About the Book
The book provides a grounded, narrative exploration of contemporary qualitative PhD research in the fields of language education and applied linguistics. The chapters are authored by current and former PhD candidates studying in New Zealand, with commentaries from international experts in the field.
The book contains ten chapters in addition to the foreword, introduction and afterword. Each chapter addresses a different stage of PhD candidature: pre-enrolment; the first six months, research design, literature review, data collection, data analysis, drafting chapters, supervision and feedback, publishing and the examination process. Each chapter includes a set of questions for the readers to reflect on issues raised by the authors, and a comprehensive list of references.
The book is intended for an audience of prospective and current PhD candidates, PhD supervisors, academic language and learning advisors who work with PhD candidates, researchers working in the field of doctoral education, and university administrators in pertinent leadership roles.
Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. What and where to study 2. The first six months 3. Research design 4. Literature review 5. Data collection 6. Data analysis 7. Drafting chapters 8. Supervision and feedback 9. Publication 10. Examination
About the Author :
Laura Gurney completed her PhD at Deakin University and is Senior Lecturer at Te Kura Toi Tangata School of Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand. Laura is an experienced language teacher and language teacher educator, having previously taught at Griffith University and Deakin University in the areas of applied linguistics and TESOL, teacher education, Spanish as an additional language, and English for academic purposes. As a researcher and PhD supervisor, she specialises in teacher development, academic literacies, higher education, and innovative approaches in applied linguistics and education.
Yi Wang obtained her PhD in applied linguistics at University of Waikato in 2016 and has since then been working as a language teacher and researcher at Waikato Institute of Technology, New Zealand. Prior to that, she had taught for ten years at Shandong University of Technology, China. She implements and researches into learner-story-based language teaching and learning and inclusive practice for diverse learners. She examines in depth the delicacy of scaffolding and control shift in the development of learner autonomy. Her research also involves cross-cultural learner and teacher narratives, identities, and academic/professional/personal development.
Roger Barnard recently retired as Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at the University of Waikato. Before taking up a lectureship in New Zealand in 1995, he worked in England, Europe, and the Middle East as a teacher, teacher educator, manager, and advisor to ministries of education. Over the past twenty-five years, he has taught graduate courses in applied linguistics, supervised over twenty PhD and MA research students, and examined many more. He publishes frequently and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals. Over the years, he has been visiting professor in Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam, and has accepted many other invitations in mostly Asian universities, where he has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses and undertaken joint research projects.
Review :
‘This book offers a comprehensive account of the nature of PhD education in New Zealand, drawing on the experiences of doctoral students as they navigate their way through the research and writing process as well as providing the perspectives of experienced doctoral supervisors and PhD examiners. Reflecting the varied contexts in which students conduct doctoral research, the book provides an illuminating account of the challenges students face as they develop a research identity, the practical and emotional issues they encounter, the role played by supervisors in guiding the students’ development of a critical and original voice, and the nature and processes by which supervisors provide feedback during the doctoral process. The book will be an invaluable resource for doctoral candidates and PhD supervisors and makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the nature of PhD Education.’
Jack C Richards, Honorary Professor, University of Sydney
‘The PhD journey is both an exciting and challenging experience, which takes emerging scholars into new sites and sometimes difficult conversations. But as the authors in this compelling collection reassure us, the PhD journey is never taken alone. Co-editors Laura Gurney, Wang Yi and Roger Barnard have identified with care the diverse stakeholders in the PhD journey, as well as the major milestones. Through rich narratives from PhD students at different stages of their doctoral programs, as well as supervisors, committee members, and external examiners, readers gain much insight into a journey that changes lives and transforms identities. Narratives of Qualitative PhD Research makes a significant and timely contribution to the story of applied linguistics and language education.’
Dr. Bonny Norton, FRSC; University Killam Professor, UBC Dept. of Language & Literacy Education
‘A revealing interactive collection of first-hand accounts by doctoral students and supervisors exploring the scope and dynamics of doctoral research, many of its key challenges, and ways of understanding and negotiating them. A hugely valuable contribution to the development of applied linguistics research practices’
Martin Bygate, Emetitus Professor, Lancaster University
'This is a book, no the book, that I wish I had had at the beginning, in the middle and at the culmination of my own PhD journey. Not just another thesis writing guide, the introduction, the ten chapters and the most engaging narrative Afterword take us through the whole process from initial choices of topic to thesis examination. Within the three-take structure of the chapters, the first two writers recount and reflect on their relatively recent PhD experiences, dialoguing with each other, and the third take is from acknowledged experts in the field who provide a thesis supervisor’s perspective.
The volume is relevant far beyond the academic field of Applied Linguistics in which all the contributors operate. In Huong’s words (Chapter 7 Take 2) "no one can solve their own problems better than themselves". But all who are involved in the PhD thesis process can gain much from the challenging chapters in this book.'
James McLellan, PhD, Associate Professor in English Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
