So, the time has come at last. You’ve been sent the dreaded email telling you to come up with a working title for your dissertation. You swear the BA students know a lot more about dissertations than you do; after all, they have had much more time to prepare and they all know what they are going to write about already. And it’s ten thousand words?! How do you write that much on a topic, not to mention one that you decide on without researching first?
1. Don’t panic! Firstly, don’t panic. Undergrad dissertations are just long essays, at least for Languages students. Also, it’s in English! Ten thousand words might seem like a lot, but ultimately, you’ll find that you have to miss out some of the things you really wanted to write about. Meg and I both had to cut down around five thousand words. My advice to you is to try breaking it down into smaller chunks if you’re finding writing it overwhelming; a two-thousand-word section is a lot easier to focus on, and a three-hundred-word introduction to that section is even easier. Focus on all the things teachers have always told you about essays: PEA (or PEAR or PEE or whatever they used at your school), structure, signpost sentences, referencing… Have a look back at old essays, especially your Year Abroad projects, and work on the feedback you were given.
2. It doesn’t have to be original. It doesn’t have to be original research – save that for the postgrads. Choose a topic that won’t be too difficult to research. If you need to conduct surveys of Spanish students, do it while you’re still in Spain or not at all! Dissertation tutors are happy to help by sending out your surveys but think about the number of times you’ve received an email about helping someone out with their dissertation. Did you take the time to do it?
3. Choose a topic that you are interested in. Some people know exactly what they want to write from Day 1. Others, like me, don’t have a clue. The great thing about studying a Languages degree is that you can tailor it to you. You can write about anything you like, as long as you relate it to your language. Do you want to write about history? Do you want to write a more structured, scientific essay? Are you interested in politics? Do you want to go into translation or journalism?
Relate it to what you are interested in… but balance between what you like and what you are good at. This is a piece of advice I should really pay attention to and is key to getting a good grade. If you choose something you really like, it can be hard to remain subjective, while choosing something you know you’re good at but hate can make the hours you spend on it tedious.
You can always change your mind! Well, at least until late in Michaelmas term. early; that way, you can decide whether this really is the topic you want to write your dissertation on.
4. Manage your own time. Set time aside each week in your timetable as dissertation time and set your own deadlines. If you stay on top of it, it shouldn’t be overwhelming! Make sure you keep to deadlines set by your dissertation tutor but arrange your time to suit you. You do have a whole year after all. If you know you work best spreading the work out and rewriting multiple times to make it flow, go for it. Or, if you prefer to write a whole section at once, set aside a specific week to make that happen. make sure you proofread.
5. Use your dissertation tutor. Your dissertation tutor is there to bounce ideas off and to tell your concerns to. Ultimately, they are there to help you, so be honest with them; don’t avoid them! If you can’t make a deadline they are setting you, let them know. Take note of what they say to you – they are the ones marking it after all. Write your dissertation as if you are writing it to your dissertation tutor, as they are your target audience. But make sure that they don’t take over – it’s still your dissertation.
6. Write a reading diary.Here’s a simple one. Keep a diary of the books you’ve read and any interesting points you could come back to as you go along. You have a whole year to write it, so take time doing your research. You won’t always have the book you need to hand so make sure you take photos of important pages and make a note of whether the phrase you have written down is a direct quote or in your own words. Plagiarism ruins lives.
7. Use a working plan. Update your plan as you go along. Note down key points, who made them and the source so you can easily find the quote. Then branch your ideas off it. If you disagree with the source, make sure you have evidence to back up your claim, and check with your dissertation tutor that this is something you should or could go into. Sometimes when you get passionate about something, you lose track of where you were going, so make sure you keep referring to your plan to keep structure.
8. Remember your bibliography. At the end, cut down your bibliography. It is NO LONGER* part of the word count but still make sure that only the most important books you have read are in it. Try to have a mix of books, articles (but make sure the source is reliable), videos, radio pieces etc. It not only shows that you have researched in depth but that you are really interested in the subject. (And I swear you get brownie points for using and developing your listening skills as well as your reading!) Depending on your dissertation topic, I’d say 90% have to be books in that language, but that depends if you are going for a more language-based dissertation. If, for example, you are looking at a historical figure, all the facts are the same regardless of language and so you will be able to get away with using a lot of English sources to verify facts, and often can give a completely different side to the story. Make sure you check with your dissertation tutor though! Top time-saving tip: look online or in the library for translations of books you have read in English so that you can put the translation in your bibliography.
9. Proof-read. When proofreading, leave your dissertation (or any essay) a few days before you re-read it. You’ll be able to look at it with fresh eyes and see more mistakes. Your dissertation tutor will only read the whole thing once so make sure you are happy with it before you send it to them. Perhaps send it to a friend to make sure that it’s understandable for someone who knows nothing about the subject.
10. Finish early. Complete it at least a week before the deadline. When I say “complete”, I mean that it has been proofread and you are happy with it. Printing on Deadline Day can be a mad panic; everyone has the same idea and the book binder is packed. On Deadline Day, plenty of other people take precedence – like those with earlier deadlines or doing Masters dissertations - so make sure you have finished it in plenty of time.
11. Self-assess. Look at the mark scheme and see if there’s anything you can do better. Ask for clarification from your dissertation tutor or ask older students. We’re always happy for you to look at our essays and ask for advice so please reach out if you have any questions.
12.End with a power quote. This may seem like a very strange piece of advice, but if you can see yourself dropping the mic, or fist bumping the air after you finish your conclusion, you know that you were passionate enough about your subject to have done some great research have and come to a great finishing result, and the markers will see this.
Writing a dissertation may seem daunting at first, but it can actually turn out to be one of the best modules that you do in third year. You can completely tailor it to what you want to do, and fill gaps in your knowledge that regular classes won’t, and it is worth 30 credits, so that’s two less modules with exams. Keep your head on straight, don’t lose focus and there is no way that will fail. You are MLang after all.
*drops mic*
*All information is accurate as far as I remember it from a year ago. Please check with your tutor!
