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Research Question:

Is Arabic Language in Danger in Qatar and UAE?

Professor Instructions:

For the research paper, you will be writing an argumentative essay.  Your task in this assignment is to enrich your understanding of a relevant issue that is of a general interest.  You are expected to take a position on that issue and to support your views and justify your choices.  In order to carry out this analysis successfully, you will need to dig deeper into both primary and secondary sources beyond your immediate experience and beyond the readings in our textbook.  Simply put, you will be conducting research.  Your inquiry should take into account not only how the object of analysis is consumed and how it works, but also how it is perceived, analyzed, and understood.  In sum, you will be required to look into what a certain issue means in light of the debates surrounding it.  It is important to keep in mind that this is a focused research paper which deals with a specific issue you strive to better understand.  The length of your paper should be 5-6 double-spaced pages.

So far, you have chosen your topic, gotten it approved, identified your research questions, collected information from the library, and reviewed your sources. Now you’re in a position to start writing your paper.  You will attempt to organize your ideas in terms of global goals (setting your overall aims and claims) and local goals (mapping ways of achieving these aims at the paragraph level).  While it is good to be confident about your findings and argument, I urge you to treat your position flexibly and not to be reluctant to reconsider your priorities, refocus your goals, and diverge from your initial formulations, and explore new possibilities.  It would probably not be possible to write your paper in one sitting.  So plan to devote blocks of time to think through the issues, do the readings, write, rewrite, revise, and edit your work. Note that you will be expected to use research material and provide at least 5 quotations from various sources in your paper.