English 711 : Research Methods in Applied Linguistics

Syllabus for Fall 2015

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM, 7105 Helen C. White Hall

bulletInstructor bulletAssignments
bulletMaterials bulletAssessment and Grading
bulletAims of the Course bulletCourse Outline

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Portrait of Professor Young Professor Richard F Young
7163 Helen C White Hall
Office hours: Wednesdays, 9:00 - 11:00 AM or by appointment

E-mail: rfyoung at wisc dot edu
Home Page: www.wisc.edu/english/rfyoung

Class E-mail List

You may send e-mail messages to me and to all students registered for this course through the class e-mail list.  Send your messages to engl711-1-f15 at lists dot wisc dot edu.  In order for you to receive messages from the e-mail list, your e-mail address must be in the Registrar's database.  You can update your preferred email address by accessing My UW-Madison, "Student Records" tab, "Preferred Address" module.

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Required Materials

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Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford, UK & New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN: 978-0-19-442258-1. This practical and accessible book offers a comprehensive overview of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research in applied linguistics. Eight focal readings provide examples of the methods discussed in this book.

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American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of The American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
ISBN: 978-1-4338-0561-5. Use this style manual for all writing you do for this class as well any writing that you do in applied linguistics or SLA.

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American Psychological Association. (2009). Mastering APA style: Student's workbook and training guide (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
ISBN: 978-1-4338-0557-8. This is a step-by-step guide to writing in APA style. We will do a few learning exercises every week and one graded mastery test.

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These eight focal studies are available for download from this Box link.

  • Back, M. (2011). Legitimate peripheral participation and language learning: Two Quichua learners in a transnational community. Language Learning, 61(4), 1039-1057. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00662.x
  • Garrett, P., & Young, R. F. (2009). Theorizing affect in foreign language learning: An analysis of one learner's responses to a communicative-based Portuguese course. The Modern Language Journal, 93(2), 209-226. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00857.x
  • Hu, G. (2005). Contextual influences on instructional practices: A Chinese case for an ecological approach to ELT. TESOL Quarterly, 39(4), 635-660.
  • Hu, G., & Lam, S. T. E. (2010). Issues of cultural appropriateness and pedagogical efficacy: Exploring peer review in a second language writing class. Instructional Science, 38(4), 371-394. doi: 10.1007/s11251-008-9086-1
  • Leki, I. (2007). Undergraduates in a second language: Challenges and complexities of academic literacy development. New York: Erlbaum. (Chapter 3 and Appendixes)
  • Loh, J. (2012). The (re) construction of beginning teachers: A narrative journey. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. (Chapter 4)
  • Macaro, E., & Erler, L. (2008). Raising the achievement of young-beginner readers of French through strategy instruction. Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 90-119. doi: 10.1093/applin/amm023
  • Spilchuk, B. J. (2009). Crossing borders and negotiating conflict: Lucian’s story of teaching English from within the Singapore primary classroom. Journal of Asia TEFL, 6(2), 53-76.

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Aims of the Course

This course is designed to prepare graduate students in second language acquisition and other branches of applied linguistics to critically evaluate published research in their field and to design their own research studies. The course covers a range of theoretical, practical, and ethical issues in applied linguistics research, with an emphasis on language teaching and learning. It examines principles for undertaking empirical research, introduces popular quantitative and qualitative methods for conducting small-scale research in the language classroom, and provides hands-on experience with research design, instruments for data collection, quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis, evaluation of published research, and research report writing. To introduce each of the techniques of research, we will read a published study that has used the technique.

Doing research of any kind—quantitative or qualitative—involves developing a set of technical skills, and that is hard work. If you have a solid foundation in mathematics, you may find quantitative methods easier to learn whereas, if you have training in the humanities, you will probably prefer qualitative methods. But I encourage you to recognize your own strengths and prejudices. By presenting quantitative and qualitative techniques side by side and by asking questions about the advantages and disadvantages of each, I encourage you to make a choice of research technique that is appropriate for the research questions you ask, the data you assemble, and the techniques of analysis you choose.

By the end of this course, you will have developed:

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Assignments

Attendance and Readings. All students are expected to attend class regularly and to complete assigned readings.

Reaction Papers. Every few weeks you will write a paper with your reactions to how a research technique has been used in a focal study. The aim is for you to get hands-on experience with critiquing published studies and solving problems in the design of research. These activities must be done in teams of of two or three students. Each member of the team will receive the same grade. One team will present their own responses and facilitate seminar discussion of the focal study. Each of you must present one quantitative study and one qualitative study. Written reaction papers must be formatted in APA style and should be no longer than five pages (not including title page, abstract, references, appendixes, or notes). Guidelines for critiquing quantitative and qualitative studies are available on line.

Class Quizzes. There will be two class quizzes, one on quantitative research and one on qualitative research. Each quiz will take 20-30 minutes to complete in class and will consist of a combination of true/false, multiple choice, and short-answer questions. Each quiz will be answered by students individually.

Mastering APA Style. Most weeks will involve practice in some aspect of APA style and exercises from the Mastering APA Style workbook. There will be one mastery test on APA style, which will be graded. This test will be answered by students individually.

Authorship. Some assignments in this course involve integrating information from published sources into your own writing. This means that you need to be careful not to plagiarize: "to steal or pass off (the ideas and words of another) as one's own" or to "present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source" (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition, p. 888). For advice on what sources you should document and how to document them, consult Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources on the Writing Center website, from which the preceding statement is taken.

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Assessment and Grading

Letter grades will be awarded for the exam essays and reaction papers. Numerical scores will be awarded for the practice tests from Mastering APA Style. The meanings of the grades are as follows.

Grade name
Percent cutoff
Letter grade equivalent
Narrative
A+
100
100%
Excellent. Work goes well beyond the requirements of the assignment.
A
93
96%
Demonstrates full understanding of all concepts; creatively applies theories and methods to new problems in the field.
AB
85
88%
Intermediate grade
B
77
80%
Demonstrates understanding of all concepts; can correctly apply theories and methods to new problems in the field.
BC
69
72%
Intermediate grade
C
61
64%
Demonstrates understanding of some but not all concepts; some errors in applying theory and methods to new problems in the field.
D
53
56%
Demonstrates understanding of a limited number of concepts; many errors in applying theory and methods to new problems in the field.
F
0
0%
Lack of understanding of concepts; not capable of applying theories and methods to new problems in the field. Assignment not completed by deadline.

The final grade for the course will take into account grades awarded on all assignments in the following proportions.

Class Quizzes 40% (20% for each quiz)
Reaction papers 40% (5% for each paper)
Mastering APA style 20%

Format. All written work must use APA style.

Incompletes. The grade of "Incomplete" will only be used for a student who has carried the course with a passing grade until near the end of the semester and then, because of illness or other unusual and substantial cause beyond his/her control, is unable to complete the remaining assignments.

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Course Outline

Dates Topics Main Readings Focal Studies APA Style Presentations
September 3 Introduction to research

Dörnyei, Chapters 1 & 2

Complete the UW-Madison Graduate School Human Subjects Training, due September 10.
Term Paper Familiarization Test
Richard
September 8 & 10 Quantitative research:
Experimental designs I

Dörnyei, Chapters 3 & 5

Macaro, E., & Erler, L. (2008). Raising the achievement of young-beginner readers of French through strategy instruction. Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 90-119. doi: 10.1093/applin/amm023

Parts of a Manuscript

 
September 15 & 17 Quantitative research:
Experimental designs II

Dörnyei, Chapters 3 & 5

Macaro, E., & Erler, L. (2008). Raising the achievement of young-beginner readers of French through strategy instruction. Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 90-119. doi: 10.1093/applin/amm023

Headings and Series

Carmen, Neal, and Daisy
September 22 & 24 Quantitative research:
Survey designs I

Dörnyei, Chapters 4 & 5

Hu, G. (2005). Contextual influences on instructional practices: A Chinese case for an ecological approach to ELT. TESOL Quarterly, 39(4), 635-660.

Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language

 
September 29 & October 1 Quantitative research:
Survey designs II
Dörnyei, Chapters 4 & 5

Hu, G. (2005). Contextual influences on instructional practices: A Chinese case for an ecological approach to ELT. TESOL Quarterly, 39(4), 635-660.

Grammar

Lauren, Dasha, Julia, and Bingjie
October 6 & 8 Quantitative data analysis:
Guidelines and descriptive statistics
Dörnyei, Chapter 9 Hu, G., & Lam, S. T. E. (2010). Issues of cultural appropriateness and pedagogical efficacy: Exploring peer review in a second language writing class. Instructional Science, 38(4), 371-394. doi: 10.1007/s11251-008-9086-1

Punctuation

 
October 13 & 15 Quantitative data analysis:
Inferential statistics I
Dörnyei, Chapter 9 Hu, G., & Lam, S. T. E. (2010). Issues of cultural appropriateness and pedagogical efficacy: Exploring peer review in a second language writing class. Instructional Science, 38(4), 371-394. doi: 10.1007/s11251-008-9086-1

Spelling and Hyphenation

TJ, Tiffany, and Vilcky

October 20 & 22

Quantitative data analysis:
Inferential statistics II
Dörnyei, Chapter 9

Class Quiz on Quantitative Research

Capitalization

 
October 27 & 29 Qualitative research:
Ethnography
Dörnyei, Chapters 6 & 10 Back, M. (2011). Legitimate peripheral participation and language learning: Two Quichua learners in a transnational community. Language Learning, 61(4), 1039-1057. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00662.x

Italics

Carmen, Neal, and Daisy
November 3 & 5 Qualitative research:
Grounded theory
Dörnyei, Chapters 10 & 13 Garrett, P., & Young, R. F. (2009). Theorizing affect in foreign language learning: An analysis of one learner's responses to a communicative-based Portuguese course. The Modern Language Journal, 93(2), 209-226. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00857.x

Abbreviations

TJ and Bingjie
November 10 & 12 Qualitative research:
Narrative inquiry
Dörnyei, Chapters 6, 11, & 13

Loh, J. (2012). The (re) construction of beginning teachers: A narrative journey. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. (Chapter 4)

Spilchuk, B. J. (2009). Crossing borders and negotiating conflict: Lucian’s story of teaching English from within the Singapore primary classroom. Journal of Asia TEFL, 6(2), 53-76.

Quotations

Lauren, Dasha, and Julia
November 17, 19, & 24 Qualitative research:
Case study
Dörnyei, Chapters 6 & 10 Leki, I. (2007). Undergraduates in a second language: Challenges and complexities of academic literacy development. New York: Erlbaum. (Chapter 3 and Appendixes)

Reference Citations in Text

Tiffany and Vilcky
December 1 & 3 Presenting your research findings Dörnyei, Chapters 12 & 13 Class Quiz on Qualitative Research

Reference List

 
December 8 & 10      

Term Paper Mastery Test

 

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This page was last revised on September 8, 2015 .