PhD

in Applied Linguistics by Thesis and Coursework

Student Handbook

July 27, 2015


SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 2

SECTION 2: THE PROGRAMME ....................................................................................................... 3

HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................... 3
STRUCTURE OF PROGRAMME ................................................................................................................ 3
STATUS AND PERIOD OF REGISTRATION .......................................................................................................... 3
RESIDENTIALS ............................................................................................................................................ 5
SUPERVISION ............................................................................................................................................. 5

SECTION 3 YOUR STUDIES ........................................................................................................... 5

COURSEWORK ................................................................................................................................... 5
THESIS AND COURSEWORK COURSES ............................................................................................................. 6
FASS (FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES) COURSES ................................................................................ 6
MA COURSES ............................................................................................................................................ 7
ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................................. 7
AUDITING COURSES .................................................................................................................................... 7
SUBMITTING COURSEWORK ......................................................................................................................... 7
DUE DATES ............................................................................................................................................... 8
EXTENSIONS AND LATE SUBMISSIONS ............................................................................................................. 8
CONFIRMATION OF MARKS .......................................................................................................................... 8
ACCREDITATION FOR PRIOR LEARNING ........................................................................................................... 8
THESIS ............................................................................................................................................. 9
KEY MILESTONES ........................................................................................................................................ 9
ADDITIONAL DEGREES ....................................................................................................................... 11
MASTERS OF RESEARCH (MRES) ................................................................................................................. 11
MASTERS OF PHILOSOPHY (MPHIL) ............................................................................................................. 12

SECTION 4 ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT ................................................................ 12

SUPPORT FOR YOUR STUDIES .............................................................................................................. 12

SUPERVISION ........................................................................................................................................... 12
RESIDENTIALS .......................................................................................................................................... 13
RESEARCH GROUPS .................................................................................................................................. 14
SOFTWARE, SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT ....................................................................................................... 14
SUPPORT FOR YOU ........................................................................................................................... 14
CONSULTING AND COUNSELLING SERVICES ................................................................................................... 14
A FRIENDLY EAR ....................................................................................................................................... 14

APPENDIX A - STARTING TO WRITE YOUR THESIS ......................................................................... 16

APPRENDIX B - DOCTORAL-LEVEL THINKING AND CRITICAL WRITING ........................................... 20

APPENDIX C - THINGS NOT TO DO IN ACADEMIC WRITING ........................................................... 22

APPENDIX D - DEPARTMENT STAFF .............................................................................................. 24

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the PhD in Applied Linguistics by Thesis and Coursework programme! You have joined a
dynamic, intellectually diverse group of scholars that includes global leaders in corpus linguistics,
literacies, pragmatics, second language learning and teaching, discourse studies (particularly critical
discourse studies) and language testing. Our PhD students quite literally span the globe as our more
than 150 students conduct their studies here and throughout their home countries. Theres a
constant stream of scholars visiting our campus who will deepen your appreciation for current issues
in our field and broaden your perspective on topics currently engaging our profession. There are
research groups for you to join, informal conversations and debates to hold with your peers,
conferences and workshops throughout Britain for you to attendand your courses which will
stimulate you further. Theres more than you can possibly take part in, an embarrassment of riches,
a world of ideas. This is a PhD at Lancaster University.

Your first year is the time to explore. Whether youre full-time or part-time, you want to wonder, to
play with ideas and to stretch your thinking. Its a time to go beyond what you think you know and
to find out whats out there. At the same time, well be getting to know you and be finding out how
we can support you in achieving your academic and professional goals. Well also be learning what
you will be contributing to our community, because all of you come with experiences and ideas from
which we can learn.

Your peers play an important role in your post-graduate experience. Youll find that students in the
Thesis and Coursework programme have a number of similarities. They appreciate that theres a
wide range of methodological approaches to data collection and analysis, and they want to know
more about these options before finalizing their research design. They have practical work
experience, enough to know that no one has all the answers and that theres always more to learn.
Theyre often adding academic studies to the juggle of their personal and professional lives, which
means theyre focused and organized. Sometimes youll find them intimidating, sometimes youll BE
intimidatingits all part of the experience.

Your first year, then, is a time in which youll be becoming a member of multiple communities -
intellectual communities, the departmental community and communities of peers. Orientation week
is the first step in this process. We want you to feel welcome.

SECTION 2: THE PROGRAMME

People pursue doctorate degrees for many different reasons. To a greater or lesser extent, all PhD
students are interested in developing their capacities to engage with theory, read and critique
empirical research, and design and carry out independent research studies. Some people are
primarily motivated by career prospects, others by the opportunity to learn. Some come to the
programme with a wealth of practical experience that informs their understandings and research
choices. Others will be pursuing more theoretical studies. Regardless of your background, gaining a
PhD requires you to make an original contribution to knowledge. That means you must:

Develop a deep appreciation for the seminal works and current studies that provide the
theoretical framework for your study.
Craft research questions that address questions or extend understandings in your field.
Understand the methodological issues that must be addressed in designing research studies
and the epistemological underpinnings of the available methods.
Add to theory, address the practical implications of your research and/or expand
understandings of methodological issues in your field.

History
The PhD in Applied Linguistics by Thesis and Coursework programme was designed and created by
Dr. Jane Sunderland and was an outgrowth of her work in Romania after the political and social
changes of 1989. The first cohort began their studies in January 2001 and included students from
Britain, the USA, Canada, Japan and Italy. The programme has continued to grow and thrive, and at
any time there are now between 70 and 80 students working on their PhD in this programme.
(There are also another 80 to 90 students pursuing their PhD by Thesis Only.) Students who start
their degrees in October 2015 and January 2016 form the programmes 16th cohort.

Structure of Programme
The Thesis and Coursework programme is designed for you to simultaneously complete your
coursework and develop your thesis. When appropriate, you are encouraged to identify
opportunities to use your classes to advance your thesis development. The table on Page 5 provides
a brief overview of the programmes key elements and deadlines.

Status and Period of Registration

When you begin your studies at Lancaster University, you are classified as a provisional PhD student.
Your status changes to PhD student after you are successfully confirmed (see Key Milestones,
p.10).
Lancaster University requires all PhD students to maintain their registration with the university for a
minimum period of enrolment. For full-time students, this period is three years. For part-time
students in the Thesis and Coursework Programme, it is five years. If you continue to study beyond
your minimum period, you may eventually qualify for writing up fees. Writing up fees are

Table 1
Programme Overview

* The year-to-year course breakdowns are suggestions only and students may
decide on a different schedule in conjunction with their supervisor. However, we
do not generally recommend that students take more than two courses per
term.

substantially lower fees charged toward the end of your programme. While you are on writing up
fees, it is assumed that your thesis is almost finished, that you are working on final edits, and that
you require little to no supervision. Full-time students who have completed their minimum period of
study move to writing up fees one year after successful confirmation; part-time students move to
writing up fees after completing their minimum period of study and submitting a first full draft of
their thesis to their supervisor, but not sooner than one year after successful confirmation.
Occasionally, students change from full-time to part-time status or vice versa and this does not
create any significant administrative problems. However, except in rare circumstances, you must
change your status in your first year of study. Your minimum and maximum periods of study are
calculated using your status at the end of your first year.

Residentials
Over the course of your programme, you will attend four residentials. These residentials, described
in more detail in the next section, are a vital component of your programme. In addition to courses
and workshops, they provide opportunities to establish your place within academic communities at
Lancaster University and beyond. You are required to attend all four residentials in full.

Supervision
Applicants to the Thesis and Coursework programme are accepted by the department AND by a
supervisor. That is, your supervisor(s) reviewed your application and decided that youre someone
with whom they want to work. No one will be more interested in your success than they are.
In all probability, your supervisor will be your one constant relationship over the course of your
programme and youll want to invest time in learning their expectations of PhD students in general
and you in particular. Occasionally students change supervisors, sometimes because their thesis
topic and/or methodology has shifted and sometimes because a supervisor has retired or otherwise
left Lancasters employment. Whenever possible, students are actively consulted about such
changes although this is not always possible.
On rare occasions, students decide to change their topic so radically that it no longer fits within their
supervisors area of expertise. In such situations, the student assumes all risk for the quality of the
thesis: no student is entitled to a new supervisor because they want to change their topic.
Lancaster University has very clear expectations of supervisors AND students as it relates to
maintaining regular and on-going communication. There is a link to the Code of Conduct from Group
16s Moodle site.

SECTION 3 YOUR STUDIES

The Thesis and Coursework programme requires you to complete 120 credits of coursework and to
successfully defend your PhD Thesis. The degree is awarded solely on the basis of the thesis.

Coursework
Students complete 120 credits of coursework, 60 credits in Applied Linguistics and 60 credits in
Research Methods. Your initial coursework plan should be completed and approved by your
supervisor and submitted to Elaine Heron by the end of your first week in the programme. (Please

see your Welcome Pack for the necessary forms.) Most students complete their coursework over
two years; however, some full-time students complete it over a shorter period.

Thesis and Coursework Courses

Courses offered in the Thesis and Coursework (T&C) Programme are scheduled over a two year
period; that is, courses offered in the
first year of your programme are Figure 1
different than courses offered in the Overview of Course Requirements
second year of your programme.
Classes start in January and finish in
July. The first units are conducted face-
to-face and held during the January
residential. Then classes continue
online, with the exact number of classes
or units conducted by distance varying
by course. (Note: There are 9 units in a
20-credit course.) The classes conclude
with another set of face-to-face classes
during the July residential.

The T&C Research Methods courses

alternate each year. The courses
offered in 2016 are Quantitative
Methods for Applied Linguistics (20
credits), Interview Methods and
Questionnaire Design (10 credits) and
Collecting, Analyzing and Transcribing
Spoken Data (10 credits). In 2017, we will offer Quantitative Data and Analysis for Applied Linguistics
(20 credits), Reading Research Papers (10 credits) and Critical Approaches to Social Data in Applied
Linguistics (10 credits).

The T&C Applied Linguistics courses differ each year; however, they are not offered on a rotating
basis. Instead, students in the first year of their programme are offered a selection of possible
courses (usually 5) that could be offered in their second year. Each student votes for three courses,
and the three courses with the most votes are offered in the following year. (Note: In the event of a
tie, greater weight is given to the votes of students who are studying away.) Thus, the courses
offered in 2016 were selected by Group 15 and they are Corpus Linguistics, Digital Literacies and
Sociolinguistics. Voting for 2017 courses will take place in Spring 2016.

FASS (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences) Courses

FASS courses are organized at the faculty rather than department level and include a number of
post-graduate courses that may be of interest to you. These include credit and non-credit courses,
face-to-face and digitally-mediated courses, and subject matter and research methods courses.
There are FASS courses on qualitative and quantitative methods, although they are not tailored to
topics in applied linguistics. It is also possible to take post-graduate courses in other departments IF

you are able to obtain that departments permission. Check the FASS website for post-graduate
students for more information about these courses.

MA Courses
T&C students may also choose from among any of the face-to-face and/or distance Masters courses.
Registration in distance courses is conditional on available space and approval of the appropriate
Director of Studies.

Assessment
Coursework for students in the T&C programme is assessed differently than for Masters students.
Unless you have chosen to pursue an MRes (see p.11), your papers are assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.
In addition, you will receive extensive formative assessment as well as an indication as to whether
your work is at, approaching or below PhD level. The emphasis is on developing your capacities as an
academic researcher, including but not limited to the quality of your writing, and you are expected
to use your feedback to improve your subsequent coursework as well as your thesis. For this reason,
it is important that your coursework is representative of your capacities and capabilities as an
academic. All coursework must receive a passing grade for you to continue as a T&C student.

At the same time, we recognize that your understandings of academic research and writing will be
developing throughout your programme. Some students come from academic cultures that are very
different from the culture they encounter at Lancaster. Therefore, in accordance with university
policy, you may revise and resubmit a failed piece of coursework for up to 50% of your required
course credits (60 credits). Again, the focus is on your development as an academic researcher and
only your final grade is recorded in your student file.

Auditing Courses
T&C students are welcomed and encouraged to audit courses. If you audit a course, you are
expected to attend every class and to complete the readings and activities that are expected of
students taking the course for credit; however, you do not write a final paper. Many T&C students
audit courses. Being practical, you are unlikely to be able to audit more than one course per term
occasionally students try but very quickly they find they cannot manage the workload but auditing
provides a valuable opportunity for broadening your intellectual horizons.

The T&C programme is unusual in that you do not decide which course(s) you are taking for credit in
advance. Thus, you might attend three courses during the Michaelmas (Fall) term and decide in
November that youll only take one course for credit even though you initially planned to write
papers for two. We are flexible because we are focused on your academic development and because
we want to encourage you to explore ideas, concepts and theories before deciding too quickly on
your research design.

Submitting Coursework
All coursework is submitted on Moodle. Each piece of coursework or paper MUST be accompanied
by a T&C cover sheet, which is available on the Moodle site for Group 15. DO NOT use the cover
sheet for Masters courses. Coursework will not be forwarded to the tutor for marking until the
correct cover sheet has been properly completed and submitted.

Due Dates
For T&C courses, students submit one piece of coursework on or before September 30 and the
remaining coursework on November 23. In other words, for the courses you start in January and
finish in July, you decide which course paper you will submit in September and which you will submit
in November.
For FASS and Masters courses, the due date for that coursework is established by that programme.

Extensions and Late Submissions

Different cultures treat punctuality and lateness quite differently. Lancaster University is very strict
about submitting coursework on time and policies on late submission need to be taken very
seriously. Extensions may be granted for serious medical or family emergencies; extensions will not
be granted because of changing work circumstances or because of the demands of a current/new
workplace. Requests for extensions must be sent to Elaine Heron; all decisions regarding extensions
are made by the Director of Studies for that programme. Requests for extensions for medical
reasons must be accompanied by documentation from a doctor and the documentation must
include their contact information.

If you do not submit a paper by the established deadline, we will assume you have audited the
course. This very strict requirement balances the flexibility you have in deciding which courses to
take for credit.

Confirmation of Marks
To ensure all students are treated equitably, English universities follow a process for reviewing
coursework and marks. Each university is different; Lancaster University programmes follow one of
four available options. Regardless of which option is chosen, no grades are final until the list of
course outcomes has been reviewed and approved by an external examiner and/or the individual
paper has been read by the external examiner and the mark approved. External examiners are
selected and approved by the university administration and are academics from another university.
There are several other points you should know about how your papers are marked:
Fifty credits of your coursework will be read by your supervisor as well as by the course
tutor, and your supervisor will provide additional feedback on these papers. When you
complete your course plan with your supervisor, please decide which papers your supervisor
would like to read and indicate your choices on your course plan.
The external examiner reads a sample of all coursework. This is part of the process of
ensuring fairness and equity in our marking.
Any coursework which received a Fail is read by your supervisor and the external
examiner. In other words, every failing paper is read by three people. We are very cautious
about assigning a failing grade and you can be confident that we take the decision very
seriously.

Accreditation for Prior Learning

If you have a record of outstanding academic achievement in your Masters studies and if a course in
your Masters programme was comparable to a course in the T&C programme, you may apply for
accreditation of prior learning for one course. If your prior course is accredited, then your Applied

Linguistics requirement is reduced by 20 credits and your total credits of coursework required during
your T&C programme is reduced to 100. Decisions on accreditation are made on a case-by-case
basis.

Thesis
Your work on your thesis begins the moment you begin your programme. The thinking-reading-
thinking-writing-thinking-reading-and-writing-some-more that is vital to completing your thesis
wont always have obvious outcomes, but is part of how ideas develop and grow.

Key Milestones
There are three key milestones prior to submitting your thesis in advance of your viva: pre-
confirmation panel, confirmation panel and post-confirmation panel. The table on the following
page summarizes key details about each of these panels.

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Your pre- and post-confirmation panels are conversations with critical friends, a staff member who
isnt afraid to ask you tough questions but whose only interest is supporting you in your academic
endeavours. Your panel member is a fresh set of eyes and ears, and someone whose vantage point
may help them spot gaps that are less obvious to you and your supervisor. These panels are also an
opportunity to speak confidentially with another staff member about the support youre receiving in
your programme.
Your confirmation panel is a significant formal assessment that takes place after you have
successfully completed your coursework. Its a formal review of your progress on your PhD. How
much progress are you expected to have made? If youre a full-time student, you are expected to be
able to complete your PhD one year after your confirmation panel. Most students are successfully
confirmed after their first confirmation panel, although sometimes a student will be asked to make
minor changes or revision. In this case, the official confirmation date is the date that the amended
document is approved by the confirmation panel member. Sometimes a first panel is not successful
and a decision is deferred. All PhD students are allowed a second confirmation panel, which is
scheduled approximately 3 months later. A student who is not successfully confirmed at this point
does not proceed with their PhD studies.
Additional information about panels is available on the department webpage Additional Resources
for Current Students (http://ling.lancs.ac.uk/study/phd/resources.htm).

Additional Degrees
There are two additional degrees that are open to you, a Masters of Research and a Masters of
Philosophy.

Masters of Research (MRes)

An MRes is a Masters level degree which can be achieved in addition to a PhD. The MRes is
appropriate for a student with an outstanding record of academic achievement and is sometimes
useful for students whose home country values multiple rather than the highest degree achieved.
Students pursuing an MRes have their coursework marked differently and must produce an
additional major paper, the equivalent of a traditional Masters thesis. Key details are:

The decision to pursue an MRes is made when you submit your first piece of coursework.
The coursework of a student pursuing an MRes is marked on a percentage basis.
Penalties for late submission are handled in accordance with university policies for MA
students.
A student pursuing an MRes may not take for credit a course which they have previously
audited.
T&C students must achieve marks that meet the academic entry requirements for the T&C
programme or they will not be confirmed as a PhD student. In practice, this generally
equates with an overall average of 60% on coursework and a mark of no less than 60% for
the major paper.
Students pursuing an MRes write a major paper of 12,500 words on a topic that has been
approved by their supervisor.

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o A full-time student typically writes this paper at the end of their first year, a part-
time student at the end of their second, but it must be completed before the
confirmation panel.
o The paper must include original research. This may take the form of a pilot study for
the research that will form the PhD.
o Sections of the MRes may be used in a students confirmation document; however,
a confirmation document serves a different
An MRes is marked by the students supervisor and second-marked by staff member chosen
by the supervisor.
Note: The MRes is only open to students who have been accepted to the T&C programme.

Masters of Philosophy (MPhil)

A Masters of Philosophy is an alternative degree to the PhD. It is available to students who begin
their PhD programme but because of changes in personal circumstances and/or failure to pass their
confirmation panel are unable to continue with their studies. As with an MRes, the Masters of
Philosophy requires successful completion of coursework and a major paper. Your supervisor and/or
Director of Studies (Diane Potts) are open to discussing an MPhil with you at any point.

SECTION 4 ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

The department, faculty and university are deeply interested in your success and provide a range of
supports for your on-going development. The following is a brief summary of some of these, but it is
worthwhile exploring more of what the university has to offer.

Support for your Studies

Supervision
The most important support you have is the coaching and guidance you receive from your
supervisor. The university expects that you will spend an hour a month (PT) or fortnight (FT) with
your supervisor(s), discussing your progress, exploring ideas and strategizing your next steps. Away
students typically use Skype or another internet platform for these meetings. When youre collecting
data or writing, you may find yourself wanting to cancel or postpone these meetings. Dont or at
least not more than once or twice. Your supervisor can provide better support when they
understand how your thinking is evolving and they cant do that without regular contact.
The general principles that guide communication with your supervisor are:

Maintaining contact is your responsibility. You should not expect your supervisor to chase
you.
You should submit work at the agreed time. If you are late for some reason, let your
supervisor know before the deadline and explain the reason. If possible set a realistic new
deadline.
If major disruptions to your study occur you should tell your supervisor as soon as possible.
We know from experience that at some stage you are likely to feel reluctant to communicate with
your supervisor, and will be tempted to hide. This could be because you have just made less
progress than you would like, or because some crisis in your private or professional life is making it

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difficult to work on your research. If this happens please continue to keep in touch regularly with
your supervisor. If we do not know what is happening we cannot help you.

If you are unable to make good progress there are a number of ways that we may be able to help,
for example

Put you in touch with the Universitys counselling service

Suggest ways you can get help with academic writing
Arrange an intercalation for a specified period. This means you stop paying fees and the
clock stops on your studies. You can resume where you left off at the end of the period.
Intercalations are not granted lightly by the University, but they can be given for a variety of
reasons, e.g. for maternity or paternity, for medical reasons, for periods of intense work in
your job, or for catastrophic events such as natural disasters or wars affecting you or your
family. You must present a case (and usually documentation) showing why you need to
intercalate.
If you do not keep in touch with your supervisor, after a while we will start to assume that there is
an academic problem. Examples of behaviour which cause us to think that you are having problems
with reaching the required standard are:

Long silences failing to contact your supervisor spontaneously, allowing long periods to
pass without checking in
Not replying to emails we realise that emails can go astray, but when supervisors write
several times and do not receive a reply, we will draw the conclusion that you are receiving
the emails and not answering them
Missing deadlines when a deadline is agreed for you to deliver some work, and you do not
do so, and when you fail to meet further deadlines as well
These kinds of behaviour, especially when two or more occur together, put a strain on the
supervisor-student relationship and after a while, we will come to think that there is an academic
performance issue, i.e. that you are unable or unwilling to produce the required work. When this
stage is reached you will
1. Receive a message from your supervisor pointing out that you have not been keeping in
contact/have been missing deadlines to an unacceptable extent
2. Receive a message from the Director of Studies asking you to make immediate contact
3. Receive a further message warning you that if you do not make an acceptable response
immediately, the Department will request the Student Registry to take steps to end your
registration
4. Receive a message from the Registry proposing to de-register you as a student.
Please do not let things reach this stage. There is a simple rule:
Keep in regular contact!

Residentials
Throughout your residentials, you will participate in sessions on academic writing, panel preparation
and other topics which have a direct relevance to your current stage in your PhD programme. You
will also have regular opportunities to make short presentations on your work and to learn about
your peers studies. These sessions provide an important foundation for writing your thesis and
disseminating your research.

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Research Groups
The department has several research groups (e.g. Literacies, Language Testing, Gender and
Language), which meet weekly or fortnightly. In addition to reading and discussing recent published
work, visiting scholars, research students and staff often present their work and discuss their ideas.
These research groups tend to run during Lancaster University term times, however if you can come
to Lancaster at times other than the residentials we hope you will join one or more of these groups.
The department also has a Postgraduate Research Students Conference each July (during the
Residential) for which students in year 2 are expected to submit an abstract. You are also
encouraged to attend national and international conferences and eventually present your own work
there. The Faculty offers a small travel award to students who are presenting at conferences.

Software, Services and Equipment

Students who are studying or visiting Lancaster have access to computer and research labs, cameras
and recorders for data collection, photocopy services and data analysis software. Before you finalize
your research design, make sure you know whats available for your studies.

Support for You

Consulting and Counselling Services

FASS and Lancaster provide a range of consulting and counselling services. There are people who will
provide you with assistance in selecting and using statistical methods. FASS has a counsellor who
provides on-going writing (not proofreading!) support. The library will help you organize your
literature search; people in counselling services will help you find ways of achieving balance in your
studies. Your supervisor and/or Director of Studies can help you locate the services you need.

A Friendly Ear
Administrators, tutors, your supervisor and your Director of Studies want to help whenever they
can. Never be afraid to ask.

When Things Arent Working

Our postgraduate programmes are organized to support you in successfully completing your studies.
In addition to the courses, workshops and training events offered to postgraduate taught (Masters)
and postgraduate research (PhD) students, you have the ongoing support of your advisor/supervisor
and your programmes Director of Studies (DoS). Your relationship with your advisor/supervisor is
particularly important, as the coaching and advice you receive from them is crucial to furthering
your academic development. This is one reason we put such emphasis on communication.
However, sometimes and for whatever reason, communication breaks down and/or a student isnt
sure how to raise a troubling issue with their supervisor. If that should happen to you, your DoS is
another important source of support. They can:

help you with the departments and universitys policies and procedures;
identify counselling and/or other university supports if you need to talk with someone other
than your supervisor about personal issues; and/or
support you in deciding how to raise a sensitive issue with your supervisor.

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Sometimes they can simply be a sympathetic ear when you need to talk. The important point is that
if challenges do arise, you have somewhere to turn.

In very rare circumstances, a postgraduate student may not be comfortable talking with their DoS. In
such circumstances, then you may want to talk with the departments Director of Postgraduate
Studies or the Department Head. Or you may choose to follow the universitys Complaints and
Appeals Procedure and launch a formal complaint about how your situation has been handled.
Regardless of how you choose to proceed, the objective is to ensure you have the supports to which
youre entitled as a postgraduate student at Lancaster University.

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APPENDIX A - STARTING TO WRITE YOUR THESIS

As indicated in the Manual of Academic Regulations and Procedures (MARP), see

https://gap.lancs.ac.uk/ASQ/QAE/MARP/Pages/default.aspx, the results of your research must
then be embodied in a thesis which makes an original contribution to knowledge and the completed
thesis must contain material of a standard appropriate for scholarly publication. Easier said than
done, of course.
Weve included below some of what you would have heard and discussed had you taken the Faculty
of Social Sciences Research Training Programme module Starting a Dissertation, taught by Greg
Myers some time ago.
(Adapted from Greg Myers, Starting a Dissertation module; for I read Greg)

A Question of Identity
The basic problem as I see it is that PhD students are between two well-defined conditions, that of
student and that of lecturer. Universities are set up to take care of either of these two roles, but the
thesis writer has both, especially if he or she is already a lecturer or other professional, or if he or
she spends a lot to time teaching.
Is a PhD thesis so different from an undergraduate essay? Apparently, because almost anyone doing
a PhD is very good indeed at essay writing, and almost everyone has a hard time adapting to the
different expectations of a dissertation. Is a thesis so different from published academic writing?
Apparently, since academics can usually tell and condemn the style. Despite the now archaic
demand that the work be publishable, theses nearly always have to be substantially re-written to be
published in the current academic market. They are probably both narrower in topic and longer
than anything one writes later in ones career. And they seem to be irremediably defensive.
Most treatments of research try to present the PhD as an orderly transition from one state to the
other. One begins as a student, heavily supervised, and gradually becomes independent, sets ones
own deadlines, finds ones own readers, evaluates ones own work, participates more in the wider
discipline. Phillips and Pugh (in How to Get a PhD) try to explain the PhD by saying it is a certificate
of professional competence to do research in a specific discipline, and the candidate must display
the proper mastery. This combines the idea of display, as a student, with the idea of a professional
goal, and it helps explain why theses are so very different from other forms of academic writing.

But this transition model, in which the PhD student becomes a bona fide researcher in gradual
stages, doesnt explain why the writing is so hard. It tries to make the PhD experience simpler than
it is, by making a single coherent identity for the student. Handbooks, like Phillips and Pughs, seem
to assume that the students are almost universally mistaken in their understanding of what a PhD is,
and that the supervisors are also confused. The answer, for them, is to make the process more
explicit, to offer a PhD programme that would teach the various things that PhD students need to
know, dividing up the transition into schedules stages.
A more productive model might be to see PhD students and their supervisors as holding several
conflicting identities at once. With that model, we could draw on various social accounts of being in
between, of crossing boundaries, of being mixed. If they are liminal in this way, we might expect

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that PhD students would make both undergraduate students and lecturers very uncomfortable, and
that there would be rituals and rules for regulating the challenge they pose to the teacher/student
dichotomy. We could use phrases like rite of passage, or taboo. For many students, particularly
those doing a PhD part-time, it is even more complicated than this, because they must maintain
another identity at the same time, at their jobs or with their families.

The more I think about it, the more I think that the problems of writing a PhD are not just with
writing, in itself. Because a PhD takes so long, it is tied up with divorces, illnesses, deaths in the
family, kids being born or growing up, moving house, coups, elections back home, cyclical
depressions, migraines, flights, visa, car repairs, jobs, new computers. OK, life goes on for us all,
whether we are writing a thesis or not. But undergraduate essays (judging by the notes I get asking
for extensions) seem to be written in the brief periods between the personal crises. The writing of
lecturers can be put on the back burner, for a while, when other parts of life take priority. Somehow
with a PhD the writing has to go on, despite it all, for three years, with all that must happen in that
time.
Practical Advice
Planning
Most people seem to spend about six months flailing around trying to make a focused topic out of
the research area they have proposed. My way of planning is to make one-page long rough outlines
somehow keeping it to one page helps. Other people like sketching out a sort of diagram,
connecting boxes with arrows. Some arrange their index cards with topics on them in various piles
on the floor or the kitchen table. Others might find it easier to try to explain what they are doing to
someone else, and then write it down if it makes sense. If you are stuck, try writing a letter to
someone, real or imaginary, and explaining what you are doing.
Remember that a problem or a topic or an interest is not a basis for a thesis. You have to have
something specific to say about it, usually testing or extending something already established.
Phillips and Pugh make the practical suggestion that you should plan your claim so that you can
write something interesting whether it holds up or whether it is shot down. There has to be a
fallback position, something you can make of whatever you come up with.
You will almost certainly be narrowing your topic over the module of the thesis, preferably early on.
But remember narrowing doesnt just mean a smaller geographical or historical scope, or smaller
number of subjects. It means finding a specific way of linking some data and a claim a more
definite argument, not necessarily a more limited domain.
Getting it on Paper
Schedules in applications for grants often have a section at the end called writing up. I guess some
people must save this for the last year, but I cant imagine how. Nearly every supervisor Ive talked
to says writing should start right away, as soon as youve located the Department and the library.
But people put it off, until they get such and such data, or read such and such article, or get such and
such book from inter-library loan, or get access to somewhere. Dont. Remember the stuff you write
at this stage isnt likely to go into the thesis. It may be notes on reading (try getting yourself to
write, say, a page on each article or chapter you read). It may be a scrap of argument, a couple of
pages you imagine for a chapter 6 or the beginning of chapter 3. Or it may be a very messy forty-
page draft of a whole chapter, done in two days, with bits left out to fill in later. But do write all the

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time, at least once a week. This will prevent your having to face a blank page later. And dont worry
about wasting time chasing stray ideas that never make their way into the project. This is essential
work for most people.
The students that I supervise usually have something written for every meeting, even if it is just a
page or two of notes on reading, or an analysis of one text. Dont worry about revealing to the
supervisor how confused you are youve got time to change any initial bad impressions. Some
students also come with a written list of questions for me; I didnt suggest that, but it seems a good
idea, because the end of the session is often rushed. Vague talk, without any writing, usually
doesnt get anywhere.
What comes first? As far as I know, parts of theses, like scenes of movies, are never created in the
order in which they are finally presented. Some people like to start with the introductory review of
the literature, though I consider that pretty intimidating. Some start with the methods, if they are in
a field in which methods are pretty standard, and therefore easy to predict. Some like to dive into
the best parts of the data, and write up a description or try out an analysis. Some do a pilot study
that is the whole thesis in miniature.
There are a lot of approaches, but it may be there are two basic types: those who like to start small
and accumulate well polished and neat bits until they have a whole picture, and those who like to
sketch out the whole picture in broad messy strokes and then work on the bits. Whichever strategy
you choose, it is important to remember that a great deal will change before you have finished:
whole chapters and topics will disappear, and some bit you thought could be covered in a page will
swell to a paragraph, and you could wind up attacking the claim you originally tentatively proposed.
The big difference between this and any other writing you have done is that you have to allow for
such changes. If you stick rigidly to your plan you may finish on time but you may not learn enough.
Revising: Parts and Wholes
Theses, whatever else they are, are always large and lumpy. They are lumpy because they are
inevitably written in sections, over a period of time, while one is learning. So at the last stages there
is always a problem of making them hold together, and making the later stuff fit with the earlier
stuff. This is not just presentation; it is real intellectual work. It is good to remember that in the
end, the thesis as a whole may fit as a brief reference in some other argument. Publications based
on it are more likely to be used if there is one clear point. Or, if you do not publish the thesis as a
whole, you will want to be able to pick out sections that make sense on their own.

It is not just a matter of presentation, but it is also partly a matter of presentation. You have to
justify to the reader the reading of each section. And there needs to be some sense of proportion,
so that unimportant areas do not get too much weight. (Readers sitting with 300 hard-to-skim
pages in their laps find unimportant parts annoying.)
Revision is not usually taught to undergraduates, and many students get by pretty well with essays
written late on the night before they are due (or after they are due). Good students may still think
of revising as something like correcting (which is also necessary, but is quite different). A thesis is
too big to be done in one go; it must change shape as it evolves. It may be helpful to pay attention
to the physical process of revising. How do you mark up the text? How do you move things around?
What role does the word processor play? How do you step back and see the whole? Is it satisfying
to revise? When do you know to stop?

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Picking up the Pieces after Time Away from the Thesis

Many research students now are busy teaching or doing other work. That means weeks often go by
before time opens up again for writing. Some tactical suggestions for picking up a draft again:

Read one (no more than one) new article.

Try outlining the last draft, and moving the parts around.
Mark spaces for inserts, and on another page, fill in the gaps in the previous draft.
Without looking at it, write a new introduction, or a 4 or 5 page version of the whole
chapter. Then go over the rest to see if it can fit with this.
Volunteer for a research seminar.

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APPRENDIX B - DOCTORAL-LEVEL THINKING AND CRITICAL WRITING

To critique existing work, you need to intellectually engage with it (positively and/or negatively):

What are its strengths and its shortcoming (conceptualisation, methodology)?

What does it not do? What does it not take account of (e.g. recent evidence)?
What is striking about it?
Are the research questions clear?
Is something overstated or understated? Over-rated or under-rated?
How does it compare with other work (findings, methodology, conceptualisation)?
Is the study built on an unreasonable (or unrationalised) assumption?
Is some relevant work ignored?
Are some claims illogical? (e.g. that if A and B co-occur, one causes the other) Check the
argumentation carefully.
Are there other inconsistencies or gaps in the argument?
If your critique includes negative observations, use an actual, direct quotation (see below)
rather than a paraphrase; make sure you have understood what they mean.
Look at the language of mitigation (e.g. may mean, might mean, some/all)
Summarise a writers view (accurately) before you evaluate it
Consider competing hypotheses, e.g. the writer may offer an explanation for something,
but might there be possible others
Consider dates of references: are they out of date now (i.e. have things moved on)?
How are particular concepts understood (indeed, are they defined)? Are there other ways
of understanding them? What are the controversies surround a given concept? (i.e. dont
just accept it)
Is the amount of data sufficient to warrant the claims? Is the data representative (of
what)? Are differences statistically significant?
Is the type of data appropriate to warrant the claims? (e.g. we cant really find out how
people speak from how they say they speak (why not?); we cant even really find out how
they think they speak from how they say they think they speak (why not?))
Evaluation (e.g. of an instrument): is it good in some ways and bad in other? What can it
do? What can it not do?
Pilot studies: what exactly was piloted? What was not?
Is the procedure ethical, in all respects?

N.B. Do not be overawed (or completely accepting) if the work is by a very famous person; they can
still be partial (e.g. proponents of CDA and CA think A is more important than B, since this is the
basis of their respective approaches). However, they have the benefit of experience so tread
carefully.
In general (reviewing literature, and beyond):

Show that you understand the literature and can see how different ideas and theories relate
to one another. Instead of writing a patchwork summary (even if it is good summary) of
past research, synthesise what you read and build it up into a story of your own
Show independent thinking, dont only review and quote literature

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Show that you can challenge the traditional

Show that you can adequately apply theories/methods to new objects of investigation
Show curiosity about new problems, and ask questions about them
Make your own distinctions (e.g. within concepts), and be prepared to critique distinctions
made by others
Using direct quotations (especially long block quotations):

Introduce quote/Quote the quote/Comment on quote

Edit the quote to make it relevant (e.g. omit words/phrases, using dots to show omissions)
In your comment, comment on what is salient about the quote

In general

Be as precise and to the point (i.e. avoid vagueness) as much as possible; remember Shaws
dictum: Im sorry to be writing you such a long letter. I didnt have time to write a short
one.
Being critical of your own academic writing

Revisit your previous assumptions (to show learning)

Comment on your partial/superficial claims made previously
In particular, be critical of your practices in a pilot study
Comment on your linguistic choices (e.g. use of respondents or participants?)
Could it be deeper? More analytical?
Might there be more than one (or two, or three) possible explanations for a given
phenomenon that you have identified?
Methodologically, what did you not do, that you could (sensibly) have done? Why not?

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APPENDIX C - THINGS NOT TO DO IN ACADEMIC WRITING

(unless you actually want to annoy your supervisor and examiners)

Macro issues

Dont

Organise your argument badly: what you need to do is build up an argument (this is
especially relevant to the Literature Review); signposting is important
Omit rationales for major decisions/choices (e.g. RQs, data selection, theoretical framework)
Ignore other relevant work in the topic area (which means wide reading and discussing with
others)
Include potted background histories (e.g. of a country and its language situation) which try
to encapsulate everything in a page or so but in so doing are simplistic, inaccurate and throw
the idea of critical analysis to the winds!
Provide insufficient detail in your methodology (replication of the study should be possible)

Writing
Dont

Say the same thing repeatedly, even if in slightly different words; and dont write a boring
conclusion which just repeats in summary form what has been said in the rest of the thesis
Omit important signposting and meta-writing (why this, here?); links between paragraphs,
and between sentences, should be clear (cohesion may be implicit or explicit)
Omit to explain table and graphs (especially what is salient); these also need captions
quote and run: a quote should be introduced, used, then commented on as appropriate,
especially if there are key concepts in the quote (otherwise it looks as if you dont
understand what youre quoting: you need to take control of your quotations!)
Use unnecessarily wordy prose and/or prose which is unclear, over-abstract, more complex
than it needs to be or just plain obtuse. Over-abstract almost always betrays lack of precise
thought or understanding
Include key terms without defining them (for the thesis), and discussing them
Use non-standard abbreviations excessively (makes it difficult to read if you cant remember
what they all mean!)
Use the word significant when a significance test has not been applied (you can just about
get away with using this word in purely qualitative writing, e.g. socially significant, but NOT
in anything that involves numbers
Presentation

Miss out references (not only from the Bibliography, but also from the text, in those places
where a reference is clearly needed)
Misspell author names
Leave in typographical errors
Hand in first drafts of things, that, if you had read over your work, you could have revised
and made more understandable and presentable
Make the same grammatical error again after your supervisor has pointed it out

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Present poorly missing page numbers, failure to distinguish clearly different levels of
heading, failure to indicate paragraphing in a user-friendly way (e.g. no extra space in indent
used, just a line break
And six more (mainly from Greg Myers; and yes, there is a joke in here):

Big value claims

Repetition
Unnecessary obligatory references to Bakhtin, Foucault, Fairclough, Habermas, Wenger and
the external examiner (unnecessary in that they arent really developed and used, and may
look like uncritical mindless parroting)
Background on the country, university, or historical event that doesnt relate to the
argument
Diagrams that explain nothing
Repetition

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APPENDIX D - DEPARTMENT STAFF

Panos Athanasopoulos p.athanasopoulos@lancaster.ac.uk

Paul Baker p.baker@lancaster.ac.uk
David Barton d.barton@lancaster.ac.uk
Silke Brandt s.brandt@lancaster.ac.uk
Tineke Brunfaut t.brunfaut@lancaster.ac.uk
Jonathan Culpeper j.culpeper@lancaster.ac.uk
Julia Gillen j.gillen@lancaster.ac.uk
Claire Hardaker c.hardaker@lancaster.ac.uk
Andrew Hardie a.hardie@lancaster.ac.uk
Luke Harding l.harding@lancaster.ac.uk
Chris Hart c.hart@lancaster.ac.uk
Willem Hollmann w.hollmann@lancaster.ac.uk
Sam Kirkham s.kirkham@lancaster.ac.uk
Veronika Koller v.koller@lancaster.ac.uk
Judit Kormos j.kormos@lancaster.ac.uk
Alison Mackey a.mackey@lancaster.ac.uk
Tony McEnery a.mcenery@lancaster.ac.uk
Marije Michel m.michel@lancaster.ac.uk
Greg Myers g.myers@lancaster.ac.uk
Claire Nance c.nance@lancaster.ac.uk
Uta Papen u.papen@lancaster.ac.uk
Jenefer Philp j.philp@lancaster.ac.uk
Diane Potts d.j.potts@lancaster.ac.uk
Patrick Rebuschat p.rebuschat@lancaster.ac.uk
Alison Sealey a.sealey@lancaster.ac.uk
Mark Sebba m.sebba@lancaster.ac.uk
Elena Semino e.semino@lancaster.ac.uk
Karin Tusting k.tusting@lancaster.ac.uk
Johnny Unger j.unger@lancaster.ac.uk
Daniel van Olmen d.vanolmen@lancaster.ac.uk
Andrew Wilson a.wilson@lancaster.ac.uk
Ruth Wodak r.wodak@lancaster.ac.uk

24