David D. Perrodin
My dear fellow applied linguistics researcher friends, at the end of Episode 1, I asked you to stay tuned for the next episode of “From the Mind of a Developing Researcher” when I would share what happened when I applied to the program and my impromptu meeting with the program’s head. So, here we go….When I first met the head of the Ph.D. of Applied Linguistics program, I was already in the teaching field of EFL/ESL for a little over a decade. I had published well over a dozen academic articles, yet I had no outside citations. That means I was not making much of an impact in my field of study. If you had taken a look at my Google Scholar page at that time, you would have seen one citation. A self-citation…I knew if I wanted to make a real impact in my career, I needed to become better at researching and writing. I thought, what better way to become a more astute researcher than to pursue a Ph.D. in one of Asia’s top university programs. I contacted the admissions department. Although they were able to answer my questions about admission into the program, they could not answer specific program questions.One day, I took a drive to the university, hoping that I could meet with someone in the program to ask questions, such as what days of the classes taught, any particular reading material I would need, and just general questions about the timeline for the thesis. Well, to my shock, the actual head of the Ph.D. program was in their office. They invited me to speak with them and allowed me to ask as many questions as I wanted. The head of the Ph.D. program was rather forthright. They answered my questions clearly and concisely, and they gave me some valuable suggestions on how to proceed.Now let me skip ahead a few weeks. My research proposal was accepted, but I still had to pass an admissions interview. I was a bit nervous when I had the meeting with the admissions committee. I thought my research proposal was innovative. Only to have the head of the program ask me if I would be willing to put this proposal in the garbage bin and start all over.To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I took a moment to collect myself, and I thought, the reason I am here is to become a better researcher and a better writer. If this person asks me to completely trash my research proposal and do something different, then this would be the day of reckoning for me. This day would be my birthday as a real researcher. Stay tuned for the next episode of “From the Mind of a Developing Researcher,” when I will share what happened when I attended the program orientation and the first day of course work.
My Favorite Books
- Cook, G. (2003). Applied Linguistics (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
- Halliday, M., & Matthiessen, C. (2013). Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar (4th ed.). Routledge.
- Paltridge, B., & Phakiti, A. (2015). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Bloomsbury Academic.
Author’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/david.d.perrodin
