Dissertation

Language

French

Main themes

The masters dissertation, irrespective of the subject, allows a student to :

• carry out a critical analysis and summarise a given scientific topic,
• put a specific issue/statement in context drawing on existing information,
• present the results of the dissertation by justifying the methodological choices, explaining the hypotheses and scientifically stating the results obtained.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The dissertation must demonstrate the author's ability to describe correctly the results of a personal, objective and methodical work. The length of the dissertation is not a criteria in evaluating its quality. Similar to the other forms of learning, the dissertation is an essential component of the programme to which it belongs. It consists of research work which students should consider as a first step in research in their particular field. The dissertation is a research work : " specific, as regards the other teaching activities ; " methodical, the underlying methodology has already been acquired in the bachelor and masters programme ; " integrated in the programme and limited to the scope of the subject. Guidelines regarding the dissertation can be found on http://www.uclouvain.be61093.html.

Content

The form of the dissertation will vary according to the specialisation chosen.
For students in the specialization in automatic language processing, the dissertation will preferably be an extension of the research laboratory placement of at least 7 weeks (LING9996). The dissertation itself will develop the theoretical aspects underlying the practical work carried out during the placement.
For other purposes, the dissertation will follow the following outline: - Address a linguistic problem involving an empirical study based on authentic data (corpus analysis, sociolinguistic survey, psycholinguistic experiment, etc.).

Evaluation methods

The dissertation is supervised by a promoter (see faculty definition; link). If the subject of the dissertation so requires, or at the request of the student or the promoter, a co-promoter may be requested and appointed. The student must submit his or her subject to the promoter for approval. The dissertation jury is made up of the promoter and two readers appointed by the master's jury.
The dissertation is assessed on the basis of :

• Achievement of its objectives.
• The ability to produce a relevant and well-documented summary.
• Personal commitment and ability to discuss methodological choices.
• The coherence and completeness of the work carried out.
• The quality and relevance of the written word and illustrations.

If generative artificial intelligence (AI) is used, it must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. As scientific integrity requires that sources be cited, the use of AI must always be reported. 

Faculty or entity

> ELAL