The dissertation requires you to develop a research project independently, and to write a substantial piece of work to present and discuss this research. The dissertation process will enhance your skills in research, critical analysis and argumentation, creative thinking, and academic writing. It will foster your intellectual interests and aptitudes. You will practice time management, project management, and interpersonal communication. The dissertation is the capstone of your BA learning experience.
The module engages you in empirical studies of real-world speech communities. You will describe regional and social dialects of English, with a particular focus on Coventry and the West Midlands. You will gather language data through a variety of methodologies, including collecting written surveys, conducting face-to-face interviews, and data-mining social media. You will deepen your knowledge about types of language change, motivations for it, and models to describe it. You will be challenged to create high-quality research outputs that advance knowledge, and hone qualitative and quantitative analytic skills that will be essential to your dissertation and other linguistic work.