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Linguistics in all Honour Schools including Linguistics

Candidates offering Linguistics papers in any Honour School must conform to the General Regulations below, and to those for their particular school, as specified elsewhere.

Subjects in Linguistics

A General Linguistics

B1 Phonetics and Phonology

B2 Syntax

B3 Semantics and Pragmatics

B4 Psycholinguistics

B5 Sociolinguistics

B6 Historical Linguistics

B7 Comparative Linguistics and Philology:

i. Romance Philology and Linguistics

C Linguistic Project

D Thesis in Linguistics

E1 Linguistic Studies I (=Paper IV of the Honour School of Modern Languages)

E2 Linguistic Studies II (=Paper V of the Honour School of Modern Languages)

F A Special Subject in Linguistics

Paper A. General Linguistics

Candidates will be required to show knowledge of key ideas in linguistics, and awareness of their application in given areas of linguistics and of their impact on the way linguistics as a discipline has developed.

Paper A will be examined by submission of a ‘take-home’ paper to be completed over a period of one week following the release of essay questions. 

Paper B3 will be examined by an online written examination, to be completed within 72 hours following the release of essay questions. 

Papers B1, B2, B4, B6, E1, and E2 are examined by a written examination. 

For Paper B1, candidates must also offer either: 

i. a Phonetics Transcription aural test

or

ii. a Laboratory Report of a Phonetics experiment. 

B7 papers are assessed by an essay or portfolio of essays of between 6,000 and 9,000 words, to be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on the Tuesday of week four of Trinity term in the year of the examination. 

The mode of assessment for the F papers will be specified in the course handbook. 

Linguistic Project

The Linguistic Project will consist of a project report of between 8,000 and 10,000 words. The project should be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on the Monday of the tenth week of Hilary Term in the year of the examination, together with a statement, sent under separate cover, certifying that the project is the candidate's own work and has not already been submitted, either wholly or substantially, for a degree in this university or elsewhere. A copy must be retained by the candidate.

Not later than the Wednesday of the second week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination, candidates proposing to offer a Linguistic Project must submit, through their college, to the Director of Undergraduate Studies of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (on a form obtainable from the Linguistics Faculty Office) a statement of their name, college, the Honour School they intend to offer, the academic year in which they intend to take the examination, and the title of the proposed project together with:

  • (a) a statement of approximately fifty words of how the subject is to be treated,

  • (b) a statement signed by a supervisor or tutor that he or she considers the subject suitable, and suggesting a person or persons who might be invited to be an examiner or an assessor (the Board will not approve a title unless it is satisfied that a suitably qualified examiner or assessor based in Oxford will be available),

  • (c) a statement by a college tutor that he or she approves the candidate's application, and

  • (d) confirmation that relevant CUREC approval was or will be obtained before work with human subjects has begun.

One complete draft of the Linguistic Project may be read and commented on by the supervisor.

Thesis in Linguistics

  • 1. Candidates may offer a Thesis, subject to the following provisions:

    • (i) The subject of every thesis shall, to the satisfaction of the Board of the Faculty, fall within the scope of Linguistics.

    • (ii) The subject of a thesis may, but need not, overlap any subject on which the candidate offers a paper, but candidates should avoid repetition of material presented in the extended essay in other parts of the examination.

    • (iii) Not later than the Wednesday of the second week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination, candidates proposing to offer a thesis must submit, through their college, to the Director of Undergraduate Studies of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics (on a form obtainable from the Linguistics Faculty Office) a statement of their name, college, the Honour School they intend to offer, the academic year in which they intend to take the examination, and the title of the proposed thesis together with (a) a statement of approximately fifty words of how the subject is to be treated, (b) a statement signed by a supervisor or tutor, preferably in the field of study with which the thesis is concerned, that he or she considers the subject suitable, and suggesting a person or persons who might be invited to be an examiner or an assessor (the Board will not approve a title unless it is satisfied that a suitably qualified examiner or assessor based in Oxford will be available), (c) a statement by a college tutor that he or she approves the candidate's application, and (d) confirmation that relevant CUREC approval, if necessary, was or will have been obtained before work with human subjects has begun.

    • (iv) The Board of the Faculty will decide by the end of the third week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination whether the candidate has permission to offer a thesis. Permission may be granted on the condition that the candidate agrees to amend details of the title to the satisfaction of the Board, and submits the required amendments to the Faculty Office for the Board's approval by Friday of the sixth week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination. If the proposed title is approved, this will be notified by the Administration and Faculty Office, together with any conditions attached to the approval, to the candidate and to the Chair of the Examiners for the candidate’s Honour School.

    • (v) A candidate may seek approval after Friday of the sixth week of the Michaelmas Full Term preceding the examination for an amendment of detail in an approved title, by application to the Faculty Office. The Chair of the Examiners and the Chair of the Board, acting together, will decide whether or not a proposed amendment shall be approved.

  • 2. Every thesis must be the candidate’s own work. Tutors may, however, discuss with candidates the proposed field of study, the sources available, and the method of presentation. Tutors may also read and comment on a first draft. All quotations, whether direct or indirect, from primary or secondary sources must be explicitly acknowledged. The use of unacknowledged quotations will be penalized. Candidates must provide a certificate stating that the thesis is their own work and this certificate must be uploaded at the same time as the thesis.

  • 3. No thesis shall be ineligible because it has been submitted, in whole or in part, for any scholarship or prize in this university.

  • 4. Candidates shall present a one-page summary of the arguments at the beginning of their thesis. Theses shall be in the range 10,000-12,000 words. No person or body shall have authority to permit the limit of 12,000 words to be exceeded, except that, in the case of a commentary on a text, and at the discretion of the Chair of the Examiners, any substantial quoting of that text need not be included in the word limit. The examiners will not take account of such parts of an essay as are beyond these limits. There must be a select bibliography, listing all primary and secondary sources cited in the thesis, and full details must be given of all citations at the end of the thesis. All theses must be typed in double-spacing on A4 paper. One copy must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform, and a copy must be retained by the candidate.

  • 5. The thesis must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on Thursday of the week before the Trinity Term of the examination.

Special Subjects in Linguistics

Candidates in the Joint Schools involving Linguistics may offer any of the special subjects for paper XII in the Honour School of Modern Languages, provided they are marked with the Linguistics identifier L.

General Regulations

Candidates in the Honour School of Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics may offer Paper E1 or E2 only with the agreement of the Board of the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics.

No candidate may offer more than one special subject F. Candidates may not be permitted to offer certain special subjects in combination with certain other subjects, or may be permitted to do so only on condition that in the papers on the other subjects they will not be permitted to answer certain questions.

Regulations for Particular Honour Schools

Psychology, Philosophy, and Linguistics

All candidates must take eight subjects in total. Candidates may only take subjects in Psychology if they offer Psychology Parts A and B. Psychology Part A counts as two subjects and Part B consists of six subjects.

Candidates on the BA in Psychology and Linguistics strand or the BA in Philosophy and Linguistics strand may take at most five subjects in Linguistics. 

Candidates on the BA in Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics strand or the MSci in Psychology and Linguistics strand may take at most four subjects in Linguistics. 

Candidates on the MSci in Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics strand may take at most three subjects in Linguistics.  

Candidates may take no more than one paper from group F.

All candidates in Linguistics must take Paper A.

Candidates who take two subjects in Linguistics must take Paper A and one of Papers B1–B7.

Candidates who take three subjects in Linguistics must take (1) Paper A, (2) one of Papers B1, B2, B3, and (3) one of Papers B1-B7, C, D, F.

Candidates who take four subjects in Linguistics must take (1) Paper A, (2) one of Papers B1, B2, B3, and (3) two of Papers B1-B7, C or D, E1 or E2, F.

Candidates who take five subjects in Linguistics must take (1) Paper A, (2) one of Papers B1, B2, B3, and (3) three of Papers B1-B7, C, D, E1 or E2, F.