Phyo Wai Mar, Nikolov Marianne, Hódi Ágnes
Doctoral School of Education, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Department of English Applied Linguistics, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
Heliyon. 2024 Jul 14;10(14):e34598. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34598. eCollection 2024 Jul 30.
Academic English is discipline-specific and requires a high level of linguistic knowledge as well as expertise in respective fields. Therefore, doctoral students with limited exposure to academic English tend to face challenges in dealing with its demands, especially when they come from non-native English-speaking (NNES) backgrounds. At the doctoral level, research students are expected to work independently. Therefore, the ability to critically engage with academic materials written in English and the ability to write a dissertation in English at an expected standard play essential roles in successful PhD completion for students studying in international PhD programs where everything is conducted in English. This study investigates the relationship between English academic reading (EAR) and English academic writing (EAW) abilities among NNES doctoral students. We conducted a survey by employing a 1-6 Likert scale, following Dörnyei and Dewaele (2022), in the 2021-2022 academic year. A total of 255 international doctoral students studying in 65 PhD programs across Hungary voluntarily participated in the study. The students came from 49 countries and represented 48 mother tongues. The analysis revealed that students were positive about their abilities in both EAR and EAW, even though there was a significant gender difference at the p < 0.01 level. Additionally, students with the highest English proficiency level (C2) were found to be the most confident about their EAR and EAW abilities. The most junior students from 1st-year PhD programs were less confident about their abilities compared to their peers from 2nd, 3rd, 4th-year PhD programs. The analysis showed a significantly positive correlation between EAR and EAW (r = 0.792, p < 0.001). This study highlighted the inseparable role of EAR in fulfilling doctoral requirements and submitting a dissertation within a contracted PhD time framework, indicating the importance of targeted language support in facilitating academic progression within PhD programs.
学术英语具有学科特定性，不仅需要高水平的语言知识，还需要各领域的专业知识。因此，接触学术英语机会有限的博士生在应对其要求时往往面临挑战，尤其是当他们来自非英语母语（NNES）背景时。在博士阶段，研究生需要独立开展研究。所以，对于在全英文授课的国际博士项目中学习的学生而言，批判性地研读英文学术材料的能力以及按照预期标准用英文撰写博士论文的能力，对于顺利完成博士学业起着至关重要的作用。本研究调查了非英语母语博士生的英语学术阅读（EAR）能力与英语学术写作（EAW）能力之间的关系。我们在2021 - 2022学年采用1 - 6李克特量表进行了一项调查，该量表沿用了 Dörnyei 和 Dewaele（2022）的量表。共有255名在匈牙利65个博士项目中学习的国际博士生自愿参与了这项研究。这些学生来自49个国家，代表48种母语。分析结果显示，尽管在p < 0.01水平上存在显著的性别差异，但学生们对自己的EAR和EAW能力持积极态度。此外，英语水平最高（C2）的学生对自己的EAR和EAW能力最有信心。与博士二年级、三年级、四年级的同龄人相比，来自一年级博士项目的最年轻学生对自己的能力信心较低。分析表明EAR和EAW之间存在显著的正相关（r = 0.792，p < 0.001）。本研究强调了EAR在满足博士要求以及在规定的博士时间框架内提交博士论文方面所起的不可分割的作用，这表明有针对性的语言支持对于促进博士项目中的学术进展具有重要意义。
