Empowering Global Quality: Joint Efforts in Education, Research, and Community Service with MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology and Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta

Current Trends in Research Methodologies

in Foreign Language Education

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Assoc. Prof. Irish Mae Fernandez-Dalona, Ph.D.

English Department, College of Arts and Social Sciences

MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, Iligan City, Philippines

October 11, 2024 | Kenkyu Hoho (Research Methodology)

WARM-UP ACTIVITY

How many of these words/phrases do you know?

Do you know which places are these spoken?

flummox

English

Meaning: To bewilder or confuse someone.

The intricate puzzle managed to flummox even the most experienced crossword enthusiasts.

salut

French

Meaning: hello

wàiyǔ

Mandarin

Meaning: foreign language

entender

Spanish

Meaning: to understand

danke

German

Meaning: thank you

sumimasen

arrivederci

Japanese

Italian

Meaning: Excuse me

Meaning: Excuse me

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Current Realities

More and more people learn

1 or more languages!

Foreign language and translation skills have permeated every industry.

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Current Realities

• The language learning market was valued at $52.7 billion in 2022 and is forecast to grow to reach $337.2 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 20.8%.
• As of September 2023, the leading language learning app by revenue is Duolingo, having made almost $26 million in IAP that month.
• In Q3 of 2023, Duolingo was downloaded 47.6 million times, with 16.5 million downloads taking place in August.

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Current Realities

• Asian languages like Japanese and Korean are more popular with Gen Z, which is the biggest group of language learners in many countries.
• European languages like Italian and Spanish are more popular among learners aged 40 and above.
• Duolingo was downloaded almost 50 million times in the APAC region in 2023, with the majority of downloads (21.01 million) taking place in Q3.

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Current Realities

Source: statista

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Current Realities

Foreign language education has become a lucrative business!

The apps have democratized foreign language education.

What can we learn from GAMIFICATION?

Source: https://techreport.com/statistics/lifestyle/language-learning-market-statistics/

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Current Realities

Foreign language education has become a lucrative business!

The apps have democratized foreign language education.

Source: https://techreport.com/statistics/lifestyle/language-learning-market-statistics/

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CABBAGE GAME

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Research …

• is a term used liberally for any kind of investigation that is intended to uncover interesting or new facts;
• involves finding out about things that no-one else knew either. It is about advancing the frontiers of knowledge;
• is about acquiring knowledge and developing understanding, collecting facts and interpreting them to build up a picture of the world around us, and even within us;
• is required in order to explain a phenomenon or to test a theory

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Types of Research

• Descriptive
• includes surveys and fact-finding inquiries of different kinds
• describes the state of affairs as it exists at present
• Ex post facto research

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• Analytical/Critical
• the researcher has to use facts or information already available, and analyze these to make a critical evaluation of the material

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Types of Research

• Applied
• aims at finding a solution for an immediate problem facing a society or an industrial/business organization (studies that identify social, economic or political trends that may affect a particular institution)

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• Fundamental/Basic
• mainly concerned with generalizations and with the formulation of a theory (studies on natural phenomenon or relating to pure mathematics, social sciences, education)

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Research Design

• Quantitative
• is based on the measurement of quantity or amount

• Qualitative
• is concerned with phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind

Eureka in Statistics:

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

Quantitative Research

• Quantitative Research attempts to answer questions by

ascribing importance to numbers or sizes and results

• Quantitative methods emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, to generalize across groups of people or to explain a phenomenon.
• The researcher is always concerned with how various factors (including the nature of the relationship) affect study results.

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• BOOs!!!

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• Sloppy thinking
• Poor planning
• Careless documentation
• Contaminating responses with unacknowledged bias

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• Things to Keep in Mind
• Explain the data collected
• Report unanticipated events
• Explain the techniques
• Choose a minimally sufficient statistical procedure
• Describe the assumptions
• Avoid inferring causality
• Use tables to provide exact values
• Always tell the readers what to look for in tables and figures.

Quantitative Research

• Experimental
• Compare two or more groups that are similar except for one factor or variable
• Statistical analysis of data
• Conditions are highly controlled; variables are manipulated by the researcher

“The effects of”

“The influence of…”

• Survey
• Use set of predetermined questions
• Collect answers from representative sample
• Answers are categorized and analyzed so tendencies can be discerned

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Quantitative Research

• Meta-analysis
• Numerous experimental studies with reported statistical analysis are compared
• Distinguishes trends
• Effect size (the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable) can be compared

• Quantitative Case Study
• Also called single case design
• Describes numerically a specific case (can be group or individual)
• May test or generate hypotheses
• Results often presented with tables and graphs

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Quantitative Research

• Applied Behavior Analysis
• One person
• Examine the individual’s responses in different situations (conditions) across time
• Results are usually depicted with tables and graphs
• Conclusions based on data in these forms of presentation

• Longitudinal
• Individual or group research conducted across time
• Subject attrition is major problem
• Preserving confidentiality is also difficult
• Specific standardized tools may change over time

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Quantitative Research

• Hypothesis
• an idea that will be tested through systematic investigation
• A researcher’s prediction of what outcomes will occur
• Fits experimental research, also called “Hypothesis Testing”

• Independent Variable
• The variable that is controlled or manipulated by the researcher
• The variable that is thought to have some effect upon the dependent variable
• The one difference between the treatment (experimental) and control groups

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Quantitative Research

• Dependent Variable
• That which is measured
• The outcome
• That which is influenced or affected by the dependent variable

• Reliability
• The ability of a measurement tool to yield consistent results over time or under similar conditions

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Quantitative Research

• Content Validity
• The extent to which the items on a testing tool (that being used to measure the dependent variable) reflect all of the facets being studied
• All aspects are sampled (e.g. aural skills final exam)

• Criterion-related Validity
• Also called �Predictive Validity
• The extent to which a testing tool yields data that allow the researcher to make accurate predictions about the dependent variable

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Quantitative Research

• Construct Validity
• The extent to which the testing tool measures what it is supposed to measure
• Relationship between the items on the tool and the dependent variable
• Also relates to actual (physical) construction of a written tool (e.g. Dean’s Survey) and how this impacts the accuracy of the results

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Quantitative Research

• Sample
• the subset of people from the population who will participate in the current study

• Generalizability
• how much, how well, or how closely the findings from the current sample apply to the entire population

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Types of Sampling

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• Random (Probabilistic) - each member of the sampling frame has an equal chance of being selected as a study participant

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• Non-Random - each member of the sampling frame does not have an equal chance of being selected as a participant in the study

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Quantitative Research

Sampling Procedure

• Non-Random
• Convenience Sampling
• Snowball Sampling

• Random
• Simple Random Sampling
• Stratified Random Sampling
• Systematic or Purposive Sampling

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Telling the Story:

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

Qualitative Research

• A systematic, subjective approach used to describe life experiences and attribute meaning on every experience
• Useful in understanding human experiences such as pain, powerlessness, and comfort
• Focuses on understanding the whole
• Consistent with holistic philosophy

• The goal of qualitative research is not hypothesis testing.
• Frameworks are used in a different sense in qualitative research.
• Each type of qualitative research is guided by a particular philosophical stance.

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Qualitative Research

• Data

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• is subjective, systematic
• are typically words (versus numbers in quantitative research)
• incorporate perceptions and beliefs of researcher and participants

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Qualitative Research

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Qualitative Research

• DESIGN
• Naturalistic
• Emergent
• Purposeful

• DATA
• OBSERVATIONS >> thick description
• Personal Experience & Engagement
• Empathic Neutrality
• Dynamic Systems

• ANALYSIS
• Unique case orientation
• Inductive
• Holistic Perspective
• Context Sensitive
• Voice, Perspective, and Reflexivity

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Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

• Phenomenological
• Provides a rich description of the ‘lived experience’

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• Grounded Theory
• Symbolic Interaction Theory
• Meaning is attached to things or actions which form our reality
• Often result in theory development

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Qualitative Research

• Ethnographic
• Based in anthropology
• Focus on understanding the culture

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• Exploratory-Descriptive
• No specific approach described except for naturalistic inquiry, descriptive, or qualitative
• Addresses the research purpose and question from a qualitative method

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Qualitative Research

• Historical
• Examination and description of events or other factors that influence what you are interested in

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Qualitative Research

• Selecting Subjects/Corpora
• Subjects are referred to as participants. Corpora refers to objects that may be analyzed.
• Subjects may volunteer to be involved in study or be selected by researcher because of their particular knowledge, experience, or views related to study.
• Corpora are purposively selected.

• Sampling Procedures
• May select individuals typical in relation to the phenomenon under study
• May seek out individuals different in some way from other participants to get diverse perspectives
• Snowballing technique is commonly used.

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Qualitative Research

• Sample Sizes
• Decisions regarding sample size differ
• Based on needs related to study purpose
• Number of subjects is usually smaller
• Case studies with only one subject may be used
• Six to 10 subjects not unusual

• Researcher-Participant Relationship
• Participants are treated as colleagues rather than subjects.
• The researcher must have the support and confidence of participants to complete the study.
• Maintaining relationships is of utmost importance.

Qualitative Research

• Observation
• A process of understanding ‘What is going on here?’
• Look and listen carefully.
• Note routine activities.
• Focus on details.
• Note processes as well as discrete events.
• Note unexpected events.

• Interviews
• Open-ended format
• Researcher defines focus.
• No fixed sequence of questions
• Questions tend to change as researcher gains insights from previous interviews and/or observations.
• Respondents are encouraged to raise issues not addressed by researcher.

Qualitative Research

• Collection of Text
• May be written by participants on a particular topic at request of researcher
• Narratives may be solicited by mail rather than in person.
• Text developed for other purposes, such as office records or procedure manuals, can be accessed for qualitative analysis.
• Published text (books, newspapers, etc.)

• Interpretation of Data
• The researcher offers his or her interpretation of what is going on.
• The focus is on understanding and explaining beyond that which can be stated with certainty.
• May focus on usefulness of findings for clinical practice
• Researcher develops hunches about relationships that can be used to formulate tentative propositions.

Qualitative Research

• Rigor
• Openness
• Adherence to a philosophical perspective
• Data saturation
• Multiple sources of data

• Rigor is impacted by all of the following negative factors:
• Inconsistency in adhering to method or philosophy
• Poorly developed methods
• Lack of data collection time
• Poor data collection methods
• Failure to consider multiple sources of data
• Failure to adhere to ethical protocols

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Some Emerging Trends

Autoethnography

• relevance of experiences and narratives

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We tell stories in order to live.

~ Joan Didion (Adams, Holman Jones, & Ellis,2015)

Autoethnographic stories are artistic and analytic demonstration of how we come to know, name, and interpret personal and cultural experience.

We engage with ourselves , others, culture(s), politics and social research.

We confront the tension between insider and outsider perspectives, between social practice and social constraint.

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Autoethnography

uses a researcher’s personal experience to describe and critique cultural beliefs, practices, and experiences

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acknowledges and values a researcher’s relationships with others

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uses deep and careful self-reflection - typically referred to as reflexivity - to name and interrogate the intersection between the particular and the general, the personal and the political

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Autoethnography

shows people in the process of figuring out what to do, how to live, and the meaning of their struggles

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balances intellectual and methodological rigor, emotion, and creativity

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strives for social justice and to make life better

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If interested to do Autoethnography…

usual lenses: critical literacy,

critical pedagogy, critical race theory

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analytic rather than evocative

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the use of voice

the use of first-person voice

(the importance of I)

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Relevance of Autoethnography…

Inspired by Freire (1998), Keles (2022):

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I, as an “eternal seeker,”

will keep my goal to stay self-reflexive of my practices and identities

and maintain a continuous conversation with my own self.

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My own Autoethnography…

An Autoethnographic Exploration of Identities:

Lessons for International Mobility of Academic Institutions

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presented at the International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences (Khon Kaen, Thailand)

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Workshops as Research Methodology

Other than achieving organizational aims, WORKSHOPS may be utilized to gather information that will be good data for research

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Participation is collaborative (Biggs, Cornwall, and Jewkes, 1995)

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Workshop facilitators act not only as ‘clinicians’, who design the program framework, but also as ‘ethnographers’ (Darso, 2001).

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Workshops as Research Methodology

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Workshop facilitators act not only as ‘clinicians’, who design the program framework, but also as ‘ethnographers’ (Darso, 2001)

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Participants are important sources of information that inspire an improved framework for whatever aims.

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Advantage: Conflicts of interests or downright participant abuse are avoided.

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Data from Workshops

Needs Assessment through a survey prior to the start of the workshop;

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Quick checks during the workshop (harvested insights from metacards, participants’ outputs, etc.)

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Feedback from post-program valuation.

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Our Study

Rethinking Pedagogies: Lessons from an Online Professional Development (PD) Programme for Secondary School Teachers in the Philippines and Indonesia

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presented at the AsiaTEFL 2023 (South Korea)

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Discourse Analysis

Analyzing Oral Discourses through Dell Hymes’ S.P.E.A.K.I.N.G Grid

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Discourse Analysis

Analyzing Oral Discourses through Dell Hymes’ S.P.E.A.K.I.N.G Grid

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Discourse Analysis

1. Cohesion and Coherence (reference markers or deixis, pronouns)

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• Analyzing vagueness and ambiguity in Bank Contracts

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Other Studies

Needs Assessment for Students in Math and Science

- to suggest a more relevant module for them

Moves for Research Introductions - to teach Research

Phonotactic Constraints of Languages - to document/help revitalize the language

Cross Cultural Pragmatics - to trace compare the degree of politeness among indigenous or cultural groups

CDA on books - ideologies

News Framing (of mining news and conflict news) - frames, propaganda

Translanguaging in the language classroom - to break the English hegemony

Multimodality of signages and mediated information

- to reveal biases/stereotypes

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Ethical Considerations in Conducting Research

Ethical Considerations

• CONSENT
• involves the procedure by which an individual may choose whether or not to participate in a study.
• The researcher’s task is to ensure that participants have a complete understanding of the purpose and methods to be used in the study, the risks involved, and the demands placed upon them as a participant (Best & Kahn, 2006; Jones & Kottler, 2006).

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Ethical Considerations

Ethical Considerations

• HARM
• may be broadly defined to include extreme physical pain or death, but also involves such factors as psychological stress, personal embarrassment or humiliation, or myriad influences that may adversely affect the participants in a significant way

• Psychologists must take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/ patients, students, supervisees, research participants, organizational clients, and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable (American Psychological Association, 2002).

Ethical Considerations

• When psychologists become aware that research procedures have harmed a participant, they take reasonable steps to minimize the harm

(American Psychological Association, 2002).

The most basic concern in all research is that no individual is harmed by serving as a participant.

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Ethical Considerations

• SENSITIVITY

some information may be considered taboo to certain groups, etc.

• SETTING

The setting in which research is being conducted may also be an important factor in considering a potential invasion of privacy.

• INFORMATION

the data should be held in strict confidence to protect anonymity

PRIVACY

has become an increasingly valued right

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Ethical Considerations

• Ethical issues in experimental research focus on protecting individuals that receive an intervention.
• For example, an intervention may involve training participants in group communication where a great deal of self-disclosure is required.

• In experimental studies:
• Such would be the case where one group of students in a high school receives a newly developed science program (experimental treatment) that appears to be very effective, and a second group receives the science program that was used for many years with limited effectiveness (control group). One ethical perspective is that the researcher has the responsibility to provide the new treatment to all participants.

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Ethical Considerations

• In non-experimental studies:
• in survey research, each respondent should be fully informed as to the purpose of the study, participant demographics (e.g., teachers, college students, the general public), confidentiality of responses, how the results are intended to be used, and who will have access to the data.
• Bacon and Olsen (2005) also indicate that survey researchers have the ethical responsibility of “not wasting” a respondent’s time and to only collect data that has utility (real use). Schenk and Williamson (2005), in discussing the ethical responsibilities involved in conducting non-experimental research on children, suggest “if the information gathering activity will not directly benefit the children involved or their community, do not proceed.”

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Ethical Considerations

• Do not tamper with the natural setting under study.
• The accepted rule of thumb for such nonparticipant observation research is that consent is not necessary when (a) access to the setting is approved by the agency or institution, (b) participants who are actively involved have given informed consent, and (c) other observed behavior is considered public and observable by anyone present in the setting.

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Ethical Considerations

• Institutional Approval
• Informed Consent (to research, to record)
• Participant’s Voluntariness
• Dispensing with Informed Consent for Research
• Offering Inducements for Research Participation
• No Room for Deception

• Debriefing
• Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research
• Subjective Reporting Research Results 
• No Plagiarism
• No Duplication of Published Data
• Sharing Research Data for Verification 
• Reviewers

“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something.

You certainly usually find something, if you look,

but it is not always quite the something you were after.”

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~ J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings)

References

Adams, T. E., Ellis, C., & Jones, S. H. (2015). Autoethnography.

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Anthony, L. (2004). AntConc: A learner and classroom friendly, multi-platform corpus analysis toolkit. proceedings of IWLeL, 7-13.

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Keleş, U. (2022). Autoethnography as a recent methodology in applied linguistics: A methodological review. Qualitative Report, 27(2).

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Rodriguez, E., Shofer, S., Harter, M., & Clark, N. (2017). First guiding process: Problematizing what you know for new-self insight. Autoethnography: Process, product, and possibility for critical social research, 58-87.

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Yazan, B. (2019). An autoethnography of a language teacher educator. Teacher Education Quarterly, 46(3), 34-56.

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