MA TESOL / Course details

The unit is scaffolded by a ten-step research process which begins with identifying an appropriate topic for a small-scale empirical study, moving through the development of a research plan (involving also the consideration of ethical issues and approval processes), undertaking data generation and analysis, and concluding with the reporting of the research. Participants will need to explore the recommended readings primarily in the research methods literature but also explore the literature for their chosen topic area.

The course unit starts with a consideration of what research might mean in the TESOL and education more broadly with a specific focus also on researching one’s own professional practice as a teacher. Next, the ten-step, tutor-supported DRC experience is introduced. These ten steps scaffold an experience of planning, designing, implementing, evaluating, and reporting a small-scale research experience.

For their DRC experience, participants will need to develop the necessary research instruments and procedures, and, having been introduced to data analysis and interpretation, will work with the data they have generated to arrive at analyses and interpretations which they can present transparently in both oral and written report formats.

Throughout the DRC experience participants will maintain a Researcher Journal, the subsequent critical analysis of which will enable them to evaluate their learning and ongoing priorities with regard to being/becoming a researcher.

The unit culminates with a collaborative Poster Fair in which participants orally report their empirical studies and researcher experience. This has a formative purpose in relation to the assessed written report of their studies and the rationale for its design and conduct.

The unit aims to:

• develop the participants’ researcher competence through the planning, designing, implementing, and presentation of a small-scale research project (which is often linked by topic and/or method to their later Dissertation);
• provide a conceptual understanding of the principles and practice of TESOL and education-related research;
• provide a scaffolded experience of conducting small-scale empirical research;
• introduce the principles and practice associated with a selection of research approaches, methods, and techniques;
• introduce the principles and practices associated with basic qualitative and quantitative one or data analysis;
• encourage critical reflection on the process of planning, designing, implementing, evaluating, and reporting TESOL and education-related research;
• encourage critical reflection on the appropriacy and ethical implications of particular approaches, methods, and techniques for their own specific research activities; and
• encourage critical reflection on the process through which the researcher develops their competence in TESOL and education-related research.

• Introduction to TESOL and education-related research
• Researching your own practice
• From Pilot Study to Dissertation
• Researcher Reflexivity and Purposefulness
• Researcher Reflection and Researcher Journals
• Developing a Research Topic and Focus
• Formulating a Research Question
• Considering the affordances of a variety of methods
• Developing a Research Plan
• Preparing for, and undertaking field-work (data generation)
• Data processing and analysis
• Interpretation
• Reporting research in both oral and in written formats

The unit is organised around two-hour lecture slots, which are timetabled twice a week for a total of four hours per week formal instruction. This time is used in a variety of ways, including formal lecture content, group discussion, hands-on sessions (including data workshops), and experiential and reflective learning. Students are also encouraged to seek help from tutors during office hours. The unit is broadly predicated on an experiential learning model as accompanied by reflection in, on, and for action. On occasion, the lecture slots may be used for individual tutorials. Peer-to-peer learning is encouraged throughout and this culminates in a Poster Fair. The assessment model allows formative feedback to be provided on the students’ Research Plans, with the expectation that these plans will be iterative and will also contribute to the experiential and reflective aspects of the unit. The Research Report should include a researcher rationale for the design of the study. 

• conceive of and carry out (plan, design, implement, evaluate, and report) a small-scale empirical educational research project
• demonstrate an understanding of the research methods literature
• demonstrate an understanding of research processes as exemplified by the unit’s ten-step process

• demonstrate a critical approach to understanding research in the field of TESOL and education more broadly
• critically respond to concerns, puzzles, possibilities, and curiosities in their professional context
• communicate the researcher thinking (rationale) for their small-scale empirical study
• develop insights regarding their developing researcher competence through processes of reflection in, on and for action  

• articulate a research focus through a research question
• design a small-scale empirical study
• generate and analyse data and make interpretations based on this analysis
• produce a written research report (including for example an Abstract)
   

• Conduct research and other professional activities with full regard of ethics
• Demonstrate enhanced skills in academic literacies including academic presentation, information processing (on- and offline) and online networking.
• Demonstrate an appreciation of the value of reflection in professional practice.

Feedback will be available online via the VLE

Booth, W. C., Gregory G., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., Bizup, J., & FitzGerald, W. T. (2016) The Craft of Research, 4th ed. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research Methods in Education (8th ed.). London: Routledge.

Denscombe, M. (2021) The Good Research Guide: Research Methods for Small-Scale Social Research Projects. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

McDonough, J. & McDonough, S. (1997). Research Methods for English Language Teachers. London: Arnold.

Richards, K. (2003). Qualitative Inquiry in TESOL. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

These are a wider set of useful resources:

Allwright, D. & Bailey, K. (1991). Focus on the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Beaumont, M. & O’Brien, T. (eds.) (2000). Collaborative Research in Second Language Education. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.

Bell, J. (1987). Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First Time Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Brown, J. D. (1988). Understanding Research in Second language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Holliday, A.R. (2001). Doing and Writing Qualitative Research. London: Sage.

Nunan, D. (1992). Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wallace, M. (1998). Action Research for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Participants with a particular interest in researching on-line communication should purchase or obtain reliable and full library access to this book.

Mann, C. & Stewart, F. (2000). Internet Communication and Qualitative Research: A Handbook for Researching Online. London: Sage.

Finally, the following article provides a useful introduction to the challenges you may face as a teacher engaging with the ‘world of research’:

Reis-Jorge, J. (2007). Teachers’ conceptualisations of teacher-research and self-perception as enquiring practitioners – a longitudinal case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23: 402-417.