[EDLING:473] Qualitative Research Question

[Miriam E Ebsworth]

Is anyone familiar with the practice of presenting qualitative data in
the form of first person stories informed by interviews, discussions,
notes and so forth with participants who are second language learners?

I have come across stories constructed by the researcher which are
written in the first person as part of the results section of a
dissertation. While they have aspects of the "flavor" of a second
language learner, to my eyes, the actual language use presented
appears somewhat more fluent and native than the interview transcripts
and other data sources would indicate. The actual sources of specific
language used are not listed except in a summary way- the stories
appear to be an amalgam which dramatizes the experiences of the
participants.

I have been told by some fellow faculty that this approach is now well
accepted in qualitative research circles and it's about time I got on
the bandwagon. One colleague shared that 95% of participants in a
bilingualism and literacy conference she has just attended favored
this approach.

I appreciate the opportunity to learn about a new way (to me) to
analyze and present data, but I have some concerns about how the
participants' words, language, and order of ideas is transformed
through this process.

Your thoughts, experiences, analysis, opinions, sources for these
ideas- in short anything you could add to the conversation will be
appreciated.

Thanks!

Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Ph.D.
<MEE1 at nyu.edu>
Director of Doctoral Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies