MA THESIS GUIDELINES

In order to complete your MA in English Language Teaching,

you must write your MA thesis. You have already taken a
course in MA Thesis Writing and this should have given you a
clear idea of how to approach the thesis. The following are
some guidelines and suggestions to help you select a topic.
A. PROCEDURE
Before you write your MA thesis, you should submit an MA
Thesis Proposal to be approved by the Academic Faculty
Council of the Faculty of Languages, Cultures and
Communications, SEEU. You must do this using the standard
MA Thesis Proposal form and you must have the agreement
and signature of your Mentor before it can go before the
Council. Do NOT begin work on the thesis itself until your
Thesis Proposal has been approved. It can take 2-3 months
before your Proposal is fully developed and ready for
submission to the Council. Do not rush this step in the
process your Mentor will give you advice on completing the
Proposal and will advise you on when it is ready for
submission.
Once the Proposal is accepted, you are free to proceed
with your research. You are likely to spend 9-12 months or
more on this phase of the project. Once the thesis is written
and ready for submission, your Mentor will inform the
Academic Council. An Evaluation Committee is created from
the members of the Council to evaluate your work. Your
Mentor is required to write a formal statement (Thesis
Evaluation) which summarizes your thesis content and offers
an appraisal of your work. This is then agreed and signed by
the members of the Evaluation Committee and presented to
the Council again. The Council then decides if the MA
candidate can proceed to the Thesis Defence. Then a
Defence date is set and if the thesis is defended successfully,
the candidate gains the title of MA.

B. CHOOSING A TOPIC
1) Size: You will have approximately one year to do this
research, and your final thesis will be approximately
50-100 pages. Do not choose a topic too large or too
small for these basic parameters.
2) Interest: Do not choose a subject that bores you
merely because you think it would be easy, or you think
that it is a subject of interest to a professor you like.
Choose something that will be a continuing source of
interest to you over a year.
3) Relevance: Your topic must have some basic academic
value.
4) Ability: Can you actually do what you propose? Keep
your scope moderate and reasonable, keeping in mind
what you enjoy, to what people (or data) you have
access, and what your research question is.
5) Clear Research Aims: Do not pick something imprecise.
This often happens when one rushes a choice. Try to
define your problem exactly; your professors can help
you with this.
6) Morality: If your work will involve observing,
questioning, or teaching others, you must not conduct
research that is either against their will or contrary to
their knowledge. Your mentor can advise you about
this.
C. SUGGESTIONS
1) Talk with your professors. We are professionals; we
can help.
2) Consider what you really enjoy about English. What
classes have you enjoyed? What topics excite your
interest or curiosity? Is there some element of the
English language that is particularly intriguing or
fascinating for you?
3) Study your books and photocopies. These will give
you a good idea of what kind of research people do,

and how they present it. This will also help you to
refine what most interests you, and what you most
enjoy.
4) Consider your circumstancesif you have no
students, dont pick a subject that requires a great
deal of interaction with students; if you have no
access to a library, try not to pick a subject that is
terribly reliant upon academic journals; if you have
no money, try not to pick a subject that will require
travel all over Macedonia, or beyond.
D. PRACTICAL RESEARCH TIPS
1) No thesis is completely original. You will need to draw
on sources and research already published and to write
a detailed Literature Review.
2) Use the internet. Check any ESL sites youve used in
the past. Use the Google Scholar search engine.
3) Use any Library you may have access to. Check the
shelves for ESL texts in your area of interest.
4) If you cannot find enough information about your topic,
ask your Mentor for advice. He/she will be happy to
help you and may be able to help you source research
materials.

E. LIST OF MENTORS IN THE LCC FACULTY

Prof. Dr. Ferit Rustemi (f.rustemi@seeu.edu.mk)
Morphology
Contrastive Analysis
Teaching Grammar
Prof. Dr. Ismail Mehmeti (i.mehmeti@seeu.edu.mk)
Syntax
Contrastive Analysis

Teaching Grammar
Prof. Dr. Brikena Xhaferi (b.xhaferi@seeu.edu.mk)
ELT Methodology
Second Language Acquisition
Teaching Vocabulary
Doc. Dr. Agim Poshka (a.poshka@seeu.edu.mk)
Cultural Issues in ELT
ELT Methodology
Assessment and Testing
Doc. Dr. Arta Toci
(a.toci@seeu.edu.mk)
Socio-Linguistics
Inter-relationship between L1 and L2
Second Language Acquisition
Translation
Doc. Dr. Veronika Kareva (v.kareva@seeu.edu.mk)
English for Specific Purposes
Teaching Methodology
Educational Management
Doc. Dr Aida Koci (a.koci@seeu.edu.mk)
Needs Analysis and Course Design
Service Learning and Special Needs
Methodology of Teaching Culture
Doc. Dr Maja Muhic (m.muhic@seeu.edu.mk)
Research Methodology
Social Contexts in Education
Prof. Dr. Benjamin Keatinge (b.keatinge@seeu.edu.mk)
Literature in ELT
Civilization and Culture
Doc. Dr Arafat Shabani (a.shabani@seeu.edu.mk)
Psychology of Education
Teaching Methodology

Curriculum Design
Prof. Dr. Andrew Goodspeed (a.goodspeed@seeu.edu.mk)
Literature in ELT
Doc. Dr. Vlera Ejupi
Literature in ELT

(v.ejupi@seeu.edu.mk)

Doc. Dr. Elena Spirovska

Translation (English/Macedonian)
Literature and ELT
Doc. Dr Qatip Arifi (q.arifi@seeu.edu.mk)
Language Assessment
ELT Methodology
Teaching Grammar
Doc. Dr. Lulzime Kamberi (State University of Tetovo:
l.kamberi12@gmail.com)
Teaching and Assessing Writing
Second Language Acquisition
ELT Methodology
Prof. Dr. Vejsel Nuhiu (University of Prishtina
v.nuhiu@seeu.edu.mk; veselnuhiu@yahoo.com)
Translation
Linguistics

Good luck.