Handout 3 Elt Prof. Mursid

THE ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN HANDOUT 3

Activity 1 1) What does research in the psychometric tradition typically investigate? The research in psychometric tradition typically investigates the quantitative relationships between various classroom activities or behaviors and language achievement. 2) What do you think is meant by: (a) context-product studies, (b) presage-product studies, (c) process-product studies. a) Context-product studies is the study which investigate the relationships between context (something which accompanies the process) and product. b) Presage-product studies is the study which investigates the relationships between students’ background or quality and learning outcomes. c) Process-product studies is the study which investigates the relationships between process and products. 3) What has research in interaction analysis focused on, and how will the outcome be useful? The research of interaction analysis has focused on the observation and analysis of classroom interaction in terms of social meanings and an inferred classroom climate. The outcome of interaction analysis will be useful for researchers to adapt such systems and analytical approach to the L2 classroom. Besides, this tradition which views interaction as a chain of teacher and students behaviors is also useful to the development of new tradition i.e. discourse analysis. 4) What is the main feature distinguishing discourse analysis and from interaction analysis? The main feature which distinguishes discourse analysis from interaction analysis is the focus of study. Discourse analysis arose from a linguistic perspective as an attempt to analyze fully the discourse of classroom interaction in structural-functional linguistic terms (rather than inferred social meanings). Meanwhile, interaction analysis

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focuses on the observation and analysis of classroom interaction in terms of social meanings and an inferred classroom climate. 5) Why is the ethnographic tradition said to be strictly qualitative? Ethnography is a research tradition which attempts to interpret behaviors from the perspective of the participants’ different understandings rather than from the observer’s or analyst’s supposedly objective analysis. It is strictly qualitative as it focuses on the observation of human behaviors and does not occupy the interpretation of numerical data of research. Activity 2 1. Why is the distinction between qualitative and quantitative approaches to research considered to be an oversimplification? The distinction between qualitative and quantitative approaches to research considered to be an oversimplification because in analyzing actual research studies the method of data collection, the type of data yielded and the type of data analysis are often conducted mixed 2. Mention the two “pure” paradigms of research and distinguish them in terms of the methods used, the type of data to be gathered, and the techniques of data analysis to be adopted! Differences Methods used

Exploratory interpretive Analytical nomological Non experimental Experimental or quasi

Type of data to be gathered Techniques of data analysis

method Qualitative data Interpretative analysis

experimental Quantitative data Statistical analysis

3. What kind of research is at one end of selectivity continuum, and what type is at the other? Research is placed on the selectivity continuum according to the degree to which the researcher prespecifies the phenomena to be investigated. A formal experiment in which the researcher prespecifies the variables being focused on, would be placed at one end of the continuum, while an ethnography ‘portrait’ of a classroom in action would occur at the other end of the continuum. Asih Nurakhir - Reg. No. 0204511051

4. What kind of research is at one end of interventionist continuum, and what type is at the other? Research is placed on the interventionist parameter according to the extent to which the researcher intervenes in the environment. A formal experiment which takes place under laboratory conditions would be placed at one end of on the interventionist continuum, while a naturalistic study of a classroom in action would be place at the other end of the continuum. 5. Explain (with examples) the difference between primary and secondary research! Primary research is derived from the primary sources of information (e.g., a group of students who are learning a language). Secondary research consists of reviewing the literature in a given area, and synthesizing the research carried out by others (e.g., books about students who are learning about language)

Asih Nurakhir - Reg. No. 0204511051