MA Linguistics

Until their MA thesis prospectus has been approved, all MA students are expected to maintain a regular, active, physical presence in the Department. This can include participation in lab/project/reading groups, attending colloquia, research seminars or other ad hoc departmental events, meetings with their supervisor, committee members or other researchers in relevant areas. Certain circumstances may necessitate a student’s absence during some of this period (e.g. for field work); such absences should be discussed with the supervisory committee. At all stages of the program, a student and their supervisor should be in regular contact and communication. At the thesis/dissertation stage, such contact should happen at least once a month (again, barring extenuating circumstances), either through in-person meetings, videoconferencing, or communication/reporting over email.

An interim supervisory committee (a.k.a. first-year committee) is appointed for a student by the Graduate Advisor before the beginning of their first year in the program. This committee consist of three faculty members from the Department of Linguistics, and includes the student’s interim supervisor, who is the chair of the committee.

During the first year (no later than the end of term 2), the interim first-year committee is dissolved, and a new supervisory committee is established, the MA thesis committee. This committee consists minimally of a research supervisor and two additional members. The MA thesis committee may be identical to, or overlap with, the interim first-year committee, or it may be entirely different. Normally the members of the MA thesis committee are from the Department of Linguistics; if the student’s committee includes members from outside the Department of Linguistics, a majority must be departmental members. Establishing the MA thesis committee is the joint responsibility of the student and the Graduate Advisor.

Each year, both new and continuing MA students will have a meeting with their committee during the last week of August or in early September. At this meeting students can discuss their course work and other aspects of their program. Incoming students are requested to bring with them copies of the calendars of course offerings from the institutions they previously attended (other than UBC). At the end of April or the beginning of May, all students will meet with their Supervisory Committee to discuss the year’s progress and to plan further work. Any changes in a graduate student’s program must be approved by their committee.

• General summary: Most students choose to write a thesis. An acceptable thesis may minimally be a short paper (20-30 pages) presenting some original research, the results presented in a form suitable to be submitted to a journal. Alternatively, the thesis may be a longer but less original essay; this should be 50-80 pages long, with a maximum of 100 pages. The topics and supervisor should be chosen as soon as the student has decided upon his/her area of specialization, no later than registration week of the second year of the program. The student must submit a prospectus no later than October 30 of the second year of the M.A. program. The content of a thesis prospectus should be along the lines of an NSERC Discovery Grant or a SSHRC Standard Research grant; it should have the following components:
  • Summary page (Max: ½ page)
  • Detailed description (Max: 3 pages)
  • Bibliography
  • Budget (if there will be costs associated with completing the thesis research
  • Budget justification

The prospectus is approved by the supervisory committee. Once approved, the prospectus is filed in the Department Reading Room and circulated electronically to the Department. The completed thesis must be read and approved by the supervisory committee, which will conduct an oral examination on the completed thesis. Students will be encouraged to present a version of their paper at a departmental colloquium or at a regional, national, or international meeting.

• Supervision: As soon as the student’s supervisory committee is formed, the student and his/her committee will meet to arrange procedures for organizing the thesis and to establish procedures the committee will follow in reading and approving the thesis. Preliminary drafts, either of individual chapters or of the whole thesis, should be submitted as the student proceeds. The thesis committee should assess the thesis at two stages — when the topic is proposed, and before the thesis reaches final typing. With respect to criticism and subsequent revisions, it is up to the student and the supervisor to check the procedures and deadlines of both the department and the university.

• Thesis preparation: Theses should be prepared in accordance with the thesis formatting regulations available on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website. Typescripts which do not meet the standards specified may be rejected. Documentation should follow the style guide of The Canadian Journal of Linguistics, Language or the American Psychological Association.

• Number of copies: The candidate should prepare a minimum of five copies of the thesis: one for himself/herself, one for the supervisor, one for delivery to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and two to be retained by the Linguistics Department (one for filing and one for the Reading Room). Normally a student will also provide a copy to each member of his/her supervisory committee.
• Oral examination: A final oral on the thesis may be held at any time of the year, provided the supervisory committee can be assembled. The final oral examination will not be held until the student has fulfilled all the other requirements for the degree.
• Distance exemption: A student residing more than 500 miles from the university when he/she submits his/her thesis may request exemption from the oral. Where substantial revisions to the thesis are not required, such a request may be granted at the discretion of both the examining committee and the Graduate Advisor.