A Study on the Topic Selection of Undergraduate Thesis

【摘要】選題是畢業論文的第一步，也是關鍵的一步，選題的恰當與否會直接關系到畢業論文的質量。因此，本文針對當前英語專業本科畢業生選題時出現的常見問題，提出針對性的建議，以期對英語專業學生論文的撰寫提供一點幫助。

【關鍵詞】英語專業畢業論文;選題;問題及建議

【Abstract】Topic selection， the first step of a thesis is a key step. The appropriateness of the topic will directly affect the quality of the thesis. Therefore， this essay aims at the common problems in the topic selection of English majors， puts forward some suggestions， and proposes targeted suggestions to provide some help for the English majors.

【Key words】English majors undergraduate thesis writing; topic selection; problems and suggestions

【作者簡介】韓朵青，伊犁師范大學。

According to Syllabus for English Majors of Higher Education in China， graduation thesis writing， as an indispensable part of Bachelors degree education， is a means to assess students comprehensive abilities and qualities. The syllabus states explicitly that the thesis should be written in 3000-5000 English words with well-organized structure and substantial contents. In assessing the thesis， such elements as smooth language， clear idea， originality and sense of innovation are considered.Topic selection of graduation thesis is one of the most important links in the process of graduation thesis writing， which has a direct impact on the quality， practical value and application of the thesis. This essay discusses the common problems of English thesis topic selection and provides some suggestions for improving the quality of English thesis topic selection.

1.Directions of Topic Selection

In general， topics of English major undergraduate thesis include literature， translation， culture， teaching methods， language learning and second language acquisition and others.

Selecting literature as the thesis topic， it mainly focus on American literature and English literature. On the one hand， a novel is taken as a topic to discuss the authors or protagonists views on nature， marriage and love from the perspectives of ecological criticism， feminism， narrative style and theme of the novel; or to select the characters in the novel to discuss their personality characteristics， psychological problems， various images， symbols， characterization and tragic fate; the other is to compare two English novels， two English writers and two novel characters. On the other hand， a Chinese novel and an English novel， an English writer and a Chinese writer， contrasting around love， marriage， female characters， personality， religion， revenge， etc.

Selecting translation as the thesis topic， including film title and subtitle translation， signs translation， etc， which is mainly discussed from different perspectives，such as cultural differences， teleological perspectives， alienation and domestication theories， functional equivalence theory， communication theory， adaptation theory and so on.

Selecting culture as the thesis topic， it focuses on studying the cultural contrast between China and the United States， and the cultural contrast between China and the United Kingdom. There are also some studies on religion， philosophy and other aspects of culture，as well as some topics about Chinese and English culture from the perspective of language，clothing，color， number and so on.

Selecting teaching method as the thesis topic， teaching method is the direction that students tend to study， which may be related to some students intention to engage in English teaching after graduation. Students hope this kind of research will lay a good foundation for their future work and prepare for their careers.And these topics are related to their learning experiences in listening， speaking， reading and writing and the papers in the direction of teaching are not so abstract with rich materials， so students are inclined to this aspect.

Selecting linguistics as the thesis topic， for students， the content of linguistics courses is more abstract and theoretical. Some linguistic knowledge is more difficult for students. Therefore， in the selection of linguistic topics， students can choose relatively easy topics such as lexicology and Euphemism in pragmatics to discuss， which is in line with the actual situation of students.

2. Topic Sources

Generally， there are three main sources of topic selection：（1）based on personal interests; （2）instructors professional direction; （3）provided by instructor. Personal interests played an extremely important role， because personal interest is the internal motivation which would drive students to do their utmost in thesis writing. Therefore， students have an interest in a certain problem and direction so that they will pay attention to it and study it. Some students selected topics according to their instructors professional direction. First， teachers will provide more suggestions about selecting topics. Second， for data collection， teachers will provide methods， channels， and previous academic materials for collecting documents. Third， for language expression， teachers will teach the characteristics of academic language， practice and comment. Some students topics were given by their instructor. This small number of students does not master thesis topic selection principles and the selection strategies. They have no thoughts on how to select a good thesis topic so that they are finally provided by the tutor.

3. The Existing Problems

The topic selection of English majors needs to be appropriate. There are three main problems existing in graduation thesis topic selections： the topics are too broad， the topics are too narrow， and the topics are lack of originality. The problems are follows：

3.1 The Topics are Too Broad

The topics are too large and lack profound discussion. Topic is “comparison between Chinese and Western cultures” or “comparison of Chinese and Western Euphemisms”. These topics are broad and empty， the students have not ability to make a survey clearly and logically with around 5000 words， topics should be limited to the certain scope. The topic is too difficult. The topic A Comparative Study of Junior High School English Textbooks Go for it！ and JHE of Beijing Normal University Publish House need students to master a large number of comprehensive materials， and it is easy to cause the material to be stacked or scattered， which results in the content of thesis isnt deeply and thesis is worthless.

3.2 The Topics are Too Narrow

The topic The Characteristic and Trend of Chinglish， only discusses the features and development trend of Chinglish， and it has a small content and no practical significance. Topic Functions and Effects of Association Memory Reciting Words for College Students for college students， the function and effects of the association memory reciting words are obviously. College students master the strategies of remember words are better than junior high school， there is no need to study it excessively. However， it is important for junior high students to use associative memory to remember words. So it should be change the range to the junior high school or high school， the topic will have great practical significance and valuable.

3.3 The Topics are Lack of Originality

A certain repetition rate in the topic of the thesis， such as“Task-based teaching methods”， “game teaching”， and “silence in the classroom” “killing a robin” “Pride and Prejudice” “Jane Eyre” “killing a robin”. In addition， there are also some topic are old， Investigate on the Status of Autonomous Learning of College Students and The Application of Task-based Teaching Method in English Reading Teaching in Senior High School. Such kinds of topics just state some opinions and students just stand on the shoulders of the ancestors without bringing any new ideas.

The essay puts forward suggestions based on the problems existing in topic selection.one is giving some suggestions for school，the other is giving some suggestions for students.

4. Suggestions for School

4.1 Integrating Professional Teaching in All Stages

As mentioned above， the topic of graduation thesis of English majors is either too large or too small， or lack of originality. Therefore， the English major undergraduate thesis is an important basis for the accreditation of bachelors degree for English majors; it is one of the important contents for evaluating and assessing the quality and level of foreign language teaching in colleges and universities. It means that thesis is closely related to the daily learning. Therefore， it is very necessary to integrate the thesis topic selection into professional teaching in each stage. For example， when teachers teach Advanced English Writing， involving scholarly thesis writing， asking some questions to find answers by students， and guiding students how to use network resources. And in English and American Literature classes， teachers should guide students how to appreciate describe writers and his works， write reviews.

4.2 Adjusting the Starting Time of Thesis Writing Instruction

According to Syllabus for English Majors of Higher Education in China， it stipulates that the English professional undergraduate thesis writing instruction course is only started in the first semester of the senior year. In fact， many colleges and universities also start classes for students in the first semester of the senior year. However， with the increase of employment pressure， students hope to complete the graduation thesis writing as soon as possible， so that there is enough time to find jobs， internships and so on. so the thesis writing instruction should be adjusted to the first semester of the junior year. This kind of adjustment is reasonable and does not disrupt the teaching plan. It is only slightly earlier in time， but it is in line with the actual needs of students and it is conducive to facilitating students to enter the topic of graduation thesis as soon as possible， and to improve the quality of topics selected for graduation thesis.

4.3 Establishment of Quality Management and Monitoring System.

In all aspects of graduation thesis writing， establish different levels of quality control measures to ensure the quality of thesis writing and the quality of teacher thesis guidance. The quality monitoring and management of thesis writing consists of four aspects： the monitoring of preparation phase of thesis writing; the quality monitoring of thesis writing process; the mid-term examination of thesis writing and student feedback; the evaluation system of objective and science of graduation thesis.The monitoring of preparation phase of thesis writing has a main task is that the teaching managers and the organizers of graduation thesis writing should help the students in the first semester of senior year to help them establish a correct writing attitude. At the same time， thesis writing courses are set up at various stages cover topics selected， writing methods， standardized formats， problems in writing process， and corresponding countermeasures. The main task of the quality monitoring of thesis writing process is that teaching managers conduct quality monitoring in all aspects， such as regularly holding meetings between instructing teachers and students to understand the progress of thesis writing and existing problems. When the writing of thesis progresses to the mid-term， each department will examine the students thesis and instructors guidance.

5. Suggestions for Students

It is significant that students should master the principles and strategies of topic selection.

5.1 Mastering the Principles of Topic Selection

（1） The Appropriateness of the Topic Selection

In general， the number of words for undergraduate thesis is about 5000. The problems of thesis should be discussed thoroughly， so the scope of the thesis topic should not be too large.The scope of the topic should be narrowed to focus on one aspect of the problem.

（2） The Objectivity of the Topic Selection

To evaluate the quality of a thesis， we must not only depends on the quality of writing， but also consider its practical significance objectively. First， It is clear when the topic is selected： is there a practical value for this topic？ Is the direction of the topic closely related to social life？ Second， students will think： Does the topic have theoretical value？Third， dont take on more than you can cope with. Try to make the selected topic meet the students knowledge structure， research ability and writing level.

（3） The Innovation of Topic Selection

Innovation is the life of academic and scientific research， and it is an important principle to be followed in the writing of graduation thesis.How do the students make their topic innovate？ First， the concept must be new. Second， the information must be new. As English major， students should pay attention to the information of this subject so that selected topics are theoretical and practical significance. The third is the new point of view. The same thing， different people have different views; the same writing object， different angles， different writing. If students want to make their thesis innovate， they have to think from different points.

5.2 Mastering the Strategies of Topic Selection

5.2.1 Widening the Channel of Topic Selection

First， select topics from reading literature materials. Through reading the literature materials， students can understand the research history and current situation of a topic. Second， select topics from the Internet. The Internet has a large amount of information. Through the collection and query of data， it is possible to fully grasp the dynamics of research topics and future research directions. Third， the topic selection of graduation thesis should pay attention to the integration of interdisciplinary. Students can try to combine linguistics， translation or literature to make cross studies， or to compare the above disciplines to find a new breakthrough. Fourth， select topics from the discussion. After discussing， processing， and digesting， students can trigger inspiration for topic selection.

5.2.2 Considering Personal Interests

Interest is the positive tendency of people to seek to understand something or participate in activities. If students are interested in a topic， they will pay attention to it and study it. Interest determines the direction of the topic. If you are interested in literature， you will write a thesis on literature. Because of strong interest， the desire for research is stronger， the higher internal motivation and writing mood， the greater possibility of success.

5.2.3 Listening to Instructor Guidance

Select a topic is the first step in graduation thesis writing. The instructors will guide the students to select a topics and make it clear. Instructor should intensify their efforts to guide students to keep on selecting topics， and to “change the wrong ones into correct ones; turn negative ones into positive ones; change ambiguity into clear ones; change superficiality into deep ones”. Students should be good at listening to instructors suggestions when selecting topics， communicating their ideas with tutors and learning from each other repeatedly， so as to avoid detours in topic selection in thesis.

6. Summary

In short， the author summarized the problems in the topic selection process and provided some suggestion. It is hoped that the findings of this essay can motivate students to pay more attention to the topic selection and writing of graduation thesis of English majors， and to a certain extent improve the quality of the thesis.

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