Korean Job Discussion Forums

Spiky · Joined: 29 Apr 2003

Hello!

I'm looking into doing a doctorate program in an Education or TESOL-related field. I will be in Korea for at least the next few years, but I do have winters and summers off, so I could take some intensive courses in the States or elsewhere in those times. I would love to go the the US and do the program there, but it is not possible for me at this time. Does anyone know of any GOOD programs that have options where I could do part of it online or through distance in KOrea and then attend some classes there? Or any online/distance programs that are really good quality programs?

Thanks a lot!

VanIslander · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 8:44 pm Post subject:

Please take this advice in the spirit in which it is given:

(A) Stop at the M.A. if you want to teach at a university outside of your home country.

OR

(B) Go through a PhD. if you seriously wish to publish academic work and/or teach university in your home country.

Because otherwise all those years will take a lot more time, money and effort than its worth.

And if you choose (B) then doctoral students have to do a lot of research, so you should be able to easily google your way to some top programs (in Britain mostly).

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

"....Because otherwise all those years will take a lot more time, money and effort than its worth."

VanIslander and I seem to agree.

Shocked

VanIslander · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 9:04 pm Post subject:

fondasoape · Joined: 02 Dec 2004

If you want to get a PhD in TESL, you may be rather limited in choice. If you're willing to expand (all the way) to applied linguistics or education progams, you have a larger number to choose from.

If I were you, I'd wait until you found a program which had professors doing research which interests you and which has sufficient resources to support at least some of your research as well. I wouldn't necessarily pick an MA program just because the department also gave PhDs. Nothing wrong (and perhaps a lot right) with going to more than one place for grad study.

If you can find a reasonably endowed school, you probably can get them to pay for your education. Research universities need teaching assistants for their language programs (even in EFL, for overseas students who are otherwise excellent but don't make the TOEFL cut, or have good test scores but need more work), and these assistants get free tuition and a small stipend in exchange for teaching a few hours a week. So, unless the reason you can't return to the US is because you're evading arrest, you very well might be able to get a free ride if you've got good grades (e.g. B+ average and good GRE scores).

You could, of course, pay for your MA and PhD yourself, and end up in debt and in a field which doesn't exactly offer the most sterling earning prospects.

Forget the distance programs unless you can't avoid it: imagine trying do well in a graduate course without access to a research library... you'd get to be on a first-name basis with the good people of amazon.com.

J.B. Clamence · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

doing a doctoral progam by distance is a bad idea.

the whole 'mentoring' thing that goes on in universities is pretty important. making connections with other academics and researchers and sitting in on meetings and learning the 'lingo.'

doing it by distance and paying for a ph.d would be a big mistake.

in fact, doing a ph.d in TESOL might be 'over-kill', if you already have an M.A. in TESOL / Applied Linguistics.

A ph.d in education would be more versatile with a focus in Education Technology or something like that.

The base salary for M.A. holders at my school is about 2 Million Won.

With a Ph.D I would automatically move up from Lecturer to Assistant Professor and make a little under 3 Million Won.

The extra money would be nice and the hours are about the same.

ThePoet · Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:52 pm Post subject:

J.B. Clamence · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

A Masters is a lot different from a Ph.D. Ph.D. candidates don't just need books for their course reading material. They also need books (by the boatload) to read on their own time to be aware of different theories, practices, and research that is out there in their field. Also, they will choose topics to reasearch and will need access to a huge amount of books relating to their chosen topics. It's one thing for a distance program to send you a handful of books you need for a particular course, but they cannot possibly send every single book a Ph.D candidate would need access to (unless you're willing to pay them thousands and thousands of dollars for all those books).

The statements above relating to the basic needs of a Ph.D. candidate are based on the assumption that the program is good and reputable. If someone is telling you you can get a Ph.D. while in Korea, but don't worry about needing books because they'll send you a dozen or so every semester, and that's all you should need, then my guess is whatever certificate they give you at the end isn't worth the paper it's written on.

ThePoet · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:34 am Post subject:

fondasoape · Joined: 02 Dec 2004

You have to pay for the Athabasca program, correct?

Ryst Helmut · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 11:03 am Post subject:

Ryst Helmut · Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:33 pm Post subject:

Spiky,

Forgot to mention that all the schools that I've contacted require me to have at least one year's residency at their school before being awarded the degree.

I talked to some of the department heads and informed them that my research would take me overseas, so I asked how this would affect my studies. They informed me that they wanted me to complete at least one year on campus / in residency, before I did that.

Just FYI...

!shoosh

Ryst