Ph.D. in Japanese Linguistics

Admission to Candidacy

Candidacy is the most important University milestone on the way to the Ph.D. degree. Admission to candidacy rests both on the fulfillment of department requirements and on an assessment by department faculty that the student has the potential to successfully complete the Ph.D.

Following University policy (GAP 4.6.1), students are expected to complete the candidacy requirements by Spring Quarter of the second year of graduate study.

Pre-Candidacy Requirements

1. Demonstrate proficiency in modern and classical Japanese by completing the following courses or demonstrating equivalent linguistic attainment by passing the appropriate certifying examinations.
   • Fourth-Year Japanese (take the entire sequence through to the following):
     • JAPANLNG 213 - Fourth-Year Japanese, Third Quarter (2-4 units)
   • Classical Japanese (take one of the following):
     • JAPAN 264 - Introduction to Premodern Japanese (3-5 units)
     • JAPAN 265 - Readings in Premodern Japanese (2-5 units)
2. Proseminar sequence: Complete the following courses for a letter grade of B or higher.
   • EALC 201 - Proseminar in East Asian Humanities I: Skills and Methodologies (3 units)
   • JAPAN 279 - Research in Japanese Linguistics (2-5 unit)
3. Complete six advisor-approved courses numbered above 200 from among the offerings of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. At least one of these six courses must be an advanced seminar numbered above 300. At least one of these six courses must deal with Japanese literature.
4. Qualifying paper

   • All Doctoral students must complete an MA qualifying paper. An MA thesis is accepted instead of a qualifying paper for students initially admitted as EALC MA students. Students seeking an MA en route to the PhD must secure approval from the primary advisor and submit an MA thesis.

   • A graded MA qualifying paper or thesis must be submitted to the DGS and SSO with an accompanying note from the student’s primary advisor by week five of spring quarter of the second year of study for the annual review and candidacy decision.

   • During the quarter when students complete the MA qualifying paper or thesis (25-30 pages), they must enroll in EALC 299.

Teaching Requirement

1. Complete the following course during spring quarter of the year before serving as a teaching assistant. Typically, this occurs during spring quarter of the second year of graduate study.
   • DLCL 301 - The Learning and Teaching of Second Languages (3 units)

2. Demonstrate pedagogical proficiency by serving as a teaching assistant for at least three quarters, starting no later than autumn quarter of the third year of graduate study. The department may approve exceptions to the timing of the language teaching requirement.

Post-Candidacy Requirements

1. Demonstrate proficiency in at least one supporting language to be chosen in consultation with the primary advisor according to the candidate’s specific research goals. For the second language, students must be proficient at the second-year level, at the minimum; a higher level of proficiency may be required depending on the advisor’s recommendation. Reading proficiency must be certified through a written examination or an appropriate amount of coursework to be determined on a case-by-case basis. When deemed necessary by the student’s advisor(s), working knowledge of a third language may also be required.

2. Complete five upper-division or graduate-level courses in linguistics and other supporting fields. To be determined in consultation with the student’s primary advisor, these may include applied linguistics, Chinese linguistics, psychology, education, anthropology, or sociology.

3. Complete JAPAN 279 - Research in Japanese Linguistics (2-5 units); this course should be taken in the first or second year at Stanford.
4. Submit two qualifying papers (QPs) that present each student’s original research in two different subfields of linguistics discussing Japanese linguistic topics and data. The length of the paper depends on the topic but generally should be about 25-30 pages. However, the paper must be evaluated by quality, not length. It should contain a clear statement of the issue in question, the motivation for the inquiry about the existing body of work, persuasive arguments supported by compelling analyses of relevant data, and theoretical implications of the findings. The quality is expected to be equivalent to a paper accepted for presentation at a professional conference and/or publishable in conference proceedings or a journal in linguistics. A QP can be an extension of a term paper, but its topic should be discussed with the student’s advisor before writing. It is strongly recommended that the student should seek at least two faculty members to be on the QP committee who will guide research and writing in the process and who will evaluate the paper. If circumstances do not permit obtaining multiple members, consult the advisor. Students are encouraged to plan and consult advising faculty members early in the second year. The first qualifying paper (QP1) should be approved by the spring quarter of the second year. To obtain approval of QP1 in time, a draft should be provided to the committee members in the winter quarter, if not earlier. The second qualifying paper (QP2) should be approved by the beginning of the autumn quarter of the fourth year. To obtain approval of QP2 in time, a draft should be provided to the committee members in the spring quarter of the third year, if not earlier. Failure to receive approval for QPs in time may lead to dismissal from the program. Students are urged to start planning for QPs and complete their QP requirements as early as possible to maximize the time to prepare their dissertation proposal and write the dissertation.

5. Submit a dissertation proposal (10-15 pages) accompanied by an annotated bibliography about the dissertation topic and have it approved by the dissertation reading committee after an oral presentation/examination, which is recognized as one of the milestones. A proposal should specify the theoretical and empirical significance of the proposed topic of inquiry situated in the existing scholarship, the relevant data (or plans for data collection), the theoretical approach, methods of investigation, and hypotheses. It should present a planned timeline for completing the dissertation. The annotated bibliography is cumulative and should include, but would not be limited to, the references given in the dissertation proposal. The annotation can be a paragraph (or more, if needed) for each reference. This process should be completed by the spring quarter of the fourth year before TGR.

6. Pass the University Oral Examination (dissertation defense). General regulations governing the oral examination are found in Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures (GAP 4.7.1). The candidate is examined on questions related to the dissertation after acceptable parts have been completed in draft form.

7. Following university policy (GAP 4.8.1), submit a dissertation demonstrating the ability to undertake original research based on primary and secondary materials in Japanese.

Submit two qualifying papers (QPs) that present each student’s original research in two different subfields of linguistics discussing Japanese linguistic topics and data. The length of the paper depends on the topic but generally should be about 25-30 pages. It is important, however, that the paper is not evaluated by its length but by its quality. It should contain a clear statement of the issue in question, the motivation for the inquiry in relation to the existing body of work, cogent arguments supported by compelling analyses of relevant data and theoretical implications of the findings. The quality is expected to be equivalent to a paper accepted for presentation at a professional conference and/or publishable in conference proceedings or in a journal in linguistics. A QP can be an extension of a term paper, but its topic should be discussed with the student’s advisor prior to writing. It is strongly recommended that the student should seek at least two faculty members to be on the QP committee who will provide guidance for research and writing in the process, and who will evaluate the paper. If circumstances do not permit obtaining multiple members, consult the advisor. Students are encouraged to start planning and consulting advising faculty members early in the second year.

The first qualifying paper (QP1) should be approved by Spring quarter of the second year. To obtain approval of QP1 in time, a completed draft should be provided to the committee members at the beginning of Autumn quarter, if not earlier.

The second qualifying paper (QP2) should be approved by the Winter Quarter of the fourth year. To obtain approval of QP2 in time, a completed draft should be provided to the committee members at the beginning of Autumn quarter, if not earlier.

Failure to receive approval for QPs in time may lead to dismissal from the program. These relatively late dates for approval are given in case the full-year TA duties during the second year may affect students’ writing progress. Students are urged to start planning for QPs and complete their QP requirements as early as possible to maximize the time to prepare their dissertation proposals and their dissertations.