Researching English Language A Resource Book for Students

CONTENTS

How to use this book

SECTION A: INTRODUCTION

The basics of researching English language

A1

The first stages: getting started and settling on a topic

A1.1

Why research English Language?

A1.2

Choosing a topic to research

A2

Reading around your topic

A2.1

Housekeeping

A2.2

Identifying what to read

A2.3

What are you reading for?

A2.4

Reading critically

A3

What do you want to know?

A3.1

Questions of data and theory

A3.2

Making your questions explicit

A4

Ways of finding out what you want to know

A4.1

Ways of observing

A4.2

Ways of classifying

A4.3

Ways of measuring and counting

A5

Possibilities and pitfalls

A5.1

Establishing where you stand – researching people

A5.2

Making things work for you

A5.3

Fitting into the bigger picture

A6

Doing the research: collecting data

A6.1

Collecting and processing written data

A6.2

Collecting and processing spoken data

A6.3

Collecting and processing elicited data

A6.4

Combined methods

A6.5

Housekeeping

A7

Clarifying what you have found out

A7.1

Types of data and approaches to analysis

A7.2

From ‘closed’ questionnaires to collections of written texts

A7.3

Analysing spoken data: first steps

A7.4

Identifying patterns

A7.5

Identifying quantities

A7.6

Stages of analysis

A8

Writing and reporting

A8.1

The dissertation as a record of the research

A8.2

Timing and planning

A8.3

The dissertation as a text type

A8.4

Style

A8.5

Presentation

A9

Beyond the dissertation

SECTION B: DEVELOPMENT

The how and why of researching English language

B1

The how and why of getting started and choosing a research topic

B2

The how and why of the literature review: joining a ‘community of practice’

B3

The how and why of clarifying research questions

B3.1

Research studies without explicit questions

B3.2

Refining your questions

B3.3

Appropriate questions for empirical research

B4

The how and why of choosing research methods

B4.1

Methods and methodology

B4.2

Choice of method in (English) language research

B4.3

Interviews in language research – how and why?

B4.4

Selecting textual data in language research – how and why?

B4.5

Controlling variables in experiments – how and why?

B5

The how and why of sorting out the details

B5.1

What can go wrong with research?

B5.2

Relationships with people

B5.3

Contexts – times, places and circumstances

B5.4

Concepts

B6

The how and why of data collection

B6.1

What kind of data?

B6.2

Where will the data come from?

B6.3

How much data?

B6.4

Which data to include?

B7

The how and why of data analysis

B7.1

Data analysis example 1: sounds

B7.2

Data analysis example 2: words

B7.3

Data analysis example 3: clauses

B7.4

Data analysis example 4: discourse

B7.5

Data analysis examples: summary

B8

The how and why of writing up your project

B8.1

Writing: the how and why of style

B8.2

Writing: the how and why of managing the writing process

B9

The how and why of taking it further

SECTION C EXPLORATION

Issues and debates in researching English language

C1

Language research topics

C1.1

Projecting towards the future: the benefits of students’ research skills to employers

C1.2

Identifying what interests you

C2

The literature review

C2.1

Organising and structuring a literature review

C2.2

Reading for different purposes

C2.3

Reading critically

C3

Research questions

C3.1

Predicting what your study will involve

C3.2

Predicting the outcomes of your study

C3.3

The role of the hypothesis

C3.4

Summary: kinds of question

C4

Research methods

C4.1

Finding your way around different methodologies

C4.2

Experimental studies in Second Language Acquisition – advocates and critics

C4.3

Recognising and naming Xs and Ys

C4.4

Theory and methodology

C5

Details

C6

Data collection

C6.1

Written texts as data: example 1a

C6.2

Written texts as data: example 1b

C6.3

Spoken interaction as data: example 2a

C6.4

Spoken interaction as data: example 2b

C6.5

Elicited data: example 3 - diaries and journals

C6.6

Elicited data: example 4 – focus group interviews

C6.7

Elicited data: example 5 – experimental data

C6.8

Research about data collection methods

C6.9

Housekeeping

C7

Data analysis and interpretation

C7.1

Transcription as a stage in data analysis

C7.2

Identifying patterns in data

C8

Writing up your project

C8.1

Making use of abstracts

C8.2

Relating abstracts to whole texts

C8.3

Components of the text

C9

Looking back, looking ahead

D

Extension: readings in researching English language

1

The origins of some research projects in English language (John Sinclair; Susan Fischer; Ronald Carter)

2

Reviewing previous English language literature for research (Emanuel Schegloff, Irene Koshik, Sally Jacoby, and David Olsher; Neal Norrick; Ruqaiya Hasan)

3

Questions in English language research (Smith, S.W., Noda, H.P., Andrews, S. and Jucker; Chris Brumfit)

4

Methods in English language research (Karmiloff, K., Karmiloff-Smith, A. Barton, D., Hamilton, M.; Cumming, A.)

5

Problems in English language research (Jennifer Coates; Papaioannou, Santos and Howard 2008 tbc)

6

Collecting English language data (Petrić, B., Czárl, B.; Semino, E., Short, M.; Janet Maybin)

7

Analysing English language data (Jennifer Coates, Joanna Thornborrow; Gildersleeve-Neumann, C.E., Kester, E.S., Davis, B.L., Peña, E.D.; Maksoud, R.)

8

Writing about English language research (Mary Lea, Brian Street; Romy Clark, Roz Ivanič)

9

Moving on from doing English language research (Smagorinsky, P., Wright, L., Augustine, S.M., O'Donnell-Allen, C., Konopak, B.; Ben Rampton; Curzan, A., Queen, R.)

Glossary of terms

Further reading

References

Index

Biography

Alison Sealey

'... a highly engaging and admirably reflective introduction to researching English language... excellent introduction to research for any student or beginning researcher to discourse and conversation analysis in English. Important issues and complex concepts are formulated accessibly, critically and with a high degree of reflection. I highly recommend this book to any student about to embark on an undergraduate or postgraduate research project.' - Beatrice Szczepek Reed, LinguistList

‘This is a well structured, comprehensive and accessible guide to researching the English Language. It answers the most frequently occurring questions asked by students who are new to research, and offers guidelines that will help to make their projects manageable. However, at no point does it limit students’ horizons. Nor does it lose the larger intellectual vision which drives research, even at beginner level.’ Caroline Coffin, The Open University, UK

‘Researching English Language is a book brimming with excellent observations, case examples, and well-focused exercises. The book draws on recent and authoritative sources, and emphasizes the indispensable notion of "triangulation" in which findings are corroborated based on different (and yet complementary) types of linguistic evidence and research methodology.’ Vincent Ooi, National University of Singapore