Alumni Series: An Interview with Dr Michael Davey
Hangyu Zhang
Dr Michael Davey is currently working as a research assistant at the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC) at the University of Melbourne. He completed his PhD at the School of Languages and Linguistics (SoLL) in May 2022 under the supervision of Prof Carsten Roever and A/Prof Chloe Diskin-Holdaway.
Hangyu interviewed Michael to learn more about his research journey, career development, and suggestions for current PhD students at the school.
Hi Michael, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I know it’s been many years, but could you talk about what motivated you to pursue a PhD at the initial stage in 2018?
Having worked in the ESL and language testing worlds for many years, it was clear that conventional ideas about the different bits and pieces that go together to make a successful L2 (second language) communicator needed to be completed at best. I was interested in the idea of contributing to a better understanding of what it really is that goes into effective communication for L2 speakers.
Can you describe your PhD research and its significance in your academic field?
One of my main goals with my thesis was to nudge L2 IC (interactional competence) research into areas with which it had yet to fully engage, and hopefully, to thereby expand, however modestly, scholarly understanding of how social interaction works for L2 speakers. For example, despite the emphasis on (‘correct’) grammar in L2 teaching and assessment, there has been little work done on how grammar is used as a specifically interactional resource for L2-speaking participants in real-life conversations. One of the contributions of my PhD work was to demonstrate how L2 speakers use grammar to get things done (e.g., complaining, promising, criticising, being funny, etc.) in their talk. This kind of focus on what we call ‘social action’, is incredibly important as it allows us to see which aspects of formal linguistic structure are actually practically important for participants themselves when solving the real-world problems that come up at every moment in a real-life conversation.
That’s interesting and meaningful! During your PhD journey, what were your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Well, I was incredibly fortunate in that I finished the data collection phase of my project about a week or so before a trickle of reports began emerging about a worrying new virus in Wuhan! Of course, within a couple of months, we were all locked down and plans for what the third year of my PhD journey was going to look like changed drastically. While I was relieved to have finished my data collection, Covid was obviously still a significant challenge. At that point, it was a matter of adapting to the new situation and making sure not to lose focus.
Yes, the pandemic did make our academic work challenging! On the other hand, have you found any aspects during your PhD journey that were especially impressive and left a wonderful memory?
The experience was an overwhelmingly positive. I was incredibly lucky to work with, and be mentored by, people like Carsten Roever, Naoki Ikeda and David Wei Dai (among many others). The SoLL professional staff were also very supportive and approachable.
How has this journey influenced your career path and professional development? Do you think your education here has prepared you well for the current position?
Enormously. Although my current role is not directly related to the specifics of the research direction I pursued in my PhD project, the skills I learnt are invaluable. For those already working who are contemplating doing a higher degree but may be worried about leaving a ‘gap’ in their career progression, all else being equal I would say go for it. Aside from being an exciting and fun way to spend a few years, it does force you into acquiring a skill set that most jobs do not offer. Some of these are reasonably obvious – preparing papers and the thesis itself is a great way to improve one’s written communication skills, not just in an academic context. But others are perhaps a little more subtle. As an example, I think that the whole process of planning, preparing, executing and then presenting a large academic project demands a very interesting mix of independence/resilience and the ability to collaborate. Smart employers would do well to recognise this when making hiring decisions!
Sounds wonderful! How do you stay connected with the academic community and contribute to your field after graduation?
Aside from working at the LTRC, I am very lucky to be working on a number of projects with different collaborators. This allows me to keep on asking, and hopefully answering, the kinds of questions that motivated my PhD. For me, this has been about making and maintaining connections with people with congruent research interests. Most PhD projects will leave you with a bunch more questions than answers! Once you reach the end of the degree, there will likely be plenty of things that you are chomping at the bit to go out and explore.
Do you have any future goals and aspirations currently?
Yes, as I alluded to in the previous answer, perhaps the most fun thing about doing my PhD was the degree to which it showed me how little I know about my field, and how much work needs to be done to bring us closer to understanding the fascinating phenomenon of social interaction both in an L2 context as well as more generally. One question that I am currently intrigued by relates to the culture’s role when people get together and talk. What might allow us to characterise a particular interaction as an instance of “cross-cultural communication”? And are such characterizations even useful? I definitely hope to spend the next few years involved in working through these kinds of intellectual puzzles.
That’s inspiring! So, how about managing work-life balance in the academic industry? How do you balance the demands of research, work, and personal life?
I think for most people, over three or four years of a PhD, they will find periods when they are very busy indeed, but also some periods when there’s actually not all that much to do. Recognising these super busy periods is important. It’s fine to put work, friends, hobbies, family etc, on hold to some extent at these times while you dedicate yourself to your project. Then after a few weeks, you’ll often find that you have a bit more time to dedicate to these other aspects of your life. Balance is crucial, but it’s not like every individual day or week has to be balanced.
I really agree with your words. Thanks for sharing that. At last, would you like to offer some suggestions to current PhD candidates and students in the faculty?
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience so I hope others can be similarly lucky. Following from the previous answer, it’s important to recognise periods when you can take a bit of a break, put your project at least somewhat on the back burner and recharge. Keep things in perspective and remember that no one’s project is going to go exactly as planned. I think the most important thing is that we all go down this road because of our curiosity- the fascination of thinking about complicated things and the excitement of making progress towards understanding them a little bit better. Make sure to remind yourself of this curiosity and have fun with it!
Very insightful! Thank you so much, Michael, for sharing your impressive experience today!