Obstacle: Non-native English
“The main obstacle I constantly try to overcome, in general, is the fact that I am a non native speaker. Although I have been in this country for [many] years now and I feel confident of my English, there are times I realise I could have performed better if English was my mother tongue… For example, when I first started giving [my supervisors] drafts of my work I realised I was writing in the third person and using passive voice, avoiding the use of phrases such as ‘I believe’, ‘My study’, etc. I was writing in the way I was taught to write when I was in [my home country]…It’s harder to re-learn something than to learn something for the first time.”
There are two aspects here: oral and written communication.
i) oral communication, e.g.:
- understanding what others are saying
- thinking about what others have said
- choosing the right words to explain one’s own thinking (sometimes it involves planning in one’s native language and then translating)
ii) writing, e.g.:
- one key issue is the process of converting ideas into English (as in spoken communication)
- another is choosing the particular phrasing and appropriate words – getting usage and nuance exactly right is subtle and demanding
Tips
1. Read a lot
Reading provides exposure to patterns in language use.
Reading provides exposure to differences between disciplines in how ideas are expressed.
2. Identify exemplars of good writing.
Collect a reference set of model writing. Analyse and refer to it in order to understand how others succeed in expressing different sorts of ideas, or in making different sorts of argument, or in achieving different sorts of ‘voices’.
3. Write a lot, and get the writing copy-edited by native English speakers.
Practice expressing ideas.
Having writing critiqued regularly provides exposure to corrections: matters of grammar, matters of phrasing, matters of style.
4. Note repeated errors.
If you keep track of the types of errors you make frequently, you can do an editing pass looking specifically for those errors, and you can learn to avoid them.
5. Insist on English : English conversations.
Many students find comfort in the company of other students from their native language group. While this appears to make things easier, it also impedes the development of their English language skills.
Obstacle: Access to resources
“I am completely aware that one of the most crucial factors in my PhD is a good relationship with supervisors and I don’t want to risk this by asking for equipment/travel costs and be perceived as cheeky, asking for too much. Yet if I don’t know what is allocated (or how the allocation procedure works) how can I tell if my request is reasonable or extravagant?”
The university – and each unit or research centre in it – now has an obligation to make clear what training monies are available to students, and what procedures are required to access them. You have a right to ask. Most departments require students to have supervisor approval in order to draw on the funds. In addition, some departments have additional research funds for which students can bid, and some supervisors have project or other budgets on which they can draw.
Tips
1. Plan expenditure with your supervisors. It’s not ‘cheeky’ to ask for what you really need. It is appropriate to discuss your needs with your supervisors – indeed, good supervisors will initiate this discussion early, because resources may take time to acquire. It may also be that you supervisors can offer alternative ways of acquiring necessary resources.
2. Ask what the procedures are in your unit. That way, you will not what the local expectations are.
Obstacle: Plagiarism
The interpretation of what constitutes plagiarism is subject to cultural variation, and some international students arrive with different models of acceptable practice. They need to learn straight way that it’s the British academic interpretation that applies to OU students’ work, and the British academic interpretation is strict: plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas, words, or material – directly or indirectly – without giving them credit.
Students need to understand absolutely clearly: plagiarism is academic suicide. In British academia, plagiarism is a ‘mortal sin’. If your dissertation plagiarises, you will fail. If you submit work for publication that plagiarises, your work will be rejected and you will be blacklisted.
Tips
1. Learn the local rules. If in doubt, use the strictest interpretation.
The rules are very clear:
• Any time you use ideas, words, or material of any sort that relates to a specific source, you must attribute it to that source. Paraphrasing (restating) still requires attribution.
• Any time you use someone else’s words verbatim, you must put them in quotation marks and attribute them to that person.
2. If in doubt, attribute. You never lose by giving credit.
Obstacle: Busy supervisor
“The [supervisors] I have happen to be VERY busy people… so I guess that one concern that I’ve had is that they have not had time to think about the whole range of issues concerned with what I’m doing and so have given me short-term goals.”
Supervisors are often busy people – most established researchers are juggling many responsibilities and tasks. Students can’t change that, but they can recognise it and work with it in a way that maximises the value they get from their supervisors.
Tips
1. Don’t confuse lack of time with lack of interest.
2. Don’t underestimate your supervisor.
Remember that supervisors tend to be experienced, active researchers – hence they may see and think through issues faster than a student (or not).
3. Trade favours.
Sometimes you can free your supervisor to have more time with you by relieving your supervisor of some other pressure, for example photocopying, fetching things from the library, organising meetings. Make the trade explicit: ‘Let me help you with that, and then perhaps you can give me two hours on Thursday?’
4. Help your supervisor give you what you need.
Make it easy for your supervisor to focus on the issues that concern you. For example, have extra copies of all the documents to hand. Set a clear, prioritised agenda for the meeting. Anticipate the meeting with a brief email that focusses on your main concerns.
5. Find out who keeps your supervisor’s diary.
Many academics ask their secretaries to keep their diary. If this is the case, ‘make friends’ with the secretary, and ask to block out time in the diary for supervision meetings.
6. “When you’re in a good mood, ‘de-stress your supervisor’! If they’ve had a stressful day they sometimes seem to appreciate being taken down into a lower gear and having a talk about subjective rather than relentlessly objective things for a short while.”
7. Be interesting.
After a busy schedule of meetings and management and everything but ideas, it’s a welcome relief to have a stimulating discussion with a good student.
8. Work with your supervisor’s strengths.
Instead of bitching about what your supervisor doesn’t do very well, find a way around it. For example, I find it easier to give critiques orally than in writing, so my students will book an hour or two with me, during which I’ll talk through their papers or plans, and they’ll tape record the session. They get intensive attention from me with high-quality commentary that reveals my comprehension process, and I’m extremely grateful to them for their consideration and so exert myself to make time for them.
Obstacle: Feedback delay
“PhD students…complain bitterly about having to wait a month or more to get feedback from their supervisors.”
“My supervisor never reads or comments on my work, and when he does, it takes him months.”
“I do a lot of work, but my supervisor never seems to see it.”
See comments about busy supervisors. Supervisors are only human, and often over-loaded. Students may prioritise immediate feedback; supervisors may prioritise thoughtful, thorough feedback.
Tips
1. Negotiate the level of feedback. If all you want immediately is to know if you’re ‘on the right track’, then ask for an immediate first impression that addresses that question. If you only want comment on content rather than on language, then ask just for that. If you only want comments on one section, then say so. Constraining the feedback demand might well shorten the response time – it takes time to write thoughtful, accurate commentary. Often the delay arises from the need to compose the feedback, rather than reading the material, and so one way to shorten the delay is to reduce the composition requirement.
2. Find out when there is space in your supervisor’s schedule. Have reasonable expectations. See if you can reserve time in your supervisor’s diary for your material – and then deliver on time.
3. Use your network. Although you do need clear guidance from your supervisor, you can get helpful advice from other informed people in the meantime. Then you can discuss it with your supervisor.
Obstacle: Disagreeing supervisors
“My supervisors argue a lot, and I’m never sure what they want.”
We have entered an era of joint supervision. When the supervisory team shares a single vision and works in concert, the benefits to the student can be enormous. However, sometimes supervisors disagree. If this happens within a supervisory session and is resolved quickly, it can be entertaining and educational. However, if it persists, it can jeopardise the student’s research.
There are different models of joint supervision. One is truly joint, where all supervisors are present at the regular supervisory meetings (although some one-on-one discussion might occur in between), and so everyone is party to all key guidance and decision-making. Another model identifies a lead supervisor, who provides the primary point of reference for the student and who should be the arbiter of guidance. Another is a loosely-coupled arrangement, when the whole group meets only rarely, and the student consults the supervisors one-by-one. This is a problematic arrangement, with ample opportunity for he said / she said misunderstandings.
Whichever model applies, the student should take responsibility to ensure that he or she is receiving clear guidance. The supervisors should monitor themselves to avoid disruptive disagreements, and to convene joint meetings when significant differences in perspective arise.
Tips
1. Ask you supervisors to spell out what they want. Then repeat it back to them, and write it down.
2. Document the meetings – all of them. Note the main points covered and make a clear list of agreed actions. Circulate these notes to all of the supervisors – this gives you a mechanism to clarify what they want from you, and it ensures a flow of information.
3. Ask for regular joint meetings.
4. Ask for clarification of the supervisors’ roles within your supervision. Is one a lead supervisor? Does each have particular expertise and hence responsibility for a particular aspect of your supervision? If so, who provides continuity?
5. If disputes persist, consult your third-party monitor.