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Honours Year 2008
If you have been achieving better than average results (that is, an average of 70 or better in your major discipline in the School) and you have a special interest in one of the areas of study offered in the School of Language and Linguistics, why not think about doing Honours? The Honours Year involves a further year of more intensive study after completing the basic undergraduate degree.
Studying Honours will provide you with an opportunity to engage in specialised and extended research, develop your research and analytical skills and give you an edge when applying for jobs or postgraduate study.
| Monday 5 Nov 2007 | Information Session Morven Brown G3 12.00pm – 2.00pm |
| Wednesday 5 Dec 2007 | Last day to submit Honours Applications to the School Honours Co-ordinator |
| Friday 14 Dec 2007 | Last day to submit Honours Applications to the Faculty Office |
| Thursday 31 Jan 2008 | Closing date for UNSW Honours Year Scholarships (UGCA1120) |
| Thursday 31 Jan 2008 | Closing date for Judith Robinson-Valery Scholarship (UGCA1132) |
What are the requirements for entry to Honours?
54 units of credit are required for entry into Single Honours (48 for Combined Honours), including MODL3900 (or equivalent) with an average overall grade of 70% or higher in your major discipline in the School. Most programs within the School require students to take one or two special pre-Honours courses (taken in your third year), and there is usually a minimum language level required for the language programs.
For more detailed information on the prerequisites for entry into Honours, please see the links below:
| Chinese | French | Linguistics |
| Indonesian | Greek | |
| Japanese | German | |
| Korean | Spanish |
When can I commence the Honours Program?
The Honours program may commence in either Semester 1 or Semester 2 and normally takes one year of full time study or two years of part time study.
Is financial assistance available?
UNSW offers a number of scholarships for students undertaking Honours. Please see the scholarships website for more information. UNSW Honours Year Scholarships (UGCA1120) close on 31 January 2008.
There is a also a special scholarship for students in the School of Languages and Linguistics: the Judith Robinson-Valery Scholarship (UGCA1132). This scholarship is worth $3,000 and is awarded on the basis of academic merit. This scholarship closes on 31 January 2008.
What are the components of the Honours Program?
The coursework component (worth 40% of the final mark) builds on the work undertaken in earlier years at a more advanced level. Students usually take one course per semester.
The thesis distinguishes Honours from everything else that has gone before: it is worth 60% of the final mark. Students carry out their own research (with the aid of a supervisor) on a topic which they have chosen (in consultation with their supervisor). Honours students are no longer simply learners but are becoming active investigators and discoverers.
The thesis gives you the maximum freedom to pursue your own interests: in the end, you are the expert on your subject. A thesis requires a lot of commitment and hard work. Nevertheless, students generally find it brings with it a lasting sense of achievement and is very fulfilling in personal terms.
The thesis is a sustained research project which should be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length, written in English.
You should consult at an early stage (ideally before the end of your second year) with the relevant discipline advisor or the Honours co-ordinator to discuss the nature of your project, the availability of supervision and your eligibility.
You then need to find a member of staff to act as your supervisor and to help determine your topic.
This must be arranged before the Honours year commences. You should expect to have regular meetings (at least fortnightly) with your supervisor throughout the Honours year.
If you wish to enrol in the Honours Year in 2008, you must submit an application for enrolment form and an approval form to the Honours Co-ordinator in the School of Languages and Linguistics by Wednesday 5 December 2007. This form is then submitted to the Faculty office.
If you are not currently a UNSW student, you should complete the Application Form for Admission to Honours and submit it to the Admissions Office no later than 10 December 2007, for Semester 1, 2008 intake, or 10 May 2008, for Semester 2, 2008 intake. The Application Form is available here.
Once enrolled in the Honours program, you should aim to complete your background reading and research by the end of the mid-year break, and begin writing up the final text of the thesis no later than the beginning of Semester 2. It may be possible to spend the first semester and start your research in a University abroad.Ideally, the first draft of the thesis, including bibliography, etc., should be finished by mid-October: this allows any final editing or corrections to be made in time. You also need to allow some time for copying and binding of the final version of the thesis at the beginning of November. The final text of the thesis must be completed by the end of the second semester. Two bound copies of the thesis, plus one for the supervisor, should normally be presented for examination at the end of the semester or in the week following (you must check with your supervisor for the exact date of submission). The thesis will be read and marked by two independent examiners; the supervisor does not mark the thesis.
NB: Please see below for a list of some recent Honours thesis topics.
The School encourages cross-disciplinary work, and Combined Honours (e.g. Japanese and Political Science, German and Linguistics, French and History, etc.) has proved a popular choice in recent years. Research on topics where two disciplines are combined requires careful consultation and supervision, but often proves to be highly productive and stimulating. In some cases, it is also possible to do Combined Honours with another Faculty (e.g. Commerce). Students interested in a Combined Honours program should consult with the relevant Programs or Schools as early as possible.
The University of NSW Library offers Honours students research consultation. It provides Honours students individual training in advanced research techniques using the databases and other information resources available through the Library. Honours students do not require the approval of their supervisor when applying for this service. Here is the link for application to research consultation.
A good Honours degree opens the way into postgraduate research programs (MA by Research and PhD). But it is also helpful for many other careers also, and is much respected by future employers in a wide range of fields, in both the public and private sector. An Honours degree is accepted as proof of your capacity to work independently, to see a major project through to the end, to write clearly, and to construct a chain of argument and reasoning leading to logical conclusions.
Dr Hugues Peters
Honours Co-ordinator
School of Languages and Linguistics
Tel 9385 1440
Email Dr Hugues Peters.
Japanese
"A comparison of learning strategies between Chinese-speaking background learners and English-speaking background learners of Japanese."
"Democracy, tradition and participation: conflicting ideas in contemporary Japan."
"Premium care? A critical examination of Japan's long term care insurance system"
"Unmarried mothers and their children in contemporary Japan: a qualitative analysis."
Korean
“Moral Conflict in Lady Sa’s Journey to the South”
“Illegal Workplace Practices in the Working Experiences of Japanese- and Korean-born Working Holiday Makers & Overseas Students: A Hidden Discourse”
French
"Sport and national image in France and Australia"
"A comparative study of female psychology in Flaubert and Turgeniev (Madame Bovary and A Nest of Gentlemen)"
"Identity and the linking of deictic gestures to speech: mechanisms of the co-construction of the self"
"The expression of anger by verbal and non-verbal means in French and Polish"
"Spoken fluency and the use of the target language in foreign language classrooms"
Linguistics
"Accent preferences and stereotypes amongst Singaporean undergraduates in Australia and Singapore"
"The semantics of reason: bridging the gap between legal and lay reasoning"
"Syntactic substructures in English and Ukrainian existentials"
'"Guava is the new black': an in-depth appraisal of superficiality in the texts of Maggie Alderson"
"I speak, therefore I am: in conversation with gay men"
Indonesian
"The King and them: the use and validity of 'Asian values' for explanation and political legitimation of Soeharto-era Indonesia"
"Exceptional souvenirs: museum display and the idea of Indonesia"
"Film Remaja: a professional approach to making quality films that can survive in a commercial market place"
"Sustainable technology: adoption and continuation among aquaculture farmers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia"
Chinese"Plays without Character? A Historical Study of Characterization in the Plays of Gao Xingjian"
"Tianjin's Laid-Off Workers - from 'organised dependence', to 'a social contract' to where?"
"The Localisation of the Internet in China"
"The Market for Organic Food in Beijing"
"E-Commerce in China"
"China's Out-door Industry"
Spanish and Latin American Studies
"Repression and expression: deconstructing two extremes in the work of-Federico Garcia Lorca and Pedro Almodovar"
"Monte Walsh and Martin Fierro: space and control in cowboy and gaucho literature"
"Global poverty and the ethics of care: assessing the ethics of care as a normative framework for the politics of poverty"
"Le Clézio and the pursuit of his Mexican dream through Diego et Frida" (combined French and Spanish Honours)
"Simone Schwartz-Bart's Antillean realism: the search for identity in Ti Jean"