Exploring EFL Applied Linguists’ Conceptions of Research: A Mixed Methods Study

Document Type : research article

Authors

Kharazmi University

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed a renewed conceptual interest in higher education research, including applied linguistics discipline, which has led to the crafting of research as one of the most effective forms of professional development. This sequential explanatory mixed research study examines the conception of research the applied linguists’ faculty members have in a major site of EFL( English as a Foreign Language) context by obtaining quantitative results from surveying a representative sample of 140 faculty members and then following-up with interviewing twelve purposefully selected respondents to explore those understanding of research in more depth. The quantitative results reveal that inquiry including experimental designs and mixed-methods research was more likely to be conceived of as research by the respondents. The respondents’ views also represent conceptions of research wherein there exist rigorous characteristics which are related to three important paradigms of research. The qualitative findings shed additional lights on the quantitative ones by providing a further understanding of how EFL faculty members think about research.

Keywords


منابع
Abdollahzadeh, E., Amini Farsani, M. & Beikmohammadi, M. (in press). Argumentative
writing behavior of graduate EFL learners. Argumentation, 1-21.
Åkerlind, G.S. (2008). An academic perspective on research and being a researcher: An
integration of the literature. Studies in Higher Education, 33(1), 17–31.
Amini Farsani, M., Beikmohammadi, M., & Mohehbbi, A. (2014). Self-regulated
learning, goal-oriented learning and academic writing performance of undergraduate
Iranina EFL learners. TESL-EJ, 18 (2), 1-19.
Anani Sarab, M. R., & Amini Farsani, M. (2014). The relationship between writing
strategies and personality types of graduate Iranian EFL learners. Applied Research
on English Language, 3(2), 69-83.
Barkhuizen, G. (2009). Topics, aims, and constraints in English teacher research: A
Chinese case study. TESOL Quarterly, 43(1), 113–125.
Borg, S. (2007). Research engagement in English language teaching. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 23, 731-747.
Borg, S. (2008b). Investigating English language teaching and learning in Oman.
Muscat: Ministry of Education, Oman.
Borg, S. (2009). English language teachers’ conceptions of research. Applied Linguistics,
30, 355-388.
Borg, S. (2010). Language teacher research engagement. Language Teaching, 43, 391-
429.
Borg, S., & Alshumaimeri, Y. (2012). University teacher educators' research
engagement: Perspectives from Saudi Arabia. Teaching and Teacher Education,
28:3, 347-356.
Borg, S., & Liu, Y. (2013). Chinese College English teachers’ research engagement.
TESOL Quarterly, 47(2), 270-299.
Bredo, E. (2009). Comments on Howe: getting over the methodology wars. Educational
Researcher, 38, 441
Brew, A. (2001). Conceptions of research: A phenomenographic study. Studies in Higher
Education, 26, 271–85.
Brew, A., and Lucas, L.(2009). Academic research and researcher. New York: Open
University Press.
Bruce, C., B. Pham, and I. Stoodley. (2004). Constituting the significance and value of
research: Views from information technology academics and industry professionals.
Studies in Higher Education, 29, 219–38.
بررسی دیدگاه های استادان رشتة آموزش زبان انگلیسی ایران نسبت به پژوهش: مطالعة ترکیبی 527
Burns, A. (2010). Action research. In B. Paltridge & A. Phakiti (Eds.), Research methods
in applied linguistics: A practical resource (pp. 83–100). London, England:
Bloomsbury.
Cornwell, S. (1999). Interview with Anne Burns and Graham Crooks. The Language
Teacher, 23(12), 5-10.
Creswell, J. W., & V. L. Plano Clark. ( 2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods
research, 2nd edn. Sage Publication.
Davis, A. and Elder, C. (2004). Applied linguistics subject to discipline in A. Davies and
C. Elder, The handbook of applied linguistics (pp.1-17), Oxford: Blackwell.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Handbook of qualitative research (4th Ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Dörnyei, Z., Taguchi, T. (2010). Questionnaires in second language research (2nd ed.).
New York: Routledge.
Fetters, M. D., & Freshwater, D. (2015). The integration challenge. Journal of Mixed
Methods Research, 9(2), 115-117.
Gao, X, Barkhuizen, G, & Chow, A. (2010). Nowadays, teachers are relatively obedient:
Understanding primary school English teachers' conceptions of and drives for
research in China. Language Teaching Research, 15(1), 61–81
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of ground theory: Strategies for
qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Adline.
Guetterman, G. T. (2017). What distinguishes a novice from an expert mixed methods
researcher? Quality and Quantity, 51(1), 377-398.
Hashemi, M. R. Babaii, E. (2013). Mixed methods research: toward new research
designs in applied linguistics. The Modern Language Journal, 97, 4, 828-852.
Holliday, A. (2015). Analyzing qualitative data. In B. Paltridge & A. Phakiti (Eds.),
Research methods in applied linguistics: A practical resource (pp. 83–100). London,
England: Bloomsbury.
Hopkins, D.(1993). A teacher’s guide to classroom research. Buckingham and
Philadelphia: Open University Press.
Hudson, T., & Liosa, L. (2015). Design issues and inference in experimental L2
research. Language Learning, 65(S1), 76–96.
Johnson, R. B., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research
paradigm whose time has come. Educational Researcher, 33, 14–26.
528 پژوهش های زبانشناختی در زبان های خارجی، دورة 6، شمارة 2، پاییز و زمستان 1395
Kiley, M. (2009). Isn’t research just research? What are candidates and supervisors
thinking? In A. Brew & L. Lucas, (Ed.), Academic research and researcher, New
York: Open University Press.
Kiley, M., and G. Mullins. (2005). Supervisors’ conceptions of research: What are they?
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 49, 245–62.
King, A. K. & Mackey, A. (2016). Research methodology in second language studies:
trends, concerns, and new directions. The Modern Language Journal, 100
(supplement), 209-227.
Loewen, Sh., & Plonsky, L. (2016). An A-Z of applied linguistics research methods.
London: Palgrave.
Larson-Hall, J. (2010). A guide to doing statistics in second language research using
SPSS. New York: Routledge.
Liu, Y. & Borg, S. (2014). Tensions in teachers’ conceptions of research: Insights from
College English Teaching in China. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 37:3,
273–291.
McNamara, O. (2002b). Evidence-based practice through practice-based evidence, in O.
McNamara, (Ed.), Becoming an evidence-based practitioner (pp. 15–26), London:
RoutledgeFalmer
McDonough, J. & McDonough, S. (1990). What’s the use of research? ELT Journal,
44(2), 102–9.
Noels, K. A., Pelletier, L.C., Clement, R. and Vallerand, R.J. (2001). Why are you
learning a second language? Motivational orientations and self-determination theory.
Language Learning, 50(1), 33-64.
Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2006). The value and practice of research synthesis for
language learning and teaching. Synthesizing research on language learning and
teaching (pp. 3 – 50). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Benjamins.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Collins, K. M. T. (2007). A typology of mixed methods sampling
designs in social science research. The Qualitative Report. 12(2), 281-316.
Oswald, F. L., & Plonsky, L. (2010). Meta-analysis in second language research:
Choices and challenges. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 85 – 110.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
Phakiti, A. (2014). Experimental research methods in language learning. London &
New York: Bloomsbury.
Phakiti, A. and Paltridge, B. (2015). Approaches and methods in applied linguistics
research, in B. Paltridge and A. Phakiti, Research methods in applied linguistics: A
practical resource (pp.5-25). London, England: Bloomsbury.
بررسی دیدگاه های استادان رشتة آموزش زبان انگلیسی ایران نسبت به پژوهش: مطالعة ترکیبی 529
Pitcher, R. (2011). Doctoral students’ conceptions of research. The Qualitative Report,
16 (4), 971-983.
Quimbo, M.-A. T., & Sulabo, E. C. (2014). Research productivity and its policy
implications in higher education institutions. Studies in Higher Education, 39(10),
1955–1971.
Riazi, A. M. (2016). Innovative mixed-methods research: moving beyond design
technicalities to epistemological and methodological realizations. Applied
Linguistics, 37(1), 33-49.
Riazi, A. M., and Candlin, C. (2014). Mixed methods research in language teaching and
learning: opportunities, issues and challenges. Language Teaching, 47, 135–73.
Schouteden, W., Verburgh, A., and Elen, J. (2014). Teachers' general and contextualized
research conceptions. Studies in Higher Education, 39(2), 251-264.
Seliger, H.W. & Shohamy, E.(1989). Second language research methods. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Shkedi, A. (1998). Teachers’ attitudes towards research: a challenge for qualitative
researchers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(4), 559–
78.
Stubb, J., Pyhältö, K., and & Lonka, K. (2014). Conceptions of research: the doctoral
student experience in three domains. Studies in Higher Education, 39(2), 251-264.
Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2009). The foundations of mixed methods research:
Integrating quantitative and qualitative techniques in the social and behavioral
sciences (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Usher, R. (1996). A critique of the neglected epistemological assumptions of educational
research, In D. Scott & R. Usher (Ed.), Understanding educational research (pp.9-
33), New York: Routledge.
Vermunt, J. (2005). Conceptions of research and methodology learning: A commentary
on the special issue. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 49(3), 329–334.
Wagner, E. (2015). Survey research. In B. Paltridge & A. Phakiti (Eds.), Research
methods in applied linguistics: A practical resource (pp. 83–100). London, England:
Bloomsbury.