Doing a PhD - travelling a difficult road
The next seminar of the 2012 series of Applied Linguistics seminars at Macquarie University will be held on Thursday, April 19:
New directions in the sociolinguistics of globalization
Roundtable with graduating PhD candidates
When: Thu 19/04, 2:30-4:30pm; Where: W5C 221
Participants: Donna Butorac, Jie Zhang; Discussants: Ingrid Piller, Kimie Takahashi
Abstract: It is the aim of this roundtable to explore the conceptual and methodological challenges faced by researchers studying language on the move. A sociolinguistics of globalization has to be a sociolinguistics of mobility and research of language as an object in motion raises specific challenges. Donna Butorac and Jie Zhang, who finished their PhD theses last year and who will come back to Macquarie University for their graduation ceremony, will share not so much the findings of their research as the story of their research.
Donna will focus specifically on the relationship between researcher and research participants and how the question of researcher objectivity remained a vexing problem throughout her candidature. Jenny will focus specifically on questions of validity as it was a persistent question of her research what constitutes proper evidence for the sociolinguistics of large populations such as the city of Beijing or even China as a whole.
Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to shape the discussion in other directions and to make connections between Donna’s and Jenny’s research and their own. In order to ensure a productive discussion, participants will be expected to have read at least the introductory and concluding chapters of Donna’s and Jenny’s theses, which are available for download here:
Butorac, D. 2011. Imagined Identity, Remembered Self: Settlement Language Learning and the Negotiation of Gendered Subjectivity. Sydney, Macquarie University. PhD. (Full text)
Zhang, J. 2011. Language Policy and Planning for the 2008 Beijing OLympics: An investigation of the discursive construction of an Olympic city and a global population. Sydney, Macquarie University. PhD. (Full text)
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Thanks for making the theses available. Although I wish I could be at the session, I am looking forward to reading the both theses.
Applied linguistics@MQ is doing a wonderful job of offfering academic floors to junior researchers in the field . It shows the spirit of AL@MQ and I really really appreciate it.
Thanks for making the thesis available. I look forward to hearing our friends Donna and Jenny. I have had the opportunity to look at the impressive work of Jenny and I am going to read Donna’s work which seems a very exciting topic. Good Luck Donna and Jenny. Thanks AL @MQ for keeping such forum open for all.
Khan