The BA thesis is the academic finale of the BA Linguistics. Students choose together with lecturers a linguistic domain, a research question and a supervisor and draw up a working plan. These choices mark the specialisation of the student. The result is an extensive, written essay. This essay analysis the chosen problem, describes how the components of the research question have been studied and provides an original contribution to a solution of the chosen problem. The emphasis is on the focus and depth of the linguistic analyses and reasoning
The BA thesis is the largest and most important assignment of the bachelor's programme. It is a written report of research carried out by the student under the supervision of one of his lecturers and serves as the final and concluding assignment of his degree. In general the thesis contains a maximum of 10000 words (including footnotes, bibliography and attachments). The regulations and procedures concerning the BA thesis can be found on the University Website.
A thesis seminar is organised in the second semester to guide students writing their thesis. The seminar only concerns form, layout, implementation and presentation of the thesis. There are six meetings during the second semester and one informative meeting during the first semester. Students who want to write their BA thesis during the first semester are referred to the faculty thesis seminar at the Expertise Centre for Academic Skills. Participating in the thesis seminar is mandatory and part of the 10 EC of the BA thesis.
Students are required to submit their thesis proposal and supervisor to the Board of Examiners by using an online form. The deadline for submitting the thesis proposal is September 15 for students who write their thesis in the first semester and February 15 for students who write their thesis in the second semester.
Mode of instruction
Self study
Assessment method
BA thesis
Reading list
Depending on chosen subject