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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the method used in conducting the research. It contains
the formulation of problems, the research designs, the research site and
participants, research procedures, data collection techniques and the data analysis.
3.1 Formulation of problems
This study is intended to identify the teachers’ talk in an EFL classroom, specifically in analyzing which teachers’ talk categories occur the most in the classroom. The study also aimed at finding the reasons for the teachers in
choosing the categories that occurred. Therefore, this study focused to investigate
the following questions:
1. What types of teachers’ talk occurred the most in an EFL classroom?
2. What are the reasons for the teacher in choosing the categories that
occurred?
3.2 Research designs
This study employed a descriptive case study that will be analyzed through
qualitative methods and a combination of simple quantitative, especially in measuring percentage of each teachers’ talk categories. In this research, the researcher was involved in a sustained and intensive experience with participants
(Creswell, 2009) as researcher carried out the research by observing classroom interaction particularly teachers’ talk by sitting in the back of the class as well as recording the activities done in the classroom.
Descriptive method as Key (1997) affirms can be used in obtaining
information regarding the “current status of the phenomena to describe "what
exists" with respect to variables or conditions in a situation.” This method simply
have the purpose of describing a behavior or type of subject. Schwandt (1994, p.
cited in Zainal (p. 2, 2007) describes the case study research method “as an
empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life
context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used.” In addition, Zainal (2007) explained that by employing this method, “a researcher is able to go
beyond the quantitative statistical results and understand the behavioral conditions
through the actor’s perspective.”
Qualitative research method as Polkinghorne (1983) asserts in Elliott and
Timulak (2005) explained that all these methods rely on linguistic rather than
numerical data, and employ meaning-based rather than statistical forms of data
analysis. By employing the qualitative method, this study will find out which teachers’ talk categories occur the most in the classroom and the reasons behind the teachers’ decision on choosing the categories that occurred.
3.3 Research site and respondents
This study was conducted at one of private senior High Schools in Bandung, West
Java. This school has been chosen due to its accessibility and availability of its
teacher. The school is open to researchers thus, researcher chose this school as its
site of study. An English teacher and 30 students of tenth graders were involved in
this research along with the consideration that the observation conducted will not
hampered their study and the fact that they are not being prepared for national
exam. The tenth graders were selected due to their level of proficiency in English.
The observation took place in the second semester in January 2016.
3.4 Data collection
The data are gathered through classroom observation and interview.
3.4.1 Classroom observation
Observation as Driscoll (2011, p. 154) proclaim is “observing and measuring the world around you, including observations of people and other measurable
events” which means researcher have to examine the situation he is observing, in
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was directed to observe the classroom interaction and teachers’ talk particularly.
The observation was recorded and researcher utilized an observation sheet
developed from Flanders’ Interaction Analysis Categories (1970) to classify
which categories take place on a certain period of time. The researcher stepped in
as a complete observer who will only be observing without participating in the
classroom (Creswell, 2009). For instance, non-participant observation is utilized
as it is an observation where the observer sat in the backline or side and watched
(Fraenkel and Wallen, 1990) without taking an active part in the situation
(Marshall, G. 1998). It has more potential in capturing interaction and social
actions (Caldwell and Atwal, 2005). The observation was held in a way that
interactions occurred naturally without researcher’s involvement. The procedure
utilized was, the researcher sat in the back of the class as observing all the
interactions occurred while recording the learning situation as well as using
observation tally sheet to reckon the categories occurred.
3.4.1.1 Observation tallies sheet
In order to answer the first question, an observation sheet was utilized and equipped with seven categories of Flanders’ Interaction Analysis Categories. The observation sheet was developed from the teachers’ talk categories proposed by
Flanders which was then being checked when a category identified throughout the
teaching and learning process. In the end, the tallies was then calculated to perceive the quantity of teachers’ talk in each category.
3.4.1.2 Video-taping
The classroom observation was then videotaped, to help researcher in verifying
the classroom observation sheet. Video-based fieldwork approach is employed based on its function which is “involves recording the ongoing interaction of people in a specific context and recording all aspects of the environment that
structure the interactions recorded” (Jewitt, 2012, p. 4). Furthermore, Jewitt
claims that using video it enables a researcher to have deeper understanding of the
data and bring new research questions to the data seeing that the data can be
checklist since the videotaped can be reviewed continually as well as durable and
shareable (Latvala et al., 2000; Jewitt, 2012). By continually reviewing the video,
the observer have the access to investigate the events that was unavailable in the
real-time observation (Knudson and Morrison, 2002, p. 200) and it also gives
more detailed information.
3.4.2 Interview
The interview was conducted to obtain the information regarding teachers’ talk and the finding of which types of teachers’ talk occurred in the EFL classroom. Kvale (1996) defines interview as “an interaction between two people, with the interviewer and the subject acting in relation to each other, and they are influencing each other.” Interview was selected with a purpose to explore the views, experiences or beliefs and it is deemed as to provide a profound
understanding of social phenomena (Gill et al., 2008). As Kvale (1983, p. 174) on Opdenakker (2006) qualitative research interview is described as “an interview, whose purpose is to gather descriptions of the life-world of
interviewee with respect to interpretation of the meaning of the described
phenomena.”
Face to face interview was conducted and the interview was audio-taped
along with some field notes. The face to face interview has several advantages
for instance, synchronous communication of time and place in which interviewee
and interviewer being in the same place, it assigns more spontaneous answer
since there is no delay in delivering both questions and answers and it also give
opportunity for the interviewee to use standardization of the situation
(Opdenakker, 2006). It employed open-ended questions in order to help the
participants to best voice their experiences unconstrained by any perspectives of
the researcher or past research findings (Creswell, 2012, p. 218). Open ended
questions are preferred due to its flexibility which does not restrict the data
collection. (Elliott and Timulak, 2005).
The interview was performed in English, this was opted due to teacher’s preference and also a deliberation which take in English as major being taught
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These are the following questions given in the interview:
1. Are you aware of teachers’ talk?
2. Do you think that teachers’ talk is important in the process of teaching and
learning?
3. Do you think it is the only input students have?
4. Are you aware that teachers’ talk spend two third of the lesson or more than half of the talk is devoted for teachers’ talk?
5. Do you think it is possible students spend more talk or maybe there are
some classes that spend more student talk?
6. Do you think that teacher should cut down their talk or is it depending on
the classroom situation?
7. Do you know that there are some categories in the teachers’ talk?
8. There are seven categories, accepting feelings, praising or encouraging, accepting or using students’ ideas, asking questions, lecturing, giving direction and criticizing or justifying authority. Based on these categories,
in your opinion, which category you used more in the classroom?
9. From the observation that I have done, I can see that most of the time you
do lectures and ask questions and I wonder if you do that spontaneously or
is there any specific reason why you use that particular category?
10.Do you think this is associated with students’ motivation and
involvement?
3.5 Data Analysis
After collecting all the data from the observation and interview that has been
conducted, then, the data were analyzed using some steps as follows:
The observation sheet was utilized in order to help researcher in analyzing
each categories of FIAC observed by counting the number of tallies for each
category. Each tallies counted was then conversed into percentage. The
percentage of each category was obtained by dividing the number of tallies in
a category with the total number of tallies from all categories. The following
table was an observation sheet based on Flanders’ teachers’ talk categories:
Table 3.1 Observation Tally Sheet
No. Categories Tallies Percentage
1. Accepting feelings IIII
2. Praising and encouraging
3. Accepting or using ideas
4. Asking questions
5. Lecturing
6. Giving direction
7. Criticizing or justifying authority
2. Transcribing the video-recording
After the classroom interaction had been observed and recorded, then the
videos that have been recorded were being transcribed into the form of written
text. The transcribed data were then coded by using some labels as have been
shown in chapter II, each sentences was being categorized from one to seven
(teacher talk categories). In this research, teacher was labeled as (T) whereas
students was labeled as (S), each student was labeled as (S1), (S2), (S3), and
so on. However, if there were more than one student talk the same utterances,
therefore it was labeled as (Ss).The transcription was made as simple as
possible in order to make the analysis convenient.
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There were some guidelines in coding each category of FIAC. This is utilized
in order to avoid misconception in grasping each category and give the
researcher a perimeter in analyzing the classroom interaction. Below is the
coding procedure of classroom interaction.
Table 3.2 Guidelines in Coding FIAC
Taken from Nurhasanah (2013)
Categories Indicators
G: General Whenever there is an element
of doubt code to the prevailing balance of teacher.
Rare events should be coded whenever possible.
Categories of 1, 2, 3, and 9 are expected much less than 5, 6, 7, and 8.
1: Accept feelings The code is for situation when
teacher response to students’ grumbling or statement of happiness to the learning or other things.
2: Praises or Encourages Code 2 also given when
teacher repeat students’ answer.
Code more than once if extended praise is given.
3: Accepts or Uses Idea of Student/s Teacher can respond to students’ ideas in a number of ways:
solve a problem.
- Making inferences from students’ ideas or answers. - Comparing it with other
ideas.
- Summarizing what students has said.
Code 3 more than once if extended responses given.
If teacher is making too much abstraction from students’ answer or ideas then, code 5 is given.
If teacher ignores pupils suggestion and asking for another suggestion then it should be coded as 4.
4: Asks Questions Questions can be referential or
display.
If teachers’ talks bring others into discussion then code 4 is given.
- Interject thoughts and off handed comments included.
6&7: Gives Direction & Criticized or Justifying Authority
Code 6 is used to indicate close supervision and direction by teacher.
Code 6 is used for statements intended to produce
compliance from students.
If teacher gives
announcements then code 5 is given instead of code 6.
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getting students’ compliance as 6 e.g. “Could you turn off the projector?” or “Could anyone help me take my bag?”
8 & 9: Student response & student initiated
Making a choice between code 8 & 9 should related to the turn into 9 if the students embellishes or adds voluntary information or made and independent judgment about what the teacher has asked or stated.
10: Silence or confusion Pauses, short periods of silence
and periods of confusion in which communication cannot be understood by the
researcher.
Code 10 is also used when students write what the teacher has shown or do written exercises from teacher.
4. Calculating the frequency of data in percentage
After the transcribed data were coded and analyzed, each category occurred
was then being calculated. This calculation was done to answer the first
research question, which was the most occurred teacher talk category in the
the others. This heavier concentration of tallies in certain areas revealed
information about which category occurred more than the other category. The
calculation accounted was a simple calculation by dividing the number of
tallies in a category with the total number of tallies from all categories.
3.6 Concluding remark
This chapter has presented and elaborated the methodological aspects applied in
this research covering formulation of problems, research designs, research site and
respondents, data collection which consisted of classroom observation and
interview, and data analysis. The next chapter discussed the findings and
