Research Training: Modules and Courses

The heart of research training is the Research Training Seminar (RTS). Attendance at RTS sessions is compulsory for all Masters students and for all postgraduate students who did not complete a Masters in the Department.

It is intended to give you training in research skills specific to Linguistics programmes. The seminar is held over all three terms. Many members of staff participate in the teaching, so that you are able to benefit from their combined expertise in a range of linguistics research skills.

In the Autumn Term, the Research Training Seminars are held weekly and typically last one hour. In the Spring and Summer Terms, the training sessions are organised by theme and last up to two hours.

Topics covered include:

• Writing in linguistics

• Research design

• Reference management

• Turnitin training (for academic integrity)

• Critical reading

• Ethical issues in data collection and applying for ethics approval

• Presentation skills

• Specific skills workshops, such as PRAAT scripting, MATLAB, LaTeX, Survey and Questionnaire Design, and other topics.

Autumn Term covers research design and writing skills and research design in linguistics, Spring Term covers the development and presentation of research plans, and also offers a number of subject-specific workshops. Summer Term focuses on communicating research to others, and offers further subject-specific training.

Students who have already participated in the seminar should feel free to attend sessions again if useful, or attend sessions which were not available when they took the seminar. Not all new research students need all the components of the seminar – you should discuss with your supervisor soon after your arrival which parts you may be exempted from. If you are a part-time student you should discuss with your supervisor which parts of the programme you will complete in your first year, and which can be held over until the second. If you start at a time of the year other than September, you will be expected to pick up the seminar when you join and to continue it in the following academic year, until you have completed all the training that is required of you.

The content of the Research Training Seminar will be provided at the start of the Autumn term. The module coordinator is Rhys Sandow.

A Research Student Seminar will run for all new research students throughout the year. This is a forum for you to develop and gain confidence in your research skills at the same time as getting to know the other students in your cohort. It is a series of weekly meetings, running over three terms, at which beginning research students discuss the stages of research which will lead them towards a successful completion of the year. The focus is on discussion and student-led discovery, so come ready to engage with the content. Topics are selected according to students’ needs, but typically include:

• Studying the structure of a research article

• Research design in linguistics

• Designing a poster

• Writing an abstract

• Academic writing

• Data collection

The sessions are interactive: for example, students critically discuss samples of each other’s 23 writing, in a friendly and collaborative manner.

The seminar is facilitated by Shayne Sloggett.