1. Structure of a BA thesis
in TEFL or Linguistics

2. 1) Introduction - can begin with anecdotal, personal elements to explain choice of topic - identifies a research niche, then occupies it. (Typically: while a good deal of research has examined X, there have been few studies that have focussed on Y.) - formulates research question(s) or research topic(s) and explains how these will be addressed -outlines the structure of the thesis.

3. 2) Theoretical Background
- should only contain material that is relevant to the topic, research question etc.
- resist the temptation to write about interesting theoretical articles you read, but which do not support your arguments and relate to your topic
- if you are writing about a well-established theory (e.g. intercultural communicative competence) refer to the original publications, rather than relying (only) on overviews in recent online articles (often from Asian or middle eastern universities).

4. - keep thinking how the theory relates to the empirical or practical sections, and refer to these links in the theoretical section
- be a respectful but enthusiastic novice scholar; don’t generalise without referring to sources in established literature or previous research - avoid writing in the style of a coursebook
- the thesis should read a little like a research article, but best of all, it should read like a thesis. Look at some good BA theses, preferably from your own discipline: focus on tone, register, argumentation, plus formal aspects (layout, formal structure, etc.)

5. https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/pubtheses
Full List of PUB Theses Publications
2009 | Bielefeld Master Thesis | PUB-ID: Just, systematic but still motivating? : Towards a method of assessing in-class participation Fischer J-P (2009) Bielefeld (Germany): Bielefeld University.
PUB | PDF

6. 2006 | Bielefeld Dissertation | PUB-ID: The affordances of visuals in materials for foreign language learning and teaching : perspectives from theory and research Skorge P (2006) Bielefeld (Germany): Bielefeld University.
PUB | PDF

7. 3) Empirical section Aims Participants Methods Materials Procedure
An account of empirical study typically has some or all of these sections:
Aims
Participants
Methods
Materials
Procedure
Results
Discussion

8. 4) Conclusion
Typically briefly summarises the whole thesis, returning to the research topic or question(s), and repeating the key findings or lack of findings.
Ends with an outlook for future research, pinpointing interesting new questions that have emerged from the study, questions that could not be answered by the study or improvements that could be made to the study.

9. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
References: Use APA citation style (or another author-date method) for in-text citations and the References that come after the Conclusion.
How to do APA:
Quoting, paraphrasing, summarising:
The Appendix (or Appendices) come after the References.

10. REMEMBER!
Keep the project well focussed and manageable
Have a modest project that can be done well
Don’t aim to win a Nobel prize this time round
If you do empirical research: things will go wrong. Work creatively with these wrong things.