Content of this article
- Structure
- Outline sample
- How to start a linguistics essay
- How to write body paragraphs for a linguistics essay
- How to conclude a linguistics essay
- How to format a linguistics essay
How To Write A Linguistics Essay
Language is important and impacts as well as interacts with the world on a daily basis. Different sections and issues of language make for interesting essay topics, for example, how language forms, the meaning of language, and language content. While these examples might seem straightforward and fairly easy when to read, developing a linguistic essay from them can be a challenge. Contrary to what many students might think, linguistic essays have largely taken after scientific articles and not literary theory essays. When writing linguistic papers, it is hence important to be direct, simple, clear, and concise. Students must also avoid overstatements, unnecessary qualifiers, digressions, and verbiage in their essays. Objectivity should be maintained throughout the essay, and personal opinions or experiences must be left out unless otherwise stated in the instructions. A complete linguistic essay must demonstrate or show a capacity for methodical, and clear thinking.
Linguistic essays are written for different purposes, but the main reason is to determine whether students are conversant with the basic concepts, debates, and research interests within the larger subject of linguistics. Teachers often seek to know their student`s capacity to deliver when given different scenarios and questions within linguistics. These help to determine the effectiveness of the teacher’s delivery methods as well as the students’ interest in a particular subject. An instructor can also be interested in determining how best students can incorporate or adhere to the writing standards needed in linguistic papers. As stated earlier, linguistic papers are taken after scientific papers and are hence expected to follow certain formats and include some sections that are often left out in other essays.
Linguistics Essay Structure
As with any scientific paper, three sections are included in a paper, and they include:
- the introduction,
- main body,
- and the conclusion.
While the term main body is often included in structures, it should not appear as a title in an essay. However, students should only include sections or points that are in line with their main argument, point, or perspective. A linguistics essay structure is hence essay but needs to be strictly adhered to.
When called upon to write an essay, it is always advisable, to begin with a draft before developing the final copy for submission or presentation. A linguistic essay draft provides one with the opportunity to consider many angles and perspectives and also gifts writers with the space of making some mistakes and correcting them as well. It will indeed take more time to prepare a draft and then prepare the final copy, but it saves students from getting lower grades as well as doing revisions and corrections later once the instructor detects some obvious mistakes.
An outline also comes in handy and on many occasions guides and helps students to be consistent with their argumentation. As already stated, an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion make up the structure of a linguistic essay, but when developing a linguistic essay outline, the main body section is often replaced by the points or supporting arguments.
Below is an example of an outline for a linguistic essay given that the essay topic is:
Developmental Language Disorders
Abstract
Introduction
The connection between language and reading disabilities:
- Correlation between language and reading;
- Language, reading, and poor reading comprehension;
- Common literacy outcomes for people with language impairments – the focus is on children;
- Speech perception in children.
Conclusion and Recommendations
How to write an introduction for a linguistic essay
An introduction serves the purpose of revealing the topic or subject that the student has been asked to write about. A linguistic essay introduction is supposed to explain the main topic or subject and clearly specify the writer’s goal. Before starting the essay, it is important first to narrow down the scope and approach it from an angle that is specific. Readers need to be taken through the topic, the structure of the essay as well as the steps that need to be taken to reach the essay’s ultimate goal.
How to write body paragraphs for a linguistic essay
As already stated, the main body mainly has supporting arguments and points which help to explain the writer’s perspective. In this section, thorough research comes in handy. Linguistics essays rely heavily on research, and it is advisable to make use of genuine sources to enhance the essay’s credibility. The points or arguments need to stand out and support the author’s main argument exhaustively.
How to write a conclusion for a linguistic essay
A linguistics essay conclusion is not challenging and mainly references the introduction. The writer’s main goal must be restated. A summary of the main points or the findings of the research must also be provided. The writer can also include a section specifying some of the things that can be done to improve research on the topic in the future.
How to format a linguistic essay
The use of examples is indeed essential when trying to make a point or when giving real situations which directly relate to the topic under review. Examples help to make something easier to understand and provide realistic instances of what the writer is handling. It is hence vital to use them because they also help to make the explanations easier and thus aid the readers to understand the writer’s point of view.
Research is vital to being a good linguistics essay writer. It is important to find other sources that will help one develop their main point and reference or cite them accordingly. Being scientific simply means writers need to follow APA or MLA standards or any other standards as specified by the instructor. In-text citations must be included, especially when the point included is not original or is borrowed from another article. Below are two examples to help differentiate between APA and MLA in-text citations:
APA
According to Kiragu (2016), language can be defined as “a system that involves words as well as the symbols used by people and other animals to communicate.”
As depicted in the above example, while putting in-text citations using the APA format students are expected to use the author’s surname and year only.
MLA
According to Kiragu (16), language can be defined as “a system that involves words as well as the symbols used by people and other animals to communicate.”
Unlike the APA format where writers are asked to include the year, in MLA students are expected to include the page number from whence they got the definition or any other information.
Once all the sources have been accurately cited, it is important to include them in a bibliography at the end of the essay. Each formatting standard has its rules and writers need to familiarize themselves with each of them to avoid the possibility of using two in one document.
Finalizing Essay
Revising an essay is also vital to ensuring that an essay adheres to the formatting rules of the referencing style that the writer chose. It also gifts students with the opportunity of correcting some errors such as grammatical, punctuation, and vocabulary errors. In some instances, writers drift from their main argument, and it is only through revising an essay that such mistakes can be detected and avoided. Clarity and objectivity are indeed important to developing an essay that is specific and narrow in scope. The above can only be enhanced when revising an essay.
Plagiarism is often discouraged by instructors, but only a few students can adhere to this rule. Citations must be included, especially when a writer used other people’s work to develop their own. The style used to include citations is dependent on the instructions given, but the common ones include APA and MLA.
