Subject
Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition
General details of the subject
- Mode
- Face-to-face degree course
- Language
- English
Description and contextualization of the subject
This course is offered in the first term of the Master’s degree. Its main goal is to familiarize students with research approaches to the study of second language acquisition, as well as with the use of bibliographic resources and with the specificities of a research paper. This course on research methods, together with other methodological courses such as Designing Experiments and Data Transcription and Codification, as well as Methods of Statistical Inference that are also part of the Master’s degree, will contribute to the acquisition of the skills needed to carry out research on language acquisition.Teaching staff
Name | Institution | Category | Doctor | Teaching profile | Area | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MARTINEZ ADRIAN, MARIA | University of the Basque Country | Profesorado Titular De Universidad | Doctor | Not bilingual | English Philology | maria.martineza@ehu.eus |
GALLARDO DEL PUERTO, FRANCISCO | Universidad de Cantabria | Profesorado Titular De Universidad | Doctor | francisco.gallardo@unican.es |
Study types
Type | Face-to-face hours | Non face-to-face hours | Total hours |
---|---|---|---|
Lecture-based | 10 | 15 | 25 |
Seminar | 7 | 12 | 19 |
Applied classroom-based groups | 7 | 12 | 19 |
Applied computer-based groups | 6 | 6 | 12 |
Assessment systems
Name | Minimum weighting | Maximum weighting |
---|---|---|
Practical tasks | 0.0 % | 20.0 % |
Questions to discuss | 0.0 % | 80.0 % |
Ordinary call: orientations and renunciation
The type of assessment is continuous. Students will be assessed according to their performance in the following assignments:Exercises on bibliographic resources (10%): Students are to hand in the exercises on bibliographic search carried out during the practical sessions at the UPV-EHU library.
Oral Presentation (40%): Students are to deliver an oral presentations on one of the compulsory readings assigned. They must follow the guidelines provided by the instructors during the course.
Research Project on language acquisition (50%): Students are to submit a written research project including the following compulsory sections: introduction + review of the literature + aims and research questions/hypotheses/predictions + method (participants, instruments and procedure) + expected results + references.
Marking criteria:
Exercises on bibliographic resources:
• Content: 80%
• Clarity of presentation of ideas: 20%
Oral Presentation:
• Content: 50%
• Structure: 25%
• Delivery: 25%
Research Project on language acquisition:
• Content: 70%
• Organization: 10%
• Style, use of academic register, formatting: 20%
Information on the use of resources and materials in exams and assignments
Exam: The use of mobile or electronic devices, notes, books is not allowed
Home-assignments: the work submitted by the students must be their own work and must have been written completely by themselves. The students must identify and include the source of all facts, ideas, opinions and viewpoints of others through in-text referencing and the relevant sources should all be included in the list of references at the end of their work. Direct quotations from books, journal articles, internet sources or any other source must be acknowledged and the sources cited must be identified in the list of references.
Withdrawal from an exam call: Not submitting one of the assignments qualifies as an automatic withdrawal [no presentado/a] from the corresponding call.
Covid-19: Should the face-to-face academic activity be cancelled:
- Oral presentations will be delivered via BBC (Blackboard Collaborate) on E-gela on the assigned dates for this task.
- Exercises on bibliographic resources will be carried out via ‘Tasks’ on E-gela on the designated dates.
- Research project will be will be carried out via ‘Tasks’ on E-gela on the designated dates.
- The structure of the assessment, the percentages assigned to the different testing tasks and the marking criteria will be maintained as described above.
- Specific instructions on the procedure to be followed will be provided in the event of the suppression of face-to-face teaching activities.
Extraordinary call: orientations and renunciation
The mark will be based on the same assignments as in the first call (convocatoria ordinaria). Those assignments which earned a passing grade in the first call may be kept in the second call.Exam marking criteria: The same marking criteria apply as in the first call.
Information on the use of resources and materials in exams and assignments
Exam: The use of mobile or electronic devices, notes, books is not allowed
Home-assignments: the work submitted by the students must be their own work and must have been written completely by themselves. The students must identify and include the source of all facts, ideas, opinions and viewpoints of others through in-text referencing and the relevant sources should all be included in the list of references at the end of their work. Direct quotations from books, journal articles, internet sources or any other source must be acknowledged and the sources cited must be identified in the list of references.
Withdrawal from an exam call: Not submitting one of the assignments qualifies as an automatic withdrawal [no presentado/a] from the corresponding call.
Covid-19: Should the face-to-face academic activity be cancelled:
- Oral presentations will be delivered via BBC (Blackboard Collaborate) on E-gela on the assigned dates for this task.
- Exercises on bibliographic resources will be carried out via ‘Tasks’ on E-gela on the designated dates.
- Research project will be will be carried out via ‘Tasks’ on E-gela on the designated dates.
- The structure of the assessment, the percentages assigned to the different testing tasks and the marking criteria will be maintained as described above.
- Specific instructions on the procedure to be followed will be provided in the event of the suppression of face-to-face teaching activities.
Temary
Unit 1. Bibliographic resources and tools in the HumanitiesReference sources, electronic databases, electronic journals and the internet. Practicals at the university library.
Unit 2. The nature and stages of SLA research
What is research?
Research stages
The good researcher
Ethical considerations
Unit 3. Research approaches in SLA
Basic vs. applied
Primary & secondary
Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal
Qualitative vs. quantitative
Naturalistic vs. laboratory
Case vs. group
Action research
Statistical research
Unit 4. The concepts of variable, validity and reliability
Sample and population
Experimental and control groups
Variables
Basic statistical concepts
Validity
Reliability
Unit 5. The qualitative Model: characteristics, data gathering and analysis
Defining qualitative research
Gathering qualitative data: Ethnographies, Case Studies, Interviews, Observations, Diaries/Journals, Introspection
Mixed methods research
Analysing qualitative data: Credibility, transferability, confirmability and dependability; Triangulation
Classroom Research
Unit 6. The quantitative Model: characteristics and data gathering and analysis
Defining quantitative research
Gathering quantitative data: Surveys, Tests,
Analysing quantitative data: Correlational designs, Experimental designs, Factorial designs
Unit 7. Reporting results in Second Language Acquisition
The structure of the research paper
Specificities of the quantitative/qualitative report
Style and typical language used in each section
Sixty hours will be devoted to in-class activities. Lecturers will introduce the different topics and will highlight the most important aspects of each topic of the syllabus. These lectures will be accompanied by a set of exercises, problem-solving activities and critical review of articles which will be carried out in groups during the sessions. Students will have to do out-of-class work as well, which will encompass a variety of of activities to consolidate the main theoretical points shown in class, such as the preparation of an oral presentation, and a design of a research project dealing with language acquisition.
Bibliography
Compulsory materials
Materials prepared by the instructors will be available at the photocopy room at the beginning of the semester. Handouts and practical activities on each unit will be available on the E-gela website as the course progresses.Basic bibliography
Brown, J.D. (1988). Understanding Research in Second Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Brumfit, C. and R. Mitchell. (1990). Research in the Language Classroom. ELT documents (133), Modern English Publications in Association with the British Council.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fortanet Gómez, I. (2002). Cómo escribir un artículo de investigación en inglés. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Gass, S. M. and A. Mackey. (2007). Data Elicitation for Second and Foreign Language Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Johnson, D. M. (1992). Approaches to Research in Second Language Learning. New York: Longman.
Larsen-Freeman, D. and M. H. Long. (1991). An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research. New York: Longman.
Mackey, A. and S. M. Gass. (2005). Second Language Research: Methodology and Design. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Nunan. D. (1992). Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tarone, E., S. Gass and D. Cohen. (1994). Research Methodology in Second Language Acquisition. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Journals
Applied LinguisticsApplied Psycholinguistics
Bilingualism: Language And Cognition
Eurosla Yearbook
International Journal Of Applied Linguistics
International Journal Of Bilingual Education And Bilingualism
International Journal Of Multilingualism
IRAL
ITL
Journal Of Multilingual And Multicultural Development
Language
Language Acquisition
Language Learning
Language Teaching
Language Teaching Research
Second Language Acquisition
Second Language Research
Studies In Second Language Acquisition
System
Tesol Quaterly
The Modern Language Journal
Links
ICOSLA: http://www.hw.ac.uk/langWWW/icsla/icsla.htmThe Linguist List: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/linguist.html
Eslresearcher: http://www.eslresearcher.org/mailinglist.php
Eurosla: http://www.swan.ac.uk/cals/eurosla/
AAL : http://www.aaal.org/
BAAL: http://www.baal.org.uk/
AILA: http://www.aila.info/
AESLA : http://www.aesla.uji.es/