Academic English for PhD Researchers

A 5-stream pathway in academic English skills, designed for researchers who already have a master's and are now operating at PhD level. Subject-agnostic — works for any field.

Who this is for: postgraduate researchers whose first language isn't English, who can already read academic texts but need to operate at PhD level — reading volume, writing precision, supervisor communication, and eventually a viva.

The Five Streams

Cycle through; pick what's most pressing
STREAM 1

Academic Reading

Strategy: three reading speeds, argument structure, signal words. Mechanics: eye fixations, chunking, the pointer technique. Reading 30 papers a week without drowning.

Three Reading Speeds & Argument Structure (C1) Speed Reading Masterclass — Science-Based Mechanics Critical Evaluation of Sources (PhD)
STREAM 2

Note-Taking

Cornell Method and Zettelkasten. Building a knowledge system across hundreds of papers — so year three of a PhD is easier than year one, not harder.

Cornell & Zettelkasten for PhD Reading (C1) Linking Notes & Building a Literature Map (PhD)
STREAM 3

Academic Writing

The thesis-level moves: synthesising literatures, framing theoretically, defending methodological choices. Plus C1 foundations (hedging, paragraph architecture) for those who need them.

PHD-LEVEL Literature Review Architecture (synthesis & finding the gap) Theoretical Framing (allegiance & departure) Defending Methodological Choices (the six standard attacks) C1 FOUNDATIONS Hedging in academic writing Academic paragraph structure Reports & proposals 8-lesson IELTS writing pathway
STREAM 4

Argumentation & Critical Thinking

Structuring claims, evidence, and counter-arguments. The language of emphasis and qualification.

Advanced academic argumentation Discourse hedging Cleft sentences for emphasis
STREAM 5

Academic Communication

Supervisor emails. Seminar language. Conference questions. Eventually the viva.

Strategic emails (adapt for academic register) Supervisor Communication (PhD) Seminar & Viva Language (PhD)

Cross-Cutting

Touches every stream

Using AI in PhD Research — Practical Workflows & Integrity

Concrete techniques for using AI to read faster, paraphrase ethically, draft and refine, and stress-test arguments — alongside the academic-integrity rules that protect your thesis. Not a debate about whether AI is good or bad. Just how to use it well.

Open the lesson →

Three principles that run through the whole pathway

  1. Your own words. If you can't paraphrase a claim, you don't yet understand it. This applies to notes, to writing, to AI-assisted work.
  2. One idea, one note, one paragraph. Atomicity beats density. Findability beats completeness.
  3. Hedge appropriately. PhD-level writing rarely makes flat assertions. The language of likely, suggests, tends to, in most cases, on the whole is what separates research writing from undergraduate writing.