To students who decide to write the research paper, the instructor first gives the format required for formal linguistics papers, from title and author through references and appendices. For this project, students are given pictures of containers of various shapes, which they are to show to 25 subjects. Students summarize data on graphs, and compare and analyze the data as they apply to semantics. Students write up draft research reports and bring them to class for peer feedback from others who are also writing research papers. They turn in revised drafts to the instructor, who provides further feedback.
Students then write a final draft and hand it in with all their notes and drafts.
The instructor grades the research reports and hands them back to the students, who may rewrite them again for improved grades. The essays ensure that students learn fundamental concepts of linguistics in such areas as grammar, vocabulary, the relation of language changes to social process, and the manner in which linguists study them. The essays also require students to demonstrate that they have read, understood, and retained the information in their text and can quote and cite it appropriately. The research report allows advanced or ambitious students to analyze a specific linguistic concern more deeply than is possible in a short essay. The essays which we wrote on related linguistic topics were the most significant because they helped us to learn the material and at the same time improve our writing skills.