Diploma Seminar 340-AS1-3SEMD5

The seminar focuses on enhancing students’ knowledge and skills in the field of applied linguistics, with particular emphasis on contemporary approaches to language development in the process of lifelong self-directed learning.

Sample topics for bachelor’s theses:

The role of AI in self-directed language learning: overview of available tools; comparison of the quality of feedback provided by AI vs. human teachers; effectiveness of study plans generated by language models; analysis of the advantages and limitations in comparison to human work.

The linguistic worldview: a comparative study of selected areas of Polish and English grammar and/or lexis (e.g. ways of expressing tense, aspect, given vs. new information) from the perspective of difficulties in developing language competence.

Corpus linguistics and discourse analysis in the context of self-directed language learning: building a mini-corpus focusing, for instance, on lexis and/or the terminology of discourse characteristic of a specific community or professional group.

Learning outcomes and assessment
During the seminar, students acquire in-depth knowledge of how to construct a bachelor’s thesis: they learn to formulate research problems precisely, develop a bibliography based on selected sources, and refine techniques and strategies for presenting their chosen thesis.

Passing the first semester requires systematic and active participation, preparing an oral presentation outlining the assumptions of the bachelor’s thesis, and submitting a written fragment of the thesis making use of at least six bibliographic sources.

The condition for passing the second semester and completing the course is the submission of the final bachelor’s thesis.

The seminar focuses on enhancing students’ knowledge and skills in the field of applied linguistics, with particular emphasis on contemporary approaches to language development in the process of lifelong self-directed learning.

Sample topics for bachelor’s theses:

The role of AI in self-directed language learning: overview of available tools; comparison of the quality of feedback provided by AI vs. human teachers; effectiveness of study plans generated by language models; analysis of the advantages and limitations in comparison to human work.

The linguistic worldview: a comparative study of selected areas of Polish and English grammar and/or lexis (e.g. ways of expressing tense, aspect, given vs. new information) from the perspective of difficulties in developing language competence.

Corpus linguistics and discourse analysis in the context of self-directed language learning: building a mini-corpus focusing, for instance, on lexis and/or the terminology of discourse characteristic of a specific community or professional group.

Learning outcomes and assessment
During the seminar, students acquire in-depth knowledge of how to construct a bachelor’s thesis: they learn to formulate research problems precisely, develop a bibliography based on selected sources, and refine techniques and strategies for presenting their chosen thesis.

Passing the first semester requires systematic and active participation, preparing an oral presentation outlining the assumptions of the bachelor’s thesis, and submitting a written fragment of the thesis making use of at least six bibliographic sources.

The condition for passing the second semester and completing the course is the submission of the final bachelor’s thesis.

Attebery, Brian. The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature. From Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1980.
Attebery, Brian. Strategies of Fantasy. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1992.
Attebery Brian. Stories about Stories. Fantasy and the Remaking of Myth. New York: OUP, 2014.
Clute, John and John Grant (eds.) The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. London: Orbit, 1997.
Dickerson, Matthew and David O’Hara. From Homer to Harry Potter. A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy. Grand Rapids: BrazosPress, 2006.
James, Edward and Farah Mendlesohn (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature. Cambridge: CUP, 2012.
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Language of the Night. Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ursula K. Le Guin. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993.
Mathews, Richard. Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination. New York: Routledge, 2002.

de Schryver, Gilles-Maurice (2023), Generative AI and Lexicography: The Current State of the Art Using ChatGPT, International Journal of Lexicography, 36(4): 355–387, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecad021
Lew, R. (2024), Dictionaries and lexicography in the AI era. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11, 426 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02889-7
Szudarski, P. (2023), Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baker M. (ed.) (1998) Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, London and New York: Routledge, 1998.
Baker M. (1992) In Other Words. A Coursebook in Translation, London and New York: Routledge.

Boroditsky, L. (2011). How languages construct time. In S. Dehaene & E. M. Brannon (Eds.), Space, time and number in the brain: Searching for the foundations of mathematical thought (pp. 333–341). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385948-8.00020-7
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.
de Schryver, Gilles-Maurice (2023), Generative AI and Lexicography: The Current State of the Art Using ChatGPT, International Journal of Lexicography, 36(4): 355–387, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecad021
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
King, K. A., Lai, Y.-J., & May, S. (2017). Research methods in language and education. Springer International Publishing.
Lew, R. (2024), Dictionaries and lexicography in the AI era. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11, 426 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02889-7
Skowronek, B. (2022). The linguistic image of the world. Academia: The Magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 4(76), 18–20. https://doi.org/10.24425/academiaPAS.2022.144673
Szudarski, P. (2023), Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Boroditsky, L. (2011). How languages construct time. In S. Dehaene & E. M. Brannon (Eds.), Space, time and number in the brain: Searching for the foundations of mathematical thought (pp. 333–341). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-385948-8.00020-7
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.
de Schryver, Gilles-Maurice (2023), Generative AI and Lexicography: The Current State of the Art Using ChatGPT, International Journal of Lexicography, 36(4): 355–387, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecad021
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford University Press.
King, K. A., Lai, Y.-J., & May, S. (2017). Research methods in language and education. Springer International Publishing.
Lew, R. (2024), Dictionaries and lexicography in the AI era. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11, 426 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02889-7
Skowronek, B. (2022). The linguistic image of the world. Academia: The Magazine of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 4(76), 18–20. https://doi.org/10.24425/academiaPAS.2022.144673
Szudarski, P. (2023), Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.