Tutorial 1: Introduction to research in applied linguistics

Tutorial 1 Introduction to research in applied linguistics Tutorial 1 Introduction to research in applied linguistics Instructor Assoc Prof Dr Le Hung Tien Group 1 Nguyen Duong Ha Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc Do Thi Phuong Thanh Tran Thi Thu Trang I What is research? SEVERAL DEFINITIONS 1 Research is a systematic process of inquiry consisting of 3 elements or components A question, a problem, or a hypothesis Data Analysis and interpretation of the data (Nunan 1992) I What is research? 2 Research is the.

Tutorial 1: Introduction to

research in applied linguistics

Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc

Do Thi Phuong Thanh

Tran Thi Thu Trang

I What is research?

SEVERAL DEFINITIONS:

1 Research is a systematic process of inquiry

consisting of 3 elements or components:

- A question, a problem, or a hypothesis

- Data

- Analysis and interpretation of the data

(Nunan 1992)

I What is research?

2 Research is the process of going up alleys to

see if they are blind

(Marston Bates, American writer)

3 Research is what I am doing when I don't know

what I am doing

(Von Braun, American engineer)

4 If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if

you steal from many, it's research

(Wilson Mizner, American dramatist)

I What is research?

5 Research is:

- about inquiry It has 2 components: process and product The process is about an area of inquiry and how it is pursued The product is the

knowledge generated from the process as well

as the initial area to be presented

- a process which involves (a) defining a problem, (b) stating an objective, and (c) formulating an hypothesis It involves gathering information,

classification, analysis, and interpretation to see

to what extent the initial objective has been

achieved

- undertaking structured investigation which hopefully

results in greater understanding of the chosen

interest area Ultimately, this investigation becomes accessible to the "public".

- an activity which analyses and critically evaluates

• 6 In the first sense, the outcome of

research is the establishment, publicizing,

or utilization of something that somebody - not the researcher or the person

commissioning it - already knows In the second sense, the outcome is the

knowledge nobody had before

II Purposes of a research

- getting a result with scientific methods objectively, not

subjectively.

- solving problems, verifying the application of theories, and

leading on to new insights.

- enlightening both researcher and any interested readers.

- proving/ disproving new or existing ideas, to characterize

phenomena (i.e., the language characteristics of a particular population), and to achieve personal and community aims That is, to satisfy the individual's quest but also to improve

community welfare.

- proving or disproving, demystifying, carrying out what is

planned, to support the point of view, to uncover what is not known, satisfying inquiry Discovering the cause of a problem, finding the solution to a problem

(Nunan 1992)

Sample research

– Title: Jordanian Undergraduate EFL Students'

Errors in the Use of the Indefinite Article

– Author : Dr Rula Fahmi Bataineh, Jordan

University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

– Source: 2005 Journal, Volume 7, Issue 1,

March 2005,

http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/march_05_rfb.php

The objectives of this research

• (1) to investigate and then identify the errors the

learners make in terms of their types and

potential sources

• (2) to compute and compare the relative

frequency of these errors to detect any

developmental tendencies among the learners of the different levels of proficiency

• (3) to determine any potential differences among the subjects which can be attributed to class

level or average length of compositions

How these objectives are achieved:

findings

III Different views of the

nature of social sciences &

social reality

determining individual and

determining individual and

social behaviors.

Interpretive view: While sharing the rigor of the natural sciences and the concern to describe and explain human behaviors, emphasizes the difference of people from inanimate natural phenomena and from each

other.

Interpretive view: While sharing the rigor of the natural sciences and the concern to describe and explain human behaviors, emphasizes the difference of people from inanimate natural phenomena and from each

other.

Traditional view:

Social sciences are the

same as the natural

sciences, should discover natural and

universal laws regulating and determining individual

and social behaviors.

Traditional view:

Social sciences are the

same as the natural sciences, should discover natural and universal laws regulating and determining individual

and social behaviors.

Interpretive view:

While sharing the rigor

of the natural sciences and the concern to describe and explain human behaviors, emphasizes the difference of people from inanimate natural phenomena and from

each other.

Interpretive view:

While sharing the rigor

of the natural sciences and the concern to describe and explain human behaviors, emphasizes the difference of people from inanimate natural phenomena and from

each other.

Social reality-the truth

system, structure, or mechanism which

can exist independently of any particular

historical individual, but cannot exist

independently of some group of individuals

independently of some group of individuals somehow linked together in sustaining or reproducing that reality from day to day

(Bhaskar 1979; Durkheim 1982; Giddens 1979)

Social reality-the truth

=> is distinct from biological reality or individual

cognitive reality, and consists of the accepted

social tenets of a community

(Hitchcock and Hughes)

Examples:

reality

Social reality assumptions

1

2

Ontological assumptions Epistemological

assumptions

Different social reality assumptions

• Ontological assumptions

– "Do social structures determine an individual's

behavior or does human agency?"

• Social reality external to individuals (objective

nature): Fixed, stable, observable, measurable

• Social reality - the product of individual

consciousness (results of personal recognition):

Multiple realities that are socially constructed by individuals

Different social reality assumptions

Epistemological assumptions

• Knowledge is hard, objective and tangible:

researcher is observer – natural methods,

positivism: Gained through scientific and

experimental research Knowledge is objective and quantifiable

• Knowledge is personal, subjective and unique:

researcher- participant observer, rejection of

natural science methods, anti-positivism: Gained through understanding the meaning of the

process/experience

Different social reality

assumptions:

epistemological assumptions, and

these in turn give rise to

methodological considerations which give rise to issues of instrumentation and data collection

Social reality assumptions & their

orientations to research

Ontology (nature of reality)

Epistemology (knowledge)

Orientations to Research

Post-positivist Research

Interpretive Research

(Qualitative,

phenomenology, ethnography, case study, grounded theory)

IV Research process

What is research process?

A process of formulating questions, problems, hypothesis

Analyzing or interpreting data

A model of research process

1 2 3 4

6 5

problem / experience / observation hypothesis/ research questions

investigation and experimentation

to test the hypothesis/ research questions data gathering/ collection

data analysis and interpretation

confirmation or disapproval of the hypothesis

The first phase: Problem Recognition & Hypothesis

IIlustrations from real research

reports

– Title: Jordanian Undergraduate EFL Students'

Errors in the Use of the Indefinite Article

– Author : Dr Rula Fahmi Bataineh, Jordan

University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

– Source: 2005 Journal, Volume 7, Issue 1,

March 2005, http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/march_05_rfb.php

The problem arises from some

starting points:

- The experience:

‘The English articles a(n), zero, and the are quite difficult to

acquire not only for ESL/EFL learners but also for

children learning English as a first language

(Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999).’

- An observation of the author:

‘The English article system is one of the most difficult

structural elements for ESL/EFL learners, especially for those whose native languages do not employ articles or article-like morphemes.’

Questions for brainstorming

• Why are articles in English difficult for

Jordanian students?

• What are the types of errors Jordanian EFL

students make in the use of the article?

• In what way does the English article system

affect students’ language learning?

• How frequent do these errors appear?

• How different are the cases of making the

errors related to article usage of different

Focused research questions

• 1 What are the types and potential sources of the

errors Jordanian EFL students make in the use of the indefinite article?

• 2 Are there any developmental implications in the

relative frequency of the occurrence of these errors?

• 3 Are there any differences in the students' errors

which can be attributed to class level?

• 4 Is there a relationship between the average length

of compositions and the number of errors made in

indefinite article use?

The second phase: Data

Choosing the setting and

sample

agency or community in which your study is conducted, as well as the

study population and draw attention

to any available information relevant

to your study.

Creating the Research Design

to answer your research questions

(1) descriptive studies: answer the questions

of who, what, where, when and how

(2) causal studies: determine how one

variable affects another

Measurement procedures

instruments and the details of how

you plan to operationalize your major variables

Sample research: The second

phase

• Choosing the setting and sample:

• The research was conducted at Yarmouk University

(Irbid, Jordan) in the second semester of the academic year 2003/2004

• The study included 209 male and female students of

English between 18 and 23 years of age The subjects lived in an exclusively Arabic-speaking community and had learned English as a foreign language prior to

taking it up as their major field of study at the

university

• The study design:

collect data from the sample group Freshmen,

sophomores, juniors and seniors were asked to

write paragraph/essay-type texts in English on one

of the following topics: Why do you study English?

Yarmouk University campus, violence in movies, car accidents, and my favorite author/story/poet

are the only two variables.

• Measurement procedures:

• Mathematical calculation and comparison were

made between each study group

• For every composition, a word count was made

and errors in the use of the indefinite article were counted, classified and later analyzed

• The types and frequency of these errors were

compared to observe similarities and/or

differences in the type and number of errors

made across the four levels

The third phase: Data Analysis and

Interpretation

Analyzing data related to the research questions

Drawing conclusions

Assessing the limitations of the study

Making suggestions for further research

Sample research: Analyzing data

• First, the errors made by the four groups of

subjects are identified in terms of their types and potential sources

• Second, the frequency of these errors is

computed and compared to detect any

developmental tendencies among the four levels

• Third, potential differences among the subjects

which can be attributed to class level or average length of compositions are detected

Confirmation or conclusion of the

hypothesis

• The majority of errors are the result

of common learning processes, such

as overgeneralization and

simplification of the English article

system

language was found minimal

Confirmation or conclusion of the

hypothesis

• The majority of errors are the result

of common learning processes, such

as overgeneralization and

simplification of the English article

system

language was found minimal

V Terms used in

researching

- support the hypothesis/theory

- refute the hypothesis/theory

• Inductivism

• Seek to derive general principles/theories/

‘truths’ from an investigation and documentation

of single instances

• Inductivism seeks to derive general principles,

theories, or "truths" from an investigation and

documentation of single instances (Nunan D

1992 Research Methods in Language Learning

Cambridge: CUP (P 13))

• Social reality

• any causally efficacious system, structure, or

mechanism which can exist independently of

any particular historical individual

• cannot exist independently of some group of

individuals

individuals somehow linked together in

sustaining or reproducing that reality from day to day

(Bhaskar 1979; Durkheim 1982; Giddens 1979)

• Reliability

from a piece of research (Nunan 1992)

collection, analysis and interpretation

reproduced by independent researcher

• Validity

actually investigates what the researcher purports to investigate (Nunan 1992)

• Internal validity: the interpretability of a

research

results can be generalized from samples

to population

• Logical

• Step-by-step progression

• Straightforward, logical pattern with underlying

rule and procedures

• Tangible

• Based on the collection and manipulation of data

from the real world

• Data are well-defined quantity, rank or category

• Construct

• A psychological quality that cannot be observed but can only be assumed to exit and can be

explained through observable behaviors

(intelligence, proficiency, motivation, aptitude

etc.)

• Construct validity: the construct under

investigation must be defined accessible to the outside observer, the construct characteristics must be identifiable to reader

• Variables

among individuals (language proficiency, motivation, self-esteem etc.)

• Longitudinal

repeated observations of the same items over long periods of time — often many decades It is a type of observational

study

• Reductive/ Reduction

• The possibility of establishing patterns and

relationships among individual variables, facts, and observable phenomena in a research

• Reduction is the process by which one object,

property, concept, theory, etc., is shown to be explicable in terms of another, lower level,

concept, object, property, etc

• Qualitative/ Qualitative research (Non-numeral

research)

• All knowledge is relative

• Subjective element to knowledge

• Quantitative/ Quantitative research (Numeral

- interview & self-reports

- closed response questionnaires

• Psychometric/ Psychometrics

• Field of study concerned with the theory and

technique of educational and psychological

measurement, which includes the measurement

of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits

• The field is primarily concerned with the

construction and validation of measurement

instruments, such as questionnaires, tests, and personality assessments

• Primary data

research and, until you publish, no one

else has access to it.

primary data: questionnaires, interviews, focus group interviews, observation, case- studies, diaries, critical incidents,

portfolios

• Secondary data

user

social science include censuses, surveys, organizational records and data collected through qualitative methodologies or

qualitative research