METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH IN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

The course is one of the main activities of the degree course in Language Sciences which contribute towards building up students’ knowledge and understanding of the main principles in the field of the teaching of foreign languages and language education. The goal of the course is to develop knowledge and understanding of the traditions of research in the field of foreign/second language teaching and learning and to promote the ability to elaborate qualitative and, to a lesser extent, quantitative research projects and to analyze data (QUAL/quan mode) in order for the students to acquire those competences that will allow them to autonomously elaborate their own well-founded research paths in the field of the teaching of foreign languages and language education.

General objective
The student will be introduced to the different traditions of research in the field of language education/language teaching and will be guided in the choice of suitable data collection instruments/techniques and in data analysis in view of objectives and research questions. The course will have a specific, but not exclusive focus, on qualitative research and action research.

Knowledge and understanding
The student will acquire knowledge and understanding regarding: characteristics and functions of the diverse traditions of research in the field of language teaching and language education; characteristics of a coherent research proposal (fitness of purpose); different modes of data collection (verbal and non-verbal), especially soft data collection; principal characteristics of qualitative and, to a lesser degree, quantitative analysis; some software for qualitative analyses (e.g., Nvivo); main characteristics of a scientific article (genre).

Applying knowledge and understanding
The student will acquire the skills to: elaborate a coherent research proposal in the field of language education and language teaching; elaborate research objectives, research questions, identify different data collection modes in keeping with research objectives; elaborate and use different instruments for data collection; operate a qualitative analysis and a descriptive quantitative analysis (limited); use software for analysis of language data.

Making judgements
The student will know how to make informed and autonomous judgements as to the validity and feasibility of different research proposals in the field of language teaching and language education and understand the effects of these on the outcomes of the research itself.

Communication skills
The student will be able to justify his choices and communicate the results of his research clearly and precisely, following the discourse rules of the genre ‘Research Report’.

Basic knowledge of Language Teaching Didactics.
Those without any previous basic knowledge of Language Teaching Didactics can consult the video lessons and relative self-assessment sheets on the site of the MEAL project: www.unive.it/meal.
For non-Italian speakers a document of introductory reading is available on the Moodle platform of the course.
Competence in English (level B2)

The course aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills and the competences necessary to conduct a research project in the field of language education, with particular emphasis on 'classroom-based research' and on the action research tradition. Different research traditions are explored (ethnographic, psychometric, observative, interventionist; different types of analyses and related procedures, etc.,) but with a particular emphasis on the qualitative tradition. Example research projects are analysed. Students will be given support in the design of a hypothetical research project and in analysing data

Main references

Dornyei, Z., 2007, Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methodologies, O.U.P. Oxford.
Cohen L., Manion L., Morrison K., 2000, Research Methods in Education, 5° edizione, Routledge Falmer, London, New York.
Nunan D., 1989, Understanding Language Classrooms, Prentice-Hall, New York.
Nunan D., 1992, Research Methods in Language Learning, C.U.P., Cambridge.
Richards K. , 2003, Qualitative Enquiry In TESOL, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Further reading

Brown D., 1988, Understanding Research in Second Language Learning, C.U.P., Cambridge.
Chaudron C. , 1988, Second-Language Classrooms. Research on Teaching and Learning, C.U.P., Cambridge.
Freeman D., 1998, Doing Teacher Research, Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Toronto.
Larsen-Freeman D., Long M., 1997, An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research, Longman, London, New York.
Van Lier L., 1988, The Classroom and the Language Learner, Longman, London.
Schmitt N., 2010, Researching Vocabulary: A Vocabulary Research Manual,
Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke
Heigham, J., Crocker, R.A., (eds.), 2009, Qualitative Research in Applied Linguistics : A Practical Introduction , Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.
Duff, P.A., 2008, Case Study Research in Applied Linguistics, LEA , New York , London.

The exam is made up of two parts:
- Paper (tesina) (50%)
- Written exam (50%)

The student must reach 18/30 on each part.
The student can only sit the written part of the exam if s/he has already handed in the paper/tesina.
The student can keep the mark of one part of the exam and re-sit the other part of the exam
If this was not passed or the mark is refused

Added to the final vote:
Attendance on-line lessons: 7 lessons (done within the time indicated) for a maximum of 2 marks (0,3 marks for each lesson)

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The Paper (max. 5 pages) aims to ascertain the skills and competences in analysing data and in writing up a Research report according to the rules of the genre.
Criteria for assessment 1. Presence of abstract and short contextualising introduction (see slides during the course) 2. Presentation of the study (questions, subjects involved, ...) 3. Readability of, and competent use of, tables and graphics 4. Quality of analysis and discussion

The written exam, made up of 11 multiple choice questions ad 10 (guided) open questions aims to assess knowledge and understanding of the problematical issues involved in planning and carrying out research, and in analysing and discussing results in the field of language education.

The forum activities/oral exam focus on carrying out micro skills and on critical discussion.

Blended: 8 on-site lessons and 7 on-line asynchronous lessons with forum. The students will be required participate actively in the class discussions and in the on-line forums.
The course is delivered in English.

English

Those who do not attend lessons are kindly requested to contact the lecturer to receive the access key to the Moodle platform of the course where all the materials used during the lessons are to be found: carmel.coonan@unive.it, writing as subject: ACCESS KEY

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development