Research Methods in Applied Linguistics

This volume contributes to ongoing discussions of ethics in Applied Linguistics scholarship by focusing in depth on several different sub-areas within the field. The book is comprised of four sections: methodological approaches to research; specific participant populations and contexts of research; (language) pedagogy and policy; and personal and interactive aspects of research and scholarship. Moving beyond discussions of how ethics is conceptualized or defined, the chapters in this volume explore ethics-in-practice by examining context-specific ethical challenges and offering guidance for current and future Applied Linguistics scholars. This volume responds to the need to provide context-specific research ethics training for graduate students and novice researchers interested in a variety of contexts and methodological approaches. After engaging with this volume, new and experienced applied linguists alike will gain familiarity with specific ethical challenges and practices within particular sub-disciplines relevant to their work and across the field more broadly.

Researchers who study multilingual literacy development face the reality of complex and ever evolving conceptualizations of multilingualism and literacy across dynamic contexts, languages, and modalities. To unlock the full potential of continuous developments in Applied Linguistics, innovative rethinking of methodological approaches is needed to keep pushing the boundaries of our understanding of multilingual literacy development and our ethical commitments to humanizing research. This book provides powerful and wide-ranging examples of qualitative research that foreground a rethinking of data, theory, and positionality in their exploration of multilingual literacy development. The volume showcases how qualitative research designs and tools can allow scholars not only to “study” the literacy development of multilingual learners from immigrant, transnational, and refugee backgrounds, but also to engage in ethical research approaches to learn from and amplify literacy practices and experiences that cross borders, languages, and modalities.

Research methodology plays a pivotal role in generating new knowledge in any academic discipline. Applied Linguistics (AL) researchers use a variety of research methodologies to address different research problems and research questions, given its interdisciplinary nature. Notwithstanding the plethora of research methodologies used by AL researchers, there are some methodologies that are used less frequently. The aim of this volume is to introduce and discuss these less frequently used methodologies. Each methodology is discussed in two chapters, a theoretical and a practical chapter. In the theoretical chapters, the theoretical foundations, methodological orientation, ethical issues, and critiques and responses are discussed. In the practical chapters, a showcase study is presented and discussed, including why the methodology was used, how it was implemented, the challenges the researchers faced, and the insights they gained. The volume contributes to the current methodological discussion in AL and provides early-career and seasoned researchers with the necessary discussion about these methodological orientations. Future AL researchers may use these methodologies to investigate research questions in their areas of interest. In addition, the volume can complement current methodological resources in postgraduate research methodology courses.

Reflexive and Reflective Research Approaches in Applied Linguistics moves the field of Applied Linguistics into new methodological territory. Applying both the newer reflexive methodologies of currere and duoethnography as well as the more established methodologies of autoethnography and narrative to the broad field of Applied Linguistics, international authors in the field examine the affordances, limitations, and ethical challenges and benefits of these methodologies to Applied Linguistics from multiple perspectives. A parallel structure in the book encourages the reader to critically compare and contrast the uses of these methodologies within Applied Linguistics.

This volume brings together the perspectives of new and established scholars who have connected with the broad fields of first language (L1) and second language (L2) writing to discuss critically key methodological developments and challenges in the study of L2 writing processes. The focus is on studies of composing and of engagement with feedback on written drafts, with particular attention to methods of process-tracing through data such as concurrent or stimulated verbal reports, interviews, diaries, digital recording, visual screen capture, eye tracking, keystroke logging, questionnaires, and/or ethnographic observation. The chapters in the book illustrate how progress has been made in developing research methods and empirical understandings of writing processes, in introducing methodological innovations, and in pointing to future methodological directions. It will be an essential methodological guide for novice and experienced researchers, senior students, and educators investigating the processes of writing in additional languages.