A study examined the supervisory relationship between a non-native English-speaking doctoral student and a native English-speaking advisor, particularly in science, focusing on factors leading to effective or ineffective supervision, advisee response to advisor guidance and assistance, and the roles played by the two participants. Subjects were three Chinese students, one female and two male, in different fields (biochemistry, genetics, ecology) and three male doctoral advisors. Data collection spanned a 6-month period, with data gathered from dissertation drafts and advisors' written comments on them, observations and field notes of writing conferences and research group lab meetings, a variety of student and institutional documents, and students' English and Chinese literacy histories. The three case studies are presented in narrative form. It is concluded that the advisor's cross-cultural awareness and the style taken in relation to the student's preference do affect dissertation supervision. Implications for further research and practice are discussed briefly. Contains 31 references. (MSE)