From Research Topics to Research

Questions: narrowing the focus

Dr Judith Hanks, University of Leeds, UK24 January 2016

OverviewThanks (Mark, Asli, Kenan… everyone else!)Ways of identifying the focus of researchWays of approaching RQ formation

Refining Research QuestionsAgency & Identifying possible co-researchersThe importance of readingThe importance of curiosity and imaginationThe importance of data collection/generation

Complexity vs reductionism

The problem with orthodox research

“…orthodox research does not provide what teachers want to know; teachers seek understanding and illumination rather than explanation and definition.” (Burton, 1998: 425)

So what is it that you want to know?What puzzles you about your

language learning/teaching/teacher training experiences?

What assumptions are you already making?

Challenge those assumptions!

Mark Wyatt ended last week’s Webinar with a series of questions about practitioner research: who, what, where, how, when and why.He talked also about ‘noticing something in the classroom’ that triggers a research focus.Today, I am going to take these points further, focusing particularly on:WhoWhereHow

Underpinning the whole talk is the importance of ‘Why….?’

Who is research for? “… in order to understand precisely what takes place in our classrooms, we have to look at these classrooms as entities in their own right and explore the meaning they have for those who are involved in them in their own terms” (Tudor, 2001: 9)

=> Practitioners => Practitioner Research

Where to conduct research?

“… many would-be researchers, in their jobs and daily lives, are already in, or can find around them, situations which have the advantage of presenting ready-made research settings. What they need is to take the opportunities available.” (Holliday, 2002: 27-8)In our case, this often means the classroom.But classrooms are immeasurably complex & dynamic social systems. So we need carefully refined RQs to keep us on-track.

How to formulate RQs: Two possible approaches

There are many possible approaches to narrowing the focus. Today I am going to talk about just two:1. Topic -> title -> RQs -> investigations -> data -

> writing up2. Topic -> data -> investigations -> data (again) -

> writing up -> RQs -> title

One way…Brainstorm: what are you interested in?Write down the title

Underline key words What do you mean by each one?What has already been said about this? (Read

literature)Consider: what is feasible?

According to your interests/concernsIn terms of scope/scale of the project

Think about the data you will need (How to collect data? Who can give you insights?)

With thanks to Lou Harvey (2016, personal communication)

• Brainstorm / mindmap

• Analyse key lexis – what do you mean by it?

• What has already been said about the topic?

Title &

topic

• What is feasible in the context?

• What is the scope/scale of the project?

Research

question(s)

• Analysis• Writing up

Data collection

Another way… Brainstorm: what are you curious about? What made you think of this topic?

Could you write it up as a narrative? Or a ‘critical incident’? And then analyse what you have written?

Agency Who needs to know about this topic area? Who has insight into this area? Who can help to find out?

Collect/generate data As you analyse the data, imagine different possiblities From the analysis, narrow down: what is it that you are REALLY

interested in? Read: what have others already said about it?

Topic

Critical incident(s)? What puzzles you?Narratives?

Zeus has a headache… and Athena is born!

Where does a research question come from?

Doesn’t spring fully formed from the head (unlike Athena springing out of Zeus’ head in the myth)

Good classroom research needs to be Collaborative Contingent CriticalOpen to opportunities Flexible

What problems can you see with these draft RQs?

1. How can I motivate my learners?2. How can we reduce language learning anxiety?3. What are the benefits of Action Research/Lesson

Study/Reflective Practice/Exploratory Practice (etc)?

4. How can I improve my students’ academic writing?5. Does error correction improve speaking skills?How could you re-write them to make them

Researchable; Critical; Collaborative; Relevant??

An example Topic: Motivation

Eg: How can I motivate my learners? Whose motivation matters here? Why? What makes you think your learners aren’t motivated? Is it all of

them? Some of them? All the time? Some of the time? Why did you think of this topic? (Tell the story) Are you sure it is the learners’ who aren’t motivated?

Revised RQ: What factors affect motivation in the classroom?

Who can help you to understand the topic? What (exactly) do you/they need to know? How can you/they find out? (please don’t say ‘questionnaire’!)

Narrative for RQ on motivationThere were between 15- 20 students in each class but each week this number diminished. They totally “hated” this lesson and the book as well. Even many successful students I’d known from the prep school were complaining about the course’s “difficulty”. They said, “ We don’t like to listen to those long lectures as we find them time-consuming and boring and the reading texts are too long and there are millions of unknown words” –although we practised how to handle such texts many times. Most of the time they were physically in the class but mentally they were absent. They never spoke in the classroom or took part in the pairwork or groupwork activities. They never showed up for the office hours and their exam results were terrible.. We asked them to do a project on essay writing and they all plagiarized or never turned their work in. I thought the biggest problem was the coursebook. They couldn’t catch up with the book and the course was too demanding for them.

Analysis of narrativeThere were between 15- 20 students in each class but each week this number diminished. They totally “hated” this lesson and the book as well. Even many successful students I’d known from the prep school were complaining about the course’s “difficulty”. They said, “ We don’t like to listen to those long lectures as we find them time-consuming and boring and the reading texts are too long and there are millions of unknown words” –although we practised how to handle such texts many times. Most of the time they were physically in the class but mentally they were absent. They never spoke in the classroom or took part in the pairwork or groupwork activities. They never showed up for the office hours and their exam results were terrible.. We asked them to do a project on essay writing and they all plagiarized or never turned their work in. I thought the biggest problem was the coursebook. They couldn’t catch up with the book and the course was too demanding for them.

Another exampleTopic: Student dislike of the coursebookEg ‘Why don’t my students like the coursebook?’

Refined RQ: ‘Why don’t I like the coursebook?’

(see Allwright & Hanks, 2009, for the full story)

Another example Topic: Language Learning Anxiety

Eg: How can I reduce my learners’ anxiety levels? What makes you think your learners are anxious? Who is anxious? Is it all of them? Some of them? Which ones? When are they anxious? Why did you think of this topic? (Tell the story) Is their anxiety perfectly reasonable (eg just before a test)? Is it possible to reduce someone else’s anxiety under these

circumstances? Revised RQ: What factors influence anxiety levels in

language learning? Who can help you to understand the topic? What do you/they need to understand? How can you/they find out about it? (please don’t say qu’aire)

To sum up…“Unfortunately there are plenty of things in TESOL that I’d like to find out about, but some of the questions are impossibly big, others demand research skills that I don’t have, and one or two are personal hobby horses. Finding a topic is above all else a practical business, and three things really matter: 1. deciding on something that you want to do;2. that you can do; and3. that is worth doing.”(Richards, 2003: 240)

Refining RQs (ii)What are you curious about?

Who will your research involve? Who needs this research?Who can give insights?

What made you think of this topic?Was there a ‘critical incident’?Can you write a brief narrative about what set you

thinking?How about analysing what you have written?

How can you find out more?

Integrating research & practice

Exploratory Practice

Learners and teachers as researchers

“By positioning learners alongside teachers as legitimate investigators of classroom language learning and teaching, EP [exploratory practice] enhances the potential for understandings in pedagogy and research alike.”(Hanks, 2015: 19)

Refining RQs“In the same way that hypotheses develop and adapt throughout the research process, research questions can also change. Initial questions lead the researcher to investigate in a certain direction; but within this process there will be unforeseen discoveries which raise further or different questions.” (Holliday, 2002: 36)

The importance of readingAt some point, we need to read about what others have already said about this issue:We can read early on (right at the beginning) We can read during our data collection & analysisWe can read towards the end of writing upThe best approach of all is to read at all three stages!!Note: Don’t panic if you find someone else got there first – read critically, and look for the gaps where your work can fit!

The importance of imagination

Having collected some initial data…can you imagine all the different possibilities that

might have influenced this situation?How many different possibilities (which could

explain what’s going on) can you imagine?How many of those possibilities can you eliminate?What’s left is the beginnings of a researchable RQ…With thanks to Dick Allwright (2016, personal communication)

Reductionism vs Complexity

Dangers of reductionism:Can lead to trivial ‘answers’Being ‘more efficient’ might not actually be

worth itCan we accommodate complexity?Classrooms are richly complex social situationsWealth of data; wealth of opportunitiesConsider: Who benefits from the research?

What’s the RQ for?Classroom research is not about hypothesis-testing.Not starting with a hypothesis about what will/won’t ‘work’.Instead, we are trying to understand what is going on in the classroom => RQ is a guide to help us keep focussed.Therefore the importance of

Thinking Reflecting Analysing

Must be open to the possibility of RQs changing; must also be self-aware, (self-)critical, specific, feasible and above all, relevant.

Concluding remarksClassroom Research is deeply autobiographical, and is rooted

in social context.So give up any notions of ‘objectivity’ (it isn’t, and will never

be, objective); instead enjoy the subjectivity of the work: be alive to the human and social aspects of the research.

Stay focussed; stay critical. Be specific. Remain open to other interpretations.

Keep your initial RQs in mind, and be ready to refine them as and when necessary.

Data is going to be crucial to your research, so how are you going to collect/generate data?

References Allwright, D. (2003). Exploratory Practice: rethinking practitioner research in language teaching.

Language Teaching Research, 7/2 (pp 113-141)

Allwright, D. & Hanks J. (2009) The Developing Language Learner: An introduction to Exploratory Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Borg, S. (2010). Language teacher research engagement. Language Teaching, 43/4 (pp.391-429)

Breen, M. P. (2006) Collegial development in ELT: The interface between global processes and local understandings. IN S. Gieve & I.K. Miller (Eds) Understanding the Language Classroom (pp200-225). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Burns, A. (2005) Action Research: an evolving paradigm. Language Teaching 38/2 (pp.57-74)

Burton, J. (1998) A cross-case analysis of teacher involvement in TESOL research. TESOL Quarterly 32/3 (pp.419-446)

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S.L. (1999) The teacher research movement: A decade later. Educational Researcher 28/7 (pp. 15-25)

Dikilitas, K., Smith, R., Trotman, W. (2015) Teacher-Researchers in Action. Faversham, Kent, IATEFL

EPCentre website. http://www.letras.puc-rio.br/epcentre (retrieved 16th February 2009)

Gieve, S. & Miller, I.K. (2006) What do we mean by ‘Quality of Classroom Life’? IN S. Gieve & I.K. Miller (eds) Understanding the Language Classroom. (pp. 18-46) Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Holliday, A. (2002) Doing and Writing Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Hanks, J. (2014). 'Education is not just teaching': Learner thoughts on Exploratory Practice. ELT Journal 69/2. DOI:  10.1093/elt/ccu063

Hanks, J. (2015). Language teachers making sense of Exploratory Practice. Language Teaching Research. DOI: 10.1177/1362168814567805

Richards, K. (2003) Qualitative Inquiry in TESOL. Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan

Stake, R. E. (2003). Case Studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry (pp. 134-164): Sage Publications Ltd.

Tudor, I. (2001) The Dynamics of the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Wyatt, M. (2013) Motivating teachers in the developing world Insights from research with English language teachers in Oman. International Review of Education. DOI: 10.1007/s11159-013-9358-0

Zeichner, K.M. & Noffke, S.E. (2001) Practitioner Research. IN V. Richardson (Ed), Handbook of Research on Teaching (4th ed., pp298-330). Washington: American Educational Research Association