Qualitative Research Article Review

Qualitative Research 1
Takeuchi, O. (2003). What can we learn from good foreign language learners? A
qualitative study in the Japanese foreign language context. In: Proceedings of the 29th
JACET Summer Seminar (ISSN 1347-3964). JACET, Tokyo, pp.20-26.
Qualitative Research 2
Al-Shboul, M., Ahmad, I., Nordin, M., and Rahman, Z. (2013). Foreign Language
Reading Anxiety in a Jordanian EFL Context: A Qualitative Study. English Language
Teaching, Vol. 6, No. 6.

Research Topic, Research Problem, and Research Questions

This article review discusses on two qualitative research in English as Foreign
Language (EFL) context consisting of Japanese and Jordanian language background. A
lot of similarities could be identified in both research where it focused on the affective
factors of students' learning performance. The research topic of both studies highlighted
on the internal elements of EFL students in learning language where most of them did not
have high motivation and did not exposed to the best way of language learning strategies.
This topic is really significant to the development of language learning especially in EFL
context. In the second article, the authors even extended the articles significance by
comparing how English native speakers learn English differently from the Arabics. The
authors also provided a detailed background of information related to reading anxiety
from other countries to highlight the significance of the research in the Jordanian context
to make the readers understand the general overview of the research.
The research problem in the first article was discussed briefly as the needs to know
the best strategies to become good language learners are important from the authors
view. In the second research, it is worth to mention that the authors highlighted that there

was not a single proper research being done to address the reading anxiety issue in the
Jordanian context. Thus, this research aimed to contribute to fill this gap.
Unfortunately, for the research questions, the first article did not provide a clear
research question so that the readers need to read through the article to identify the main
problem that will be resolved in the research. Creswell (2009) explained that research
question is the central element of a research and it makes the theoretical assumptions in
the framework more explicit, most of all it indicates what the researcher wants to know
most and first. Different from the second research, the obvious research questions helps
the readers to understand clearly on how the research will be conducted and the main
purposes of the research that covered on reading anxiety in Jordanian EFL context.
Review of the Literature
In the literature review of the first article, the researcher discussed on the overall
view regarding the strategies that should be used by good language learners and what are
the factors concerning the strategies favoured by them. The literature review section also
discussed briefly on how teachers should treat students differently according to their
levels. It is in line with the real situation where advanced and intermediate learners need
to be exposed with different strategies in learning the targeted language. However, there
were not much previous research mentioned to discuss the topic. According to Boote and
Beile (2005), literature review needs to be discussed critically to show where the research
fits into the existing body of knowledge and enable the researcher to learn from previous
theory on the topic. The researcher of the first research had listed some research
concerning the topic on how to be good foreign language learners but did not specifically
mentioned how the strategies should be conducted in the classroom context. It shows that
the topic was not being discussed in depth based on previous studies.
The second article provided a comprehensive background research on reading
anxiety to conduct a research in Jordanian EFL context specifically towards Yarmouk
University students. This research prepared an interesting qualitative data because it had
been focused into reading since the previous research covered mainly on speaking skill
only. Thus, the readers will be able to get a larger view on foreign language anxiety

towards reading by comparing previous research on different contexts. However, the

previous research conducted on reading anxiety discussed in the article were mainly
using quantitative data to present the result of the research. Without disregard the
importance of quantitative data in discovering the factors that contribute to reading
anxiety, this research gave a different perspective in understanding the topic by using
qualitative data. By using qualitative approach, the readers could see a more detailed and
unexplained factors such as culture and socio background that cannot be accomplished
solely through numbers and statistics.
Both research showed that minimal qualitative research have been conducted in
discovering the affective factors in language learning issue especially in EFL context. It
may be due to a complicated and detailed data collection that needs to be evaluated and
analysed by the researcher. The issue concerning students' motivation and internal factors
are also still relevant to be discussed since the literature review provided by both research
are current and up to date. Thus, it helps the readers to be well-informed with the purpose
of the study.
Methods
It is worth to mention that the first research article involved a large number of
respondents which were 160. They were claimed as "successful language learners"
because they had produced their own books on "how I have learned a foreign language",
thus, the data were analysed from those books. However, these characteristics did not
seem too convincing to claim them as good language learners. Flick (2009) argued that
the individuality and self-determination of the researcher in the qualitative research
approach could form a single, cohesive methodological approach and resulting in small
scope results. The researcher may provide better information by stating more detailed
personal information about the participants other than they had produce books on the
good language learners topic. The methodology used by the researcher also was really
simple as the researcher just extracted the data from the books he read. It would be better
if he invited others who are specified in language learning field to read the books too in
order to maintain the reliability and validity of the result.

Different from the second research article, it gives the readers a more influential data
to the readers by describing the participants background and its selection process. They
were not chosen randomly and really involved with the language learning process. As a
qualitative study, it is important for the researchers to choose the best source of data to
have a reliable and valid research result. The researchers also demonstrated an important
point in qualitative research by providing Credibility and Dependability section to
convince the readers and a detailed information on how to carry out the research. Thus, it
gives sufficient information for future researchers to replicate the research and get
reliable results.
Results and Discussion
The design of the first research article allowed the research question to be evaluated
by listing the strategies to become good language learners. The results were appropriately
descriptive and listed based on two main categories which are metacognitive strategies
and strategies in a specific skill area. The researcher also provided a table to visualise the
data and showed a clear connection between the research problem and the corresponding
results. Overall, the result of this research was expected to be understandable to the
readers since the research design was simple and did not involved complicated
procedures. It would be better if the researcher conducts an interview with the authors of
the books to provide more comprehensive result and validate the data gained. By gaining
personal views from the authors, the research would be more significant and contribute a
broader view towards the strategies on how to become good language learners especially
in Japanese context. Compared to the first article, the second article provided more
detailed and organised results although it is presented through qualitative data. The
results were discussed in thematic analysis together with complete examples; therefore, it
allows the readers to understand the theoretical framework of the research easily.
However, both research articles did not provide an explicit recommendation for
future research. The recommendations are important to present on practical significance

of the research and expand the findings of the study. According to the National Academy
of Education (1999), recommendations will connect research and practice more directly
through the building of a cumulative knowledge base that serves both sets of interests.
Furthermore, it is essential to recognize that the research done bring positive impacts
indirectly through the influence of the existing knowledge. Future researchers could
improve the first research by interviewing the authors of the books and identify the best
strategies of good language learners by the data collected while for the second article, the
readers could extract the recommendations needed from the suggestions and implications
of the study listed.

Conclusions
In conclusion, both research have provided a good overview in understanding
the affective factors of language learning in Japanese and Jordanian ELF context. The
first article needs to be improvised to provide more comprehensive and reliable data so
that it could be a good reference to those who are interested in exploring the affective
factors and strategies of good language learners. As for the second research article, the
researchers had presented an inclusive data with detailed methodology for others to
replicate the data without major change. It is hoped that this research review will provide
a creditable feedback in understanding both research better.

References
Boote, D. N. & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the
dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher 34/6,
3-15.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 131-133.
Flick, U. (2009). An Introduction to Qualitative Research (4th ed.). London: Sage.
National Academy of Education. (1999). Recommendations regarding research
priorities: An advisory report to the National Educational Research Policy and
Priorities Board. New York: Author.