Discussion and Conclusion

The signature pedagogy of the focal PhD programme in Applied Linguistics suggests that members of the academy sought to induct new researchers into a culture of rigour，criticality and collegiality，while valuing work that favoured a post-modernist orientation.While it seems quite natural that groups of academics with a similar research perspective will tend to work together，they also need to be aware of how this orientation might impact upon the induction of new academics.They may like to consider whether alternative perspectives are acknowledged and presented through the doctoral programme in a way that does not promote a preferred school of thought as orthodoxy.Analysing the signature pedagogy could help programme leaders to become aware of such orientations and allow them to consider the merits and demerits of adopting them.To what extent do the pedagogical practices and content reflect the traditions of a particular culture and the beliefs of a particular school of thought within the broader field of Applied Linguistics？ How inclusive and tolerant are the choices of pedagogical practices and content，or is the programme deliberately designed to induct the students into a particular way of thinking about and conducting research？

The findings reported in this paper are based on a small-scale study.For reasons of space and accessibility，the manifestations of the signature pedagogy were restricted to some key events；obviously the whole student experience was much more comprehensive，encompassing informal and formal，explicit and hidden curricular phenomena，and it should be taken into account that reflections and recounts of those experiences are necessarily subjective.Also，the number of respondents was restricted due to the sensitivity of the subject matter.Nonetheless，despite these limitations，studies such as this one，of the deep and implicit structure of the signature pedagogy as experienced and implemented，as well as describing its surface structure，would appear to have great potential in capturing the subtle processes that full members in the field of Applied Linguistics deploy to socialise peripheral members into becoming fully-fledged academics.As a consequence，such studies can contribute to concerted efforts to ensure the quality of doctoral programmes and theorise students’ learning in higher education.