Case Study--Definition
 “The
study of the speech, writing or
language use of one person, either at one
point in time or voer a period of time, e.g.,
the language acquisition of a child over a
period of one year.” (Richards, Platt, & Weber, 1985, p. 36)
Case Study--Definition
 “A case
study is an empirical inquiry that
investigates a contemporary phenomenon
winthin is real-life context; when the
boundaries between phenomenon and
context are not clearly evident; and in which
multiple sources of evidence are used.” (Yin,
1984, p. 23)
Case Study--Definition
 “The
most common type of CS involoves the
detailed description and analysis of an
individual subject, from whom observations,
interviews, and (family) histories provide the
database.” (Dobson et al, 1981, cited in Duff, 1990, p.35)
Case Study--Definition

“A longitudinal approach typically involves
observing the development of linguistic
performance, usually the spontanteous speech of
one subject, when the speech data are collected
at periodic intervals over a span of time . . . The
longitudinal approach could easily be
characterized by at least three of the qualitative
paradigm attributes: naturalistic (use of
spontaneous speech), process-oriented (it takes
place over time) and ungeneralizable (very few
subjects).” (Larson-Freeman and Long, 1991, pp.11-12)
Case Study--Definition
 “[The]
qualitative case study can be defined
as an intensive, holistic description and
analysis of a single entity, phenomenon, or
social unit. Case studies are particularistic,
descriptive, and heuristic and rely heavily on
inductive reasoning in handling multiple data
sources.” (Merriam, 1988, p.16)
Case Studies-1
 Characteristics
an examination of a case (a language learner,
teacher, or classroom) in its context
*deep and thick description, holistic and
comprehensive
Case Studies-2
 Use
tracing the oral language development of
second or bilingual children
child literacy development, adult language
learning, teaching strategies, etc.
Case Studies-3
 Issues
accessible and interesting to teachers
often viewed as non-rigorous
Case Studies-4
 Suggestions
method is selected in relation to the question
asked
flexibility allowing exploration and refocusing
multiple data-collection procedures
longitudinal in nature
valid and credible information
data analysis procedures clearly described
Ethnography-1
 Characteristics
extensive and long-term participant observation
naturalistic, interpretive, contextual
multiple data collection methods: observation,
fieldnotes, audio and/or video taping, interviews,
researcher as tool
Ethnography-2
 Use
understanding sociocultural differences and its
effects on learning
can be used to understand various aspects of
schooling, teaching, and learning
Ethnography-3
 Issues
advantages: unobtrusive, holistic, thick
description of contexts and processes
*very time-consuming
Ethnography-4
 Suggestions
there should be more ethnographic research in
the L2/FL fields
Discourse Analysis -1
 Characteristics
studying language beyond the sentence level
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
reliance on transcripts, careful analyses of
spoken and written language
Discourse Analysis -2
 Use
provides information about rhetoric structure
and style, teacher-student interaction, studentstudent interaction, politeness strategies,
coherence conventions, etc.
analysis of spoken discourse in the full context
of classroom activities
cross-cultural comparison
Discourse Analysis -3

Issues
 bottom-up approach: begins with a specific feature and
examines its forms and functioning in discourse;
linguistically oriented
 top-down approach: begins with a communicative event
in its natural context and then analyze aspects of
discourse in relation to context; sociolinguistic and
ethnographic orientation
 advantage: transcripts allow repeatable analyses
 limitation: specific examples are provided but lacking a
general picture
Discourse Analysis -4
 Suggestions
provide information about the frequencies and
variations of observed phenomena
Types of Research Design:
Pure Forms
 Paradigm
1: Exploratory-interpretive
non-experimental design
*qualitative data
interpretive analysis
 Paradigm
2: Analytical-nomological
experimental or quasi-experimental design
quantitative data
statistical analysis
Types of Research Design:
Mixed Forms
Paradigm
Design
Data
Analysis
3
Experimental or
Qualitative
quasi-experimental
Interpretive
4
Experimental or
Qualitative
quasi-experimental
Statistical
5
Non-experimental
Qualitative
Statistical
6
Non-experimental
Quantitative
Statistical
7
Non-experimental
Quantitative
Interpretive
8
Experimental or
Quantitative
quasi-experimental
Interpretive
Parameters in research design
Types of Research
 Primary:
Research that is derived from firsthand information (e.g., directly from
students learning a language)
Case Study
Statistical
Survey
Experimental
 Secondary:
Reviewing and synthesizing
existing research literature
Definition of Ethnography
 “Ethnography
involves the study of the
culture / characteristics of a group in real
world context rather than laboratory settings.
The researcher makes no attempt to isolate
or manipulate the phenomena under
investigation, and insights and
generalizations emerge from close contact
with the data rather than from a theory of
language learning and use.” (Nunan, 1992)
Characteristics of Ethnographic
Research
Contextual
Unobtrusive
The research is carried out in the
context in which the subjects
normally live and work.
The researcher avoids manipulating
the phenomena under investigation.
Longitudinal
The research is relatively long-term.
Collaborative
The research involves the
participation of stakeholders other
than the researcher.
Characteristics of Ethnographic
Research
Interpretive
Organic
The researcher carries out
interpretive analysis of the data.
There is interaction between
questions / hypotheses and data
collection / interpretation
Multi-methods The Researcher uses multiple
methods to collect data: participant
observation, fieldnotes, audio and/or
video taping, interviews.
The Weak and Strong Views of
Ethnography

The Weak View:
 Sees ethnography as essentially inferior to psychometry
as it is unstructured and unsystematic;
 Valuable only for its capacity to “throw up” questions or
hypotheses which can then be tested in a formal
experiment;
 Sees ethnography only as a “ground-clearing” operation
rather than a valid tradition in its own right.

*The Strong View
 Sees ethnography as a valid research paradigm in its
own right: “ethnography is theory-building, and this the
core of a humanistic approach to social science)
Research Design for Ethnography?
 Open-ended
observation and description, no
design needed??
 The course of ethnography cannot be
predetermined, but this doesn’t mean that
pre-fieldwork preparation is not needed.
Ethnographic research design is a “reflexive”
process which operates throughout every
stage of the project.
Research Design for Ethnography?
Foreshadowed Research Problem in
Ethnographic Studies
 Beginning with a general research topic interesting
to the researcher (theoretical, social, cultural); a
secondary literature review may help.
 Specific research questions are developed from
the data (there is an interactive process between
data and research questions).
Research Design for Ethnography?
Selecting a Setting
 According to the research problem: identifying a
setting that would be most appropriate for
investigating the research problem, as currently
formulated.
 Opportunity
 Preliminary evaluation: Analyzing any
documentary evidence available; interviewing
anyone familiar with the setting
 Pragmatic considerations: Access, travel costs,
availability of documentary information
Research Design for Ethnography?
Setting and Case
 Setting: a named context in which phenomena
occur that might be studied from any number of
angles
 Case: those phenomena seen from one particular
angle.
 A setting may contain several cases; conversely, a
case may not be contained within the boundaries
of a setting (the researcher may need to go
beyond a certain setting to collect information on
important aspects of a case)
Research Design for Ethnography?
Sampling in Ethnography

Time





Round the clock observation is not feasible and not desirable.
Appropriate temporal sampling is necessary.
A range of coverage as full and representative as possible.
Should include both typical routines and special, extraordinary
events
People
 Demographic categories
 Member-identified categories
 Observer-identified categories (hypothetical categories constructed
by researcher)

Context
 Human behave and speak differently in different contexts (e.g.,
teachers in the classroom and in the staffroom)
 Frontstage vs backstage
Guarding Against Threats to the Realiability
of Ethnographic Research
Type
Internal Reliability
Questions
Does the research utilize low
inference description?
Does it employ more than one
researcher / collaborator?
Does the researcher invite peer
examination or cross-site
corroboration?
Are data mechanically recorded?
Guarding Against Threats to the Realiability
of Ethnographic Research
Type
External Reliability
Questions
Is the status of the researcher made
explicit?
Does the researcher provide a detailed
description of subjects?
Does the researcher provide a detailed
description of the context and
conditions?
Are constructs and premises explicitly
defined?
Are data collection and analysis
methods presented in detail.
Stimulated Recall
A technique
in which the researcher
records and transcribe parts of a lesson
and then gets the T and/or Ss to comment
on what was happening at the time the
teaching or learning was taking place
Useful for discovering the options
considered, the decisions made, and the
actions taken in the classroom
Useful for getting initial data to be
studied in later more formal investigation
Observation Schemes
A scheme
that helps the researcher to
observe classroom processes and
interactions in a more structured, objective,
focused, and precise manner.
Useful for obtaining systematic,
quantifiable data from language classrooms
Issue: The “objectiveness” of this method
The COLT Observation Scheme
COLT:
Communicative Orientation of Language
Teaching
Purpose:
To enable the research to describe as precisely as
possible some of the features of communication in L2
classroom;
To develop observational categories to capture
significant features of verbal interaction;
To provide a means of comparing classroom
discourse and natural language
COLT Features: Classroom Activities
1a. Activity type
Drill, role play, dictation?
2a. Participant
Organization
Whole class, groups, individual?
3a. Content
On classroom management,
language (form, function), or others?
Topics selected by?
Are students involved in listening,
speaking, reading, writing, or
combinations of these?
4a. Student
modality
5a. Materials
Types? Length of texts? Source?
COLT Features: Classroom Language
1b. Use of TL
To what extent is TL used?
2b. Information
gap
To what extent is requested
information predictable in advance?
3b. Sustained
speech
Is discourse extended or restricted
to a single sentence, clause, or
word?
4b. Incorporation Does the speaker incorporate the
of preceding
preceding utterance into his/her
utterance
contribution?
5b. Relative
restriction of
linguistic form
Does the teacher expect a specific
form, or is there no expectation of a
particular linguistic form?
Sample of Observational Notes
9:38 Small group continues. T is taking running record
of child’s reading. Others
reading familiar books. Next, T coaches boy on
sounding out “discovered.” Covers up
word parts as he says remaining parts. T: Does that
make sense? . T: What is another
way to say this part [“cov” with short o]? T passes out
new book: My Creature. T has
students share what the word creature means. Ss:
animals, monsters, dinosaurs, Dr.
Frankenstein. 9:45 11/12 OT (On Task)
Levels 1-3: C/s/r Levels 4-7: r/t/a/r Levels 4-7: wr/t/c/or
Levels 4-7: v/t/r/or
In this example, the Level 1-3 codes c/s/r indicate that the
classroom teacher ( c) was teaching a small group (s) in the
major literacy area of reading ( r).
The level 4-7 codes r/t/a/r indicates that one literacy activity
that was occurring was reading (r ) from a narrative text (tn),
the teacher was assessing one child (a), and children were
expected to be reading (r).
Another literacy activity was the teacher coaching a child in
word recognition (wr) as he was reading a narrative text (tn),
the teacher was coaching (c), and the child was responding
orally to the teacher’s prompts (or).
A third literacy activity was discussing the meaning of the
word “creature”, coded as vocabulary (v) from a narrative text
(tn); the teacher was engaging the children in recitation (r) ,
and the children are taking turns responding (or-tt).
Interaction Analysis
Discursive
analysis of classroom talk
Interpretive analysis of elicited or
naturalistic spoken language at the
linguistic or non-linguistic level
Introspection
The
process of observing and reflecting
on one’s thoughts, feelings, motives,
reasoning processes, and mental states
with a view to determining the ways in
which these processes and states
determine our behavior. (Nunan, 1992)
Issues of Introspective Methods
 Does
the verbal report accurately reflect
the underlying cognitive processes
giving rise to behavior?
 Possible discontinuity between what is
believed to be happening and what is
actually happening.
 The task (thinking aloud, e.g.) may
affect the cognitive processes.
Free Association Task
 The
subject is required to say the first
word they thought of in response to a
stimulus word.
 Often used by psychiatrists (Jung, e.g.)
Sentence Recall
 The
subject is required to respond as
quickly as possible if he/she did or did
not understand the cue sentence, which
is usually ambiguous or difficult.
Think-aloud Technique
 The
subjects are required to perform a
task or solve a problem and at the same
time verbalize their thought processes
as they do so.
Diary Studies
 A first
person account of a language
learning or teaching experience,
documented through regular, candid
entries in a personal journal and then
analyzed for recurring patterns or
salient events. (Bailey, 1990)
 Part of a growing literature on
classroom research, useful for research
or teacher education
Benefits of Using Diaries in T Edu







Students can articulate problems.
Promote autonomous learning.
Sharing of dairies promotes confidence and
generate new ideas.
More productive class discussion
Student teachers can relate course content to
their own teaching
Creates T-S and S-S interaction beyond the
classroom
Leads to more process-oriented T training
Five Stages in Diary Studies
 Diary-keeping:
a candid account of the
diarist’s personal learning history
 Revision: Revising diaries for public
consumption
 Identifying patterns and significant events
 Interpretation
 Discussion
Diary Studies: Bailey (1983)
 An
account of her experiences in learning
French.
 Major finding: Affective factors of
competitiveness and anxiety were
important.

Diary Studies: Schmidt and Frota
(1985)
 A language
researcher learning
Portuguese in Brazil.
 3 Phases: 1)trying to pick up a little
Portuguese while interacting with native
speakers; 2) getting formal instruction;
3)abandoning formal instruction.
 Major finding: Interaction of “in class” and
“out of class” experiences on language
development.
Diary Studies: Campbell (1996)
 Campbell’s
diary of her experience of
learning Spanish in Mexico.
 Major finding: the author’s prior
experience and attitudes determined the
course of her Spanish language learning
to an extreme (using strategies from past
experience of learning German, e.g.)