• You should expect to attend up to ten hours per week of tutorials and should expect to spend an additional thirty to forty hours a week, perhaps more, during each full term for preparation. In addition, you should expect to be set a considerable amount of work during the vacations.
  • Language instruction, the reading of prescribed texts, and bibliographic or methodological exercises are usually conducted in tutorials for which you are expected to prepare thoroughly in advance. Lectures are provided for instruction on general themes of Korean and East Asian history and critical issues in contemporary and classical Korean linguistics. You are advised to take advantage of public lectures offered on China and Japan, since they also supply historical context, comparative linguistic information, regional background, and comparative perspectives for work in tutorials.
  • Teaching takes place in tutorials. You are required to prepare thoroughly for whatever is required: language exercises, prescribed readings, essays, bibliographic or methodological exercises, and you should be able to present your preparation in finished form. Depending on the task, the finished form may be written language exercises, essays on linguistics, historical, literary, or cultural topics, or translation from Korean (or Chinese or Japanese) into English.
  • Outstanding students typically view themselves as Ôresearchers in trainingÕ and consciously set about building their competence in the body of secondary reference materials available (in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese) as an additional aspect of tutorial preparation.
  • Candidates are also required to submit a dissertation of not more than 15,000 words on a topic approved by the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.
  • Aside from the dissertation, the course is examined by two, three-hour examinations to be sat at the end (eighth week) of the third term (Trinity) in June, and one examination to be completed in the Bodleian Library over the course of three and one-half days, also during eighth week at the end of the third term. The dissertation deadline is the end of the sixth week of the third term.
  • All examination papers and the dissertation will be reviewed by examiners, one of whom is from outside the University. The external examiner shall have the final decision as to whether to award the degree. You will be examined viva voce unless you have been individually excused by the examiners.
  • The examiners ordinarily award a pass/fail mark but may award a Distinction for excellence in the whole examination. A Distinction should be viewed as a strong recommendation to continue research at the DPhil level.