ACADEMIC EXCHANGE – REQUEST FOR SUPERVISION AT AN ACADEMIC INSTITUTION WRITING TASK Study the following example of an academic email exchange between a PhD candidate searching for a placement with a university of his/her choice and a faculty staff at the questioned university. After having done the following sub-task, check your answers with a key and produce your of own piece of text at the length of 300- 350 words. Language sub-task: fill in the gaps using the most appropriate expression. _________ (1) Professor Collins, Excuse me for approaching you and asking you for your help in the following __________ (2): I am _________ (2) a PhD. candidate at Masaryk University, School of Humanities, Department of English and American Studies. I work ________ (3) a tutor of English for Specific Purposes at the Language Center, Brno, Czech Republic. I __________ (4) to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship, which would enable me to work on my dissertation at an American university. The award of the scholarship, ___________ (5), is subject to a preliminary consent of an establishment that would be willing to __________ (6) me. And this is where my request comes in. Is there any chance _______ (6) being offered a ________ (7) at the Gervitz Graduate School of Education? I would be enormously grateful if you could __________ (8) me as a candidate for __________ (9) research student under your __________ (10). The fellowship (up to 10 months) would be covered by the scholarship in question. The __________ (11) is unfortunately December 1, 2007 for the academic year beginning in the fall 2008 - I would need a written confirmation from an American scholar that they would be ___________ (12) to supervise me. In my PhD ___________ (13), I am trying to analyze the structure and language of written medical case reports as a style belonging to the genre of research articles. The text analysis of such reports involves a corpus-based research, ___________ (14) primarily from the stylistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic viewpoints. The corpus, which I _________ (15) currently developing, will be approached both from the synchronic and diachronic __________ (16) . In the former, my focus will be on characterization of the genre as it is currently produced by the discourse community of medical professionals. In the latter, an emphasis will be placed on the comparison of differences between medical case reports written 1900 - 1906 and those produced nowadays. In the dissertation I will _______ (17) on developments of both the Slavonic (especially the Prague School - Mathesius, Vachek, Firbas, Danes; among others Tarnyikova, Bakhtin) and Anglo-American (Crystal, Davy, Leech, Fowler, Halliday, Hasan, Swales, Hoey, Bazerman) traditions in the study of language. Please find ____________ (18) my Curriculum Vitae. If you ____________ (19) any additional _______________ (20), I will be happy to supply them. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. ____________ (21), John Smith personal page of the student: http://www.john-smith.muni.cz Attachment: curriculum vitae A sample answer to the academic exchange above: Dear Professor Collins, Excuse me for approaching you and asking you for your help in the following matter: I am currently a PhD. candidate at Masaryk University, School of Humanities, Department of English and American Studies. I work as a tutor of English for Specific Purposes at the Language Center, Brno, Czech Republic. I intend to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship, which would enable me to work on my dissertation at an American university. The award of the scholarship, however, is subject to a preliminary consent of an establishment that would be willing to admit me. And this is where my request comes in. Is there any chance of being offered a fellowship at the Gervitz Graduate School of Education? I would be enormously grateful if you could consider me as a candidate for visiting research student under your supervision. The fellowship (up to 10 months) would be covered by the scholarship in question. The deadline is unfortunately December 1, 2007 for the academic year beginning in the fall 2008 - I would need a written confirmation from an American scholar that they would be willing to supervise me. In my PhD dissertation, I am trying to analyze the structure and language of written medical case reports as a style belonging to the genre of research articles. The text analysis of such reports involves a corpus-based research, undertaken primarily from the stylistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic viewpoints. The corpus, which I am currently developing, will be approached both from the synchronic and diachronic angles. In the former, my focus will be on characterization of the genre as it is currently produced by the discourse community of medical professionals. In the latter, an emphasis will be placed on the comparison of differences between medical case reports written 1900 - 1906 and those produced nowadays. In the dissertation I will draw on developments of both the Slavonic (especially the Prague School - Mathesius, Vachek, Firbas, Danes; among others Tarnyikova, Bakhtin) and Anglo-American (Crystal, Davy, Leech, Fowler, Halliday, Hasan, Swales, Hoey, Bazerman) traditions in the study of language. Please find attached my Curriculum Vitae. If you require any additional materials, I will be happy to supply them. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Sincerely, John Smith personal page of the student: http://www.john-smith.muni.cz Attachment: curriculum vitae A sample email answer to the PhD candidate: Dear Mr. Smith, I would be happy to work with you and we would be able to arrange a visiting scholar status for you which will provide you with library space. We will also try to locate desk space for you in a shared office. we will not be able to provide any financial support, but with a Fulbright you should not need that. You do understand that Santa Barbara rents can be high. I have worked with a number of Fulbright scholars, and currently am working with one from China. I have always found it a rewarding experience. If you have read my work you are aware my approach is quite distinct from that of the other scholars you cite, focusing more on the social, historical, and activity contexts within genres are used and recognized, with form being a rhetorical response to the situation. So an historical comparison would have both a textual component but also a socio-historical-institutional one, to consider the contexts within which the linguistic forms are deployed. Is this email sufficient indication of my willingness to work with you or do you need another kind of document? I will be travelling and on holidays for the next two weeks, so I probably cannot do much more than this until near the end of the month. Yours, John Collins Professor John Collins Department of Education Gevirtz Graduate School of Education University of Saint Margaret, Santa Barbara CA 93106 phone: 905-8893-75 collins@education.ucm.edu http://www.education.ucm.edu/collins