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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: GMLZ - Guides to Research Methods in Language and Linguistics
- Sprache: Englisch
A practical guide to the methodologies used in language teaching and learning research, providing expert advice and real-life examples from leading TESOL researchers
Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning provides practical guidance on the primary research methods used in second language teaching, learning, and education. Designed to support researchers and students in language education and learning, this highly accessible book covers a wide range of research methodologies in the context of actual practice to help readers fully understand the process of conducting research.
Organized into three parts, the book covers qualitative studies, quantitative studies, and systematic reviews. Contributions by an international team of distinguished researchers and practitioners explain and demonstrate narrative inquiry, discourse analysis, ethnography, heuristic inquiry, mixed methods, experimental and quasi-experimental studies, and more. Each chapter presents an overview of a method of research, an in-depth description of the research framework or data analysis process, and a meta-analysis of choices made and challenges encountered. Offering invaluable insights and hands-on research knowledge to students and early-career practitioners alike, this book:
- Focuses on the research methods, techniques, tools, and practical aspects of performing research
- Provides firsthand narratives and case studies to explain the decisions researchers make
- Compares the relative strengths and weaknesses of different research methods
- Includes real-world examples for each research method and framework to highlight the context of the study
- Includes extensive references, further reading suggestions, and end-of-chapter review questions
Part of the Guides to Research Methods in Language and Linguistics series, Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning is essential reading for students, educators, and researchers in all related fields, including TESOL, second language acquisition, English language teaching, and applied linguistics.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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Guides to Research Methods in Language and Linguistics
Series Editor: Li Wei, Centre for Applied Linguistics, University College London
The science of language encompasses a truly interdisciplinary field of research, with a wide range of focuses, approaches, and objectives. While linguistics has its own traditional approaches, a variety of other intellectual disciplines have contributed methodological perspectives that enrich the field as a whole. As a result, linguistics now draws on state‐of‐the‐art work from such fields as psychology, computer science, biology, neuroscience and cognitive science, sociology, music, philosophy, and anthropology.
The interdisciplinary nature of the field presents both challenges and opportunities to students who must understand a variety of evolving research skills and methods. The Guides to Research Methods in Language and Linguistics addresses these skills in a systematic way for advanced students and beginning researchers in language science. The books in this series focus especially on the relationships between theory, methods, and data—the understanding of which is fundamental to the successful completion of research projects and the advancement of knowledge.
Published
The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism
Edited by Li Wei and Melissa G. Moyer
Research Methods in Child Language: A Practical Guide
Edited by Erika Hoff
Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide
Edited by Susan M. Gass and Alison Mackey
Research Methods in Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics: A Practical Guide
Edited by Nicole Müller and Martin J. Ball
Research Methods in Sociolinguistics: A Practical Guide
Edited by Janet Holmes and Kirk Hazen
Research Methods in Sign Language Studies: A Practical Guide
Edited by Eleni Orfanidou, Bencie Woll, and Gary Morgan
Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide
Edited by Francis Hult and David Cassels Johnson
Research Methods in Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide
Edited by Zhu Hua
Research Methods in Psycholinguistics and the Neurobiology of Language: A Practical Guide
Edited by Annette M. B. de Groot and Peter Hagoort
Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning: A Practical Guide
Edited by Kenan Dikilitaş and Kate Mastruserio Reynolds
Forthcoming
Current Approaches in Second Language Acquisition ResearchEdited by Susan M. Gass and Alison Mackey
Research Methowds in Language Teaching and Learning
A Practical Guide
Edited by
Kenan Dikilitaş and Kate Mastruserio Reynolds
This edition first published 2022
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dikilitas, Kenan, editor. | Reynolds, Kate Mastruserio, editor. | Li, Wei, 1960- editor. Title: Research methods in language teaching and learning : a practical guide / edited by Kenan Dikilitas, Kate Mastruserio Reynolds. Description: Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons, 2022. | Series: Guides to research methods in language and linguistics | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021029504 (print) | LCCN 2021029505 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119701637 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119701590 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119701620 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Language and languages--Study and teaching--Research--Methodology. | Second language acquisition--Research--Methodology. Classification: LCC P53.755 .R47 2022 (print) | LCC P53.755 (ebook) | DDC 418.0071--dc23/eng/20211105 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021029504LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021029505
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Contents
Cover
Series page
Title page
Copyright
List of Figures
List of Tables
Notes on Contributors
Introduction to Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning
1 Learning to Use a Qualitative Case Study Approach to Research Language Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs
2 Researching the Language Classroom Through Ethnographic Diaries: Principles, Possibilities, and Practices
3 Grounded Theory: A Means to Generate Hypotheses on the Possible Impacts of Student Negotiation in an EFL Speaking Context
4 Narrative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics: A Storied Account of Its Procedures, Potentials, and Challenges in an Empirical Project
5 Positioning Analysis in Longitudinal Classroom-Based Research
6 Online and Hybrid Research Using Case Study and Ethnographic Approaches: A Decision-Making Dialogue Between Two Researchers
7 Ethnography and a Heuristics of the Heart: Allied Solidarity With Indigenous Language and Literacy Activism
8 Action Research in Teacher Education: Practical and Theoretical Challenges and Opportunities From Norway
9 Discourse Analysis as a Research Methodology for L2 Context
10 Conversation Analysis in TESOL
11 Combining Corpus-Based Methods With Interviews in Applied Linguistics Research
12 Exploratory Survey Research
13 Using Mixed Methods Design to Investigate Vocabulary Acquisition
14 Correlational Analysis in SLA: Insights From the Study Abroad Research
15 Conducting a Non-Experimental Design Quantitative Study and the Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling
16 Behind the Scenes of a Longitudinal Large-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial Study With Native Spanish Speakers: Lessons Learned
17 Quantitative Systematic Reviews: A Lived Experience
18 Exploring the (Un–)explored in Applied Linguistics: Conducting a Systematic Review in Intercultural Communicative Competence
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Figures
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 Map of Safaliba towns
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1 Extract from Sert (2017, p. 21)
Figure 10.2 Extract from Sert (2017, p. 19)
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1 Item 16 as it appeared to the respondent
Figure 12.2 Item 28 as presented to the respondent
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1 Checklist of the basic...
Chapter 14
Figure 14.1 Scatterplots
Chapter 15
Figure 15.1 The first PLS-SEM algorithm
Figure 15.2 Outer loading relevance testing...
Figure 15.3 Measurement model after removing...
Figure 15.4 Final structural path model
Appendix 15B AMT Criteria Set-up Screen
Appendix 15E Variables, Reliability and Validity
Chapter 16
Figure 16.1 Research design submitted in the grant proposal
Figure 16.2 ELLA levels of intervention
Figure 16.3 Time commitment for intervention design
Figure 16.4 Longitudinal foundational...
Chapter 10
Figure 18.1 EPPI-Reviewer Flow Diagram
List of Tables
Chapter 3
Table 3.1 A sample analysis of qualitative...
Table 3.2 Sources of findings related to developing a theory
Table 3.3 Validity criteria for...
Chapter 6
Appendix 6A A Sample of Chaoran’s Approach...
Chapter 8
Table 8.1 Data material
Chapter 11
Table 11.1 Research questions and gaps addressed...
Table 11.2 Research questions and gaps...
Table 11.3 Normalized frequencies of authorial...
Table 11.4 Normalized frequencies of discourse...
Chapter 12
Table 12.1 Potential differences of relevance...
Chapter 13
Table 13.1 Three common sub-types of mixed methods...
Chapter 14
Table 14.1 CAF measures as dependent variables
Chapter 15
Table 15.1 Survey constructs
Table 15.2 Issues to consider
Appendix 15A Literature Review Table
Appendix 15C Advantages and Disadvantages of PLS-SEM
Appendix 15D Composite Reliability...
Appendix 15F Results and Discussion Distinction
Chapter 18
Table 18.1 Coding characteristics of included...
Appendix 18A Journals included in the searching process
Guide
Cover
Series page
Title page
Copyright
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Notes on Contributors
Begin Reading
Index
End User License Agreement
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List of Figures
Figure 7.1 Map of Safaliba towns
Figure 10.1 Extract from Sert (2017, p. 21)
Figure 10.2 Extract from Sert (2017, p. 19)
Figure 12.1 Item 16 as it appeared to the respondent
Figure 12.2 Item 28 as presented to the respondent
Figure 13.1 Checklist of the basic procedures of conducting a mixed methods study
Figure 14.1 Scatterplots
Figure 15.1 The first PLS-SEM algorithm
Figure 15.2 Outer loading relevance testing. From A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd.ed.), by J. F. Hair, G. T. M. Hult, C. M. Ringle, and M. Sarstedt, 2017, Washington, DC: Sage Publications. Copyright 2017 by SAGE Publications. Reprinted with permission
Figure 15.3 Measurement model after removing low outer loading indicators
Figure 15.4 Final structural path model
Appendix 15B AMT Criteria Set-up Screen
Appendix 15E Variables, Reliability and Validity
Figure 16.1 Research design submitted in the grant proposal
Figure 16.2 ELLA levels of intervention
Figure 16.3 Time commitment for intervention design
Figure 16.4 Longitudinal foundational findings from ELLA that aided in other major research grants (adapted from Irby et al., 2014)
Figure 18.1 EPPI-Reviewer Flow Diagram
List of Tables
Table 3.1 A sample analysis of qualitative data (from Uztosun, 2013)
Table 3.2 Sources of findings related to developing a theory
Table 3.3 Validity criteria for action research (Burns, 1999, pp. 161–162)
Appendix 6A A Sample of Chaoran’s Approach to Matching Themes Across Data
Table 8.1 Data material
Table 11.1 Research questions and gaps addressed in Candarli et al. (2015)
Table 11.2 Research questions and gaps addressed in Candarli (2020)
Table 11.3 Normalized frequencies of authorial presence markers per 500 words per essay
Table 11.4 Normalized frequencies of discourse organizers and stance expressions per 500 words
Table 12.1 Potential differences of relevance between urban and rural contexts in Indian education
Table 13.1 Three common sub-types of mixed methods design (based on Creswell, 2002)
Table 14.1 CAF measures as dependent variables
Table 15.1 Survey constructs
Table 15.2 Issues to consider
Appendix 15A Literature Review Table
Appendix 15C Advantages and Disadvantages of PLS-SEM
Appendix 15D Composite Reliability and Convergent Validity Assessment
Appendix 15F Results and Discussion Distinction
Table 18.1 Coding characteristics of included studies for our systematic review (Avgousti, 2018)
Appendix 18A Journals included in the searching process
Notes on Contributors
Nahed Abdelrahman serves as a Research Specialist I and the Lead Coordinator of Preparing Academic Leaders MED program in the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language & Literacy Acquisition at Texas A&M University. Her research interests include education policy, social justice and equity, educational leadership, principal preparation policies and implementation, mentoring and its impact on promoting education justice.
Jason Anderson is a teacher educator, educational consultant, award-winning author, and researcher, who works in both language teaching and mainstream education. He has supported teachers in over 30 countries for organizations including UNICEF, the British Council, and the University of Warwick, particularly across the Global South and published widely on areas including multilingualism, teaching methodology, curriculum design, teacher expertise, teacher reflection, and lesson planning. Resources are available through his website: www.jasonanderson.org.uk
Mahmood Reza Atai is Professor of applied linguistics at Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran. He is editor of the Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics and editorial board member in some international journals. His research interests include ESL/EFL teacher education and EAP, and he has published on these themes extensively in refereed journals. His recent papers appeared in English for Specific Purposes, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, System, RELC Journal, and Teacher Development.
Maria Iosifina Avgousti is an English language instructor and an Applied Linguist. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Manchester, an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from Newcastle University, and a PhD in Intercultural Communicative Competence and CALL. She has been a Research Fellow at the University of Cyprus, with an active involvement in European-funded projects, and she is the author of multiple articles and book chapters.
Vahid Bahrami is an MA holder in applied linguistics/TESOL from Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran. He is currently working as an EFL lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at University of Zanjan, Iran. His main areas of research interest include individual differences in second language teaching and learning and EAP/language teachers’ professional learning and development and identity construction. His recent published works appeared in English for Specific Purposes and The Journal of Experimental Education.
Duygu Çandarlı is Lecturer in Language Education in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Dundee. Her research expertise lies in the areas of second language writing, corpus linguistics, academic discourse, and writing assessment. She has previously published in international journals, including Reading and Writing, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and Corpora. She is on the editorial board of the Humanities & Social Sciences Communications Journal (Springer Nature).
Hatime Çiftçi is an assistant professor in the Department of English Language Teaching at MEF University. She received her PhD in second language acquisition and instructional technology from the University of South Florida. Her research interests include pragmatics and discourse, politeness, intercultural communication, and computer-mediated communication. Some of her articles have appeared in journals, such as Journal of Politeness Research, Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, and CALICO Journal.
Cindy Guerrero is a Research Scientist in the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language and Literacy Acquisition (CRDLLA), within the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University. Dr. Guerrero has 17 years of experience coordinating and implementing large-scale federal research grants related to literacy and science instructional interventions for economically challenged students and English learners. Her research interests include literacy, science learning, academic language proficiency, and virtual professional learning for teachers.
Graham Hall is Professor of Applied Linguistics/TESOL at Northumbria University, UK, where he teaches on the university’s Applied Linguistics/TESOL programs. He is the author of Exploring English Language Teaching (Routledge, 2011; 2nd edition, 2017), which won the 2012 British Association for Applied Linguistics book prize. He also edited the Routledge Handbook of ELT (2016) and ELT Journal from 2013 to 2017. His research interests range from classroom discourse to the ways in which language teachers understand their practice and the role research might play in their professional development.
Stella K. Hadjistassou is Research Fellow at the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence at the University of Cyprus. She has served for two years as the Acting Director of the Language Center at the UCY, where she also held a Visiting Lecturer position. Stella has extensive expertise in composing and leading large EU-funded projects in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL).
Andrea B. Hellman is an Associate Professor of Linguistics/TESOL at Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA. A successful grant writer and project director of $5.5 million in federal funding, Dr. Hellman is active in teacher professional development and research for educating multilingual students in K-12 schools. She serves TESOL International Association as series editor of The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners and coauthored several publications in this series.
Mehrdad Hosseini holds an MA in Applied Linguistics/TESOL from Kharazmi University and currently works as an EFL lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Zanjan. His research primarily explores issues related to language teachers’ research engagement, individual differences in language learning and teaching, language awareness, and teacher development in English for academic purposes. His recent publications appear in English for Specific Purposes and The Journal of Experimental Education.
Dag Husebø is Associate Professor in educational science, and head of the department of higher education pedagogies at the University of Stavanger, Norway. Current fields of research are teaching, learning, and professional development among university teachers in higher education. His research background also includes dialogue and digitalization in schools and higher education. He has been a teacher trainer for more than 20 years and has trained and supervised university teachers the last 10 years.
Beverly J. Irby is Regents Professor serving in the Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development and is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University. She is Director of the Education Leadership Research Center and Co-director of the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language & Literacy Acquisition. Her primary research interests center on principal and superintendent leadership, bilingual and ESL education administrative structures, curriculum, international education, and instructional strategies.
Tamara Kalandadze is an Associate Professor of Special Education and neurodevelopmental conditions at Østfold University College, Norway. She is interested in language and communication needs and is trying to apply open research principles in her research. Tamara was earlier employed at the Knowledge Centre for Education at the University of Stavanger, where her primary duties included conducting literature reviews.
Zeynep Köylü holds a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Instructional Technology (SLA/IT) from the University of South Florida. She is currently a postdoctoral teaching and research fellow at the University of Basel, Department of English. Her research interests include second language development in different learning contexts, the study abroad phenomenon, and statistical methods in SLA.
Rafael Lara-Alecio is Regents Professor serving in the Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University. He serves as Director of the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language & Literacy Acquisition. His expertise includes the development of academic language through content areas of instruction, assessment/evaluation, and parental involvement in bilingual/ESL education.
Amy Lightfoot is the Regional Education and English Academic Lead for the British Council in South Asia. She leads on strategy development and program design for large-scale teacher education projects across the region, along with related research activities. She holds an MA in Education and International Development from University College London and an MA in English Language Teaching and the Cambridge DELTA from the University of Bath.
Faridah Pawan is a Professor in the Department of Instructional Systems Technology (IST) in the School of Education at Indiana University. She designs and researches programs to support midcareer professionals across disciplines, including ESL/EFL teachers, in sustaining and enhancing their expertise. Her recent publications focus on language and literacy teachers’ online learning presence (Pawan et al., 2021), and the engagement and motivation of online learners (Pawan, 2021).
Hilal Peker (PhD, University of Central Florida, 2016) is the Federal Projects Coordinator at the Bureau of Federal Educational Programs of Florida Department of Education. She is also a professor of TESOL and teaches a wide variety of courses at Florida State University, Framingham State University, and Saint Leo University. Her research interests include inclusive dual-language immersion programs, reconceptualized L2 motivational self-system (R-L2MSS), bullying-victimization, L2 identity, simulation technology, and teacher training.
Ari Sherris is an Associate Professor of Bilingual Education. He has published peer-reviewed edited volumes with John Benjamins, Routledge, and Multilingual Matters that include his own empirical scholarship and theory on teaching children to write in Indigenous languages; social semiotics and complexity theory; and conceptual metaphors, among other topics. He has planned and facilitated workshops for language educators in Ghana, Israel, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, and the USA.
Olcay Sert is Professor of English Language Education at Mälardalen University, Sweden. His work focuses on classroom discourse, L2 interaction, and language teacher education. He is the editor of Classroom Discourse, an international peer-reviewed journal published by Routledge. His book Social Interaction and L2 Classroom Discourse (Edinburgh University Press, 2015) was shortlisted for the BAAL Book Prize in 2016 and became a finalist for the AAAL first book award in 2017.
Kara L. Sutton-Jones serves as a Research Specialist III on Project Virtually-Infused Collaborations for Teaching and Learning Opportunities for Rural Youth: Implementation and Evaluation of Online and Face-to-Face Delivery in High-Needs Schools (VICTORY) in the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language & Literacy Acquisition at Texas A&M University. Her research interests include dual language/bilingual education, teacher professional development, and educational policy, especially as it impacts English learners.
Fuhui Tong is Professor of Bilingual and ESL education and the Head of the Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University. She serves as Co-Director of the Center for Research & Development in Dual Language & Literacy Acquisition. Her research interests include research design and quantitative methodology in bilingual/ESL education, second language and literacy development and assessment, and program evaluation in educational research with bilingual populations.
Mehmet Sercan Uztosun is an associate professor of TESOL and teacher educator at English language–teaching department at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey. His research interests include psychological issues related to teaching and learning English as a foreign language, particularly the development of speaking skills. He is also interested in teacher competence, teacher self-efficacy, self-regulation, and extramural English.
Chaoran Wang is a Multilingual Writing Specialist & Assistant Professor of Writing at Colby College. She holds a PhD in Literacy, Culture, & Language Education from Indiana University Bloomington. Her research interests include second language writing, technology-enhanced language learning, and teacher identity and professional development.
Mark Wyatt is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at Khalifa University in the UAE. His research has focused on language teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, mentoring, reflective practice, teacher cognition, teacher motivation, in-service English language teacher education and practitioner research. He has published various academic articles and book chapters in these areas.
Introduction to Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning
Kenan Dikilitaş and Kate Mastruserio Reynolds
We offer you this edited volume that covers a range of research methods commonly employed in applied linguistics to better understand second language teaching and learning. The purpose of this guided how-to handbook is to explain and demonstrate the research methodologies in authentic contexts, so readers can glimpse the processes and choices made when conducting various types of research. Not only descriptive, but also narrative in nature, it includes researchers’ lived experiences in addition to explanations of research methodologies. These perspectives are rarely mentioned in research methods texts; the lack of which often causes novice researchers to question themselves during the research process. These researchers’ narratives also situate the research they have conducted in real contexts, which represents a valuable contribution to the readers’ awareness and knowledge of how to do research using a particular methodology. Because of these perspectives, this text is unique and the research approachable. We hope that through the presentation of situated-research narratives that explain the researchers’ process of doing and finalizing research and the rationale behind their intentions and decisions will make undertaking and conducting research more motivating and less daunting.
The chapters are composed with meta-narrative writing styles. Chapters include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods paradigms as well as two systematic reviews. In their chapters, the authors refer to and reflect on a published study by synthesizing, framing, and explaining the methodology and methods they adopted. Therefore, the chapters reflect the real-world application of a particular methodology. The authors also elaborate on the challenges they experienced while conducting research and publishing it, which exemplifies what challenges could be faced if a methodologically similar study is carried out, as well as solutions to challenges. Methodological weaknesses or strengths of research are also critically expressed with evaluative language.
Research Methods in Language Teaching and Learning
Research is one of the fundamental means of generating empirical, evidence-based knowledge to inform pedagogies and practices. Research methods employ multiple data collection tools, and methods of analysis to arrive at conclusions that may either be generalized to other contexts, or confined to narrower contexts with unique interpretations, but with implications for other contexts. In the past, research was believed to be solely quantitative, relying on statistical analysis of data; in recent decades, educational research has increasingly embraced qualitative analysis, primarily based on what participants expressed or narrated, rather than what they graded, scaled, ranked, or rated. While the former offers quantified results for levels, degrees, scores, correlation, and relation represented in numerical values, the latter reveals processes, factors, qualities, relationships, and roles represented by verbal quotations. Quantitative research explores previously identified theories and hypotheses; qualitative research allows researchers to explore how individuals or groups interact in various contexts in order to generate theories. Furthermore, educational researchers have resorted to other uniquely applicable research methodologies, such as conversation analysis, corpus analysis, and systematic review, to pinpoint answers to specific questions and conundrums in applied linguistics.
The concept of research has evolved over time and become more robust as a result of innovative methods of data collection and analysis. These methods illuminate statistically significant relationships among variables through quantitative designs or insightful understandings of issues, relationships, or phenomena through qualitative studies. In all disciplines, potential development is achieved through research. Without experiments, how can we have medicines? All medicines are tested, and their effects are measured over time before being recommended for public use. All educational designs we implement are introduced as a result of research in classrooms with stakeholders. Humans constantly need to engage in research to generate new knowledge to inform all areas of life including health, behavior, communication, learning, art, and industry. Without new knowledge and without continuously implementing new ways of doing things, progress is barely possible. Research is therefore key to human development, regardless of the discipline. No discipline can thrive without the appropriate research practices.
Much like working closely with a dedicated research mentor or sitting with a professional peer to hear about their research process, with this book we aim to contribute to the ability of researchers in light of the experiences and insights gained by others who adopted particular methods in their published research, potentially offering a powerful source of learning. Since research is closely related to, or identified with, the researcher, context, participants and methods, reading about others’ research stories could, we believe, illuminate for novice academics the knowledge that can be found in the unique implementations of the methods in particular contexts by particular researchers.
This book dodges being descriptive or prescriptive, in that it aims not to teach, but rather facilitate discovery about how regular people, who were curious and dedicated, explored through research processes, questions and concerns they had about language education. The book is relatively expository since it unpacks researchers’ experiences and their stances with reference to unique details, including how they utilized a particular research methodology with a particular phenomenon, and the challenges they encountered, and how they resolved them. These difficulties and experiences are often invisible in corresponding published research, often due to the limitation in space, and lack of direct bearing on the research results. These issues are absent in methodology books because each research endeavor is unique and idiosyncratic. For example, qualitative research is primarily characterized by its flexibility in process, which allows researchers to make unique methodological decisions while collecting and analyzing data, such as how to do interviews or how to observe a practice. This allows for innovation in the way these data generation methods are implemented. In the quantitative paradigm, on the other hand, the rules tend to be relatively more fixed and determined by statistics, though there are still decisions and challenges that need to be addressed by the researcher. Although there are major principles to follow in both paradigms, there are also stages in each, where existing rules for particular research methods may be unique to context, participants, and research topic. Such variations will accord with the particular context and methodological practices. In this book we argue that individual researchers’ experiences constitute valuable methodological knowledge for informing new research practices.
This book offers knowledge created by published researchers in the field, whose use of specific research methods is voiced on the basis of their lived experiences and written in narrative language. The very process of writing also gave these chapter authors space for revisiting their experiences and reflecting retrospectively on their engagement in research. Each researcher shares their experience in their own candid and approachable manner, so this volume makes the research processes more engaging, fascinating, and human.
We aimed to address a gap in research methods in language teaching and learning by inviting researchers to discuss explicitly their research method decisions. The lived research experiences, with reference to one or two of their own published studies, form a strong basis for verisimilitude, providing backstage transparency for the readers, highlighting challenges they faced. However, we are also cautiously aware that, however unique the interpretations of methods, the methods described in these chapters are repeated in many other studies and are recognized methods in the field.
The chapters in the book also reveal important insights into the researchers’ thought processes while using a particular qualitative or quantitative method and writing up research. Research methodology books prescribe particular given stages and procedures for researchers to follow, but tend not to focus on researchers’ intentions, choices, and realizations while considering the alternative methods.
The narrative language of the book aims to examine researchers’ intentionality, and to trace it as it is shaped by the methodological characteristics and constraints influenced by contextual elements. Rather than being directly stated, research methodology knowledge is presented in storied narrative, to enable not only richer presentation, but also deeper understanding and interpretation of the actual research processes, which might be lost in a discourse that merely offers certain implementation stages and steps to follow. Such narrative language also allows researchers to represent their multiple justifications of research processes, rather than representing research as a simple, linear process. Reflective description of research process, including methodological decisions and interpretations, is often included in the paper to enhance transparency and objectivity, and provide thick description with an extrospective stance. In addition, there is an emphasis on researchers’ orientation to their positionality in order to provide credibility and trustworthiness. The chapters in the book include stories that contribute to methodological openness and transparency, which is less likely to be represented in the published versions; these neglected stories, we argue, can bring the benefits of accessibility not only to the researchers’ internal decision-making mechanism but also to the potential opportunities to learn from outspoken justifications.
Researcher voice may be insufficiently articulated within the actual publication, whose primary focus is on communicating the findings and the new knowledge created. Readers will therefore have direct reference to the published study and will be able to gain new perspectives on the original research in the light of the researcher’s in-depth narration of the actual research process. This offers a powerful learning experience for the readers in that they can critically evaluate and reflect on the research process not only as reported in the published research, but also as experienced.
For decades, research pedagogy has been characteristically facilitated and informed by supervision based on hierarchical relationship between supervisor and student. However, some recently proposed models place more value on humanist, constructivist, and interactionist principles of learning. Burnett (1999), for example, discusses a “collaborative cohort model” as an alternative to a “master-apprentice” approach, which is theoretically informed by the Behaviorist school of thought. Hecq (2009) then introduced interactive narrative pedagogy as a direct response to, and substitute for, more authoritative relationships in supervision. Carter (2010) also proposes the process of mutual voicing of thoughts and ideas during supervision, in a dialogical and interactive manner, to support the co-construction of pedagogical knowledge, including regarding the meaning, possible forms, and novel conceptions of research. Other approaches also support horizontality (democratic, dialogical, and dynamic interaction) as opposed to verticality (supervision authority, and imposition and prescription of research knowledge) in research pedagogy.
In recent years, the hierarchical and authoritarian nature of the supervisory relationship has moved towards one characterized by collaboration, dialogue, and mutual understanding, and that allows for recognizing student voice, and facilitating student knowledge construction through joint knowledge building.
Lusted (1986, p. 3) strongly argues that pedagogy does not need to “instrumentalize the relations or disconnect their interactivity or to give value to one agency over another,” but rather to “recognize the productivity of the relations, and render the parties within them as active, changing and changeable agencies.” With this in mind, we see the chapter authors as offering supervision, in written form, on a particular methodology. They do this by adopting a narrative, self-reflective writing style that provides a transparent view of their engagement in doing and writing up research.
In the chapters, narrated learning conversations (Shotter, 1993) and critical reflective dialogue (Fillery-Travis & Robinson, 2018; De Haan, 2011) are created through self-critique, and justification of the use of the particular research method to produce high-quality research output.
Teaching Research Methods
The pedagogy of methodological learning (Lewthwaite & Nind, 2016) is disadvantaged by a lack of resources for research method teaching (Wagner et al., 2011), so that teaching research is typically characterized by peer support, trial-and-error, and the gradual acquisition of methodological know-how (Earley, 2014). Learning how to do research often involves a learning-by-doing approach, since formal courses involve generic methodological knowledge for students or novice researchers, which may not fit into specific contexts, research purposes or the methods followed.
The critical self-reflective voice of researchers at work in the chapters of our book can function much like a peer’s self-critical reflection on own research, to contribute to others’ vicarious understanding of the method (Mayes et al., 2002). Researchers’ experiences form a compelling critical reflection, not only for themselves, but also for others’ learning.
Writing About One’s Own Research
The process of planning, doing, and writing up research might involve a number of experiences, including dilemmas and challenges, which are only implicit or even invisible in research papers, but the resolution of which are fundamental to embodying a research plan. We argue that this as yet unarticulated narrative content can be a valuable source of knowledge for those undergoing a similar journey in adopting a similar method. Writing about own research processes offers a meta-reflection (Hagström & Scheja, 2014), which involves generating new knowledge, by critical and analytical re-reflection upon one’s own research experiences to make prominent aspects that may not otherwise be easily noticed or discovered. The issues arising from a narrative meta-reflection text could stimulate deeper thinking on developing methodological knowledge about particular approaches to research. Meta-reflection involves a shift from descriptive to analytical reflection that unearths the unspoken and unidentified factors that mediate the process of research.
Introduction of the Chapters
In the book, we begin with qualitative research narratives which have been written by researchers who published journal articles or PhD theses on the key approaches to qualitative research. Their experiences during the development of the research plan, implementation, writing up, and dissemination are unique and can offer insightful stories that include not only background knowledge about the method, but also research learning opportunities. In Chapter 1, “Learning to Use a Qualitative Case Study Approach to Research Language Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs,” Mark Wyatt introduces case study methodology in which he investigated teacher self-efficacy beliefs. Having narrated how his initial interest in self-efficacy commenced, he provided methodological details about his research plan deriving from qualitative case study approach. Wyatt’s chapter offers in-depth contextualized and procedural insights which can help others learn from his experiences and methodological interpretations he made while adopting case study.
In Chapter 2, “Researching the Language Classroom Through Ethnographic Diaries: Principles, Possibilities, and Practices,” Graham Hall introduces his research adopting an ethnographic approach to explore a particular language classroom as a social environment. He justifies the use of diaries, because they grant more ownership and control to the research participants within the scope of ethnography, which can be considered a methodological innovation. Drawing on his actual experiences of conducting this research, he highlights the key issues to consider and offers alternative insights into ethnographic research.
In Chapter 3, “Grounded Theory: A Means to Generate Hypotheses on the Possible Impacts of Student Negotiation in an EFL Speaking Context,” Mehmet Sercan Uztosun narrates his research experiences with grounded theory. The chapter details his use of grounded theory to investigate improving learners’ abilities to use English communicatively in his PhD dissertation. Uztosun offers step-by-step application of grounded theory by also justifying his choice of the method in line with the research purpose and questions.
In Chapter 4, “Narrative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics: A Storied Account of Its Procedures, Potentials, and Challenges in an Empirical Project,” Vahid Bahrami, Mehrdad Hosseini and Mahmood Reza Atai provide a narrative that introduces narrative inquiry focusing on particular characteristics and presenting critical research experiences while collaboratively using the method in the English for Academic Purposes context. They aim to offer narrative inquiry as a means to view multiple perspectives. The reader can notice the methodological challenges and how they can be overcome with a creative lens.
In Chapter 5, “Positioning Analysis in Longitudinal Classroom-based Research,” Hayriye Kayi-Aydar introduces how she employed Positioning theory as a theoretical and analytic framework in her dissertation research she conducted in a classroom context for the fulfillment of her dissertation. She narrates her experiences with the practice of her methodological approach in order to generate insights into the potential challenges that can offer unique perspectives to the reader. Kayi-Aydar brings to light a number of issues which she experienced, and which may not be found in traditional research method books including data collection and analysis.
In Chapter 6, “Online and Hybrid Research Using Case Study and Ethnographic Approaches: A Decision-Making Dialogue Between Two Researchers,” Faridah Pawan and Chaoran Wang narrate their experiences with the methods they adopted by structuring a conversational discoursal style in which they discuss methodological issues creatively as a narrativized story between the authors. They introduce how they used online and hybrid data in order to generate practical knowledge about teaching that takes place in an online and hybrid mode.
In Chapter 7, “Ethnography and a Heuristics of the Heart: Allied Solidarity with Indigenous Language and Literacy Activism,” Ari Sherris shares with us his story of engaging in and learning about ethnography since he first decided to become an ethnographer. Sherris introduces key trajectories he went through and emphasizes the methodological challenges by offering a unique researcher story. In the chapter, we read about his actual application of ethnography and heuristic inquiry as research methods in multiple communities.
In Chapter 8, “Action Research in Teacher Education: Practical and Theoretical Challenges and Opportunities from Norway,” Dag Husebø introduces action research as it has been implemented in the Norwegian context. In addition to the step-by-step presentation of the method, Husebø also narrates how action research is used in context-specific teacher preparation and development with diverse participants in educational settings.
In Chapter 9, “Discourse Analysis as a Research Methodology for L2 Context,” Hatime Çiftçi narrates her story of employing discourse analysis of context-specific linguistic politeness from the perspective of interactional sociolinguistics. She offers a unique model for those who are interested in implementing discourse analysis in L2 research. The chapter highlights the key methodological issues that L2 researchers could revisit and reconsider in the light of her critically interpreted insights from her PhD research.
In Chapter 10, “Conversation Analysis in TESOL,” Olcay Sert introduces how he employed multimodal conversation analysis in his single-case longitudinal research in which learning and teaching implications were evident and traceable. Sert narrates the analytical procedures and theoretical framework that pertain to conversation analysis and reveals the methodological challenges. In addition, he exemplifies a number of instances of decision-making processes in each phase of conversation analysis which can inevitably be encountered by others who adopt the method.
Having introduced 10 chapters adopting various approaches to qualitative paradigm, we next present the contributions that include qualitative characteristics within quantitative design. For example, in Chapter 11, “Combining Corpus-Based Methods With Interviews in Applied Linguistics Research,” Duygu Çandarlı describes the processes of integrating corpus-based methods into mixed methodology while investigating second language writing. Çandarlı justifies the unique research-related features of corpus methods which offer strong grounds for researchers to adopt. She offers her contextualized experiences with this method and her use of interviews to expose novel insights into the process of second language writing, which is not traceable in the corpus data only.
Comparably, in Chapter 12, “Exploratory Survey Research,” Jason Anderson and Amy Lightfoot recount the procedures of using exploratory survey research to explore the translanguaging phenomenon in English language classrooms in India. Anderson and Lightfoot describe how they constructed and employed the questionnaire method designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, adopting flexible question forms. They also discuss the methodological advantages and limitations of implementing questionnaires in exploring phenomena in educational settings. Their narrative recounts how questionnaires can be tools for exploring issues rather than testing an existing hypothesis as in the traditional surveys.
Relatedly, in Chapter 13, “Using Mixed Methods Design to Investigate Vocabulary Acquisition,” Andrea B. Hellman introduces her narrative portraying how she explored vocabulary acquisition using methods that belong to both quantitative and qualitative paradigms, revealing key justifications and procedures she followed closely to ensure rigor in methodological practices. It is evident that there are controversial attitudes towards investigating a research phenomenon adopting two paradigms. However, sharing her own contextualized experiences, Hellman also provides profound details that could set a methodological model for researchers interested in using mixed methods in applied linguistics to consider.
We recognize that research studies involving only quantitative research are less common in the field. We invited three key contributions to our book that follow only quantitative research methods, including data collection tools and data analysis. For example, in Chapter 14, “Correlational Analysis in SLA: Insights From the Study Abroad Research,” Zeynep Köylü introduces correlation analysis as a quantitative method that is adopted to investigate the phenomenon of study abroad as a specific topic in second language acquisition. Throughout her chapter, Köylü provides step-by-step implementation of correlation analysis by highlighting the key methodological considerations that emerged from her research experiences. The chapter incorporates unique researcher reflections on fundamental decisions that could help others implementing this analysis in their research studies in applied linguistics and encourage more researchers to undertake this research approach.
On the other hand, in Chapter 15, “Conducting a Non-Experimental Design Quantitative Study and the Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling,” as an alternative to univariate and bivariate analysis including correlation, Hilal Peker introduces a second-generation analysis technique: structural equation modeling. Peker justifies the methodological advantages and the potential to generate hypotheses and theories rather than testing existing hypotheses by adopting structural equation modeling. She provides an in-depth narrative on her actual experiences using this model with clear corresponding examples from her published research.
In Chapter 16, “Behind the Scenes of a Longitudinal Large-Scale Randomized Controlled Trial Study with Native Spanish Speakers: Lessons Learned,” Rafael Lara-Alecio, Beverly J. Irby, Fuhui Tong, Cindy Guerrero, Kara L. Sutton-Jones, and Nahed Abdelrahman narrate their experiences in using longitudinal large-scale randomized controlled trial studies in which they compared transitional bilingual education and structured English immersion in kindergarten. The researchers depict the key methodological experiences to reveal potential challenges and opportunities in such a broad collaborative research process with a large participant group.
We also included two chapters that can be categorized as systematic review characterized as research on published research. In Chapter 17, “Quantitative Systematic Reviews: A Lived Experience,” Tamara Kalandadze recounts her actual methodological experiences with planning and conducting two of her systematic reviews that draw on published quantitative studies. She introduces emerging challenges and opportunities alike, which could help others interested in learning to write systematic reviews purely based in the quantitative paradigm particularly in the area of language and communication.
Comparably, in our final chapter, “Exploring the (Un‐)Explored in Applied Linguistics: Conducting a Systematic Review in Intercultural Communicative Competence,” Maria losifina Avgousti narrates her methodological research experiences with conducting a systematic review of a topics drawing on published qualitative research studies. In her published research she reviewed qualitative studies that investigated intercultural communicative competence within the scope of language learning and teaching. She highlights key considerations in reviewing qualitative studies to generate generalizable knowledge for the area of research.
Compiling a wide range of topics that have been investigated by means of various research methods, the book offers a narrative description of in-depth experiences of researchers with the purpose of providing research knowledge. We hope that the contributions could shed light on others’ research processes who set out to learn research methodology in the field of applied linguistics.
We now invite you to pull up a chair with coffee or tea in hand and listen to your peers share their research processes…
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1 Learning to Use a Qualitative Case Study Approach to Research Language Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs
Mark Wyatt
Overview
I first became interested in “self-efficacy beliefs,” which is defined as’ “people’s judgements of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances” (Bandura, 1986, p. 391), in 1998. This was while studying for an MA TESOL through the University of Edinburgh and working for the British Council in Nepal. Although I was involved in some language teacher education at the time, running workshops for the Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association and the Dalai Llama’s Snowland Foundation, my primary role included teaching 10-week 50-hour general English courses at the language center. What attracted me to self-efficacy beliefs as an area of research is that these beliefs, which play an important role in mediating action, are task-, domain-, and context-specific, and are consequently relatively fluid and open to change with carefully attuned support (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). As a teacher, I was interested in how learner training, including in strategy use, could build self-efficacy beliefs in ways of learning more independently, and focused my action research dissertation (Wyatt, 2000) on this topic. So I elicited self-efficacy beliefs in different aspects of language learning, and then designed a series of learner training components to embed in the first month of my general English courses, in areas such as vocabulary building, utilizing the phonemic chart, mind-mapping essay plans, predictive listening, skimming and scanning reading strategies, and utilizing the CD-ROMs (this was 1999) in the self-access center. Self-efficacy beliefs were subsequently re-elicited directly and indirectly, so that I could make some assessment as to whether the learner training had had any impact.
By 2002, when I was working on a University of Leeds BA TESOL project in Oman, I had already spent 2 years in the country as a regional teacher trainer/advisor, and as I contemplated commencing doctoral research, I realized that I wanted to continue researching self-efficacy beliefs. My earlier research had reinforced my reading of the literature as to the pivotal role of these beliefs in shaping activity choice and the quality and quantity of effort spent on task (Bandura, 1986). However, since I was now employed as a teacher educator, I wished to conduct the research with language teachers, rather than with language learners.
The BA TESOL project ran from 1999 until 2008, with six overlapping cohorts around the country; it helped nearly 1,000 Omani teachers of English to upgrade their knowledge, skills, and qualifications, with a view to enabling them to contribute more effectively to curriculum renewal (Atkins et al., 2009; Wyatt, 2008). During their 3-year course, in-service English language teachers in government schools studied part-time, teaching 4 days per week during the school term and attending a regional training center on the other day. There were also intensive study blocks during summer and winter, when modules would be taught by University of Leeds lecturers and regional tutors based in Oman. I was one of the latter; during Cohort 4 (the cohort with which I did the research), I worked with 35 teachers (subdivided into two groups), lecturing (2 days per week), providing tutorial support, and visiting schools (in towns, coastal villages, and mountainous areas). I would visit every teacher once per semester to observe and provide feedback on teaching practice that was not assessed.
So, this was a rather different situation from that in which I had conducted my master’s-level research, which had employed a mixed methods research design with survey data gathered over 10 weeks in relation to small-scale classroom innovation (Wyatt, 2000). Working for the British Council in Nepal, this had seemed the most practical thing to do. Now in Oman, working with 35 teachers on a 3-year teacher education project, I wanted to exploit the opportunities provided by the context. I outlined at the start of my PhD proposal, submitted in January 2003, that I was interested in investigating the effects of the 3-year BA TESOL program on the self-efficacy beliefs of participating English teachers, and how changes in these beliefs related to their classroom teaching practices.
Features of the proposed research methodology included continuous data collection until the end of the 3-year program with regular semi-structured interviews that would take place in the context of post-observation discussions conceptualized as the primary data collection tool. I envisaged the research methodology as essentially longitudinal, characterized by a repeated cross-sectional design tracking the same population (Dörnyei, 2001) of about 10 teachers, selected from volunteers to achieve balance and variety. Completely absent from my research proposal were the following terms, which subsequently became central to the research: “case study,” “qualitative,” “cognition,” “practical knowledge.” Looking back, there was much to learn. My proposal was nevertheless accepted, and I was assigned Simon Borg and Gary Chambers (experts in teacher cognition and teacher motivation, respectively) as supervisors.
Making Methodological Choices
Getting Started
My first PhD supervision meeting with Simon Borg was in June 2003, soon after the proposal had been accepted, but 5 months after the course had started. At the meeting, we agreed that I should aim to start collecting data as soon as possible, with a view to tracking volunteer research participants throughout the following five semesters. I therefore needed to prioritize designing an informed consent form. I was also asked to think about how to define and measure self-efficacy beliefs in relation to the effects of the BA program on teaching practice, and to think about how to differentiate my role as a regional tutor on the project – which required me, for example, to help teachers make links between their classroom teaching practices and concepts they had studied on the course – and my role as a PhD student investigating the teachers’ development.
Progress reports I produced over the next 5 months provide an index to my activity and thinking. While I had not considered the dilemmas connected with insider research (Holliday, 2002) in my research proposal, in Progress Report 1, I reflected at length about the challenge in differentiating roles. Since, while interviewing for research purposes, I would likely scaffold responses to promote learning or gain ideas that indirectly led into a lesson plan, conducting the research would probably beneficially affect my teaching practice. Disturbingly, however, participating, I reflected, might give an undue advantage (on an assessed course) to the teachers I was researching and disadvantage those not. Simon and Gary advised me to read about practitioner research and list the potential benefits of participating as a first step in considering how to handle this ethical issue.
Accordingly, I read Anderson and Herr (1999) on practitioner research, and then Holliday (2002) on the “politics of dealing” (while designing a contextually sensitive informed consent form which gained approval before I used it in September 2003 when calling for volunteers). I then reflected on the possible motives for volunteering, producing the following list:
interest in developing as teachers, students and researchers (by gaining more time to reflect on classroom practice, on the impact of the program, and on ways of conducting research);
interest in the subject of motivation;
positive orientation towards the researcher; and/or
a progressive attitude towards change and personal growth.
