Ph.D. DisSErtATioN DefENse

Today, I was absent from my Applied TESL class because... I had to defense for my dissertation. Of course that can't be true, excuse me for my daydreaming. It was because I went to a CIMT (Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology) Ph.D. student's defense for his dissertation. And most important of all, I did get the permission of my absence from the instructor in advance.

The reason that I really need to go to this defense was because the topic of the dissertation was related to what I wanted to work on for my thesis. The topic was "Effects of Text, Audio, and Graphic Aids in Multimedia Instruction on the Achievement of Students in Volcabulary Learning", and it's in the field of CALL. But rather than working on vocabulary, I prefer pronunciation better. I'm still developing my idea up to this present time. I'm still considering if I should choose to work on sociolinguistics, like pragmatics or speech acts.

During the 40-minute defense, the whole atmosphere was kind of tense. I was extremely impressed by the Ph.D. student because his voice sounded calm. If I were him, I think my voice would be trembling with nervousness. To my surprise, he did a good job on showing his profession without showing panic. However, whenever he was asked a question in the middle of his defense, it took him a long time to think of an answer, which I think was one of the weaknesses of his defense.

After all the members of the dissertation committee asked all questions they had in mind, everyone had to leave the room, because the committee needed time and privacy to discuss over the defense and decide whether this student had met their requirement or not. It took a little while for them to make up their minds. By the time we walked into the room, they were already signing for the "Certificate of Approval" sheet. As soon as we all taken our seat, the chairperson officially announced that the student is now known as a Doctor. If I can be called Dr. Hsiao-Hsuan Chen, I would immediately burst out crying, and nothing can stop me from that for at least half an hour. That moment was indeed touching.