Websites and Blogs
Many websites and blogs provide practical information that is helpful in the ESOL classroom as well as information to stay current in the TESOL field. Many of the may not be suitable for references in research papers, but they will help give you ideas on research topics that you want to study further. Websites and blogs can be created by individuals, organizations, and the government.
- Blogs and Listservs
- Conferences, Associations, and Organizations
- Government Websites
Recommended Websites
- Bibliography: Research on Second Language Acquisition
From CARLA
- Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
Covers a wide range of potential research topics, including but not limited to: assessment, content-based education, immersion, learner culture, pragmatics, and technology.
- Qualitative Research: Case Study Guidelines
Explains what case studies are and how they're analyzed and reported. From TESOL.
- Quantitative Research Guidelines
Explains what the methodology, discussion and results sections of qualitative research papers should look like. From TESOL.
- Key Issues and Questions in ELL Research
This report is the result of a collaborative effort led by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) to look at key issues in reading and make recommendations to the field for further investigation.
- Primary and Secondary Sources
Brief explanation of the difference between primary (empirical) sources and secondary sources. Includes advice about how to tell the difference between them.
Finding & Evaluating Websites
Finding websites:
Good websites can be found by asking your Instructor for
suggestions; using subject directories such as Librarians' Internet Index,
Open
Directory Project, or Internet
Public Library; using the "advanced search" option in Google;
using Google Scholar to search across many
disciplines for "peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and
articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint
repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations"; and by
using the Best Search Engines guide for finding more tips
on locating high quality websites.
Evaluating
Websites:
Before selecting websites for your research paper, be sure they follow UNC's Evaluating Web Sites for Educational Uses: Bibliography and Checklist guidelines. In addition, before using any information you have found on the Internet, be sure you can answer the following questions:
- Who created the web site?
- When was the site last updated?
- Why was the site created?
- Where does the site’s information come from?
- Are sources documented and cited?
If the answers to these questions are not easily available, you should be cautious of using it for your research.
Why use a Database?
You may
ask, why should I use a database rather than a website? Well, Fairfield
University Library put together a rather nifty comparison
chart that should help you decide to use a database.
|
Databases |
Websites |
|
Fee-based. The library pays for you to have access to them |
Mostly free |
|
Available only to members of the APU community |
Available to anyone |
|
Provide value-added information that has been selected, edited, and
reviewed by experts "Peer-reviewed" scholarly articles |
Provide information that may be unfiltered, unedited, and created by
anyone Articles probably do not go through a review process |
|
Updated regularly |
May not be updated |
|
Trustworthy, reliable |
Not necessarily trustworthy or reliable |
|
Purpose is to advance knowledge |
Purpose may be to sell you something or sway your opinion |
|
Use for scholarly research, but remember, even scholarly sources can
have a bias! |
Use with caution for scholarly research; remember to evaluate the
source! |
Subject Guide
Head of Collections & Technical Services
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701 E. Foothill Blvd., PO Box 7000
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