29.1840, Review: Applied Linguistics: Riazi (2017)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-29-1840. Mon Apr 30 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.1840, Review: Applied Linguistics: Riazi (2017)

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2018 14:45:30
From: Luciana Forti [Luciana.forti at unistrapg.it]
Subject: Mixed Methods Research in Language Teaching and Learning

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-2123.html

AUTHOR: A. Mehdi Riazi
TITLE: Mixed Methods Research in Language Teaching and Learning
PUBLISHER: Equinox Publishing Ltd
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Luciana Forti, Università per Stranieri di Perugia

REVIEWS EDITOR: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY 

Mixed methods research (MMR) in second language teaching and learning is a
prospect that has gained considerable attention in the past few years. The
basic notion underlying the adoption of a MMR approach to the study of
language teaching and learning is that the combination of both qualitative and
quantitative strands within a single research design allows the researcher to
tackle more complex problems, and make inferences based on results stemming
from different kinds of evidence corroborating each other.  A. Mehdi Riazi,
the author of “Mixed Methods Research in Language Teaching and Learning,”  is
not new to the field, having published a number of works on the topic (Riazi,
2016b, 2016a; Riazi & Candlin, 2014). 

The volume is divided into three parts. The first one, “Theoretical and
Philosophical Aspects of Mixed Methods Research”, consists of two chapters and
provides an introduction to the volume; the second one, “Practical Aspects of
Mixed Methods Research”, is composed of five chapters and deals with the aims,
the designs, the questions and the tools that caracterise MMR studies; the
third one, “ Review and Analysis of Published MMR studies”, is composed of
five chapters and provides a framework to analyse MMR studies in relation to
language components, communication skills, motivation and attitude, language
testing and assessment, and is rounded off by a final chapter of conclusions. 

Part One of the volume, “Theoretical and Philosophical Aspects of Mixed
Methods Research”, consists of chapters 1 and 2. 

The first chapter, “Researching Language Teaching and Learning: Three Research
Approaches”, provides a description of the three main research approaches in
language teaching and learning: quantitative, qualitative and MMR. By placing
these approaches into the broader field of empirical research, the author
provides an overview of how frequently applied each one of these approaches is
in the field of applied linguistics, and then describes how the quantitative
and qualitative approaches differ in terms of the kind of data collected, the
kind of tools used to analyse the data and the underlying logic characterising
each one of them. Drawing on the results of a few surveys, the author reports
that studies in language learning and teaching have most typically adopted a
quantitative approach.

In the second chapter, “Underlying Worldviews (Philosophies) for Mixing
Methods”, the author reviews four underlying worldview philosophies for the
MMR approach, namely pragmatism, transformativism, dialectical pluralism and
critical realism, arguing in favour of the last one. The general aim of this
chapter is to provide a theoretical justification for mixing methods. 

Part Two of the volume, “Practical Aspects of Mixed Methods Research”,
describes the practical aspects of MMR, and consists of Chapters 3 to 7. 

“Following a Purpose and Achieving Goals in MMR” is the title of Chapter 3,
describing the five purposes underlying the choice of mixing methods:
triangulation, complementarity, initiation, development and expansion. 

In regard to triangulation, the author describes the differences that
characterise the concept whether a quantitative or qualitative framework is
being considered, and then goes over the main aspects implied when mixing the
two methods. The rationale is that of integrating results gathered from
different methods in order to corroborate the findings and make them more
solid. 
A distinction is made between a broader and narrower definition of
triangulation: according to the former, different methods drawn from both the
quantitative and qualitative research paradigms can be integrated; according
to the latter, only methods within one of the two research paradigms (either
quantitative or qualitative) can be integrated. Complementarity seeks to view
a research problem as multi-layered or multi-dimensional, where each layer or
dimension is characterised by a single kind of data source. Initiation refers
to the purpose of adopting an MMR framework when observing gaps in the
existing literature on a topic, or issues in a study that is underway. The
development purpose allows the researchers to build on the results from a
previous strand or conduct an in-depth analysis of results gathered from
different strands. Finally, the expansion purpose sees the addition of strands
to a specific study after its initiation.

In Chapter 4, “Mixed Methods Research Designs”, the author provides an
overview of three series of MMR study designs, from three different published
works. In Morse’s design typology (pp. 87-91), an MMR study can be structured
in one of six ways, variously combining simultaneous vs. sequential strands
together with a more or less accentuated emphasis on either the quantitative
or qualitative dimension. According to Teddlie and Tashakkori’s design
typology (pp. 91-98), the two strands in a design may be concurrent,
sequential, based on conversion, fully integrated or multilevel. Creswell and
Plano Clark (pp. 98-100) propose three concurrent designs (triangulation,
nested, transformative) and three sequential designs (explanatory,
exploratory, transformative). 
The last pages of the chapter are devoted to the clarification of concepts and
terms across all the design typologies, such as triangulation in the broad and
narrow sense, which was introduced at the beginning of the volume. 

Specific aspects related to methodology are dealt with in Chapter 5, “Research
Questions, Sampling Procedures and Data Collection Strategies”. Research
questions in both quantitative and qualitative research designs are described
in terms of their purposes and in relation to the underlying worldviews
presented in the second chapter. Four sampling types (identical, parallel,
nested and multilevel) are described in relation to both concurrent and
sequential MMR designs. Finally, data collection is presented in terms of
within- and between- strategies. 

Chapter 6, “Analyzing Data and Making Inferences”, presents the range of data
types and how they can be analysed in relation to different MMR designs.
Research questions, whether quantitative, qualitative or mixed, are connected
with different kinds of data sources, and their related data analysis
methodologies. References are made in regard to how computer assisted data
analysis (CADA) can aid the researcher, and how specific programs such as
NVivo or SPSS are used to treat qualitative and quantitative data
respectively. But how are we then able to draw inferences from the analysis?
This question is addressed in the last part of the chapter, by stating a
series of specific principles that should guide the interpretation of
correlation coefficients (p. 149). 

This second part of volume is then rounded up by an overview of how a MMR
study proposal should be written. Chapter 7, “Writing Proposals for MMR
Studies”, describes in fact the typical structure that the proposal should
have, and provides suggestions as to how each section within the structure
should be built in order to make a compelling argument and persuade the reader
that the study is worth pursuing. In particular, it clarifies the links
between the nature of different types of research questions and the kind of
data sources and data analysis that each one of them implies (p. 168). 

Part Three is devoted to a review and analysis of published MMR studies, and
is formed by chapters 8 to 12. 

In Chapter 8, “A Framework for Analyzing MMR Studies”, the author describes a
framework to analyse and review MMR studies. This framework is made by the
following three sections: annotation of the study, which is intended as an
extended abstract of the study; design and strands, where the qualitative and
quantitative dimensions of the study are identified in relation to how they
position themselves within the study; and finally, commentary, which
represents the critical part of the analysis, discussing the conceptual,
methodological and inferential aspects of the study. This framework is used to
analyse and review 8 MMR studies, which are evenly distributed in the
subsequent 4 chapters according to the language learning area they focus on.  

Chapter 9, “Researching Language Components”, reviews a study on the
effectiveness of an inductive vs. a deductive approach in the learning of
grammar, and a study on learning vocabulary through technology. Chapter 10,
“Researching Communication Skills”, focuses on a longitudinal study on the
development of ESL learners’ fluency and comprehensibility, and on an
exploratory study on the effectiveness of a pen pal project. In Chapter 11,
“Researching Motivation and Attitude”, the author reviews a study on language
learning motivation and another one on teachers’ attitudes towards teaching
English in India. Finally, Chapter 12, “Researching Language Testing and
Assessment”, contains a review of a study focused on the predicted validity of
an ESL placement test, and of another one regarding AFL research and its
usefulness in the classroom. Each one of these four chapters, containing a
review of two MMR studies, also provides the reader with guidance to review
two additional studies for each of the areas that were considered. 

The last chapter is devoted to providing a final round up to the book. The
author provides a synopsis of the book, by going over the major steps that
need to be taken in designing and carrying out an MMR study: design,
rationale, data collection methods, data analysis, inferences from results. He
reiterates the importance of the underlying abductive and retroductive logic
characterizing these studies, and discusses the challenges that a researcher
faces each step along the way. Overall, conducting MMR studies is seen as a
recursive process, in the sense that each step can inform and be informed by
other ones. 

EVALUATION 

The volume presents both an introduction to the MMR approach to second
language learning and teaching studies, as well as a defense of its importance
and usefulness. It is well structured, clearly written, and dense with
references. It sits well within the author’s publishing history on the topic,
and the reader can conveniently look at works such as Riazi & Candlin (2014)
to expand on some of the theoretical points, or Riazi (2016b) for a reference
resource based on an alphabetically ordered list of key concepts related to
MMR methods. It distinguishes itself from other works related to methodology
in second language learning and teaching research because of its orientation
towards the adoption of a specific approach. 

It seems to be mainly aimed at graduate students, who find themselves in the
position of applying for a postgraduate position through the presentation of a
research project. This is reflected especially in Chapter 7, where very
practical and useful recommendations are made in relation to how one should go
about conceiving and designing a study, and then writing up a persuasive
proposal. The recommendations are practical and specific, and relate to each
single phase of the development of a project. In the space of very few pages,
the author manages to effectively pinpoint the key factors that are needed in
order to produce a solid research proposal. It is very easy to imagine that
these would be the most bookmarked pages by a graduate student. 
It may be noted that graduate students may not be overly familiar with all
aspects involved in quantitative and qualitative methodology, and may have to
consult other resources such as Larsen-Freeman & Long (1991) for a general
overview, or Gass & Mackey (2007) and Mackey & Gass (2012) for specific
guidance in relation to different kinds of data. 

However, the ideal reader of the volume might in fact be a relatively
experienced researcher wishing to broaden his or her horizons in relation to
methodology. In this case, the basic notions connected to the quantitative and
qualitative methodological dimensions of research into second language
learning and teaching are assumed to have been acquired, and the reader’s
attention would be concentrated on how the two dimensions can be integrated
into a single study. As a result, Chapter 7 would perhaps be not as useful as
for the graduate students, but on the other hand the rest of the volume
wouldn’t necessitate additional resources to be fully appreciated. 

Graphs and tables accompany each chapter with the purpose of visualising and
clarifying what is presented in the written text. Highlight boxes containing
bullet points summarizing the previously presented information are present
throughout the book, though not always consistently. For example, when
presenting the four different underlying worldviews for mixing methods in
Chapter 2, highlight boxed are provided for only the first two. 

As the books proceeds, other kinds of summarising boxes are used to zoom in on
sets of criteria, or challenges. Boxes containing learning tasks are frequent
when dealing with analysing data and making inferences in Chapter 5, and
appear again in the four chapters containing the systematic analysis and
review of sample MMR studies. 

The framework presented in Chapter 8 to analyse and review MMR studies is
effective in providing the necessary tools to understand the different
components making up a study, which especially graduate students would find
useful. In the author’s framework, in order to identify these components, we
need to identify the target population, the kind of strands involved in the
study, the kind of data sources and data analysis used, and the kind of
inferences made on the basis of the analysis. It remains unclear why the
author wouldn’t include research questions as one of the components of a
study. It seems that identifying the specific research questions
characterising a study would be useful in terms of seeing how a specific
research questions connects with data sources, data analysis and inferences,
exactly as is shown in the excellent tables on p. 168 and p. 140. 

Overall, the book is an excellent contribution to the field of second language
learning and teaching research methodology, which can be appreciated by both
graduate students and more experienced researchers alike. 

REFERENCES

Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2007). Data Elicitation for Second and Foreign
Language Research. Routledge. 

Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M. H. (1991). An introduction to second language
acquisition research. New York - London: Longman.

Mackey, A., & Gass, S. (Eds.). (2012). Research methods in second language
acquisition: a practical guide. Oxford: Blackwell.

Riazi, A. M. (2016a). Innovative mixed-methods research (IMMR): Moving beyond
design technicalities to epistemological and methodological realisation.
Applied Linguistics, 37(1), 33–49.

Riazi, A. M. (2016b). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Research Methods in
Applied Linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research.
London: Routledge.

Riazi, A. M., & Candlin, C. N. (2014). Mixed-methods research in language
teaching and learning: Opportunities, issues and challenges. Language
Teaching, 47, 135–173.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Luciana Forti is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at the University for
Foreigners of Perugia, Italy. She holds a BA and MA in Linguistics and Applied
Linguistics respectively, both earned at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Her doctoral project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of using corpora in an
Italian as a second language learning context, with a focus on verb+noun
collocations. She is also a CELTA qualified EFL teacher.





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