrees, including funding;
  • addresses all the most fundamental concerns students have about master’s dissertations, including how to choose a topic and conducting a literature review;
  • draws upon examples from master’s dissertations from the UK, US and Australia and provides numerous ‘how-to’ tables and checklists; and
  • includes activities and resources to facilitate master’s research and dissertation writing, as well as FAQs and solutions at the end of each chapter.

Tailormade for MA students in TESOL or Applied Linguistics, this book is essential reading for students on these degrees around the world as well as for their supervisors and programme directors.

chapter 1|7 pages

Introduction

part I|62 pages

Project design

chapter 2|10 pages

Choosing a Topic

chapter 3|11 pages

Reviewing the Literature

chapter 4|19 pages

Methodological Approach

chapter 5|12 pages

The Dissertation Proposal

chapter 6|8 pages

Supervisors and Supervision

part II|33 pages

The research procedure

chapter 7|16 pages

The Data Collection Procedure

chapter 8|15 pages

Data Analysis

part III|71 pages

Writing the dissertation

chapter 9|12 pages

General Writing Guidelines

chapter 10|12 pages

Writing the Literature Review

chapter 11|13 pages

Writing the Methodology Chapter

chapter 12|19 pages

Writing the Results and Discussion Chapters

chapter 13|13 pages

Beginning and Ending the Dissertation

part IV|58 pages

Dissertation submission

chapter 14|14 pages

The Finishing Touches

chapter 15|15 pages

The Examination and Beyond

chapter 16|27 pages

Resources