Thesis/Dissertation-Advising Policy
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If you plan to work with me for your thesis/dissertation research, please note the following guidelines:
***Due to the extremely bad advising experiences that I had with a number of students with immature personality and/or with (serious) depression in the past few years, I will only supervise students who have proved to me that they are very diligent and have mature personality. Currently, I will only supervise two groups of students: (i) students whose research interests are similar to mine; more specifically, I will only supervise students who are interested in (a) historical linguistics (of Austronesian languages or of non-Austronesian Southeast Asian languages (i.e. Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai; Tibeto-Burman; Hmong-Mien/Miao-Yao), and (b) Southeast Asian languages (either Mainland Southeast Asia or Insular Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei). Philippine languages ("Philippine languages" in a strict geographical sense means "Austronesian languages spoken on the 7,000+ islands of the Republic of the Philippines", NOT "Yami"); (ii) students who took two or three of the undergraduate courses that I offered in HSS undergraduate linguistics program before. If you do not belong to one of the above two categories and would like to work with me, I am only willing to co-supervise your thesis/dissertation with another professor (who can be either from Tsing Hua or from other institution). More specifically, I will only play a secondary role (NOT a primary role) in your thesis/dissertation advising. [change made on September 26, 2017]
If you plan to work on a study of any Austronesian language, you are expected to take at least two courses on (descriptive and/or diachronic) Austronesian linguistics offered by me. You might want to check with me first to see what you are expected to take in order to fulfill this requirement. [revised on April 3, 2013]
If you plan to work on a study of any Southeast Asian language, you are required to take courses on Southeast Asian linguistics/languages offered by me. Moreover, you are also expected to take the MA-required Historical Linguistics course and one or more elective historical linguistics courses from me. You might want to check with me first to see what you are expected to take in order to fulfill this requirement. [added on September 26, 2017]
If you plan to work on historical linguistics, you are expected to take ALL of the historical linguistics courses that I offer in Tsing Hua after you enter our MA/PhD program. Please be aware of this requirement. [added on September 26, 2017]
***Due to the terrible experiences that I had with a number of students, I will no longer edit students' thesis/dissertation from now on. If you plan to work with me for your thesis/dissertation research, please find an English editor to edit your paper at least one week before our appointment. You can either pay an editor to do the editing for you or seek help from the university Writing Center. The NTHU Writing Center provides free consultation service for students' writing. You can make appointments with the staffs through their website. [added on December 10, 2013]
***I will stop my assistance to any student who made/makes false statements about me. That is, once I know that a student has made false statements about me, I will not read her/his thesis/dissertation any more. The student herself/himself is responsible for the quality of her/his thesis/dissertation. [added on December 11, 2013]
***You will need to present me with a list of references, a tentative table of contents, and most importantly an annotated bibliography (or a 15-page literature review) on the topic that you plan to work on for your thesis/dissertation research when you ask me whether or not I can serve as your advisor. [The literature review should include at least some discussion of terms that will be used in your thesis/dissertation, a brief discussion of the phenomenon that you will be studying for your thesis/dissertation and/or subgrouping hypotheses related to the language (group) that you will be working on for your thesis/dissertation.] I will not sign any thesis/dissertation-advising form until I am satisfied with the quality of the annotated bibliography or the literature review. No negotiation on this point will be allowed. Please be aware of this. [revised on April 7, 2013]
***I pay a lot of attention to literature review. You are expected to complete a comprehensive literature review on previous studies related to your thesis/dissertation research before you start writing any other chapter of your thesis/dissertation. No negotiation on this point will be allowed. Please be aware of this. [revised on April 7, 2013]
***I make critical comments on students' papers/thesis/dissertation and only work with students who are willing to accept my (and other people's) critical comments on their papers/thesis/dissertation. I definitely won't work with anyone who complains about the fact that I make critical comments on their papers/thesis/dissertation or thinks that I am hurting their feeling or destroying their confidence in writing. If you are not someone who is willing to accept other people's comments with gratitude or if you think your writing is perfect and needs not be improved at all, you are not suitable to work with me. Please work with other professors. [revised on April 3, 2013]
***I will allow students to defend their thesis only when I think the content, format, and English of the thesis/dissertation draft is good enough to be presented to other committee members. It is very likely that you will need to revise chapters of your thesis/dissertation more than 5 times (or even more than 10 times) before I think your thesis/dissertation is defendable. No negotiation on this point will be allowed. Please be aware of this. [revised on April 3, 2013]
Your thesis/dissertation is expected to be written in English (exception: native speakers of any Austronesian language). You are advised to take academic writing courses before you start writing your thesis/dissertation. [revised on April 3, 2013]
You are expected to take at least two courses from me. Possible exceptions might apply.
Even if you have taken two courses from me, it does not mean I will accept you as my advisee for sure. ***You will need to prove to me that you are hard-working enough (you can do so by presenting a relatively comprehensive annotated bibliography and/or literature review to me) and also emotionally stable and mature enough in order to become my advisee. Students who are over-confident or lack of confidence are not suitable to work with me. Please be aware of this. [revised on December 11, 2013]
In principle, I will not work with students during either winter vacation, summer vacation, and/or spring break. Please plan ahead to be sure that you can graduate at the time that you would like to graduate. [revised on December 11, 2013]
The first draft of your thesis/dissertation should be done at least 6 weeks before the scheduled oral defense date. [This rule also applies to those who would like me to serve on their committee.] [revised on April 3, 2013]
The first draft (and/or the final draft) of your thesis/dissertation should be edited by a native speaker of English.
No oral defense will be scheduled during the final examination week (typically around the second or third week of January) in the Fall semester and during winter break because I will conduct fieldwork in the Philippines during winter break. [This rule also applies to those who would like me to serve on their committee.] Please observe the travel schedule posted on my academic website. [revised on April 3, 2013]
No oral defense will be scheduled in the week immediately before or immediately after my travel unless an advance arrangement is made with me (at least one month before the possible defense date). [This rule also applies to those who would like me to serve on their committee.] Please observe the travel schedule posted on my academic website. [revised on April 3, 2013]
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Last updated: September 26, 2017