Research Methods in TESOL

Abstract: This dissertation examined the status of data-based research in applied linguistics through an analysis of published research studies in nine peer-reviewed applied linguistics journals ( Applied Language Learning, The Canadian Modern Language Review / La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, Current Issues in Language Planning, Dialog on Language Instruction, Language Learning, Language Teaching Research, Language Testing, The Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly ) recommended by the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), during a particular seven-year period (2002-2008), so as to determine the research methods used. It analyzed the implementation of statistical procedures in those studies that use quantitative research methodology, and classified qualitative studies according to research methodology. Mixed studies were categorized according to research methodology and statistical procedures. The survey of the data-based studies published in all nine journals from 2002-2008 revealed that of the 636 research articles, 406 (64%) used quantitative research design, 177 (28%) used qualitative research design, and 53 (8%) used mixed research design. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) (used in 42% of the studies), t-test (in 32%), and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (in 28%) were the most frequently used statistical procedures employed in the quantitative studies. Case studies (in 25% of the articles) and interview (in 21%) were the most frequently used research methodologies in the articles that used qualitative research design. The comparison based on the three journals ( TESOL Quarterly, Language Learning and The Modern Language Journal ) that are surveyed in this study and in Lazaraton's study (2005) revealed an evident increase of qualitative and mixed studies and the decrease of quantitative studies in 2002-2008, as compared to the studies published in the same journals in 1991-2001.

Abstract: One of the biggest challenges of integrating research in TESOL with research in digital literacies is that the research methodologies of these two traditions have developed out of different ontological and epistemological assumptions about what is being researched (the object of study), where the research is located (the research site), and who is being researched (the research participants).

Keywords: inference quality;mixed methods research;qualitative;quantitative;research design Abstract: Despite criticisms questioning its raison d'être (e.g., Giddings & Grant, 2007), mixed methods research has been welcomed in social research as a methodology in its own right (Greene, 2008). Recently, it has also been acknowledged and advocated in applied linguistics (Dörnyei, 2007; Hashemi, 2012). In an attempt to investigate the status of this relatively new trend in applied linguistics, the current study examines the nature of the integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in terms of research designs, sampling designs, and quality of interpretations. Content analysis of 205 research articles published in seven comprehensive international peer reviewed applied linguistics journals between 1995 and 2008 reveals that concurrent designs are more prevalent than sequential designs and that studies make limited use of mixed designs that are detailed in the mixed methods literature. Moreover, although a considerable number of articles used both qualitative and quantitative methods, only a small number achieved high degrees of integration at various stages of the study as a quality standard for mixed research. The study concludes with several implications for making more effective use of mixed methods research in applied linguistics and calls for a more systematic treatment of this trend as a versatile research methodology.

Abstract: Mixed methods research combines theoretical and/or technical aspects of quantitative and qualitative research within a particular study. This paper traces the historical development of mixed methods research, and delineates current post-positivist and constructivist paradigmatic perspectives. We describe the two major positions of mixed method advocates: the dialectic and the pragmatic. We identify five purposes for mixing methods and eight types of mixed method studies. Grounded in mixed method inquiry literature, the auttiors examine the benefits and tenets of mixed methods research, analyze how it is currently being reported in three studies published in the Information Technology, Learning, & Performance Journal, and offer specific recommendations for clarifying written descriptions of methods used to collect and interpret data. We draw positive implications for the organizational systems field for clearly writing about mixed research methods in publications.

Abstract: This study adopted a mixed-methods cross-sectional approach to identify similarities and differences in the English as a second language (ESL) essay holistic scores and evaluation criteria of raters with different levels of experience. Each of 31 experienced and 29 novice raters rated a sample of ESL essays holistically and analytically and provided written explanations for each holistic score they assigned. Score and qualitative data analyses were conducted to identify the criteria that the raters employed to rate the essays holistically. The findings indicated that both groups gave more importance to the communicative quality of the essays than to other aspects of writing. However, the novice raters tended to be more lenient and to give more importance to argumentation than the experienced raters did. The experienced raters tended to be more severe, to give more importance to linguistic accuracy, and to refer to evaluation criteria other than those listed in the rating scale more frequently than the novices did. The article concludes with a call for longitudinal research to investigate to what extent, how, and why rater evaluation criteria change over time and across contexts.

Abstract: Undoubtedly, CD-ROM dictionaries assist in removing the fear of inadequacy in language usage and ameliorating the panic of being-on-the-spot especially with the rapid development of information technology. This research was conducted to find out whether there is a relationship between pre-service TESOL teachers' attitudes towards using CD-ROM dictionaries and certain criteria (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, functions and multimedia content). The theoretical framework for the study was drawn from TAM model. A modified questionnaire was utilised with employing a mixed-method approach using two sampling techniques (Purposive and Random) to pre-service TESOL teachers. The finding exposed a positive significant correlation between attitudes towards using CD-ROM dictionaries and criteria. A further finding exhibited that the CD-ROM dictionaries do assist learning the four main language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and the subsidiary skills (grammar, punctuation and pronunciation).

This mixed methods study adds to a growing international literature on the nature of language teachers' engagement with and in research by examining such engagement in the context of college English teaching in China. Questionnaire responses from 725 college English teachers and interviews with 20 of these teachers indicate that, although they were expected to be research-active, their reported levels of reading and doing research were moderate. An analysis of the factors behind this level of engagement reveals unproductive linear and instrumental conceptions among teachers of the relationship between research knowledge and classroom practice. A perceived discrepancy was also found between teachers' views about the research activity expected of them and the support they received from their institutions to facilitate such work. The uncertainty teachers experienced in relation to research engagement was also shaped by tensions between their views of research and its purpose and the criteria for recognizing research employed by their institutions. This study problematizes the notion of teacher as researcher by highlighting many interactive personal, interpersonal, and institutional factors which shape the extent to which teachers can be research-engaged. The article concludes by suggesting key questions that language teaching organizations wanting to promote teacher research engagement must ask.