EMLT Bulletin 19 (September) - EN

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SEPTEMBER, 2016

19

ED UC IN (M A A DO IS) ND TIO CT MA JO N ST O TC B UD RA H IE L S

EDUCATION AND JOB (MIS)MATCH IN DOCTORAL STUDIES Doctoral studies are an integral part of tertiary education. The main goal of these programmes is to train new generations of researchers and academics. The quality of the study and job prospects of graduates of these programmes are the subject of various investigations. The case in point here is Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic, which offers a wide range of doctoral programmes at each of its 9 faculties. One of these doctoral programmes is Methodology of Foreign Languages, provided by the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University.

DOCTORAL PROGRAMME OF METHODOLOGY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES The doctoral study programme Methodology of Foreign Languages as a programme within the framework Specialisation in Educational Science is a unique doctoral field of study in the Czech Republic. It is also a relatively recent programme whose first graduates took the doctoral state exam in May this year.

With regard to the education-job mismatch we can describe the situation of the three graduates as follows:

1)

The graduates 1+2 have a position at Masaryk University and so they can build on their teaching and research activities in the given field.

2)

The graduate 3: continues to teach foreign languages in language courses for adults.

The main goals of the standard 4-year doctoral study is to gain technical knowledge and skills in educational science, theories of language acquisition, foreign language methodology, psycholinguistics, pragmalinguistics and research methodology so that the graduates become experts in foreign language teaching and the area of their dissertation research.

At the moment there are 28 students in this programme, one of them from Salvador, studying in the Czech Republic within the programme Erasmus Mundus. In their research projects doctoral students deal with various research problems related to language acquisition and foreign language learning. Their research projects significantly contribute to the establishment of this scientific field as well as to the development of the theories of foreign language methodology.

The current dissertation research projects mainly explore topics such as multilingualism (e.g. an investigation of multilingualism in teaching German as a foreign language), counselling and foreign language teaching, testing (e.g. research into comparability of versions of a test in the school-leaving foreign language exam), or problems associated with teaching processes and foreign language learning (e.g. research into motivation for learning German technical and academic language).

Survey In June this year we designed and distributed an online questionnaire including four questions among the students of the field of study Methodology of Foreign Language. The questions aimed at finding out more about motivation for studies of foreign language methodology and expectations of job prospects after graduation.

We also attempted to find out what knowledge and skills acquired during studies the students value most and how they view their job prospects abroad. Despite a low response rate of questionnaires we got an interesting insight into the students´ perceptions of their studies.

The results imply that the respondents applied for the doctoral studies mainly motivated by the vision of higher qualification, broadening their knowledge and a higher chance of getting a job in tertiary sector. A factor that also plays an important role in their decision making is previous positive experience with studies at Masaryk University.

respondents

The as

current students most appreciate the fact that thanks to their studies they have

gained

comprehensive

knowledge of research methodology and academic skills, such as academic writing,

academic

discussions

and

presentations at conferences.

Finally, we addressed the problem of job prospects.

Here most of the respondents stated that they expect to find a job in the area of teaching foreign languages, especially in the academic sector as research-oriented studies mainly prepare for this type of career. One of the respondents pointed out that due to the fact that only few positions are available in tertiary sector, s/he does not expect to find a job there. Also, most respondents do not see their job prospects abroad as excellent, mainly due to the rather narrow focus of their studies and topics of their dissertation projects.

Overall, the results of the questionnaire reflect satisfaction of the respondents with their studies and this satisfaction is also evident in their academic achievements.

Photos: Jitka KarliĹĄovĂĄ Sources: www.ped.muni.cz

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