Look Before You Leap:

Issues Need to Consider in

Research

Ibrahim Hossain

Associate Professor
Institute of Modern Languages
University of Chittagong

What is Research?
a systematic investigation to find answers to a problem.
Burns (1994)

Two basic ways of finding answers to questions:

Secondary Research- what other people have said about a
particular issue
Primary/Emperical research- conducting ones own data
based investigation

Institute of Modern languages (IML),CU.

the organized, systematic search for answers to the

questions we ask Hatch and Lazaraton (1991)

Why Research?
to optimize language teaching & learning
to identify problems related to language learning &
teaching
to find solutions to some problems
to bridge the gap between theories & practice
to evaluate theories and decide which ones are
effective in classrooms & with learners
for strategic planning- EA/Curriculum designers
for academic requirement/ professional development

Research Cycle

Institute of Modern languages (IML),CU.

Selecting an Area for Research

Research Area : Issues Need to Consider

What do you know about your potential research area?
Have you previously studied any book/article on this area?
How familiar are you with the terminology, concepts and
issues?
How familiar are you with key authors, theories,
paradigms?
What do you still need to do or explore in order to develop a
basic or better understanding of your research area?
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Narrowing Down Research Area

Writing the Topic of Your Research

Is the topic clear and well defined?
Does it involve a problem, question, or
hypothesis that sets the agenda and points
precisely to what needs to be explored or
discovered?
Is the topic of genuine relevance or interest
within your subject discipline?
Does it pick up on important or interesting
themes or subjects arising from your studies?

Literature Review
Have you accessed the most recent literature of relevance
to your topic, as well as seminal sources from the past?
Do you refer to major books, articles? Since quality is more
important than quantity how well have you selected your
material?
Does the literature review hang together, to show how the
ideas and findings have developed, or is it merely a shopping
list of books and articles?
Is the review critical? Does it briefly evaluate, showing how
your dissertation/article fits into what is mistaken or lacking
in other studies?
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Methodology: Issues Need to Consider

Methodology is determined by the research
questions
Quantitative- involves data collection procedures
that result primarily in numerical data which is
analysed primarily by statistical methods. survey
research using questionnaire.
Qualitative- non-numerical data.-interview,
observation
Mixed methods- Combination of quantitative &
qualitative

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Why do students study English?

Qualitative: Since she was a child, Naomi had had

a dream: she really wanted to be a Fluent English
speaker. She would dream about talking in perfect
English to a native speaker, and being able to
understand everything that he said. She imagined
living in another country, possibly England, and
going walking through the English countryside with
her English friends, chatting about their lives.

Institute of Modern languages (IML),CU.

Quantitative: In the sample, 47% of students study

English because they want to work using English in
the future, 33% of students because they want to
watch American movies and read English books,
and 20% of students because they want to travel to
an English-speaking country.

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How do students learn vocabulary?

cards
their
three
these

Qualitative: Shamim keeps a list of the new words

that he reads and hears. Before class, he reads over
the textbook, and marks the new words that he
sees. He then writes these in his word list, checking
the meaning from the dictionary. In the first
column, he writes the new word, in the second the
part of speech, in the third the main definition in
Bangla, and in the fourth an example sentence.

Institute of Modern languages (IML),CU.

Quantitative: 27% of students used word

every day, and these students improved
English vocabulary scores by 17 points in
months. 40% of students kept a word list, and
students improved their scores by 12 points.

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Other Important Issues

Have I used the appropriate sample for
my study?

Have I followed any of the accepted

styles of referencing system?
Have I followed the research ethics
properly?

Institute of Modern languages (IML),CU.

Have I analyzed the data properly?

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Reference:

Dornyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied

linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Nunan, D (1992): Research Methods in Language
Learning. Cambridge: CUP.

Institute of Modern languages (IML),CU.

Burns , R.B. (1994) Introduction to research

methods (2nd ed.) Melbourne:Longman Chelshire.

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