Workshop on Research Methodology - Department of English

The Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Loreto College, Kolkata organised a workshop on research methodology for the Semester VI undergraduate students of the Department of English on April 16 and April 19, 2024.

On April 16, Dr. Achyut Chetan, Associate Professor, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, walked the students through different approaches to literary writing, intellectual writing, and academic writing. The session featured detailed analyses of forms of quotations, footnotes and endnotes, multiple ways of credit attestation, and the text as intellectual property. It was interactive and informative, with students acquiring hands-on experience in engaging with critical texts and extracting materials out of them for research. Covering wide-ranging topics from the Platonic School to Freudian dream theory, the session set the stage for further engagement on the part of the students.

On April 19, Dr. Siddhartha Biswas, Associate Professor, University of Calcutta, conducted the workshop. His session began with a detailed introduction to the concept of Discourse Analysis. Language as a means of communication, execution, and constitution was thoroughly explored. The importance of context sensitisation was underlined for the students—something that is imperative in today’s world. The Speech Act Theory was discussed and utilised, followed by a consideration of cross-cultural pragmatics that may often lead to misrepresentation. Dr. Biswas also spoke about the importance of referencing as a tool and medium and how it helps in the dissemination of information.

The two-day research methodology workshop served as an important and necessary starting point for students going into the field of research. It gave the attending students the opportunity to interact extensively with the resource persons, receive expert writing advice, and gain practical writing experience.