Реклама. ООО «ЛитРес», ИНН: 7719571260.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 What is research?
Introduction
Research as a natural process
Scientific research and common sense
Finding answers: How do we know something?
Basic, applied, and practical research
Summary
Activities
References
2 A paradigm for second language research
Research and the phenomena of second language
Four parameters for second language research
Parameter 1: Synthetic and analytic approaches
Parameter 2: Heuristic and deductive objectives
Parameter 3: Control and manipulation of the research context
Parameter 4: Data and data collection
Summary
Activities
References
3 The preparatory stages of research
Introduction
Where do research questions come from?
Phase 1: The general question
Phase 2: Focusing the question
Phase 3: Deciding on an objective or purpose
Phase 4: Formulating the research plan or the hypothesis
Summary
Activities
References
4 Contextualization of research
The what and why of contextualization
Locating the sources for the literature review
Reading the literature
Organizing and reporting the review of the literature
Summary
Activities
References
5 The components of research
The need for a plan
The research plan and the type of research
Making predictions and controlling variables
Making the research more effective
Types of data and variables
Internal and external validity
Summary
Activities
References
6 Research design: qualitative and descriptive research
Introduction
Qualitative research
Descriptive research
Multivariate and correlational research
Summary
Activities
References
7 Research design: experimental research
Introduction
The major components of experimental research
Single group designs
Designs using control groups
Factorial designs
Quasi-experimental designs
Separate sample designs
Summary
Activities
References
8 Data and data collection procedures
Introduction
The data collection parameter
Description of data collection procedures
Assuring the quality of the data and the data collection procedures
Using, adapting, and developing data collection procedures
Summary
Activities
References
9 Analyzing the data
Data analysis and the design of the study
Analyzing qualitative research data
Analyzing descriptive research data
Analyzing correlational research data
Analyzing multivariate research data
Analyzing experimental research data
Using the computer for data analysis
Summary
Activities
References
10 Putting it all together
Reporting, summarizing, and interpreting the results
Reporting research
Closing the research cycle?
Summary
Activities
References
Appendix. References for further reading
We wish to thank our respective families for suffering through the birth pangs of this book. We hope they will regard the result as worth the effort.
We would also like to thank our students, who have responded to much of this material and who have taught us much about the problems encountered in the first stages of carrying out research. Finally, we wish to acknowledge the contribution of our fellow second language researchers. May we all continue to learn from each other.
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Research might also be conducted internally in what Einstein referred to as ‘mind experiments’. In this case, questions are raised and answers found by using reason and logic. A second language learner may listen to others using the language he or she is trying to acquire and think about the way native speakers use the language. It has long been accepted that the process underlying the acquisition of a second language grammar is hypothesis testing. The following is an actual example of an internal experiment carried out by an eight-year-old second language learner and later reported to her parents.
The child was in the process of acquiring Hebrew as a second language. One day, she was playing with her Hebrew-speaking friends as they were climbing up a rocky hillside. The second language learner heard her Hebrew-speaking friends using the same expression again and again. They were saying eze kef, eze kef. At first, she thought that they were saying, ‘Oh what rocks, oh what rocks!’ But then, she reported, she reasoned to herself, ‘Why would they be laughing and talking so much about rocks?’ She theorized that they must be saying something that expressed their excitement about the climbing. She concluded that they must be saying something like the English, ‘Oh, what fun!’ Subsequently, she approached a friend who knew both English and Hebrew and confirmed her interpretation.
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