RESEARCH PAPERS

G1469 – AICLE – Prof. Isadora Norman

WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS

Step 1: Brainstorming Step 2: Choosing a Topic Step 3: Developing Focus Step 4: In-depth Research Step 5: Organizing your Notes Step 6: Rough Draft Step 7: Revision and Editing Step 8: Final Draft

STEP 1: BRAINSTORMING

What will be the topic of your research?BEPs in monolingual settings?BEPs in plurlingual settings?Which country or region are you interested in?

CHOOSING A TOPIC

Is the topic too wide or too specific? Bilingual Programmes in Europe Bilingual Programmes in Lugo

Will you be able to find enough information?

Start looking for possible references: BUC – Único http://www.buc.unican.es/ Databases – scientific articles

Scopus www.scopus.com Eric http://eric.ed.gov/ Web of science:

http://apps.webofknowledge.com/UA_GeneralSearch_input.do?product=UA&search_mode=GeneralSearch&SID=Q2IXeRslOjA3hSafKqR&preferencesSaved=

DEVELOPING FOCUS

Select at least 10 possible referencesCan you get the full text of the articles?Read over the articles/sections of the books: What area do you have the most information about?

Print or photocopy the relevant sections Highlight the key points Select at least 5 references you will use for your paper

IN-DEPTH RESEARCH

Re-read the texts you have selected

Take comprehensive notes based on the sections you high-lighted

Create your references cited page using APA format

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05

ORGANIZING YOUR NOTES

Compare the information that you have obtained from your final sources

Work to decide on an order for the information.

Create an outline.

Follow the structure:1. Introduction2. Context: Sociodemographic introduction to the country

and region, including information on languages3. Linguistic Policy4. Description of Bilingual Programmes (Type, structure, age

group, teacher training, etc).5. Evaluation and/or results of Bilingual Education in the

region/country6. Conclusions

ROUGH DRAFT

Expand your notes to create a rough draft

Avoid plagiarism at all costs! Paraphrase the original text, using your own words Look for synonyms Change the sentence structure Choose a few illustrative quotes

Include citations from the beginning: Make a note EVERY TIME you include material from a

reference Avoid forgetting to cite sources

REVISION AND EDITING

Read over your rough draft. Check the following: Grammar, spelling, vocabulary and syntax Is the text coherent? Does it follow a logical order? Does each paragraph fully develop an independent

idea? Are the paragraphs linked with cohesive devices

(connectors)? Are all references correctly cited? Does the paper have a formal, academic tone? Do all tables and figures have titles? Do they support

the text?

FINAL DRAFT

Look over the corrections to ensure that you understand everything

Request an appointment to clarify any problems

Rewrite the paper, keeping in mind all suggested corrections

Request an appointment before turning in the final draft if you have questions or are unsure if your work is finished.