southampton

Module overview

The purpose of this module is to help you prepare your Masters dissertation in Languages & Cultures or Translation & Professional Communication Skills, including the oral presentation that forms part of its assessment. The emphasis is on skills required for a formal oral presentation, and for writing a dissertation on any topic within the scope of the MA Languages & Cultures and MA Translation & Professional Communication Skills programmes (processing, analysing, and evaluating theoretical frameworks and research methods; formulating research questions; articulating and organising ideas; developing and structuring an argument; processing, analysing and evaluating research sources; bibliographical skills; presentation and editing).

Particular attention will be paid to helping you develop the ability to evaluate and revise your own work. Other skills (such as the gathering, processing, and analysis of archival and linguistic sources) may also be covered, depending on your dissertation topic. Attention will be given to making you sensitive to the dynamics of collaborative research as well as of the requirements of individual research. This module also helps to prepare you for the next stage in your career, whether you are continuing with postgraduate study at the MPhil and/or PhD level, or entering employment. You will learn to identify your intellectual and practical strengths so that you can maximise their potential.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

the relationship between your proposed dissertation topic and broader high-level theoretical and secondary scholarship
advanced research methods from a range of Humanities disciplines
the principles of advanced research design in the Humanities
ethical issues in advanced Humanities research.
what constitutes original research at this advanced level
the skills and techniques required to conduct advanced projects operating within different research approaches

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

demonstrate confidence and skill when engaging in high-level academic discussion and debate
structure your ideas in a clear and coherent manner, to an advanced level
communicate an advanced academic argument in written form
develop and articulate an intellectual agenda for your dissertation

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

show awareness of the processes required to address research ethics, where appropriate.
manage deadlines and make effective use of your time
communicate high-level, complex ideas and arguments in a variety of written formats
assess the relative merits of different approaches to the design and implementation of advanced research projects

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include:

– tutor-led seminars

– student-led discussions

– department and university research seminars

Learning activities include:

– preparing and delivering oral presentations

– participating in department and university seminars

– preparing written and oral assignments

– applying research methods

Study time
Type	Hours
Seminar	24
Independent Study	126
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Furseth, Inger (2013). Doing your master's dissertation.

Ball, Steve (2012). The complete guide to writing your dissertation: advice, techniques and insights to help you enhance your grades.

Kirton, Bill (2011). Brilliant dissertation: what you need to know and how to do it.

Foss, Sonja K. (2016). Destination dissertation: a traveler's guide to a done dissertation.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Annotated bibliography	30%
Assessed written tasks	20%
Dissertation proposal	50%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Dissertation proposal	50%
Assessed written tasks	20%
Annotated bibliography	30%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Dissertation proposal	50%
Annotated bibliography	30%
Assessed written tasks	20%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External

Research Skills (Dissertation Preparation)