Phùng Hà Thanh 1
Session 1: Introduction to
Research
An Introduction to Research Methodology in Foreign Language Education
2How do you know what you know?
Session 1: Objectives
Students are expected to understand the importance of research in our modern world as well as in foreign
language education, understand the nature of research, understand different types of research, have an overview of the research process, get familiar with key concepts of research in each step of the research process (e.g.
literature review, research problem, research question, research design, data collection, instrument, data analysis, results, findings, implications), and
develop some interest for research. identify a research area of interest and speculate possible research problems within
the area, draft some research questions based on the speculated research problems analyze and evaluate sample research questions.
3How do you know what you know?
Contents
The Nature of Research?1
Basic Steps in Doing Research2
Formulation of Research Questions?3
4How do you know what you know?
A good way of understanding the nature of research is to first experience it by doing it, initially in a simple and elementary way.
Brown & Rodgers (2002, p.3)
5How do you know what you know?
Question
Which is more dangerous: a gun or a swimming pool?
6How do you know what you know?
Situation
Consider the parents of an eight-year-old girl named, say, Molly.
Her two best friends, Amy and Imani, each live nearby.
Amy’s parents keep a gun in their house, so they have forbidden Molly to play there.
Instead, Molly spends a lot of time at Imani’s house, which has a swimming pool in the backyard.
7How do you know what you know?
Situation
But according to the data, their choice isn’t smart at all.
The likelihood of death by pool (1 in 11,000) versus death by gun (1 in 1 million-plus) isn’t even close: Molly is roughly 100 times more likely to die in a swimming accident at Imani’s house than in gunplay at Amy’s.
8How do you know what you know?
Pigs vs. Sharks
The live pigs, not infected pork that people eat, kill substantially more people than sharks do.
9How do you know what you know?
What is research?
systematic investigation into reality to gain knowledge
10How do you know what you know?
How do U know what U know?
Problem: Which reaches C first?
research is distinguished from speculation
11How do you know what you know?
Is this research?
Research is grounded in data, not imagination.
Data: pieces of reality
12How do you know what you know?
13How do you know what you know?
Is this research?
14How do you know what you know?
What is research?
systematic investigation into reality to gain knowledge
15How do you know what you know?
How do U know what U know?
Problem: Which reaches C first?
Research implies a problem of complexity
16How do you know what you know?
Is this research?
At a university, students collect data from here and there and then reorganizing them in their paper.
information gathering: should be systematic and produce some new
knowledge to be considered research
Research implies a problem of complexity that requires conscious efforts with clarified methodology
17How do you know what you know?
How do you know what you know?
Don’t show your knowledge. Show how you get the knowledge.
the way to knowledge is
not easy
secondaryprimary
(empirical)
18How do you know what you know?
1. What is research?
A systematic process of inquiry consisting of
three elements or components:
(1) a problem,
(2) data, and
(3) analysis and interpretation of data.
(Nunan, D. 1992, p. 232)
19How do you know what you know?
Human needs (Maslow)
1. Physiological (homeostatic) needs
2. Safety & security needs
3. Love & belonging needs
4. Esteem needs
5. Needs for self-actualization
6. Need to know and understand
7. Aesthetic needs
20How do you know what you know?
Research- a Social Field
Products of research are socially meaningful. From research - practice to research = practice
research as a field of production valuable for all other fields (R&D: research and
development)
Research as a means of socialisation
21How do you know what you know?
22How do you know what you know?
The Importance of Social Research
Knowledge = vehicle of social transformation
Knowledge of the social world = major vehicle of social transformation
23How do you know what you know?
Contents
The Nature of Research?1
Basic Steps in Doing Research2
Formulation of Research Questions?3
24How do you know what you know?
Basic research process
8. Evaluate results and draw conclusions
1. Identify problem areas2. Survey literature3. Formulate research questions4. Construct research design5. Specify sources of data6. Specify data collection & data analysis
procedures
7. Execute research plan
25How do you know what you know?
Step 1: Identify problem areas
Determine the general topic for investigation
General Topic
ExperienceReading Interest
26How do you know what you know?
Step 1: Identify problem areas
Narrow the general topic Identify problem areas- Problem areas are more specific than general
topic- Problem areas are:
+ what have been little known or unknown
+ what you are interested in finding out
27How do you know what you know?
Identify problem areas
Assessment
Writing assessment
Portfolio assessment
Portfolio assessment in the second year at English Department, HULIS, VNU
28How do you know what you know?
Research problem
Topic/ Problem: The exploitation of portfolio as an assessment tool in writing classes for second year students at English Department, HULIS, VNU
29How do you know what you know?
General Topic
Experience InterestReading
Research problem
Step 2: Survey literature
Surveying related literature
30How do you know what you know?
Step 2: Survey the literature
Read the existing literature related to the research problem
What is a literature review?
- An account of what has been published on a topic by scholars and researchers
- Not just a set of summaries or a descriptive list of material
31How do you know what you know?
Review the literature means ….
• Finding out what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic
• Finding out relationships between different works
• Finding out how it relates to your work
• Evaluating what their strengths and weaknesses are
•
32How do you know what you know?
Step 3: Formulate research questions
Research questions operationalize the objectives of the research
(Hedrick et. al., 1993 in Mertens, 2005)
Characteristics of a GOOD Research Question
- Worth Asking
- Answerable
33How do you know what you know?
What type of research question is problematic?
It starts with “How can I…” It suggests a “yes” or “no” answer. Should..? It is rhetorical. It includes vague or ambiguous language.
NCSALL Practitioner Research Group
on Learner Motivation, Retention, and Persistence, 1998.
34How do you know what you know?
Formulate research questions
Topic/ Problem: The exploitation of portfolio as an assessment tool in writing classes for second year students at English Department, HULIS, VNU
35How do you know what you know?
Formulate research questions
How is portfolio assessment exploited at English Department, HULIS, VNU in terms of portfolio components and scoring procedure?
How is portfolio assessment perceived by the teachers and students in terms of course relevance and students’ involvement?
What kinds of information can portfolio and portfolio assessment provide teachers and students?
What are the obstacles in implementing this form of assessment as perceived by the teachers and students?
36How do you know what you know?
Step 4: Construct Research design
Clarify what approach you take as the general orientation for the whole research or a general plan of methods and procedures to answer the research questions
37How do you know what you know?
Step 5: Specify sources of data
Choose the participants in order to collect data from
Eg:
Topic: The exploitation of portfolio as an assessment tool in writing classes for second year students at English Department, HULIS, VNU
Choose several classes of second-year EFL students at English Department, CFL, VNU as the participants
38How do you know what you know?
Step 6: Specify data collection and data analysis procedures
Select appropriate instruments (questionnaires, interviews, etc.) for data collection
Specify data collection procedures:
Steps to collect data from the participants by using the instruments
Eg: 1st step: pilot the questionnaires
2nd step: revise the questionnaires
3rd step: deliver the questionnaires to the participants
etc.
39How do you know what you know?
Step 6: Specify data collection and data analysis procedures
Specify data analysis proceduresSteps/ Methods used to analyze data collectedEg: Questionnaire data: group the data under
categories which serve to answer the research questions
1. Factors facilitating students’ participation in in-class group work
2. Factors inhibiting students’ participation in in-class group work
40How do you know what you know?
Step 7: Execute the research plan
Use the instruments to collect data from the participants, following the data collection procedures set before
41How do you know what you know?
Step 8: Analyze and evaluate results, and draw conclusions
Follow the data analysis procedures to analyze results (data collected)
Evaluate the results Highlight findings (typical or significant things
among the results) that serve to answer the research questions
Draw conclusions of the research Draw implications (if any)
42How do you know what you know?
Contents
The Nature of Research?1
Basic Steps in Doing Research2
Formulation of Research Questions?3
43How do you know what you know?
Work in groups of 4
Think of a research problem of your interest. Formulate research questions based on the
problem. Think of possible sources of data and data
collection methods.
44How do you know what you know?
Session 1: Objectives
Students are expected to understand the importance of research in our modern world as well as in foreign
language education, understand the nature of research, understand different types of research, have an overview of the research process, get familiar with key concepts of research in each step of the research process (e.g.
literature review, research problem, research question, research design, data collection, instrument, data analysis, results, findings, implications), and
develop some interest for research. identify a research area of interest and speculate possible research problems within
the area, draft some research questions based on the speculated research problems analyze and evaluate sample research questions.
45How do you know what you know?
References
Tống Thị Mỹ Liên (2008). Slides for theme 1: Introduction to research. VNU, HULIS.
46How do you know what you know?
Contents
The Nature of Research?1
Basic Steps in Doing Research2
Formulation of Research Questions?3
Phùng Hà Thanh 47