Qualitative Theory and Methods in
Applied Linguistics Research
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory
and methods in applied linguistics
research. TESOL Quarterly, 29(3), 427453.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and methods
in applied linguistics research
Controversies of QR in AL
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Controversy surrounding three
interrelated issues regarding qualitative
inquiry:
research traditions,
 definitions of research,
 qualitative research theory and methods.
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Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Research Traditions in Applied
Linguistics
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Various research approaches utilized by applied
linguists, each of which resulted from a particular
philosophical and theoretical perspective.
These parallel research movements have developed
and have tended to remain separate, rather than
inform the field as a whole.
Three diverging areas of study within applied
linguistics that are directly related to second and
foreign language teaching:
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second language acquisition (SLA)
ethnography of communication
and sociolinguistics
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The SLA Tradition
Generally accepted the use of the
research techniques and philosophy
dominant in the social sciences,
particularly psychology.
 View of SLA as a mental process
(believing that language acquisition
resides mostly, if not solely, in the mind)
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Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The SLA Tradition
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Research approaches and techniques for
examining LA from a mentalist perspective:
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case studies;
elicitation techniques (e.g., introspection and
retrospection);
diary studies using both observations and
introspection focusing on the psychological nature
of LA;
discourse analysis to uncover the ways in which
native speaker input may affect nonnative speakers’
learning strategies.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The SLA Tradition
SLA researchers . . .
 attempt to gain objective data by controlling human
and other extraneous variables and thus gain what
they consider to be reliable, hard data and replicable
findings;
 see ready applications of statistical analyses to
language testing and L2 methods;
 believe that findings on the appropriateness of tests
and methods could be generalized beyond the
individuals participating in the study to those
throughout the population from which the sample was
drawn;
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The SLA Tradition
SLA researchers . . .
 commonly utilize the quasi-experimental and
experimental research paradigms and
designs developed within the field of
psychology;
 draw on previously developed elicitation
techniques and adopt a number of others from
related fields (e.g., reading aloud, structured
exercises, elicited imitation/translation, story
retelling, and oral interviews).
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Ethnography of Communication
Tradition

Linguistic anthropologists interested in
language acquisition began to argue in
the 1970s against sole reliance on
Chomskyan psychological models
and definitions of language.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Ethnography of Communication
Tradition
In 1974, Hymes suggested that

Linguistic theory treats of [ sic ] competence in terms of the child’s
acquisition of the ability to produce, understand, and discriminate any
and all of the grammatical sentences of a language. . . . Within the
social matrix in which it [ sic ] acquires a system of grammar a child
acquires also a system of its use, regarding persons, places, purposes,
other modes of communication, etc.—all the components of
communicative events, together with attitudes and beliefs regarding
them . . . . In such acquisition resides the child’s sociolinguistic
competence (or, more broadly, communicative competence), its ability
to participate in its society as not only a speaking, but also a
communicating member. (p. 75)
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Ethnography of Communication
Tradition

Linguistic anthropologists (e.g., Ochs and Schieffelin and Scollon
conducted ethnographic studies of child socialization into
language within diverse cultural settings.
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Heath (1983):
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a classic study of language socialization within African-American and
European-American working-class communities.
suggested that children from communities whose language socialization
patterns differed from those of the mainstream schools experience
extreme academic difficulties because of these differences.
Based on the theory of academic difficulties due to home/school
differences, bilingual education researchers began to conduct
ethnographic studies in the U.S. in which they compared the
language/social norms of mainstream schools with those of
immigrant communities (e.g., Ortiz, 1988).
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Ethnography of Communication
Tradition
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Ethnographic studies focusing on L1 and L2 acquisition
and use within homes, communities, and schools:
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home/school differences as a source of school failure;
the larger political context within which schools and communities
function (e.g., Ogbu, 1989; Willis, 1977).
Studies of language socialization have largely remained
within the field of education through publication in
journals such as Anthropology & Education Quarterly
and Linguistics and Education or in books edited by
scholars affiliated with schools of education (e.g.,
Cazden, John, & Hymes, 1972; Langer, 1987; Trueba,
1987).
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Sociolinguistics Tradition
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focuses on the social aspects of language use;
encompasses a broad range of theoretical concepts
and research techniques drawn from sources such as
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linguistics,
ethnography (specifically ethnography of communication),
sociology,
dialectology,
psychology,
componential analysis,
folklore,
discourse analysis,
pragmatics,
and language planning.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Sociolinguistics Tradition
Sociolinguistics has commonly played a
separate, if sometimes complementary,
role in SLA research.
 The social and cultural aspects of
language acquisition generally have
been viewed as distant from the mental
processes of language acquisition and
thus of less importance theoretically or
for explanatory purposes.

Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Sociolinguistics Tradition
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Many sociolinguists have drawn on the dominant
philosophy and methods of psychology in conducting
investigations from a positivist perspective, collecting
data using experimental techniques or surveys, and
analyzing data using statistical methods.
For example, in examining speech acts or functions
(pragmatic), although these phenomena are viewed as
having social origins, sociolinguists also have tended
to assume that native speakers possess a set of
social rules in their minds; these social rules can
then be discovered and taught to nonnative speakers.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Sociolinguistics Tradition

Researchers in the area of pragmatic have
examined speech acts and functions using
elicitation techniques such as role playing and
completion tasks.
 Experimental designs and statistical data
analyses have been used to identify the use of
social rules by native and nonnative speakers.
 Researchers trained in ethnographic methods
have tended to work and publish outside of the
SLA and ESL fields in areas such as education,
anthropology, and the sociology of language.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Separated Field of SLA
The dominant mentalist perspective
 The socially, culturally oriented
perspective
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Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Different Discourses of Research
Communities
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Much of the difficulty in incorporating qualitative studies into SLA
may be the result of the particular research traditions experienced
by those in the field.
Gee (1990) suggests that individuals are socialized into particular
Discourses or ways of believing, behaving, and valuing that
include not only our early childhood experiences but also those of
our chosen fields of interest.
For example, the terminology, interactive styles, and philosophical
and theoretical assumptions shared by SLA researchers are
inclusively a Discourse that is likely to be extremely different from
the Discourse of the ethnographer of communication.
Communication breaks down between those from different
applied linguistics disciplines.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Discourse Apprenticeship

Gee (1990) suggests that incoming students of
any particular field are socialized into or, more
accurately, apprenticed to that field’s
Discourse by taking classes and otherwise
interacting with professors and other students
who are further along in their studies.
 This notion of Discourse apprenticeship
suggests that we should also carefully
examine the extent to which we expose
students of SLA and ESL to various ways of
understanding, researching, and applying SLA
issues.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Essence of QR:
Getting meaning from the actor’s point of view
Erickson (1986) :
 The issue of using as a basic validity criterion the immediate and local
meanings of action, as defined from the actors’ point of view, is crucial in
distinguishing interpretive participant observational research from
another observational technique with which interpretive research
approaches are often confused, so-called rich description.
 What makes such work interpretive or qualitative is a matter of
substantive focus and intent, rather than of procedure in data collection,
that is, a research technique does not constitute a research method.
 The technique of continuous narrative description can be used by
researchers with a positivist and behaviorist orientation that deliberately
excludes from research interest the immediate meanings of actions from
the actors’ point of view.
 Continuous narrative description can also be used by researchers with a
nonpositivist, interpretive orientation, in which the immediate (often
intuitive) meanings of actions to the actors involved are of central interest.
(p. 120)
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
The Essence of QR:
Getting meaning from the actor’s point of view
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A positivist’s “rich description”
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“play by play account of what an observer sees observed
persons doing” used by sociologists and anthropologists;
an etic perspective
The interpretive qualitative concept of thick description
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an emit perspective, which demands description that includes
the actors’ interpretations and other social and/or cultural
information;
thick description “means taking into account all relevant and
theoretically salient micro and macro contextual influences
that stand in a systematic relationship to the behavior or
events one is attempting to explain”
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Distinguishing Interpretive Qualitative
Research from Nonstatistical SLA research
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Within applied linguistics, making a distinction
between interpretive qualitative research and
other SLA nonstatistical studies involves the
question of whether the study takes an emit,
holistic, semiotic approach or an etic,
discrete, mental-process approach.
 Conversational analysis could constitute an
interpretive qualitative study if the meanings of
actions from the actors’ point of view are of
central interest and appropriate techniques
(e.g., interviews and observations) are used to
gain an understanding of those meanings.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
“Technique” vs. “Method”

Each research method involves particular
philosophical, theoretical, and methodological
parameters that must be observed to ensure
studies are valid/credible, reliable/dependable,
and generalizable/transferable.
 To gain or maintain legitimacy within the
applied linguistics field, not only must
qualitative studies meet the specific
requirements of the approach used, but they
must also offer recognizable contributions to
the field.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Stating what you do
vs. Labeling your method
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However, conversational and discourse analyses
within applied linguistics have also formed firm
parameters and theoretical expectations for
conducting these forms of research and could
therefore easily claim method status.
One way for researchers to avoid some of the
confusion when engaged in reporting various forms of
qualitative research is to simply state what it is they
are doing (e.g., discourse analysis) along with the
main philosophical, theoretical, and methodological
considerations involved in the research approach
being utilized.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Theory and Method

Theory and method are inextricably bound together in
conducting and reporting interpretive qualitative
research. Studies are both informed by and inform
theory in the process of conceptualizing, conducting,
analyzing, and interpreting research.
 The particular methods used during the various stages
of the research process are both instrumental and goal
driven.
 Methods are instrumental in that they are designed to
obtain data from an emit perspective while ensuring
credibility and dependability.
 Methods of data collection, analysis, and especially
interpretation are also utilized with the goal of
generating theory.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Theory and Method in QR

Contrary to the often-held belief that qualitative
researchers have no preconceptions about the
area under investigation, they bring particular
theoretical and experiential frames of
reference to the research task.
 The first step in conducting a qualitative study
is to determine the theories and views that are
likely to affect the study. Researchers examine
both their own frames of interpretation and the
social theories that may inform the
investigation.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Personal Theories and
Perspectives
Erickson (1986) observes . . .
 We always bring to experience frames of
interpretation, or schemata. From this
point of view the task of fieldwork is to
become more and more reflectively
aware of the frames of interpretation of
those we observe, and of our own
culturally learned frames of interpretation
we brought with us to the setting. (p. 140)
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Reducing Biases

Lincoln and Guba (1985) suggest the use of member
checks (referring data and interpretations back to data
sources for correction/verification/challenge);
debriefings by peers (systematically talking through
research experiences, findings, and decisions with
noninvolved professional peers for a variety of
purposes—catharsis, challenge, design of next steps,
or legitimation, for example); . . . . the use of reflexive
journals (introspective journals that display the
investigator’s mind processes, philosophical position,
and bases of decisions about the inquiry). (p. 109)
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Social Theories
Fetterman (1989):
 Researchers interested in social change tend
to use one of two types of grand theory:
ideational or materialistic. Ideational theories
suggest that fundamental change is the result
of mental activity—thoughts and ideas.
Materialists believe that material conditions—
ecological resources, money, modes of
production—are the prime movers. (p. 16)
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Social Theories
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Studies can combine both approaches in a
single study.
 Davis, 1994:
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study of language planning in Luxembourg,
utilized materialist theory in suggesting that
socioeconomic conditions determined both
government policies and individual experiences
related to language and literacy acquisition.
used ideational theory in interpreting teachers’
implementation of language policy as the result of
culturally determined thoughts and ideas about
language acquisition.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Grand Social Theories
Ideational vs. Materialist
 Nature vs. Nurture
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Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Middle-Range (or Grounded) Social
Theories
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Turner (1985):
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middle-range theories try to explain a whole class
of phenomena—say, for example, delinquency,
revolutions, ethnic antagonism . . . .
broader in scope than empirical generalizations and
causal models (p. 27).
Middle-range (or grounded) theories are often
developed through research, such as the
home/school difference theory (Heath, 1983;
Philips, 1983) and the perceived labor market
theory [e.g., parental job ceiling] (Ogbu, 1989;
Willis, 1977).
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Grounded Theory
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A major goal in interpretive qualitative
research
 Glaser and Strauss (1967):
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grounded theory--theory generated from a
qualitative study that will “fit the situation being
researched, and work when put into use.”
“fit”: the categories must be readily (not forcibly)
applicable to and indicated by the data under study;
“work”: the categories must be meaningfully
relevant to and be able to explain the behavior
under study.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Grounded Theory
Reason (1981):
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The information that is gathered in the field situation is used by
the holist to build a model which serves both to describe and
explain the system. The model is built by [quoting Diesing]
“connecting themes in a network or pattern” (p. 155); the
connections may be of various kinds, but they are “discovered
empirically rather than inferred logically” (p. 156); the result of this
is an empirical account of the whole system. This account
explains the system because it describes the kinds of relations
the various parts have for each other, so that the “relations
between that part and other parts serve to explain or interpret the
meaning of that part” (p. 158). This type of explanation is called a
pattern model of explanation. (pp. 185–186)
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Generalizable or Transferable?
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A common criticisms of qualitative studies: not generalizable
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Qualitative studies allow for an understanding of what is specific to a
particular group, that is, what can not possibly be generalized within and
across populations.
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The grounded theory established by interpretive qualitative studies (such as
functionalist and home/school difference theories) potentially allows for
transfer to a wide range of cultures and social situations.
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Te reader of an interpretive qualitative study determines whether and how the
grounded theory described in one study applies to another situation. This
determination is made by accumulating empirical evidence about the
contextual similarity between the described situation and the situation to
which the theory is to be transferred.
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research
Davis, K.A. (1995). Qualitative theory and
methods in applied linguistics research