Session 1 Getting started with classroom
research
DAVID NUNAN
Aims of Session 1
1. gain an understanding of what we mean by
‘research’as well as as the key concepts
reliability, validity, variable, and construct.
2. understand similarities and differences
between the psychometric, naturalistic and
hybrid traditions
3. discuss first steps in the research process
Getting started
In groups, complete the following
statements:
Research is………………………………………
Research is carried out in order to……………
What is research?
1. Questions, problem, hypothesis 2. Data,
3. Analysis / interpretation 4. Publication
5. Reliability 6. Validity
the psychometric
research tradition
Aim: To test the strength of
relationships between
variables
Research design: Experimental
Type of data: Quantitative
Type of analysis: Statistical
“Questions in search of data.”
Variables and data types
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Constructs
A psychological construct is a
theoretical label that is given to
some human attribute or ability
that cannot be seen or touched
because it goes on in the brain.
(Brown 1988: 103)
Discussion: Which of these are
variables? Which are
constructs?
proficiency
attitude
gender
intelligence
motivation
attention deficit
disorder
native language
aptitude
puberty
bilingualism
the naturalistic
research tradition
Aim: To obtain insights into the
complexities of teaching and
learning through uncontrolled
observation and description
Research design: Non-experimental
Type of data: Qualitative
Type of analysis: Interpretive
“Data in search of questions.”
research questions
1. What are the classroom experiences of trainee teachers in
inner-city classrooms?
2. Is a deductive approach to teaching grammar superior to an
inductive approach?
3. What do learners believe about the nature of language and
learning?
4. Do beginning learners of Spanish as a foreign language who
have an initial period of intensive listening before speaking
outperform those who are required to speak from the first
lesson?
5. What happens when teachers increase ‘wait time’ (the time
between asking a question and then either reformulating the
question or answering it)?
Combining traditions: quantitative collection /
quantitative analysis
Comparing
statistical
comparisons of
learners’ test
scores to see if
there are any
statistically
significant
differences
between groups
taught with
different methods.
Combining traditions:
quantitative
collection /
qualitative analysis
Categorizing
language students as
advanced, upperintermediate,
intermediate, or lowerintermediate on the
basis of learners’ test
scores
Combining traditions: qualitative collection /
qualitative analysis
Summarizing written
field notes to yield
prose profiles of
various teachers’
teaching styles in an
observational study
Combining traditions: qualitative
collection / quantitative analysis
Tabulating the
observed
frequencies of
certain errors in
students’ writing
samples
 Does anybody else have an answer
to my question?
 How do I get started?
 What kinds of data will be relevant to
my research interest and question?
 How will I gather those data?
 What techniques exist for analyzing
my data?
 How can I make my research
available to anyone else who might
be interested?
Getting started on
classroom research: initial
questions
 What aspects of classroom teaching
and learning am I interested in, and
what specifically is it about this issue
that I really want to know?
Research areas and topics: examples
Teacher questions
Direct instruction
Error correction
and feedback
Classroom
management
Student
interaction
Task analysis
Learning
strategies
The affective
domain
Phases in formulating a research plan
Phase 1: Formulating the general research area
or topic
Phase 2: Turning the research area into a
question
paradigm
plan
Phase 3: Deciding on a research
Phase 4: Developing a detailed
Discussion
The next step: secondary research
What is a literature review?
What is the purpose of doing a literature
review?
Discussion
Reflect on your own classroom, or a
classroom with which you are familiar.
Come up with a research area that interest
you and formulate it as a question.