RESEARCH METHODS

DEFINING TOPIC AND FORMULATING RESEARCH QUESTIONS.

Where do the Research Questions come from?

1. Experience and interests

Questions for research can derive from everyday experience with language learning.
Curiosity can be aroused by something observed in a personal language learning
experience which leads to further questioning and perhaps to the development of original
research from this questioning.

You may come to the field of second language acquisition with questions from other areas
in which you have an interest and which can be related to research in this field. For
example, the theories and methodologies of the field of reading may hold implications for
research in second language acquisition. To what degree is learning to read in a second
language the same as learning to read a first language? Does the ability to read in the first
language facilitate learning to read in a second? Do the metalinguistic abilities related to
reading in a first language help or hinder learning to read in a second? How does the
ability to read in a language with a different orthographic system affect learning to read
the target language?

With the development of research in metacognitive processes, there has been renewed
interest in language learners keeping diaries documenting their experiences and conscious
thought processes while in the language class or other second language learning contexts.
Such diaries might include the author's feelings during the actual language lesson but
recorded after class, attitudes to language learning, attitudes toward the teacher, self-
analysis of the methods used for practicing the language and so on. While these diary
reports are subjective in terms of what is reported and recalled, they can raise interesting
questions for further controlled research. In other words, they may be a place to begin.
[…]

2 Reading other research in language and second language

Involvement in a professional field requires researchers to read research conducted by
others in order to keep up with developments, innovations, and new insights. However,
reading research in a field such as second language learning and teaching can itself
become a source for further questioning and curiosity about claims made by a theory or
the way a study was conducted.

A theory which claims that learners monitor output in terms of grammatical rules learned
in the classroom (Krashen, 1978) can lead to research on how grammatical rules are
learned and used by learners, and whether such rules can make a difference in the
learners' performance (Seliger, 1979).

3 Sources outside second language acquisition

While the examples above are taken from linguistics, similar research of a theoretical and

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empirical nature is found in psychology, sociology, and education. Here too, questions
and hypotheses for research in second language can be found. In fact, it appears that most
of the more interesting theories about second language acquisition have derived from
these other fields and have become tools for investigation within second language
research. (General questions which may be developed into research can come from a field
not normally associated with language or language acquisition.)

Selecting the research topic

Consider the example of researchers who have a general interest in the effect of age on
second language acquisition. While this interest may have evolved from observations of
their personal experiences (arriving in a country as immigrants and having difficulties in
learning the new language - unlike their children, who seem to have learned the language
much faster, with no observed difficulties) they begin reviewing the literature, searching
for research articles and other materials which address this topic. They obtain initial
references on the topic from bibliography lists given by the lecturers at the second
language acquisition course they may be attending at the time. In the process of reviewing
these sources they locate additional references and materials from the bibliography lists
included in these articles. While reading the material they realize that although there is
ample research on the topic there are also many unanswered questions. For example, there
are conflicting findings as to the effect of age on second language acquisition in different
learning contexts (formal or informal). There also seem to be differences in the effect of
age on the acquisition of certain aspects of language. Research studies show, though not
consistently, that age is correlated positively with the learning of grammar (the older
people are, the better they acquire grammar), but that younger children seem to have an
advantage in acquiring phonology. They then discover that while there are a large number
of studies on age and second language acquisition in informal contexts, there is very little
research on the phenomenon of age and language learning in the school context. This
issue, they believe, is very important since it may have implications for curriculum
planning, teaching methodologies, and educational policies. The researchers therefore
decide to carry out their research on the effect of age on the acquisition of phonology in
formal versus informal contexts.

This is still a general topic of research that is not immediately researchable, since there
are many aspects which need to be worked on before the researchers are ready to begin
the study. They will have to go through a number of phases (outlined in Chapter 3), in
order to examine the feasibility of this research topic. Then, in order to arrive at better-
defined and more focused questions or hypotheses, the researchers will have to make
decisions about the specific age of the subjects and the type of formal instruction they
receive. The specific context of informal learning will have to be decided and the topic
will be researched either by designing an experiment where learners of a certain age get a
specific type of instruction in school, or it will be studied by observing different types of
learners in a variety of learning contexts without conducting an experiment.

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By reviewing the literature and examining other research studies in the same field, the
researchers will be able to decide on the details of the research topic, making it more
specific and focused.

Broadening the perspective and narrowing the question

Once the researchers have selected the topic, they need to expand it, mainly by
investigating prevailing theories relating to it. Thus, during this stage the researchers will
conduct a more thorough and systematic review of the literature by examining and
reviewing current theories in a number of related disciplines such as applied linguistics,
linguistics, psychology, neurolinguistics, sociology, and education. They will want to
familiarize themselves with the theories these disciplines provide on various aspects of
the research topic. In the above example, these will include current theories on the
acquisition of phonology, on age-related differences in ability to acquire certain aspects of
a second language, and on the effect of the learning context (formal versus informal) on
learners of different ages. Notice that the researchers focus also on related disciplines,
beyond applied linguistics. Clearly at this stage the researchers cannot simply rely on the
bibliography list obtained in a university course, but will need to collect references from
other sources as well. Indices such as Resources in Education and Language and
Language Behavior Abstracts are likely to include references to additional articles not
encountered in the earlier literature review. The researchers may also wish to conduct a
computer search, to generate updated references on the topic and thus obtain a larger pool
of references. A description of such sources and the procedures for obtaining them will be
described in the next section of this chapter.

In reviewing the literature, the researchers will have to make a decision as to which
references are most relevant and most useful, by reading the abstracts that precede most
articles. They are likely to begin by reviewing articles which relate most directly to the
research topic, such as those which focus on differences in the acquisition of phonology
by learners of different ages in different learning contexts. They will be likely to review
first the most recent ones and then work backwards towards less recent research.

Following this, they will explore other relevant areas in the literature, such as studies on
differences in the learning of other school subjects in formal versus informal contexts,
work on the relationship between age and learning, focusing on cognitive, affective, and
neurological aspects of child development, and possibly research on the rate of language
acquisition of monolingual and bilingual learners of different ages. Readings in such areas
will provide a better understanding of how different aspects of language are acquired at
different stages of development in a variety of learning contexts.

In reviewing the literature the researchers may also encounter research studies similar to
the ones which they are planning to conduct. These will provide useful ideas on how to
design their own research.

Focusing on the relevant information

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In reading the literature the researchers will focus on a number of things. They may, for
example, be interested in finding out why, where, and by whom the research was
conducted, what the underlying assumptions of the studies were, and which procedures
and methodologies were used for collecting the data. They will focus on the major
findings of such research, and most importantly, how such studies added to the body of
knowledge on the topic.

By acquainting themselves with the relevant literature, the researchers obtain a

comprehensive and broad understanding of the topic, and are thus able to arrive at a clear
and well defined question for conducting the research. For example, if much of the
surveyed research focuses on the acquisition of phonology in informal contexts, it may
provide a framework, or a rationale for conducting research on the effect of age on the
acquisition of phonology in a formal context. The findings obtained in informal contexts
are useful for creating hypotheses about another setting. If the literature review reveals
that there are conflicting findings about the topic, this can provide a rationale for
examining the same question from a different point of view, possibly with improved
methodology, so as to offer more convincing findings and more clearly defined
hypotheses. For example, if studies show that there is no direct relationship between age
and the acquisition of phonology in informal contexts, the researcher could hypothesize
that no direct relationship will be found in formal contexts either. Or if, in reviewing the
literature on age, the researchers learn about the significance of the critical period in
acquiring phonology in informal contexts, they may pose a research question which
relates to the effect of age on children's learning ability before or after that period. The
fact that the phases of development are different in boys and girls, for instance, may lead
the researchers to examine differences between the sexes, or other variables such as
personality, learning styles, and motivations.

While reading, the researchers will summarize and keep records of all the above
information. They may use index cards or store the information on a computer database
and thus compile a bibliography list which they are likely to use at a later stage for
writing the literature review.

To sum up, the process of contextualization helps the researchers to generate and select a
research topic, expand their understanding, and broaden their knowledge and perspective
of that topic, and at the same time arrive at a researchable and well-defined question for
the research. The literature review helps them realize that the problem they are interested
in is part of a larger body of knowledge. The review will also indicate whether there have
already been important findings within this research area, whether there are still areas to
be investigated, and whether the research that is about to be conducted is likely to add
new information to that body of knowledge.

Now that the purposes of contextualizing the research and the phases in the research
process have been discussed, we will locate the sources for the literature review. We will
then return to a more detailed description of the process involved in reading the literature

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and in organizing and reporting the literature review.

Developing a research question

A minimum requirement for an activity to be considered research is that it contains three

components:
1. a question
2. data
3. analysis and interpretation.

The first component, and the key to the others, is the formulation of a question. It is this
initial step which often causes researchers, particularly those who are new to the research
process, the most trouble. It is worth spending as much time as is necessary to get the
question right, (…) some of the considerations which will facilitate this process.

Before formulating a question, one needs to determine the general topic area one is
interested in. The general area itself can emerge from one's own particular interests, from
one's experience in the field, from reading widely, or from a combination of these. (…)

Hatch and Lazaraton (1991) (...) suggest:

Each time you think of a question for which there seems to be no ready answer, write the
question down. Someone may write or talk about something that is fascinating, and you
wonder if the same results would obtain with your students, or with bilingual children, or
with a different genre of text. Write this in your journal. Perhaps you take notes as you
read articles, observe classes, or listen to lectures. Place a star or other symbol at places
where you have questions. These ideas will then be easy to find and transfer to the
journal. Of course, not all of these ideas will evolve into research topics. Like a writer’s
notebook, these bits and pieces of research ideas will reformulate themselves almost like
magic. ... (11-12)

Having identified a general area, and a topic within that area, one begins the task of
formulating a question. Not all questions are researchable. For example, the question
‘Should values clarification be taught in primary school?’ cannot be settled empirically.
Of course we could conduct a survey of interested community members to find out what
they think, but this would not provide us with an answer to the question - it would answer
a rather different one, namely, ‘What are community attitudes towards the teaching of
values clarification in primary schools?’

In research, in order to obtain reasonable answers, we need to ask the right sort of
questions. The questions need to be:

1. worth asking in the first place

2. capable of being answered

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There are many questions or issues which are eminently capable of being researched, but
which may not be worth asking. For example, it would be technically feasible to
determine the number of Spanish interpreters who wear designer jeans, or the relationship
between the wearing of rubber thongs and academic achievement. However, it is highly
dubious whether these questions are worth asking. Unfortunately, often the questions
which are easiest to answer are not worth asking.

On the other hand, there are many questions worth asking which cannot, in any practical
sense, be answered. So in formulating a research question we need to strike a balance
between the value of the question and our ability to develop a research proposal we are
capable of carrying out.

Research questions can come from many different places. Usually they result from our
reading around in an area that is of interest to us. If we are lucky, we may find a piece of
published research which we can either take one step further or apply to a different
context. For example, we may come across a study demonstrating that background
cultural knowledge has a significant effect on reading comprehension. This may prompt
us to ask, ‘What is the effect of background knowledge on listening comprehension?’ Or
we may come across research which shows that the order in which German mor-
phosyntax is acquired is relatively fixed, impervious to instruction, and determined by
speech processing constraints. This may prompt us to ask whether the same constraints
exist for English.

Having identified a general area, such as listening comprehension, or morphosyntactic

development, we need to refine our question so that it is worthwhile and doable. We may
start out with a worthwhile question such as: ‘Is there an impermeable (không thẩm thấu)
order of morphosyntactic acquisition for English, which can be accounted for in terms of
speech processing constraints?’ Such a question, however, could occupy a team of
postdoctoral researchers for several years.

Recognizing the breadth of the issue, we may decide to chip away at a small piece of the
puzzle. After thinking and reading around the area, we may decide that we will restrict
our attention to the acquisition of question forms. Our new question might read: ‘What is
the order of acquisition of question forms in English? Can this order of acquisition be
accounted for in terms of speech processing constraints?’

At this point there are two things to note. In the first place, the question has been derived
from the literature, and in the second place, it is theoretically motivated. In other words, it
is underpinned by a theory of language acquisition, which is itself based on a broader
cognitivist view of learning.

Our next step is to begin thinking about the data we might collect to explore our
questions. In order to do this, we need to develop a research proposal. The proposal needs
to take into consideration the issues of validity and reliability. (...)

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