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a written thesis, writing is also important in the organization of practical
work and in the conceptualization of the argument that links the different
parts of the work together. The problem is exacerbated by the considerable
discrepancy between the English demanded for academic writing and the
everyday spoken English you will encounter. So, it is vital that as a student
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from a non-English speaking background you do something about
improving your command of the English language and its grammar from
the very start of your course. It cannot be stressed too strongly how
important it is for this to be arranged from the very beginning and not left
until the research work is almost completed. It is a sensible investment
which will have payoffs in the rest of your career, as English has become
the international scientific and academic language. Reading with a good
English dictionary beside you has advantages for all students.
One result of inadequate English, especially on the part of good stu-
dents, is that conscientious supervisors become involved in a moral con-
flict concerning how far they should intervene in the writing process. As
their students come to the end of their period of registration and residence
in Britain, supervisors feel increasing pressure to ensure their students
success by writing parts of the thesis themselves. This is unacceptable for a
variety of reasons, not least because potential employers are entitled to
assume that a British PhD can write acceptable English.
The culture of British doctoral education
For overseas students from many countries the self-starting nature of the
British postgraduate educational process may present particular problems.
Students from such countries expect major contributions from their
supervisors towards the research and writing the thesis. You may come
from an educational system that is built on the view that knowledge and
wisdom come from the ancients; that the older a source is, the more senior
in status a person is, the more valued their pronouncements are held to be.
You do not argue with your father, your guru, your professor; that would
be showing disrespect. You are here to learn from your supervisors by
doing what you are told. If you come from a culture that accords deferen-
tial respect to elders, seniors, teachers, you will be more used to waiting to
be told what to do before starting on a task. At the very least you will
expect to get approval for your idea before working on it.
If you do hold this view you will have to work very hard to under-
stand the nature of the new culture which you are entering. First, it is a
scientific and academic culture that values newness and change. Every-
body is striving for new conceptions, new analyses, new results that give
more knowledge, more understanding, more insight, more control.
Older approaches are superseded and become of historical interest only.
Newton is still regarded by many as the greatest physicist who ever
lived, but we no longer study his works in modern physics. We do not
regard it as a paradox that we know more about the English Civil War than
historians did a century ago, although they were living considerably
nearer to it.
Second, it is a culture in which you are being prepared to play your role
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as a partner in this process. You are being helped to think for yourself, take
initiatives, argue with your seniors and so on, in order to demonstrate that
you have something to contribute to the continually changing academic
debate.
Third, to help you on in this, you will be left to your own devices for
much of the time and this is regarded as an opportunity, not as a
deficiency.
If it is not conquered, this cultural difference becomes extremely debili-
tating by the time you get to the end of your period of research and have to
face the oral examination. In this situation the student is expected to
provide an assertive and confident defence of the thesis. It could happen
that students from cultures where they were taught to be respectful to
those in authority would find it far more difficult to engage in any real
argument with an examiner. The examiner would have a high status and
probably be older than the candidate, thus making a discussion between
equals almost impossible for the overseas student.
It would be sensible to spend some time going to seminars and observ-
ing, and eventually participating in situations where the usual criticism,
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