Thesis and Dissertation Writing in a Second Language: a handbook for Supervisors

‘I just say yes all the time but I am not happy. In
my head I feel like a fool’: exploring ‘cost’
Mei, a PhD student from China whose words are cited above (Aspland 1999:
29), struggled with what she perceived as her original supervisor’s lack of
expertise in her area and an absence of structure and explicit direction.
Although unhappy, she felt unable to question his authority:
I can judge now that he had no specialized knowledge of my topic, but
we Chinese are humble and do not like to question these matters. I con-
tinued to assume that he must be the best person because of the
recommendation by the authorities.
(Aspland 1999: 29)
She felt it would be a sign of disrespect to articulate her unhappiness:
I am very embarrassed because things with this supervisor are not right.
[...] I am too frightened to challenge him or the authorities. I just say yes
all the time but I am not happy. In my head I feel like a fool.
(Aspland 1999: 29)
Mei later changed supervisors and had an extremely positive experience that
will be referred to later when we examine the characteristics of successful
supervision of second-language students. The costs to Mei in terms of this
unhappy experience were not merely financial, although she struggled to sup-
port herself without a scholarship, but also substantial in terms of damage to
her self-esteem and confidence in her abilities.
Cadman (2005) has pointed out that some international research students
entering western research contexts for the first time may experience difficulty
with the absence of set topics or prescribed reading lists and few set tasks
other than the research proposal. This absence illustrates the not always
explicit expectation that research students should take responsibility for
directing their own learning, that autonomy is required and that students
must self-manage their writing. Supervisors need to be mindful of cross-
cultural miscommunication that may arise through such differing sets of
expectations, and how these may lead to stereotypical views of their students
and, in turn, to students not developing more confident, peer-like relation-
ships with their supervisors.