Analysis of PhD Dissertation Abstracts in the Faculty of Education of Tribhuvan University

Abstract

Tribhuvan University awarded the first PhD in English Education in 2008. Since then, 33 scholars have been awarded PhDs by March, 2025, creating an avenue for exploring the history, trends, and current state of English education research in the Faculty of Education. For this study, all 33 dissertation abstracts and a few whole dissertations were analyzed, with a special focus on title and abstract structure, types, and styles. The study also focused on the frequency of PhD awards, researchers' and supervisors’ demographics, preferred methods, and research areas. The findings revealed that the majority of the awards were overwhelmingly achieved by the male researchers from Brahmin and Kshetri communities who were professionally connected with Tribhuvan University, with their supervisors being Male Professors of the University. The study also exposed that titles, both nominal and compound, ranging from eight to twenty-one words, convey information about the context, issues, objectives, methods, and location, while abstracts consistently included context, objectives, methodologies, and findings of the study. Similarly, researchers addressed diverse subjective issues in the field using phenomenology, case studies, and ethnographies. This study is expected to serve as a resource for ELT researchers, practitioners, and students to outline current trends and prospects in English Education research.