Authoring a doctoral thesis is a challenging undertaking for anyone, even more so if English is not your first or main language. Learning to use the language of academic research is an ongoing journey, which is closely bound up with your developing knowledge of your field.
A range of language support and resources are available during the course of your doctorate at no extra cost, including a series of 'Language for research' sessions on the Reading Researcher Development Programme (RRDP) designed specifically for international students whose first language is not English. These include the following titles:
- Writing clearly: Coherence, flow & cohesion
- Voice, stance & criticality
- Introducing and concluding research
- The Literature Review
- Describing and rationalising methods
- Reporting results
- Discussion
- Writing for difference audiences
- Writing & editing your thesis with corpora
The sessions are all available within the RRDP programme and can be enrolled for in the usual way via RISIS. In Semester 1 the sessions are delivered in person and in Semester 2 online.
The Academic English Programme
Further academic language input is additionally available from ISLI’s Academic English Programme, including:
- 1:1 Consultations for Writing and Presentations: work with one of our experienced academic English lecturers on a one-to-one basis to improve your writing and presentation skills.
- Academic Language Webinars attend live online sessions focusing on specific areas of academic language.
- Online Courses for Self-enrolment enrol on our flexible online academic writing courses, including Dissertation and Thesis Writing.
- Spoken Language Courses meet other international students and build your fluency and confidence in spoken English
(For further information on the Academic English Programme see the International Study and Language Institute web pages.)