Finding research topics is a regular part of every linguist’s life, and there is no magic recipe for success
at it. Where good questions come from (not to mention good answers) is a mystery that this FAQ list,
alas, will not solve for you. On the other hand, there are two steps you can take that will significantly
improve your odds of finding good topics for your Generals in finite time, and will help you develop
them into excellent, defendable papers.
First, make sure you are exposing yourself to a variety of ideas and puzzles in linguistics. That is not
hard to do in our department. If you find your classes interesting, if you attend colloquia and a reading
group or two, if you like chatting about linguistics with your classmates and other students, you will
inevitably acquire a personal collection of intriguing ideas and puzzles. Among these you will surely
find at least two that are promising topics for Generals papers. The more you involve yourself in the
intellectual life of the department, the greater the likelihood that you can enter the Generals process
with appropriate topics already in mind.
Second, take full advantage of the expertise of the faculty and their eagerness to help you develop your
research. By the end of your first year, you will probably have met one-on-one with several faculty
members in connection with class papers and projects. You will also have worked closely with at least
one faculty member in your second-semester independent study. If any of these interactions are
particularly fruitful, or if there is someone new with whom you want to work, schedule a meeting with
one or more of these faculty members, to discuss ideas for Generals paper research. (It is also fine to
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just say “suggest a topic”.) In all likelihood, you will sense when a topic and a working relationship
“clicks”, at which point you might consider asking for regular meetings.
The summer after the first year is the best time to start thinking about your first Generals paper, so that
you begin the second year with some ideas already in hand. This might be a good time to revisit old
squibs you wrote and interesting papers that you read, and an especially good time to talk with faculty
about possible projects. At the same time, false starts and changes of direction are entirely normal as
you undertake your Generals paper research. These should be no cause for concern (unless they start
numbering in the double digits). Just the opposite, in fact. Even your false starts are teaching you
something about language, and often end up as topics of your future work.