17.119, Review: Textbooks/2nd Lang Acquisition:Mackey & Gass(2005)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-17-119. Sat Jan 14 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.119, Review: Textbooks/2nd Lang Acquisition:Mackey & Gass(2005)

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What follows is a review or discussion note contributed to our 
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1)
Date: 12-Jan-2006
From: Hiroshi Matsumoto < hiroshi.matsumoto at att.net >
Subject: Second Language Research: Methodology and Design 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 18:08:21
From: Hiroshi Matsumoto < hiroshi.matsumoto at att.net >
Subject: Second Language Research: Methodology and Design 
 

AUTHORS: Mackey, Alison; Gass, Susan, M.
TITLE: Second Language Research
SUBTITLE: Methodology and Design
PUBLISHER: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
YEAR: 2005
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-1170.html 

Hiroshi Matsumoto, Soka University of America

DESCRIPTION/SUMMARY

This volume aims to present an introductory and yet comprehensive 
survey of second language research methodology and design with 
novice researchers and graduate students as the main readers.  It 
covers various data elicitation measures, research designs, and 
practical/logistical considerations essential for conducting well-
controlled second language studies, including quantitative, qualitative, 
and classroom-oriented research.  It also includes ethical issues for 
data gathering and a detailed checklist useful in submitting research 
for publication.

The book is intended to be used primarily as a textbook for 
introductory research methodology courses with graduate students as 
the main audience.  However, it is useful as a resource book, as well, 
for more experienced researchers who want to enhance the quality of 
their research methods and designs.

Chapter 1, ''Introduction to Research,'' provides an overview of 
fundamentals in second language research, such as: 
(1) the definition and purpose of research (i.e., what is research?), 
(2) two major types of research (quantitative and qualitative studies) 
and their main characteristics, and 
(3) elements of standard research report format (title, abstract, 
introduction, literature review, statement of purpose, hypotheses, 
method, results, and discussion).  

The chapter then emphasizes the importance of narrowing down and 
identifying research questions.  After conducting extensive literature 
review, the research questions (except for so-called replication 
studies) need to be original and interesting, making sure that they 
have not been studied before.

In Chapter 2, ''Issues Related to Data Gathering,'' Mackey and Gass 
introduce important ethical issues related to the process of gathering 
data from human subjects.  The main issues included in this chapter 
are (1) obtaining informed consent from the human subjects, (2) 
review process by the institutional review boards (IRBs), and (3) when 
withholding information toward the human subjects becomes 
necessary in second language research.  Regarding (3), the authors 
explain that second language researchers can ''sometimes'' conceal 
their real interests and use some small deceptions.  Informing the 
participants about the goals of the research, for instance, may change 
their actions during the research and thus lead to 
biased/unrepresentative research results.  Withholding information 
may be permitted when all of the following three conditions are met: 
(a) incomplete disclosure is essential to the goals of the study; (b) no 
risks are undisclosed; and (c) participants will be provided with an 
opportunity to be debriefed when the study is completed.

Chapter 3, ''Common Data Collection Measures,'' focuses on 
presenting measures for eliciting and collecting second language 
data.  The chapter shows seven major research paradigms in second 
language research and specific data elicitation/collection measures 
often used in each research paradigm.  The seven major research 
paradigms the authors lay out are: 
(1) formal models of language research (that is, Universal 
Grammar/UG approach to studying the structure of linguistic forms; 
elicitation measures include acceptability judgments, elicited imitation, 
truth-value judgments and other interpretation tasks), 
(2) processing research (more psycholinguistic approach to 
investigating second language acquisition processes and 
mechanisms; its elicitation measures are sentence interpretation, 
reaction time, and moving window), 
(3) interaction-based research (that aims at studying learners' 
language interactions with others; measures include picture 
description tasks, spot the difference, and consciousness-raising 
tasks), 
(4) strategies and cognitive processes research (aiming at 
determining the strategies and cognitive processes second language 
learners tend to use; measures are observation and introspective 
measures), 
(5) sociolinguistic/pragmatics-based research (examining social and 
contextual variables that affect second language learning; its 
measures include naturalistic setting, elicited narratives, and role 
play), 
(6) questionnaire and survey research, and 
(7) existing databases research.  The authors explain that these 
paradigms are for the purpose of practical convenience and there is 
crossover with some measures used in more than one research 
paradigms.

Chapter 4, ''Research Variables, Validity, and Reliability,'' introduces 
basic concepts necessary for designing a second language research 
project, such as hypotheses, variable types, operational definitions (or 
operationalizations)of variables, validity, and reliability.  Regarding 
variable types, the authors explain the notions of independent and 
dependent variables, moderator variables, intervening variables, and 
control variables.  As for validity, fundamental concepts of content 
validity, face validity, construct validity, criterion-referenced validity, 
predictive validity, internal validity, and external validity are included.

The subsequent chapters, from Chapter 5 through 7, deal with various 
research designs and practical considerations in quantitative research 
(Chapter 5), qualitative research (Chapter 6), and classroom-based 
research (Chapter 7).

Chapter 5, ''Designing a Quantitative Study,'' explains practical 
considerations pertaining to three major design types in quantitative 
research: (1) correlational (associational) research design, (2) true 
experimental design (with random assignment), and (3) quasi-
experimental design (without random assignment).  The chapter 
shows that (A) a pretest/posttest design or (B) posttest-only design 
can be used for true experimental studies.  For quasi-experimental 
research, (C) a repeated measures design can be used to overcome 
the problem of nonrandomization.  When more than one independent 
variable is involved, whether in true or quasi-experimental studies, (D) 
a factorial design can be used to study the effects of multiple variables 
on a dependent variable.  When the number of subjects is small, (E) a 
time-series design is useful.  Finally, (F) a one-shot design is used in 
a quasi-experimental research to measure learner 
knowledge/behavior at one particular point in time.

Chapter 6, ''Qualitative Research,'' provides useful discussions on the 
nature/definition of qualitative research, major methods for collecting 
qualitative data, and practical considerations for conducting qualitative 
research.  Regarding the nature of qualitative research, the authors 
explain that qualitative research is based on 
(a) descriptive data that does not make use of statistical procedures, 
(b) ''emic'' (or inside; vs. ''etic'' or outside) perspective, and 
(c) cyclical/open-ended (without prior hypotheses) processes.  

The chapter stresses that the quantitative and qualitative data should 
be viewed as complementary means of investigating complex 
phenomena in second language acquisition.   Then, the chapter 
explains the advantages and caveats for (1) ethnographies, (2) case 
studies, (3) interviews, (4) observations, and (5) diaries and journals.  
Then, it emphasizes the importance of cyclical data analysis 
(composed of the first round of data collection/data analysis without 
hypotheses, a hypothesis-formation stage, a second and a more 
focused round of data collection where hypotheses are tested, and a 
more refined stage in which a rich/full picture of the data can be 
obtained).  The importance of methodological ''triangulation'' (using 
different research methods/measures to study a certain phenomenon) 
is also discussed.

Chapter 7, ''Classroom Research,'' addresses important research 
methods and practical/logistical considerations pertinent to classroom-
based research.  Classroom research takes place in the distinct 
context of ''classrooms'' (vs. laboratories).  It requires judiciously 
selected and combined approaches rather than rigid adherence to 
one approach over another.  Two methods useful for classroom 
research, which are explained in the previous chapters, are further 
elucidated with more detailed-information and examples: (1) 
observations and (2) introspective methods.  For observation 
techniques, the chapter provides detailed descriptions of various 
observation schemes, such as the Target Language Observation 
Schemes (TALOS) and the Communicative Orientation of Language 
Teaching (COLT).  For introspective methods, it explicates (a) uptake 
sheets, (b) stimulated recall, and (c) diary research in classroom 
contexts.  Similar to Chapter 6, the chapter emphasizes the 
importance of methodological triangulation in carrying out classroom-
oriented research.

The final three chapters of this volume discuss the issues of 
appropriate coding systems in processing research data (Chapter 8), 
analyzing quantitative data (Chapter 9), and reporting research 
(Chapter 10).  

Chapter 8, ''Coding,'' explains about various aspects of data coding, 
including (1) transcribing oral data (for conversation analysis; 
transcribing conventions and technology), (2) coding for three 
different types of data (i.e., nominal, ordinal, and interval data), (3) 
coding systems, (4) interrater reliability, and (5) the mechanics of 
coding.  Regarding coding systems, the chapter provides descriptions 
and examples of common/standard coding systems as well as more 
custom-made coding systems.  For common coding systems, (a) t-
units, (b) suppliance in obligatory context (SOC) counts, and (c) CHAT 
system are described.  For custom-made systems, examples of 
systems made/used by different researchers for their own studies for 
coding (d) question formation, (e) negative feedback, (f) classroom 
interaction, (g) second language writing instruction, and (h) task 
planning are included.

Chapter 9, ''Analyzing Quantitative Data,'' presents an overview of 
introductory statistics commonly used for second language research, 
including (1) descriptive statistics (measures of frequency, measures 
of central tendency, and measures of dispersion), (2) inferential 
statistics (parametric and nonparametric statistics), and (3) 
correlation.  Statistical techniques such as t-tests, Analysis of Variance 
(ANOVA), Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), Chi Square, and Mann-
Whitney U/Wilcoxon Rank Sums are explained.

In Chapter 10, the authors show helpful tips for drafting sections that 
address discussion of results, limitations, directions for future 
research, and conclusions.  They also provide a detailed checklist for 
researchers to consider in submitting research for publication.  The 
checklist covers all the necessary sections of second language 
research, including the research problem and question, hypotheses, 
literature review, design, logistics, data gathering, data analysis, 
conclusions, references, final touches and formatting.

CRITIQUE/EVALUATION

As stated before, this volume is intended to be used as a textbook for 
introductory courses on second language research methodology with 
graduate students and novice researchers as the primary readers.  To 
evaluate the volume's strengths/significance and limitations/issues, 
therefore, my critique/evaluation section takes a look at the following 
six aspects with reference to and some revisions of evaluation criteria 
provided by Brown (2001, p. 142).  These components are all 
essential characteristics quality college and university level textbooks 
have to have: 

(1) Scope (how thoroughly the intended scope is covered); (2) 
Sequence and organization (whether the chapters are organized and 
sequenced in a natural way); (3) Contents of each chapter, including 
currency of information/knowledge included and the quality of 
examples and illustrations; (4) Background of the readers and their 
needs (how much their needs are reflected in the volume); (5) 
Formatting (including general layout, tables of contents, chapter 
headings, glossary, and index,); (6) Goals and Overall quality.

First, regarding its scope, this volume presents a fairly comprehensive 
survey of second language research methodology and design, 
including a broad perspective on what research really is, ethical 
perspective on data gathering, common data elicitations measures, 
validity and reliability in research, practical considerations for well-
controlled studies, data coding, data analysis, and tips for submitting 
research for publication.  All these areas are covered extensively and 
in detail.

One important element or sub-area requiring a little more elaboration, 
however, seems to be a philosophical perspective on what research 
really is (Chapter 1).  In Section 1.1 ''Different Types of Research,'' 
some more elaborated and yet relatively brief discussion might be 
added on the nature of second language research while focusing on 
its modes of inquiry.

The authors do show the major differences between quantitative and 
qualitative studies in Section 1.1.  However, it seems that readers 
would benefit more by at first gaining a broad and philosophical 
perspective on modes of inquiry in all areas of research, not second 
language research alone.

Research or scholarly/scientific research needs to examine various 
phenomena, whether natural, social, or human phenomena, in a 
careful/systematic way.  In natural sciences (i.e., physics, chemistry, 
biology, and meteorology), researchers seek new knowledge that can 
better ''explain'' natural phenomena by establishing causal 
relationships and/or ''predict'' by the notion of probability.  In contrast, 
researchers in social sciences (i.e., psychology, sociology, 
anthropology, and ethnography), especially since 19th century, have 
been pursuing new knowledge that serves to not only explain but also 
help us ''understand'' various human/social phenomena.  Social 
scientists had been attempting to examine various social/human 
phenomena in the same way as natural scientists did.  However, Max 
Weber, well-know 19th century sociologist, advocated that social 
scientists need to ''verstehen'' (that is, to interpretively/hermeneutically 
understand) the contexts/reasons of social and human phenomena, 
as well.  He emphasized that social/human phenomena are 
occasionally stimulus free and intrinsically different from natural 
phenomena.

Again, some concise discussion as above would certainly help 
graduate students recognize the place of second language research 
within the entire realm of ''research'' and, thus, understand why the 
area of second language research requires not only quantitative but 
also qualitative studies.

Second, regarding its sequence and organization, the way many 
chapters of this volume are organized/sequenced seems natural and 
logical.  The book starts with a broad perspective on what second 
language research is, covers ethical issues, elucidates methodological 
considerations in various data collection measures, further moves on 
to data analysis and coding, and in the final chapter revisits a broad 
(and yet more elaborated) perspective on what second language 
research is composed of.  All the chapters seem to be organized with 
a relatively natural flow from one chapter to another.

Third, many chapters of this volume provide detailed discussions on 
the pertinent topics and components.  In addition, various studies cited 
in the book are most recent and help to provide readers with updated 
information/knowledge about the topics.  Chapters 3, 6, and 7 on 
common data elicitation measures, qualitative research, and 
classroom-oriented research respectively are especially excellent 
chapters providing in-depth discussions and clear 
examples/illustrations.

Regarding the quality of examples of illustrations, however, the quality 
of Chapter 8, ''Coding,'' may be rated as average.  Section 8.3.2 
shows several examples of custom-made coding systems, including 
question formation, negative feedback, classroom interaction, second 
language writing instruction, and task planning.  Descriptions of some 
examples and coding systems included in the section are not 
necessarily sufficient.  It is a little difficult for readers to fully 
understand these interesting examples only with the book's 
descriptions.

Regarding the background of the readers and their needs, as a whole 
this volume provides adequate amount and level of discussions on 
second language research methodology well suited for the needs of 
graduate students and novice researchers.  For example, Chapter 6 
presents qualitative research methods, such as (1) ethnographies, (2) 
case studies, (3) interviews, (4) observations, and (5) diaries and 
journals.  While explicating both the advantages and caveats of each 
method, the chapter helps readers become able to choose the most 
appropriate method that can address their specific research 
topic/questions well.  Questions and skill-building exercises at the end 
of each chapter are also helpful for many novice researchers.

Fifth, regarding its formatting (including general layout, tables of 
contents, chapter headings, glossary, and index,), the volume is in 
general user-friendly and well-formatted (except very one small 
inaccuracy found on p.305, last line).  Again, the readers' needs are 
well considered.

With all the above five aspects considered, the main goal of this 
volume to present a comprehensive survey of second language 
research methodology and design to novice researchers and 
graduate students appears to be accomplished fairly well.  In addition, 
especially because of the fairly comprehensive scope coverage and in-
depth/quality discussions in many chapters, I recommend that this 
book might be read by more experienced researchers, as well, as a 
source of new ideas and inspirations as they always need insights and 
clues for polishing their research further.

As Long (1980, 1985) and Matsumoto (1998; Chapter 3) emphasized, 
to show the directions second language research should pursue 
further, the maturity of one area of scholarly/scientific research (like 
psychology, sociology, and physics) may be measured by the extent 
of its methodological growth and rigor.  From this point of view, I think 
many second language researchers are very pleased to see this 
volume and to realize that the quality of second language research 
methodology has reached this level and will continue to be refined 
further.

REFERENCES

Brown, D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An integrated approach to 
language pedagogy.  White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman.

Long, M. (1980). Inside of the ''black box'': Methodological issues in 
classroom research on language learning.  Language Learning, 1, 1-
42.

Long, M. (1985). Input and second language acquisition theory. In S. 
M. Gass & C. G. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition 
(pp.377-393). Cambridge, MA: Newbury House. 

Matsumoto, H. (1998). The relationship between various types of 
teachers' language and comprehension in the acquisition of 
intermediate Japanese. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Hiroshi Matsumoto is an associate professor of second language 
acquisition and pedagogy at Soka University of America, California.  
His research interests include the relationship between various types 
of teachers' language (or teacher talk) and comprehension, error 
analysis and corrective feedback techniques for enhancing students' 
speaking skills, Peak Learning Experiences and intrinsic motivation, 
and teaching culture.





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