Help With Dissertation Research!

[BKKmango]

Hello all!

I am a third year doctoral student in Organizational Communication and Rhetoric (Ohio University) and I am currently working on my dissertation research.

The topic of my dissertation is an exploration as to how the internet and virtual communities are used as socialization tools by individuals entering new organizations by examining the experiences of English teachers in Thai universities, colleges, language schools, or high schools .

I lived in Thailand for five years and taught Management and Marketing courses at Yonok College and Bangkok University. Although I did not teach English except for a handful of conversation classes for overtime pay, I have friends and colleagues who have. The interesting career path which many of them have taken has led me to my research area.

As part of my research, I would like to conduct an short interview via instant messaging or email with EFL teachers who are teaching/have taught in Thailand. The interviews will mainly focus on your experiences prior to arriving in Thailand. As I am in the United States, all interviews will be scheduled around your time in order to avoid difficulties with teaching schedules or work rules.

Anyone that would like to participate can contact me through the forum and/or email.

Michael

[aussiestyle1983]

I would like to enchourgae all of the other posters in the teachers forum to participate in this interview, especially peaceblondie and ijustwannateach.

I just participated in the interview and enjoyed the experience. The person conducting the interview is very polite and is just looking to gather information about "how EFL teachers were using internet-based virtual communities (e.g., thaivisa.com) to learn about and make sense of the decision to move to Thailand and teach."

The interview is confidential and no details are exchanged. The interview is also conducted at a time that suites you and does not take long. You are able to reflect alot about how the internet communities have played a role in your life and teaching career in Thailand.

Anyway, I hope a few other take part in this interview because it is for a good cause and you will learn something from it. Just send a PM to the OP if you are interested.

[alaina]

Are you only interested in EFL/ESL teachers? What about teachers of other subjects?

[BKKmango]

Alaina:

Hi!

Thanks for your post and question! I appreciate your interest in this study.

Yes, I am interested in EFL teachers and their experiences online. My dissertation research needs to focus on this population/sample in order for me to be able to argue my points with confidence. I try to generalize individual/group activities or experiences within a community of people first before attempting to do so among communities of people. I find that too many studies rush to generalize their findings and are weaker for it. Future studies will broaden my ideas into non-EFL positions, non-academic work environments, other countries, etc.

The nature of your question seemed to indicate that you are not an EFL teacher. If this is correct, I would still be interested in your experiences with virtual communities (e.g., ajarn.com, thaivisa.com), but I would not be able to use them as part of the study.

(I also study virtual communities in the worlds of internet music and sport, if interested?!)

If you are an EFL teacher (or were in the past), I would be interested to learn more about which communities you used/use and what your experiences were/are with them before and after you arrived in Thailand.

Michael

Are you only interested in EFL/ESL teachers? What about teachers of other subjects?

[BKKmango]

I would like to thank all of the individuals who participated in the study so far. Your experiences and comments were interesting and insightful.

If you are new to the thread, I am still in the process of interviewing people about their experiences regarding online information searching and Thailand. Please see my first post as it contains a description of my study.

If you are interested in participating, please drop me a PM or email.

[mrtoad]

I have undertaken the survey, and I'd second what aussiestyle said in an earlier post. Help the guy out, he's polite and the subject is interesting.

[PeaceBlondie]

I have undertaken the survey, and I'd second what aussiestyle said in an earlier post. Help the guy out, he's polite and the subject is interesting.

Ditto, likewise, similarly.

[BKKmango]

Hello everyone! I would like to take a moment and update all of you who participated in my study about EFL teachers, virtual communities, and Thailand.

First, I would like to thank everyone who provided assistance either through interviews, referrals, questions, information, websites, or all of the above. Your assistance was invaluable to my work and I hope to do more research on EFL teachers in Thailand in the future.

Second, I would like to specifically thank the management of this site for allowing me to post and offering guidance and suggestions to me.

Third, I recently reached my goal in terms of interviews and the information gathering part of the dissertation work is over. I have been writing for several months, but the bulk of the writing starts now.

Despite being finished (for now) with this project, I would still like to hear about interesting ideas and encounters that anyone has had with virtual communities as you searched for information about being/becoming an EFL teacher and/or moving to Thailand.

Once again, thanks for all of the help!

If anyone is working on their own research, and I can help, please do not hesitate to contact me and I will do my best. Also, if I can provide any information on living in Thailand, please let me know as well.

Michael

[qualtrough]

As an O.U. grad (MAIA) I would love to help you with your research, but alas am not an ELS teacher. Good luck with your dissertation! I enjoyed the two years I spent in Athens.

Edited November 28, 2007 by qualtrough