CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW
F. Case Study in Language Teaching
Case study research has played a very important role in applied linguistics since the field was established, particularly in studies of language teaching, learning, and use. The case in such studies generally has been a person (e.g., a teacher, learner, speaker, writer, or interlocutor) or a small number of individuals on their own or in a group (e.g., a family, a class, a work team, or a community of practice) (Duff, 2014).
The cases are normally studied in depth in order to provide an understanding of individuals’ experiences, issues, insights, developmental pathways, or performance within a particular linguistic, social, or educational context. Rather than discuss constructs, hypotheses, and findings in terms of statistical patterns or trends derived from a larger sample or survey of a population of language learners, as in some quantitative research, a qualitative case study of a person presents a contextualized human profile (Richards, 2011, p. 19).
Case study has contributed substantially to theory development, generating new perspectives or offering a refutation or refinement of earlier theories in applied linguistics by analyzing linguistic, cultural, and social phenomena associated with children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults. In recent years, the purview of case studies in applied linguistics has expanded to include many previously underrepresented topics, linguistic situations, theoretical perspectives, and populations (see, e.g., Casanave, 2010; Duff, 2008a, 2012a, 2012b; Harklau, 2008; K. Richards, 2011).
Woodside (2010,p. 3) stated that there are twelve principles on conducting case study research such as configural, modeling not net effects, unconscious not conscious thinking, dynamic not cross sectional designs, multiple routes not one model only, predictive validity not only a best fitting model, context not context free, conjunctive-disjunctive not compensatory decision-making, systems thinking not independent versus dependent conditions, multi-person not one-person, satisfy not optimize decisions, unobtrusive evidence not just obtrusive interviews or observations, visual not just verbal data collection and interpretation.
According to the time dimension, in a case study, one or more cases can be investigated. When examining one case, we refer to a singular case study, and a multiple or plural case study is used to describe a study examining several cases. In multiple case studies, each case is studied as if it is a singular study and is then compared to other cases. The analysis of each following case is built on the knowledge obtained in the analysis of previous cases. For singular and multiple case studies, Thomas suggests an additional classification, according to the type of time dimension. The types of singular case studies, regarding time dimension, are as follows (Thomas 2011, p.
517):
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a. Retrospective case studies: The simplest type of study; it involves the collection of data relating to a past phenomenon of any kind. The researcher is looking back on a phenomenon, situation, person, or event and studying it in its historical integrity.
b. Snapshot studies: The case is being examined in one particular period of time, such as a current event, a day in the life of a person, a diary, etc.
Whether a month, a week, a day, or even a period as short as an hour, the analysis is aided by the temporal juxtaposition of events. As the snapshot develops, the picture presents itself as a Gestalt over a tight timeframe.
c. Diachronic studies: Change over time and are similar to longitudinal studies.
d. Nested studies: Involve the comparison of elements within one case (nested elements). With nested studies, the breakdown is within the principal unit of analysis. A nested study is distinct from a straightforward multiple study in that it gains its integrity– its wholeness– from the wider case.
e. Parallel studies: The cases are all happening and being studied concurrently.
f. Sequential studies: The cases happen consecutively, and there is an assumption that what has happened at one time point or in an intervening period will in some way affect the next incident.
According to the theory formation, George and Bennett (2005, p. 75- 76) present six types of case studies classified according to whether they contribute to theory building:
a. Atheoretical/configurative idiographic case studies: Illustrative case studies that do not accumulate or contribute directly to theory.
b. Disciplined configurative case studies: Use established theories to explain the case.
c. Heuristic case studies: Identify new, unexpected paths; for such studies, marginal, deviant, or outlier cases may be particularly useful.
d. Theory-testing case studies: Studies that assess the validity and scope conditions of single or competing theories.
e. Plausibility probes: Preliminary studies used to determine whether further examination is warranted.
f. Building Block studies: Studies of particular types or subtypes of a phenomenon that when put together, contribute to a more comprehensive theory.
Creswell (2012, p. 477) described several advantages and disadvantages of using case study method in language teaching study. The following explanations are the advantage of case study method:
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a. Intensive study: Case study method is responsible for intensive study of a unit. It is the investigation and exploration of an event thoroughly and deeply.
b. No sampling: It studies a social unit in its entire perspectives. It means there is no sampling in case study method.
c. Continuous analysis; It is valuable in analyzing continuously the life of a social unit to dig out the facts.
d. Hypothesis formulation; This method is useful for formulation of hypothesis for further study.
e. Comparisons: It compares different type of facts about the study of a unity.
f. Increase in knowledge: It gives the analytical power of a person to increase knowledge about a social phenomena.
g. Generalization of data: Case study method provides grounds for generalization of data for illustrating statistical findings.
h. Comprehensive: It is a comprehensive method of data collection in social research.
i. Locate deviant cases: The deviant cases are these units which behave against the proposed hypothesis. Thus, it locate these deviant cases. The tendency is to ignore them but are important for scientific study.
j. Farming questionnaire or schedule: Through case study method we can formulate and develop a questionnaire and schedule.
On the other hand, Creswell (2012, p. 477) explained several disadvantages of using case study method in educational study. The following are the explanation of disadvantages of case study:
a. Limited representatives: Due to as narrow focuses a case study has limited representatives and generalization is impossible.
b. No classification: Any classification is not possible due to studying a small unit.
c. Possibility of errors: Case study method may have the errors of memory and judgment.
d. Subjective method: It is a subjective method rather than objective.
e. No Easy and Simple. This method is very difficult and no layman can conduct this method.
f. Bias can occur: Due to narrow study the discrimination & bias can occurs in the investigation of a social unit.
g. No fixed limits: This method is depend on situation and have no fixed limits of investigation of the researcher.
h. Costly and time consuming: This method is more costly and time consuming as compare to other methods of data collection.
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