Independent Studies BA 4/1 4/2 and Inter 4

Brainstorm Subjects of Interest

As we already brainstormed on several topics in class it’s time to have a closer look at your topic. Don’t think too long about your topic. Make sure you’re interested in the topic. You have to work on it for 14 weeks.

A couple of things I mentioned in class:

When choosing a topic make sure:

- Your topic is related to English language à learning, teaching

- Your topic is interesting for you and others

- Your topic is testable: That means you have to be able to do a small experiment in class. If you doubt whether your topic is testable or not, please come and see me. I can help you with that.

- Your topic is big enough but not too big. Remember you have only 14 weeks. Quantity is not everything, quality is.

- That there is enough information on the net

- Your topic is not something you don’t know anything about: Don’t reinvent the wheel. There is a lot of information on the web. Try to connect your knowledge and interests with the information available.

- You don’t copy a research that’s already been done in Thai. Don’t translate existing research

Maybe most important to mention: If you get stuck at any moment, post a question on this site or come and see me in my office.


The next thing you’re going to do is think about your topic. Ouch. Yes you have to start thinking about what you want to know.
Ask yourself the following questions:

Why am I interested in this topic?

What do I already know about this topic?

What do I want to know about this topic?

What can I learn from this topic?

What do I want others to learn from this topic?

Write down the answers to all these questions in a small report and hand it in on Friday the 27th of June before 12:00.