Hows and Whys: Guidelines
for the Japanese Linguistics Ph.D.
PhD students in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature
must adhere to (1) the University of Washington's Graduate
School regulations, (2) the Department of Asian Languages
and Literature policies and procedures, and (3) all program
specific regulations.
The information below is meant only as a reference. Final
authority in all cases remains with the official regulations.
General Aims
The goal of graduate study is to train students to make
original contributions to scholarship in their field. Therefore, the graduate student
needs to build a solid awareness of the publications in
the field of specialization, the major questions that are
being (and could be) researched, as well as the methodology
for answering such questions. In addition, the student
should have a solid grasp of the broader academic context
in which the field of specialization is situated (i.e. "the
big picture").
The Japanese Linguistics Program currently offers work in Japanese applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and sociolinguistics. Graduate courses in these areas build upon a foundation of general coursework in Japanese linguistics offered as upper-division undergraduate courses. In consultation with the faculty advisor, students plan a course of study that combines opportunities within the department with the wide range of linguistics and language-related courses offered in departments such as Linguistics, English, Anthropology, and other language and literature departments. The Japanese Linguistics Program is strongly research-oriented, providing students with the opportunity to pursue their own areas of academic interest in Japanese linguistics. Students have, for example, done research in areas such as classroom discourse, language & gender, and second language phonological development. Prospective students should have a high degree of fluency in Japanese and English, including strong literacy skills in both languages.
How to Proceed
The following explains the rationale behind each of
the general requirements for Ph.D. students in the department,
and outlines the procedure students should follow to satisfy them. It also contains, in bold, the specific rules of the Japanese linguistics program over and above those of the department. Finally, notes in blue are explanations, examples, and additional commentary.
1. Meeting with the Advisor
Each new student is assigned an interim advisor, that
is, a graduate faculty member with whom the student can
discuss the course of his/her study in the initial stages.
Upon arrival, the student should meet as soon as possible
with the interim advisor to chart a plan of course
work; subsequently the student should meet quarterly with the advisor
to keep him/her apprised of his/her progress. It is the
student's responsibility to initiate these meetings,
and the advisor's responsibility to file a formal progress report
once a year. Once the student has determined, in consultation with the interim advisor, his/her area of
specialization and the faculty member with whom he/she would like
to work, the student should approach that faculty member. If the faculty member agrees to advise the student, he/she will file a form appointing that professor as his/her faculty advisor. Students are required to appoint a faculty advisor by the end of their second quarter of graduate study.
2. Filing a Program of Study
The student should carefully
plan a program of study that will contribute to achieving
the skills mentioned above, including a detailed timetable, keeping
in mind that many courses are not offered every year and
that some courses will not be offered when faculty are
on leave. Ideally, students should take at least one course
with every faculty member in their program in order to familiarize
themselves with the full range of scholarship and expertise
available to them.
By the third quarter of graduate study, the student should submit a feasible proposal of study
to the advisor, which, after approval, will be filed by
the department secretary. The plan of study should be viewed as
a guideline rather than a straitjacket; specifics of
the plan are likely to change as the student proceeds,
but the general course of study should be clear.
There is a minimum course requirement of 90 credits (45
of which must be taken before pre-candidacy), and the student
must take classes and examinations relating to both the
linguistic and literary aspects of the language of specialization.
Classes in other disciplines (e.g.,
religion or anthropology) might also be recommended depending on the student's
chosen field of specialization.
The student's file contains a checklist of the
required courses in his/her program and the student is responsible for checking off each requirement as it is completed. When all courses are taken, the
student should present the completed list to the Program
Coordinator and ask him/her (or his/her designated representative)
to sign off the box "course work completed" on
the checklist. If there are any irregularities (such as
course substitutions), an explanation will be placed in
the file along with the signature.
Please note that each graduate student is required to maintain
a minimum 3.0 GPA.
No student enters the department in the Ph.D. program. Please note that fulfillment of the credit requirements
does not automatically ensure admission to the Ph.D. program.
All students must be formally admitted to pre-candidacy
by the faculty in their program.
3.a. Students with an MA from this Department
Students with an MA from this Department cannot automatically
assume successful admission into the Ph.D. program. A student who would like to enter the Ph.D. program must file a "Petition
to Proceed." (See item 4, below.)
3.b. Students with an MA from another University or in
another area
Students with an MA from another University or in another
area than the one to be pursued will first need to fulfill
the following requirements before petitioning to proceed.
1. The student must complete at least 45 relevant graduate
credits at the UW.
2. The student must prepare for and pass the additional
language requirement. In consultation with the advisor,
the student selects a language relevant to his/her program
of study and files a plan for achieving the necessary
level of competence in this language. In the language
plan, the student should outline the reasons for choosing
this second language and a time schedule detailing how
the student intends to prepare to fulfill this requirement.
The requirement may be satisfied by taking a reading
exam in the Department or by taking classes up to a certain
level of proficiency. The language plan must be approved
by the advisor and added to the student's file
no later than the third quarter of graduate study.
3. Except when the student has undergone a comparable
MA examination in a comparable program, the student also needs
to pass the departmental MA General Examination. This is a written test, consisting of two two-hour exams
to be taken in the same week. The purpose of the general exam is to establish
the student's general competence in the field. The advisor
will suggest which steps should be taken by the student
to prepare for the exam. In some cases, a student may be
advised to take the Department's general examination
even when he/she has passed a comparable exam elsewhere,
in order to strengthen the student's petition to
proceed.
4. Petitioning to Proceed
Graduate students wishing to enter the Ph.D. program must file a "Petition to Proceed." The
petition should demonstrate to the program faculty the student's
ability to pursue the Ph.D., i.e. to make a meaningful contribution
of original research to the field. This document should
highlight the student's accomplishments (MA thesis
or papers, exam papers, transcript of graduate courses,
other preparation for research, honors) as well as indicate
future direction (study and language plan, proposed four
fields and dissertation topic and scope). It should also
include a time schedule. If the petition is successful,
the student becomes a Pre-candidate.
5. From Pre-candidate to Candidate: Four Fields and the
General Exam
The Pre-candidate engages in further course work (minimum
45 credits) as established in the study plan.
The following are examples of applicable linguistics courses. Japanese Linguistics coursework offered in the Department: JAPAN 440, Japanese Linguistics; JAPAN 443, Topics in Japanese Sociolinguistics; ASIAN 503, Seminar in Asian Linguistics (changing topics course, can be repeated for credit); JAPAN 540, Seminar in Japanese Linguistics (changing topics course, can be repeated for credit); ASIAN 510/518, Teaching Methodology for Asian Languages; ASIAN 600, Independent Study or Research. Some examples of coursework offered in other departments: ENGL 432 (5) Sociolinguistics; ENGL 471 (5) The Composition Process; ENGL 478 (5) Language and Social Policy; ENGL 479 (5) Lang. Variation and Social Policy in North America; ENGL 560 (5) Nature of Language; ENGL 561 (5) Stylistics; ENGL 562 (5) Introduction to Discourse Analysis; ENGL 563 (5) Comparative Grammars; ENGL 564 (5) Current Rhetorical Theory; ENGL 569 (5) Topics in Language and Rhetoric; ENGL 571 (5) Colloquium: Theory and Practice of TESOL; ENGL 574 (5) Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition; ENGL 576 (5) Testing and Evaluation in English as a Second Language; ENGL 578 (5) TESOL Colloquium; ANTH 464 Language Politics and Cultural Identity; ANTH 553 Analysis of Linguistic Structures; LING 400 Survey of Linguistic Method and Theory; LING 402 Survey of the History of Linguistics; LING 420 Quantitative methods for Linguists; LING 432/ANTH 432 Sociolinguistics I; LING 433/Anth 464 (3) Language Policy and Cultural Identity; LING 433/ANTH 464 Language Politics and Cultural Identity; LING 434/ANTH 433 Sociolinguistics II; LING 444 Philosophy of Language-Pragmatics; LING 447 Psychology of Language II; LING 447/Psych 457 (4) Language Development; LING 450 Introduction to Linguistic Phonetics; LING 451,452, 453 Phonology I, II, III; LING 457 Language Development; LING 458/ANTH 450 Language and Gender; LING 461, 462, 463 Syntax I, II, III; LING 480 Topics in Linguistics; LING 550, 551, 552 Advanced Phonology; LING 561, 562, 563 Advanced Syntax; SLAV 425 Ways of Meaning: Universal and Culture Specific Aspects of Language; SLAV 426 Ways of Feeling: Expressions of Emotions Across Languages and Cultures
In addition,
he/she works towards fulfilling a second additional
language requirement, as established in the language
plan. The student should select his course work such that
he/she acquires a solid foundation in the field and builds
expertise in an area of specialization, as well as prepares
for the field exams. The four fields represent
areas of specialization but also span the broader range
of the program area. The purpose is to assure that the
student develops into a broadly versatile scholar. In order
to maintain this broad range, linguistics students should
have at least one field in literature, and literature students should have at least one field in language. Each field is supervised
by a faculty member; one of the fields can be taken outside
the department. Fields must be approved by the student's academic advisor.
Possible fields include areas within Japanese linguistics and applied linguistics (such as discourse analysis, second language acquisition, syntax, sociolinguistics, etc.) and literature. Each field exam normally consists of an academic paper, which students develop from work done in courses or independent study.
Early on, the nature and scope of the field exams
should be discussed and arranged with the main advisor and the
individual field advisors, who together constitute the
student's supervisory committee. This committee
will also oversee the General Examination, which
again is intended to demonstrate the student's general
knowledge of his/her program area. By the quarter
prior to the exam date, the student should meet with the
advisor to discuss exam preparation. In preparation for
this meeting, the student should compile a list of classes
taken and readings completed, so as to give the advisor
a good idea of what the student already knows and what
needs more work. On the basis of this information, an effective
strategy for exam preparation can be devised. Once the student passes the general examination,
he/she becomes a Candidate.
6. From PhC to PhD: Writing the Dissertation
Officially, the student begins work on the dissertation only after passing the General Examination.
It is advisable, however, to start thinking about a topic of
specialization and discussing it with the advisor before this time, and to start working on it as soon as feasible.
The PhD dissertation should make an original contribution
to existing research in the student's field and present it in
a coherent scholarly form.
In this department, demonstrating the ability to work with
primary sources in the language of specialization is a
requirement of the dissertation.
In practical terms this means that the graduate student
will go through a study process to familiarize him- or
herself with the publications in the field of specialization,
the major questions that are being (and could be) researched,
and the methodological approaches to answering such questions.
The end product of this process, the dissertation itself,
demonstrates the mastery of these materials and approaches.
The PhD dissertation differs from the MA thesis in that
it is broader in scope. It is similar to a book in length
and scope, while the MA thesis is comparable to a lengthy
scholarly article.
Before beginning to write the dissertation, the Candidate
should select an informal reading committee and
provide the members with a prospectus of the dissertation (topic,
state of the field, student's contribution, resources
to be used) and a time schedule. The student is to send
yearly (or more frequent, if appropriate) progress reports to the members and should meet
regularly with the advisor, submitting drafts for comments.
It is advisable to consult early on the graduate school
guidelines for formatting and to make sure the dissertation
complies with these rigid stipulations. Once the
dissertation is nearing completion, the committee
is formalized (usually the quarter before the final
examination). The committee consists of three members,
two of whom should be in this department; in addition,
the graduate school appoints a GSR, who will oversee the
procedure, and needs to be consulted about the scheduling
of the examination. Usually this committee is the same
as the supervisory committee. The student should give each member an abstract of the dissertation. The complete
draft should be given to the committee six (or eight,
if the committee members so require) weeks before the final
examination. The Final Examination is an oral
defense of the dissertation before the committee and the
general public. The final version of the dissertation must
be submitted to the Graduate School by the last day of
the quarter of graduation.
