Exploring academic communication practices through email: a study of UK-based Saudi PhD students’ email communications with their supervisors

Abstract

This thesis examines the email request communication of Saudi PhD students to their supervisors in the UK academic context. It explores how students construct and navigate this important academic relationship through digital correspondence. Using a qualitative research design, the study comprises preliminary interviews with 6 students, an analysis of 216 authentic emails from 20 Saudi PhD students, and follow-up semi-structured interviews with the 6 students who had been interviewed at the outset. The findings provide insights into the linguistic features and decision-making processes that influence such communications.
The findings revealed that Saudi PhD students’ email construction functioned as identity work, enabling them to navigate cultural authenticity maintenance, institutional expectations and strategic relationship development. Students consciously rejected AI-generated writing assistance to maintain an authentic linguistic voice and consistently upheld formal titles despite their supervisor’s encouragement toward informality. Students’ construction decisions emerged from power awareness and relationship assessment, protecting supervisor face, strategically selecting communication channels based on face-threatening potential and experiencing vulnerability when requesting exceptional accommodations. An analysis of 216 emails revealed that the subject lines maintained formal deference markers while adapting to the informality encouraged by supervisors and consistently expressed gratitude in their closings. Students predominantly employed conventionally indirect query-preparatory forms, followed by equal distributions of direct want statements and non-conventionally indirect strong hints, demonstrating that different request types, relationship stages and face-threat levels required different adjustments in directness. Internal modifications favoured “please”, while external modifications used “grounders”, reflecting cultural norms of hierarchy, deference and respect characterised by high power distance. Students employed strategy variety because hierarchical institutional contexts necessitated ongoing assessment of power dynamics, face threats, and relationship-maintenance requirements, with a reliance on indirectness despite a stated preference for directness, revealing that supervisors’ control over degree progression required protection from face threats.
This study contributes to the field of intercultural academic communication. It reveals that effective academic email communication constitutes a distinct form of communicative competence beyond general English proficiency, particularly highlighting the complex transitions Saudi PhD students navigate in UK academic settings. The study challenges prevailing assumptions about Saudi students’ communication preferences, demonstrating their ability to employ both formal and informal strategies, including irony and emoji use, in their communications with supervisors. Furthermore, it illuminates how email serves as a critical space for relationship building and identity negotiation, extending beyond mere information exchange. Through its innovative three-phase methodological approach, which combines preliminary interviews, authentic email analysis, and in-depth follow-up interviews, this research provides insights into the evolving nature of international doctoral supervision and the complex interplay between cultural identity and academic communication practices.

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