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The diversity of doctoral research in the Graduate School of Education (GSE) was reinforced in the work of the five international doctoral students who graduated recently.

Wahiza Wahi – an award-winner for her publications and conference presentations – investigated the influence of English language academic literacy on employability of Malaysian undergraduate students. Rozita Dass developed a theory of how teachers and students in Singapore secondary schools deal with literature in English studies.

Three international students graduated with Doctor of Education degrees. Shanmugam Kadakara analysed the Tamil language in Singapore, while Harjinder Kaur studied third-generation migrant children learning their heritage language in Singapore. Gurdish Kaur Gill focused on policy and empowerment in a study which theorised Singaporean junior college teachers’ responses to the ‘Teach Less, Learn More’ policy.

Gurdish and Shanmugam participated in the successful transnational Doctor of Education program offered by the GSE in Hong Kong (2001) and Singapore (2003). Eighty five transnational students have graduated successfully, 39 students are writing their theses and 24 new students have enrolled in Singapore.

The international students have returned to positions of influence in their own countries. Shamugam is Head of Tamil Program at Singapore Institute of

Management University and is also involved in teacher training at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. Wahiza is teaching at the National University of Malaysia and continuing her research in academic literacy, English language literacy, TESL and higher education. Rozita is an education consultant with Avastar Education and Director of Learning at Dian Kindergarten in Selangor, Malaysia. Gurdish is an acquisitions editor with Pearson Australia Group

Published in UWA News , 15 October 2012