LCD790

1
LCD790 02/09/09

• Developing research topics
• Classroom research
• Case studies

2
Announcements

• Groups on Blackboard
• Discussion board
• File sharing
• E-mails (update your e-mail address on BB Home
  tab, under Tools gt Update Email)
• Literature search see slides on Blackboard
• How to use CUNY catalog, interlibrary loan,
  databases (LLBA), google scholar

3
Today

• Models of reading (see ppt last week)
• Developing research topics
• Research in classroom settings
• Case studies

4
Identifying research questions(or hypotheses)

• Research questions should be
• Interesting (address current issues)
• Sufficiently narrow so they can be answered
• Research questions need to be answered
• Hypotheses are expectations, based on what is
  known

5
Where to start?

• Where do research questions come from?
• Research papers
• Suggestions for further research
• Limitations
• Whatever you thought was missing from the paper
• Identifying gaps in the literature and existing
  research
• Your own experience (from teaching, learning, )
• Review the literature Has the question been
  investigated before? What do we already know, and
  what dont we know?

6
Is my idea feasible?

• Can your question be answered (not too broad?)
• Can you obtain the data? (e.g., are participants
  available?)
• Are there other practical issues (time, money,
  technology)

7
Replication

• Results from a study need to be replicable
• Verification
• Generalizability
• Replicating instruments, procedures, etc. is
  fairly easy
• Replicating students background is more
  difficult
• Continuum virtual conceptual
• Virtual Everything copied as much as possible
• Conceptual Testing the same concept but in a
  different setting or with a different type of
  participants (generalizability!)
• If the replication finds different results
• Findings werent generalizable, or
• Replication wasnt good?

8

• Example of feedback observation scheme
• Source
• Type
• Target
• Uptake

9
Informed consent

• Informed consent
• Consent from students, parents, teachers, school
  administration
• Including permission to view grades, if
  applicable
• NNSs must be able to read the consent forms
  (simple English, L1 or interpreter)
• Dont bribe with too much compensation
• No pressure to participate!
• Debriefing
• Confidentiality
• IRB approval

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What is a case study?

• Usually qualitative research, so
• Research questions tend to be general and
  open-ended hypotheses may be generated (instead
  of confirmed/disconfirmed)
• There is less control over variables (less
  generalizable), but the setting is more natural
• Rich description is necessary to describe the
  background of the subjects, for instance
• Cyclical and open-ended process Its possible to
  adjust or add research questions during analysis
  (or even during data collection, if its
  longitudinal)

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What is a case study?

• Detailed descriptions of specific
  learners/classes within their learning setting
• Rich contextualization examine complexities of
  the second language learning process
• Usually longitudinal
• Possible compare more than one learner / group
  of learners
• Compare and contraste behaviors within particular
  contexts
• The researcher must be careful about the
  generalizations drawn from the study (few
  participants, not randomly chosen!)
• Solution Combine multiple longitudinal case
  studies

12
Next class (Feb. 23)

• Read Jimenez et al. (1995)
• Example of case study on bilingual reading
  development)
• Focus on questions in Assignment 1 (not to hand
  in)
• Bring to class RQ(s) that are doable and
  worthwhile
• E-mail me partner topic