RLM Slinn-Funabashi

My short video with top tips on how to do a successful MA Dissertation was featured in the King’s College London (KCL) Alumni Evening on the 14th of November 2024.

If you prefer to read rather than watch videos (like me) then this post is for you!

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Hello everyone, it’s Rebecca from the MA Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching course at KCL from the 2023-24 cohort.

My MA dissertation will be entered as KCL’s submission for the British Council’s ELT Master’s Dissertation Award and was submitted to the BALEAP MA Dissertation Award.

I wanted to share with you the 5 things I wish I’d known about doing a dissertation before I started.

1. No one really knows at the beginning of the academic year

We were all really stressed about what we should do for our projects.

At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know a single person on my course who knew exactly what they wanted to do for their MA dissertation. And those that did have ideas about it changed by the time it came to actually doing it in the spring/summer.

That’s fine, and you learn as you go. I did my dissertation in AI in EAP – I’d never used AI tools myself or taught EAP before coming to KCL and it was only through studying Digital ELT and EAP modules and taking opportunities like to work with my professor on a project that I found what I was interested in.

So be open to opportunities and get involved!

2. MA Dissertation Timeline

I didn’t really have a concept of the year as I was so focused on each class and assignment at the time.

Knowing what’s coming up and how to balance everything is key.

This years schedule may be different to yours, so make sure you know where to find all the details at your institutions and add them to your calendar. I’d then recommend drawing up a timeline as if you’re a project manager, like mine below.

I didn’t always follow it exactly and it often had to extend the coloured blocks for another week or two. But the value of having it there and seeing the whole picture of the project was significant for me.

Check out my post about the MA Dissertation Timeline for my course here.

3. Organisation

Organise your plan – like a project manager make a timeline and keep track of what you are doing, how long you are working and how much you need to do. There are many examples of these and templates online. Or you can use a simple Google Sheet or Excel sheet. It’s motivating to see how many hours you’ve put in.

Organise your notes – you will forget what you’ve read or where you found ideas very quickly so you need to make a system which works for you. I know people who have done it all on paper with handwritten notes, but I really like to be able to search through my notes and articles I’ve read for keywords so I recommend doing it all on the computer. Some people use word documents. I prefer Evernote as it’s the system I’ve been using since 2013 (but recently needs a subscription to use well – so I’d recommend finding a free option).

Organise your references – I use the software Zotero. This is a video I created for my pre-sessional students over the summer on how I used Zotero in my dissertation to help them with referencing which you can watch here:

4. Use your professors!

Ask for advice, suggest ideas even before you get assigned the supervisor.If you’re interested in a topic, talk to the professor that taught that module in their office hours.Be respectful of their time – do your research before you talk to them, have a plan for what you want to achieve from talking with them.But also, don’t expect them to hold your hand and tell you what to do.Be independent and come up with ideas and bounce them off them to help you on your way.

5. Enjoy it!

It’s actually really cool that you’re able to do a project, contribute some new knowledge to the field and learn so much to become an expert in your niche interest.

It can feel really overwhelming but take a step back and actually think about what a cool opportunity it is. If you start early and give yourself enough time, it will be  a much more enjoyable process as your ideas take time to form and you need that digestion time.