Student Handbook

Students must submit a short statement (2-3 pages) at the end of their third semester to their advisor, discussing how the courses that they have taken so far, as well as those that they plan to take in the future semester(s), inform their dissertation research and their envisioned career path. Once approved by the advisor, the statement should be submitted to the program coordinator.  The coursework statement will be available to members of the preliminary exam committee should they wish to consult it as they develop exam questions.

The language requirement for the SLA PhD Major contains two parts: oral proficiency and reading proficiency, which must be in two languages, including English. Students may not be recommended for preliminary exams until they have fulfilled both parts of the language requirement.

Typically, the student must demonstrate an advanced level of academic oral and reading proficiency in two languages prior to taking preliminary exams. A plan for meeting this requirement is developed by the student and advisor within the first semester of the student’s program. The plan must be approved by the advisor and the SLA Steering Committee by the end of the first academic year.

Students must take preliminary exams, as described below, within one semester of completing doctoral coursework (see this webpage for enrollment requirements). The objectives of these exams are to determine if students have developed a strong overall understanding of the scope of the discipline of SLA (e.g., the theories on which research in the field is based; the type of questions that researchers in SLA address; and the variety of techniques used to answer these questions), as well as more in-depth understanding of the theories and research findings related to questions of specific concern to them. The preliminary examination committee may choose to use a preliminary exam rubric to assess student performance. It is expected that students take and pass the preliminary exam within 3 years after the start of their doctoral studies. 

Committee membership
The student identifies a dissertation advisor prior to taking the preliminary examination and obtains the selected faculty member’s commitment to advise.

The preliminary examination committee is chaired by the student’s dissertation advisor and consists of the chair and two additional faculty/staff members. The advisor, in consultation with the student, invites others to join the committee. At least two members of the committee (including the advisor) must be core faculty affiliated with the SLA doctoral program. Preliminary examination committee members are not assumed to be members of the dissertation committee, but are eligible to serve on the dissertation committee.

Scheduling and registration
Students complete the preliminary examinations over a two-week period. Exact dates are determined by the advisor, in consultation with the other two committee members, and the student.

All committee members and the student need to sign a preliminary examination committee form to indicate their commitment to serve on the committee (faculty) and the dates for the exam (faculty and student). The student is responsible for obtaining signatures of committee members and submitting the form to the SLA program coordinator at least four weeks prior to the beginning of the examination period.  The program coordinator will request a Preliminary Exam Warrant from the Graduate School, which will then be taken to the prelim defense for committee members to sign.

Format and content
The preliminary examination questions are written by the student’s dissertation advisor, with input from and the approval of the other two committee members. The objective is for the student to provide a cogent analysis of issues situated in SLA and to find and include relevant research that supports the student’s analysis.

Exam format
The questions fall into the following two categories:

1. Question 1: analysis of a ‘big’ question in SLA;
2. Question 2: analysis of an issue that reflects the student’s specific research interests.

The student’s response to each question should be in the form of a paper of approximately 20 pages, double-spaced, not including references. Strategically placed subheadings that facilitate the reader’s comprehension of the paper’s structure are encouraged. Papers should include a complete list of all works cited and clearly indicate cited work as such. The citation style will be determined by the advisor.

The student may consult non-human resources, including those in print, on the internet, and in databases. During the period of the exam, students may not receive help with writing the responses from or discuss responses or exam questions with anyone, including students and faculty in the program, in related fields, or in related programs.

Procedure
The student receives the two questions from the advisor and then has two weeks from the time when s/he receives the questions to write and submit response papers. The precise deadline is included with the questions.

The papers should be submitted together and in electronic format to the SLA program coordinator, who forwards the papers to the members of the student’s prelim committee.

Each committee member reads and rates each paper independently, then submits ratings of ‘pass with distinction’, ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ for each of the two questions to the student’s dissertation advisor. A final assessment of ‘pass with distinction’, ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ on each paper is determined by majority ratings.

The prelim committee members have two weeks from the date on which they receive the papers from the program coordinator to evaluate them and to submit their ratings of either ‘pass’ , ‘fail’ or ‘pass with distinction’ to the faculty advisor.

The advisor conveys the results to the student and to the SLA program coordinator.

Exam grades and the remediation process
Each response for the preliminary examination is assessed a grade of ‘pass with distinction’, ‘pass’, or ‘fail’. If a student’s answers to both questions pass, then the student passes the preliminary exam.

If a student’s answer to one of the questions fails (whereas the answer to the other question passes), the committee decides how to proceed, depending on the extent and nature of the failure; options are (a) an oral exam (whose duration is be determined by the committee) for the purpose of clarifying or enhancing the written response, or (b) the provision of a new question, to be answered over the course of one week, with all previous grading procedures applied. The timing of either an oral exam or the assignment of a new exam question is be determined by the committee.

If a student’s second attempt at answering one question fails, or if a student’s answers to both questions fail at the first attempt, the student’s status in the program is determined by the SLA Steering Committee.

Becoming a Dissertator
When a student has fulfilled all of the degree requirements for the SLA Doctoral Program, that is, when s/he has completed all required coursework, passed the preliminary examinations, and fulfilled the foreign language requirement, s/he becomes a dissertator. A student who fails the preliminary examination or is denied admission to candidacy is not making satisfactory academic progress and is placed on academic probation. The probation period begins in the semester following the semester in which the examination is taken.

Deadlines for dissertator eligibility generally fall on the first day of each semester. Students must request a preliminary warrant from the SLA program coordinator at least four weeks before the deadline. In general, requests for warrants occur approximately one month before the end of the semester, while degree deadlines are near the last day of classes. Check the Graduate School Degree and Dissertator Deadlines for exact dates for the academic year.

Dissertators must maintain continuous enrollment until completion of the doctoral degree. Dissertators must enroll each fall and spring semester for exactly three graduate-level credits. Typically, these are research credits for dissertation work, taken with the dissertation director and under a 990 course number in the dissertation director’s home department. However, under exceptional circumstances, the three credits can be taken in the form of a graduate course that contributes directly to the dissertation topic and has been approved by the dissertation director. Such courses must be taken for a grade and cannot be audited or taken pass/fail.  For more information, see the Graduate School policy on continuous enrollment for dissertators. Note that fall and spring enrollment are required regardless of whether you are residing in Madison.

Dissertation Proposal Defense
Once dissertator status has been reached but before embarking on dissertation research, the student needs to have a dissertation proposal approved by a committee of at least three faculty members of whom at least two, including the dissertation director (advisor), must be SLA core faculty. Ideally, the three or more faculty members who serve on a student’s dissertation proposal committee are the same who serve on or constitute a subset of the student’s future dissertation committee, which needs to have at least four members (see below).

The dissertation proposal demonstrates the feasibility and value of the research project and its methodology.

The dissertation proposal must be approved by the student’s dissertation proposal committee no later than one calendar year after the student has become a dissertator. If the proposal is not approved by that date, the candidate, with a support letter from the dissertation director (advisor), must petition the SLA Steering Committee for an extension. That petition should include a statement for the reasons for requesting the extension and a description of a plan for making progress, moving forward.

Dissertation Proposal Committee and Procedures
The proposal is prepared under the guidance of the dissertation director and presented to the dissertation proposal committee in an oral dissertation proposal defense that typically lasts between one and two hours. The dissertation proposal rubric is used to assess the quality of the proposal and oral defense. An approved dissertation proposal represents an agreement between the dissertation committee and the student about the focus and the methodology of the dissertation.

The student needs to obtain the dissertation director’s consent to schedule the review and defense of the dissertation proposal and to determine which three or more members need to be present at the defense of the dissertation proposal. It is the student’s responsibility to establish a time and place for the dissertation proposal committee to meet for the formal review and defense of the proposal.

The dissertation director needs to approve the contents of any drafts of the proposal and the timing according to which the student sends drafts to committee members. No less than two weeks in advance of the proposal defense the student needs to send each faculty member the version of the proposal that s/he wishes to defend.  Faculty may request an electronic and/or hard copy.

The review and defense of the dissertation proposal ends with recommendations made by members of the dissertation proposal committee. Recommendations may range from approval without changes to recommendations for changes to the proposal to the request for a new proposal followed by a new proposal defense. Once the committee has approved the proposal, the dissertation proposal defense form must be signed and dated by all dissertation proposal committee members and be filed, with a copy of the approved proposal, in the SLA Program Office, room 1322 Van Hise Hall. The committee must approve subsequent revisions to the proposal in writing.

Scope and Content of the Dissertation Proposal
The scope and structure of the dissertation proposal is determined by the dissertation director. A typical proposal ranges from 5,000 to 7,500 words, not including appendices and references, and includes: research instruments, data samples (e.g., transcriptions) that exceed 250 words, IRB protocol-related materials, and timeline to dissertation typically appear in appendices.

A typical dissertation proposal contains the following components:

• a description of the rationale of and need for the study;
• a review of the literature pertaining to key concepts and key theories used in designing the study and/or in analyzing the results;
• questions to be addressed by the research;
• methods;
• a sample analysis, which can be applied to select qualitative and/or quantitative data;
• based on the sample analysis, a description of next steps, including a timeline to dissertation completion and of any planned alterations in method, data types, or theoretical approaches from the original intentions described in the proposal to the dissertation study.

Dissertation Models and Formats
The last step in completing the Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition is the successful defense of a doctoral thesis or dissertation, followed by its deposit with the Graduate School. The dissertation is an original piece of research and follows a canonical structure, usually very similar to the guidelines published in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (current edition). You may wish to consult models, such as prior dissertations written by students in the program, all of which are inventoried electronically and may be found via a database (e.g., LLBA at the UW Libraries) search that uses ‘author’ names. Ultimately, the precise format, scope, and content of your dissertation need to be agreed upon between you, your dissertation director/s, and the dissertation committee.

Make-up of the Dissertation Committee
Typically, the dissertation committee is headed by one director (advisor), who guides the research and dissertation writing process and contributes specific expertise to the project’s development. However, under exceptional circumstances and if the nature of dissertation warrants, two faculty members may agree to co-direct a dissertation. In total, the dissertation committee must include at least four members, including the director and at least one other SLA core faculty member. An advisor may in some circumstances require more than four committee members. The remaining two or more members of the committee may be affiliate SLA faculty, or faculty in other areas. Of the four dissertation committee members, at least three must be UW-Madison ‘graduate faculty’, that is, UW-Madison faculty who are tenured or on the tenure track. UW-Madison faculty who retire retain their status as graduate faculty for one year. The fourth member of a dissertation committee does not have to be graduate faculty but should normally hold a Ph.D. In cases in which the proposed fourth member does not hold a Ph.D., the student’s dissertation director may petition the SLA Steering Committee for this individual to serve on the committee.

Forming the Dissertation Committee
As the student prepares for preliminary exams, the student must come to an agreement, by mutual consent, with an SLA core faculty member who directs the dissertation. The student chooses his/her dissertation committee in consultation with the dissertation director. Members are chosen for the expertise that they can contribute to the project. It may be useful for the student, in consultation with the director, to clarify with each committee member the role that the committee member is expected to play in terms of scope and specific areas of expertise. Typically, committee members who are SLA core faculty members are responsible for methodological issues that pertain to the dissertation’s design. Dissertation committee members who are not also members of the SLA core faculty typically contribute expertise on specific languages or regions.  At least three dissertation committee members, including the director and at least one other SLA core faculty member, are present at the defense of the dissertation.

The Oral Dissertation Defense
The oral dissertation defense is an approximately two-hour final conference between the candidate and the dissertation committee, held when the director of the dissertation deems the dissertation complete.  Dissertation defenses are not scheduled during the summer.

Dissertation defenses can only be scheduled with the director’s consent and upon agreement among all participants (committee members and the student).

The candidate must give each member of the committee an electronic copy (or printed copy upon request) of the dissertation’s defense draft at least three weeks before the scheduled defense date. This dissertation copy must be formatted in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (current edition).

The student must contact the SLA program coordinator at least four weeks in advance of the defense date to provide necessary information for requesting a Final Oral Defense Warrant.

In the defense meeting, the committee reviews the aims, methods, and development of the dissertation. The final oral defense rubric is used in assessing the quality of the dissertation and oral defense. If the dissertation committee is not satisfied, another defense may be scheduled. It is common for defense meetings to end with recommendations for changes to the dissertation, although their scope may vary. The student’s compliance with recommended changes needs to be reviewed by the dissertation director before the deposit of the dissertation although other members of the committee, too, may choose to withhold their signature until specific changes have been made to their satisfaction. Students are advised to plan the deposit of their dissertation so as to allow a sufficient amount of time for changes after the defense.

Rules for Depositing the Dissertation
The Graduate School has stringent guidelines for preparing and depositing dissertations. Dissertations are deposited electronically. For more information, see the Guide to Preparing Your Doctoral Dissertation on the Graduate School website. Candidates should make sure to carefully read the formatting requirements before finalizing their dissertations. Students may also contact the doctoral degree coordinator, Alexandra Walter, 608-262-2433.