Look Before You Leap: Issues Need to Consider in Research

Ibrahim HossainAssociate ProfessorInstitute of Modern Languages University of Chittagong

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What is Research?

“a systematic investigation to find answers to a problem.” Burns (1994)

“ the organized, systematic search for answers to the questions we ask” Hatch and Lazaraton (1991)

Two basic ways of finding answers to questions:

▪ Secondary Research- what other people have said about a particular issue

▪ Primary/Emperical research- conducting ones own data based investigation

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Why Research?▪ to optimize language teaching & learning

▪ to identify problems related to language learning & teaching

▪ to find solutions to some problems

▪ to bridge the gap between theories & practice

▪ to evaluate theories and decide which ones are effective in classrooms & with learners

▪ for strategic planning- EA/Curriculum designers

▪ for academic requirement/ professional development

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Research Cycle

Selecting an Area for Research

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▪ What do you know about your potential research area? ▪ Have you previously studied any book/article on this area?

▪ How familiar are you with the terminology, concepts and issues? ▪ How familiar are you with key authors, theories, paradigms?

▪ What do you still need to do or explore in order to develop a basic or better understanding of your research area?

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Research Area : Issues Need to Consider

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Narrowing Down Research Area

Writing the Topic of Your Research

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▪ Is the topic clear and well defined? ▪ Does it involve a problem, question, or hypothesis that sets the agenda and points precisely to what needs to be explored or discovered?

▪ Is the topic of genuine relevance or interest within your subject discipline?

▪ Does it pick up on important or interesting themes or subjects arising from your studies?

Literature Review

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▪ Have you accessed the most recent literature of relevance to your topic, as well as seminal sources from the past? ▪ Do you refer to major books, articles? Since quality is more important than quantity – how well have you selected your material?

▪ Does the literature review hang together, to show how the ideas and findings have developed, or is it merely a shopping list of books and articles?

▪ Is the review critical? Does it briefly evaluate, showing how your dissertation/article fits into what is mistaken or lacking in other studies?

Methodology: Issues Need to Consider

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▪ Methodology is determined by the research questions ▪ Quantitative- involves data collection procedures that result primarily in numerical data which is analysed primarily by statistical methods. –survey research using questionnaire.

▪ Qualitative- non-numerical data.-interview, observation

▪ Mixed methods- Combination of quantitative & qualitative

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Why  do  students  study  English?

Quantitative:  In  the  sample,  47%  of  students  study  English  because  they  want  to  work  using  English  in  the  future,  33%  of  students  because  they  want  to  watch  American  movies  and  read  English  books,  and  20%  of  students  because  they  want  to  travel  to  an English- ‐speaking  country.

Qualitative:  Since  she  was  a  child,  Naomi  had  had  a  dream:  she  really  wanted  to  be  a  Fluent  English  speaker.  She  would  dream  about  talking  in  perfect  English  to  a  native  speaker,  and  being  able  to  understand  everything  that  he  said.  She  imagined  living  in  another  country,  possibly  England,  and  going  walking  through  the  English  countryside  with  her  English  friends,  chatting  about  their  lives.

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How  do  students  learn  vocabulary?  

Quantitative:  27%  of  students  used  word  cards  every  day,  and  these  students  improved  their  English  vocabulary  scores  by  17  points  in  three  months.  40%  of  students  kept  a  word  list,  and  these  students  improved  their  scores  by  12  points.  …    

Qualitative: Shamim  keeps  a  list  of  the  new  words  that  he  reads  and  hears.  Before  class,  he  reads  over  the  textbook,  and  marks  the  new  words  that  he  sees.  He  then  writes  these  in  his  word  list,  checking  the  meaning  from  the  dictionary.  In  the  first  column,  he  writes  the  new  word,  in  the  second  the  part  of  speech,  in  the  third  the  main  definition  in Bangla,  and  in  the  fourth  an  example  sentence.  

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Other Important Issues

▪ Have I used the appropriate sample for my study?

▪ Have I analyzed the data properly?

▪ Have I followed any of the accepted styles of referencing system?

▪ Have I followed the research ethics properly?

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Reference:

Burns , R.B. (1994) Introduction to research methods (2nd ed.) Melbourne:Longman Chelshire.

Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Nunan, D (1992): Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP.