Case study of research in applied linguistics / Patricia A. Theoretical and methodological issues of second language acquisition research). In the meantime, I have received multiple revised editions of the same case study and qualitative research methods texts, which have been updated every few years.
Introduction
Later in this chapter and elsewhere in the book, I reflect on other kinds of analysis that could be conducted with someone like Jim, especially given current directions in our field related to language and literacy socialization, family multiliteracies, identity and language learning, and sociopolitical and economic aspects of immigration. Although the case presented here is a language learner, many of the same principles of case study research apply when conducting other types of case studies in applied linguistics, including descriptions and analyzes of an individual language teacher or learner, a school, or a country's language policies, communication in a multilingual workplace, language switching in a small-scale post-colonial society and so on.
Case Study of a Language Learner: “Jim”
Would he therefore make faster progress in his acquisition of English on the basis of his intensive language courses and contacts in the community. In the beginning, he often used the verb has (or has-a) instead, in the following ways: Has many people on the beach, On the beach has many people, and Hasa has many people on the beach.
February 1986)
June 1988)
In this extract there are no uses of the existential have, but still many subject-comment expressions (eg this man, I think he is not happy). Coughlan and Duff (1994) attribute Jim's apparent reticence about this particular task, as judged by his hesitation and lack of description of the picture, to its artificiality.
June 1988)
And the husband said to her: "How can you earn money?" And the first time she- she hadn't told her husband yet. Just tell him "You don't want to know about it." And her husband still asks her and she said, "That money if I sold the gold." And she [=he] said, "How can we still have the gold?" And she said that she hides some gold that her husband + they- he- didn't know.
March 1986)
The next two paired excerpts, again more than two years apart, illustrate features of Jim's morphology (e.g., tense-aspect marking) and phonology, as well as his topic comment structures. . In excerpt 6, more than two years later, Jim explained how he now sent money back to his family in Cambodia.
June 1988)
Some Reflections on this Case Study
To understand the uniqueness or characteristic of Jim's development, a broader study would be necessary, such as a cross-sectional study of many Cambodian EFL learners or additional in-depth longitudinal case studies of a few learners. I gratefully acknowledge Wayne Wright's (personal communication, September 28, 2006) recent examination of Jim's statements to help me answer this question.
Other Possible Applied Linguistic Analyses
Literacy researchers can examine the role of Khmer and English language and literacy practices in the lives of Jim's family members in Canada and analyze whether, how and to what extent the children had learned or lost their L1, Khmer, and what the consequences had been Sociolinguists can consider code-switching behavior at home or in Jim's interactions with other Cambodians.
Summary
Introduction
Defining Case Study
A case study is an exploration of a "bounded system" or case (or cases) over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information rich in context. A number of other definitions or characteristics of case study research are found in Nunan (1992) and Merriam (1998).
Historical Roots of Case Study in the Social Sciences
However, pioneering studies by the Chicago School have led to continued interest in case studies despite such objections. In political science, the case study went through similar ups and downs in the 20th century.
General Features of Qualitative Research
Moreover, these tensions can be combined in the same project, involving both postmodern and naturalistic, or both critical and humanistic perspectives. This knowledge can then be compared to the investigator's observations about the individual's ability to function in a L2 environment, at home, in the community, or even at work, and to the learner's own disclosures about it.
Qualitative Research in Applied Linguistics
Purposes and Philosophical Underpinnings of Case Study
An exploratory case study (whether based on single or multiple cases) aims at defining the questions and hypotheses of a subsequent (not necessarily a case study) or at determining the feasibility of the desired research procedures. Some students had received intensive instruction on the use of articles and others had not.
Case Study versus Ethnography
Case Study in Applied Linguistics
A "systems perspective" (Patton, 1990, p. 78) of observable phenomena, used in organizational case studies, recognizes that each human case is complex and operates within a constellation of linguistic, sociolinguistic, sociological and other systems, and the whole may be greater than - or different from - the sum of its parts. This kind of "synthetic thinking" (Patton, 1990, p. 79) distinguishes some current qualitative research, including case studies that do so.
Previous Scholarship on Case Study Methodology in Applied Linguistics
Seliger and Shohamy (1989) devote only a few pages to a discussion of qualitative and then descriptive research (as separate types of research), with one paragraph on case study under the latter and then some mention of it later in the chapter. Other, more encyclopedic volumes on language teaching also include chapters on case studies (eg Faltis, 1997; van Lier, 2005).
Longitudinal Case Studies
The longitudinal approach could be easily characterized by at least three of the qualitative paradigm attributes: naturalistic (use of spontaneous speech), process-oriented (it takes place over time), and non-eralizable (very few subjects). Moreover, while issues of generalizability arise almost predictably with case study research, they are less often reflected upon in quantitative research, regardless of the particular contexts in which the studies are conducted, the small number of subjects involved, their unique combinations of L1 and L2, and so on (Chalhoub-Deville , Chapelle, & Duff, 2006; Duff, 2006).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Case Study
This first limitation of the case study reflects a historical rift in the philosophy of science. First, it can be difficult to predict what the outcome of the case study will be.
Summary
The principles of ethical research apply to case studies as they do to other types of research (see Chapter 4). However, one of the challenges in conducting case studies that involve a lot of detail and contextualization about the person, place or event featured is that it can become difficult to protect the identity of the participants, even when pseudonyms are used.
An Overview of Themes and Trends over the Past Three Decades
What is the relationship between students' social identities (e.g. gender, class, race, ethnicity, immigrant status) and their L2 learning experiences. What is the effect of participation in computer-mediated communication, online instruction, electronic bulletin boards or other electronic media on language/literacy acquisition and use?
Early Studies of Child Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, and Language Loss
Some studies are presented in more detail than others in order to provide readers with as much overview and discussion of topics and methods as possible. Hatch (1983) also reported several interesting case studies documenting the effects of aphasia resulting from a lesion in the left or right hemisphere of the brain resulting from injury or disease.
Natural-Order Studies and
Huebner's was also one of the first case studies in SLA to include a quantitative (non-statistical) analysis of change and a. Schmidt's study found that learners can be highly proficient communicators in their L2 without acquiring many of the basic linguistic structures in the language.
Individual Differences: Exceptionality, Talented and Untalented Learners
She was also willing to produce English even if she had quite limited linguistic resources at her disposal in T2, and formulaic expressions or fragmented expressions (unanalyzed) facilitated this. Another participant in the study, Laura, also performed very well (native-like), but not at the level Julie demonstrated.
Diaries, Memoirs, and (Auto)biographies of Linguistic Experiences
One of the most comprehensive and analytical case studies in recent years, a variant of the diary study, was conducted by Schmidt and Frota (1986). Unlike many of the case studies reviewed above, Schmidt and Frota examine Schmidt's linguistic ability in Portuguese in many different domains: conversation, pragmatics, grammar, vocabulary (lexical verbs) and formulaic speaking.
Identity, Investment, and Gender in Language Learning
She explains that "theories about the good language learner have been developed based on the premise that language learners can choose the conditions under which they want to interact with members of the target language community, and that the language learner's access to the target language community is a function of the learner's motivation" (p .5). Norton argues for a greater focus on students' multiple, changing subjectivities or social identities; their "investments" in language learning; their often limited access to target language speakers and communities; and the “contradictory position” the women in her study faced, needing access to English-speaking social networks to practice English, but also necessary English skills to participate in those same networks.
Language Learning, Stabilization, and Fossilization
Based on current generative grammar principles, Lardiere analyzed Patty's oral language production using tape-recorded "conversations" after 10 years of living in the United States (one 34-minute interview) and again 8.5 years later (two interviews, 34 to 75 minutes each) . Still, she had resided for more than half a century in the country and was edified and motivated to learn English.
Language Loss
It was not easy for you to admit that you had lost the most precious things you ever had, your Cree language, your Cree soul, your Cree language, your culture. So you deal with it by speaking English and that way you don't have to deal with the pain of the loss.
Pragmatic and Sociolinguistic Development
The study therefore makes use of natural interactions and triangulates the perspectives of the research participants, researcher, interlocutors and other sources. One of the English learners of Japanese in her mid-40s, Mary, was a Japanese language teacher from New Zealand who was doing research in Japan as a temporary resident and also studying Japanese.
Families as Cases: Studies of Bilingual Language Socialization and Maintenance
The analysis, part of a larger project, focused on the role of older siblings in the family as "mediators of literacy". The study examined communication at home, language choice, and discursive elements of speaking and literacy (eg, code-switching).
Mainstreamed ESL Students: Identity, Representation, and Positioning
Second, Hunter's (1997) two-year study of a Portuguese English bilingual child's writing activities, language development, and representation in grade 4 and 5 classrooms in Canada was in some ways similar to Willett's. In Hunter's study, the boy was considered too quiet by the other boys and too "good" at tame family-oriented stories while they wrote pop culture-inspired fantasy action stories (although he joined them the following year).
Second-Language Writing and Academic Discourse Socialization
Other significant case studies of academic writing in the university mainstream have been carried out by Spack (1997) and Casanave (2002) and their colleagues. Casanave's (2002) collection focuses on multicultural case studies of academic and professional writing socialization at the undergraduate,.
Online Language Development and Use
From her inductive analysis of his texts, observations of his computer activities, and interviews with him, Lamova identified "the discursive strategies he uses for articulation and positioning in written texts (and other semiotic media) as he negotiates various discourses about the Internet" (p . 461). Like Lam, Yim observed how students' identity and writing developed based on their ongoing experience participating in electronic communities and from their observations of how others composed messages, responded to previous posts, and presented their views on academic matters.
Bilingualism and Biculturalism: Immigrant, Sojourner, and “Returnee” Identities
Marx (2002) provides an interesting retrospective account of her own experiences of negotiating membership in multiple linguistic, national, and cultural communities and being a "continuous boundary-crosser" (p. 278). However, over time she began to encounter difficulties in expressing herself in her L1 (even though she was teaching English).
Teachers as Agents of Linguistic and Cultural Socialization
Duff and Uchida (1997) undertook a six-month multi-case study of four English teachers in Japan, two Japanese and two American, each of whom, regardless of nationality, had a different orientation to teaching culture. In contrast, Japanese teachers believed that teaching culture was best left to native English-speaking teachers and that they should focus on teaching language, not teaching culture.
Summary
Learners in applied linguistics case studies are increasingly portrayed as multidimensional individuals with histories, hopes, and aspirations who can learn, lose, and relearn languages while other aspects of their identity and knowledge develop. However, in many such case studies, the methods, theoretical arguments, and trends parallel those reviewed here.
Introduction
Data analysis Transcribing Sorting/organizing/database management Creating concept maps Memoing Coding Comparing cases Data reduction/narrowing analysis Triangulation Pattern matching Eliciting themes Finding counterexamples (etc.) Interpretation Identifying and understanding key themes or patterns Considering competing explanations or data Forming conclusions. Understanding and generating theory Familiarity with relevant theoretical questions Placing examples/findings in existing research literature Finding/filling gaps in the literature Arriving at new insights based on data analysis/interpretation Connecting findings to existing literature Identifying remaining or new questions to be addressed researched in the future Ethical considerations Preparing IRB review protocols Negotiating access, permissions, informed consent, reciprocity, procedures Reporting the "problem" and research design Research objectives Conceptual or theoretical framework Research questions Identifying context(s), case(s), units of analysis, sampling strategy, time frame, etc.
Research Objectives
In this respect, conducting a case study is no different from other types of research (see Mackey & Gass, 2005). The purpose of my study—to investigate particular forms of syntactic development in SLA—is stated, and the general claims to be made based on the study, and even speculative predictions, are prescribed, along with the reasoning behind them.
Research Questions
What features of this particular IR course were barriers to Yuko's success in the course. To what extent should their actions be understood in terms of their investment in the target language and their changing identities over time and space.
Research Design
We conducted a case study of six upper primary school students to provide a more in-depth view of older FLES students. Alternatively, the larger study may be (quasi-)experimental, with included case studies that provide a more concrete or illustrative description of the phenomenon investigated in the larger study.
Case Selection and Sampling
They must also know the focus (the extent to which one can reveal all the details in advance without unduly influencing behaviour), the procedures, the benefits or risks to the participants, and the total duration of the study (see Section 4.14 ) ). Finally, there is likely a greater understanding of the context based on prior knowledge.
Contextualization
The amount of contextualization needed depends on the nature of the study (Miles & Huberman, 1994). For example, what is the apparent effect of the researcher's observations or recordings on the events or participants.
Gaining Access to Research Sites
In addition to the immediate physical setting in which the research takes place, Altheide and Johnson (1994) suggest that researchers should be aware of the following aspects of context: history, environment, number of participants, activities, schedules and temporal sequence of activities, division of labor , routines and variations, significant events, participants'. In my recent classroom-based research, however, I found that even with information produced in the students' L1, recently arrived immigrant parents and students were often reluctant to participate in research because they feared it might draw undue attention to the students' difficulties. with English (Duff, 2002b).
Data Collection: Sources of Evidence
Wolcott (1994) provides the mnemonic for three Es in (ethnographic) qualitative data collection: experience (participant observation), inquiry (interview) and inquiry (study of documents). Many studies focus on documents, archives or artefacts (eg in policy studies or textual studies) or on observational and interview data (eg in SLA or classroom studies).
The Role of the Researcher
Brad's confidentiality was lost when Wolcott's original article (Wolcott, 1983) was advanced as evidence of Wolcott's alleged credulity and. The story also illustrates how the fuller, later disclosure of information about the researcher-researched relationship can change one's interpretation of the original research and cause one to question the researcher's judgment (see section 4.14).
Interviews
For example, in seeking insights from immigrant students or workers about their identity, the questions "What is your most important ethnolinguistic identity?" or "What are the different identities you negotiate in your daily life?". Follow-up questions (ask more about the previous utterance or response), e.g. "Can you say more about it?" or "Can you give an example of that?".
Observation
I have never been able to use more than one video camera in the same classroom because of the logistics of operating two cameras and also the increased intervention and data handling required. Over what period of time and on what schedule the observations will take place. How will researchers shed light on the participants' perspectives on the observed actions at a later stage.
Keeping a Research Journal
What will they focus on in their observations, besides the case itself. How best to record observed behavior manually (by writing) and mechanically to capture key information and prevent mechanical dysfunction (note: keep backup equipment and extra batteries).
Triangulation
Each text has a different perspective, is written in a different style, and has different "outcomes," but all three involve the same set of events.
Ethical Considerations
It is also common to say that participants can search for summaries of the results of the study afterwards if they wish (see eg UBC, 2006a). Researchers must also be reasonable, flexible and aware of any discomfort participants may experience as a result of the study (eg through self-disclosures or inability to perform as well as desired).
Summary
It is of the utmost importance to take measures to protect the cases we research or report on from harm or risk arising from their involvement in the study, from the publication of results, or even from unforeseen interpretations and applications of research that may have negative and unintended consequences (Davidson, 1993). However, it is difficult to know how much responsibility researchers share with those who may use our results for their own.
Introduction
Transcription
If one is more interested in the gist of the statement and less in the linguistic details, then a word-by-sentence or turn-by-turn translation will probably suffice. In my initial transcription of the first 12 hours of data, it was simply not possible to transcribe in more detail.
Data Analysis
Although qualitative data analysis is usually inductive and data-driven, codes can also be predicted prior to data analysis (a priori codes), given the study topic, research questions, and issues that may be encountered. Additionally, in multi-case studies, researchers must determine the generality of themes identified across cases.
Member Checks
All the things I had found particularly interesting in her story had been crossed out and she had marked "Irrelevant, please delete" in the margin. In the end, she agreed that if I removed some of the identifying marks from her life and "tone down" her comments, I could leave it intact.
Criteria for Evaluating Case Studies
These kinds of self-disclosures do not suit everyone's stylistic tastes or all kinds of case study research. A particularly subtle source of error in case study materials is the absence of information and ideas.
Summary
Introduction
Audience, Publication Venue, and Focus: Preparing the Report
Typically, dissertations can be made into more than one publication, emphasizing different aspects of the study in the same journal or in other places. In a longer article, greater contextualization and description of the case is possible, and more excerpts from the data and more topics can be included.
Organization and Content of the Report
In the presentation of the study we have included the usual components, but in the Findings we have discussed each case in turn. The discussion then summarized and commented on these themes, particularly the notion that teachers are 'cultural workers'. The section on Collaboration and Change was our reflective commentary on our collaboration, particularly on Uchida's involvement in the study and the four teachers' reflections on their involvement and new insights based on their involvement.
