Qualitative inquiry in TESOL / Keith Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, Keith, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Study and teaching--Foreign speakers.

English language.

Physical Description:

xxv, 323 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

Graduate and professional TESOL students will welcome this research methods textbook for undertaking qualitative, naturalistic and action research projects. Uniquely, the book offers a three-level structured progression, suited both to novice and intermediate students with a focus on development as classroom teachers of English, and to advanced students engaged in academic research work in applied linguistics. Every chapter is structured to develop the important skills for undertaking QI in a rigorous and serious way, at whatever level is appropriate for the reader's purpose. The book is both scholarly in approach and written in an engagingly direct and clear style.

Contents:

Research and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) xix

1 The Nature of Qualitative Inquiry 1

Level 1 The Inquiring Mind 2

What is research? 2

Qualitative research 6

Level 2 Working within a Tradition 12

Seven core traditions 13

Ethnography 14

Grounded theory 16

Phenomenology 18

Life history 22

Action research 24

Conversation analysis 26

Level 3 Paradigmatic Choices 28

Getting below the surface 29

Paradigms 32

Ontology and epistemology 33

Qualitative paradigms 36

Different plots 40

2 Interviewing 47

Level 1 Learning How to Listen 48

The qualitative interview 50

Interview types 51

Interview techniques 53

Evaluating the interview 58

Case 2.1 The missing dimension 62

Level 2 Issues of Structure 64

Structure or straitjacket? 64

Setting up and conducting the interview 65

Developing an interview guide 69

Elicitation techniques 71

Case 2.2 Well if you'd told me it was an interview... 74

Level 3 Aspects of Analysis 79

Interviews and representation 79

Analysis in talk 80

Analysis of talk: transcription 81

Analysis of talk: technique 84

Analysis of talk: relationships and accounts 86

Outcomes of talk: analysis and interpretation 90

Case 2.3 You can tell me...(I'm a researcher) 93

Skills Development 97

3 Observation 104

Level 1 Learning to See 105

Access and ethics 107

Just looking 109

A sense of place 111

The inhabitants 113

Note taking 115

Case 3.1 Whose topic? 117

Level 2 Participant Observation 119

Access and entry 120

A structure for observations 129

Strategies for observing 133

Note taking 135

Ethics 139

Case 3.2 Adequate description 141

Level 3 Structured Observation 144

The hidden dangers of closed observation 145

Standard observation schedules 149

Deciding whether to use structured observation 150

Working up a schedule 150

Some practical problems 156

Calculating inter-observer agreement 157

Case 3.3 Describing activities 160

4 Collecting and Analysing Spoken Interaction 172

How to make successful recordings 175

Listening to find a focus 180

Basic transcription 181

An introduction to analysis 184

Case 4.1 Giving instructions 188

Level 2 Developing an Analysis 191

Approaches to analysis 191

Dealing with sequences 192

Looking for patterns 195

Producing an adequate transcription 198

Level 3 Different Approaches to Analysis 208

Case 4.3 Introducing a complaint 209

Conversation analysis 212

Interactional sociolinguistics 213

Critical discourse analysis 216

The discourse palette 220

5 Planning a Project 231

Level 1 The Personal Project 232

Reflecting on practice 232

Formulating a question 233

Deciding on a response 235

Making a plan 235

Making it happen 236

An action research project 236

Level 2 Resources for Project Planning 239

Fixing a topic 239

From research topic to research question 242

Dealing with the literature: getting to know a tradition 245

Design issues 249

Forms of writing 251

Level 3 Wider Engagement 255

Responding to complexity 255

Participatory dimensions 256

Providing leadership 258

Connecting with theory 259

6 Analysis and Representation 263

Level 1 Discovery 264

What counts as evidence? 264

General and particular 265

Resonance 265

Going public 266

Evaluating contributions 267

Level 2 Analysis 268

Data and analysis 268

Categorisation and coding 273

Techniques for seeing and representing 277

Building a picture 279

Assessing claims 282

Level 3 Interpretation 284

Reliability and validity 284

Developing the model 285

Alternative formulations 286

Validity checks 287

Generalisability 287

Connecting with theory 290

Writing and representation 291

Judging qualitative inquiry 292

Epilogue: Qualitative Inquiry and Teaching 297

Recognition of complexity 297

Respect for difference 298.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-316) and index.

ISBN:

1403901341

140390135X

OCLC:

52358345