Researching across languages and cultures: a study with doctoral students and supervisors at a Portuguese University

ABSTRACT

Researching across languages and cultures is a theme increasingly studied in diversified contexts due to the internationalisation of higher education. At the level of doctoral studies, this impacts on the process of doing and supervising a PhD. In Portugal, research concerning this issue is scarce and this paper intends to discuss the meanings and implications of researching in the intersection between different languages and cultures in the context of doctoral education at the Department of Education and Psychology of the University of Aveiro, Portugal, in the perspective of both (national and international) students and supervisors. Results from thematic analysis indicate substantial implications concerning: (i) the supervision process; (ii) researchers’ personal and professional development; and (iii) knowledge production and dissemination. In the light of the results, some discussion axes concerning doctoral education will be put forward.

KEYWORDS:

• Researching across languages and cultures
• doctoral education
• doctoral students
• supervisors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Susana Pinto is a Researcher at the Research Centre Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers (CIDTFF) of the University of Aveiro, Portugal. She has a PhD in Didactics and Teacher Education, a Master’s in Language Didactics and a degree in Teaching Portuguese and English. She is the Coordinator of the Open Laboratory for Foreign Language Learning (LALE). Her main research interests are language policies for education and research in higher education, plurilingual and intercultural competences and supervision across cultures in doctoral programmes.

Maria Helena Araújo e Sá is a Professor at the Department of Education and Psychology (University of Aveiro, Portugal), where she supervises master, doctoral and post-doctoral students in the area of Language Didactics and Teacher Education. She is the Coordinator of the Research Centre Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers (CIDTFF) and the Director of the Doctoral Programme in Education. Her main research domains are intercomprehension, plurilingual and intercultural communication and teacher education.

Notes

1 Strand 2 of the EU-funded Jean Monnet network project ‘EUROMEC’ led by Prof. Maria Stoicheva, Sofia University, Bulgaria. Strand 2 is entitled: ‘New European Young Researchers’ Identities. Exchanges and Doctoral studies – an international study of processes and outcomes in the EU’ and included partners from: St Kliment Ohridski University, Bulgaria; Jagiellonian University, Poland; University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg; University of Durham, UK; University of Aveiro, Portugal; and Beijing Language and Culture University, China (see Byram and Stoicheva 2020).

Additional information

Funding

This work is financially supported by National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. under the project UIDB/00194/2020 and in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19.