This volume addresses salient theoretical issues concerning the validity of research methods in second-language acquisition, and provides critical analysis of contextualized versus sentence-level production approaches. The contributors present their views of competence versus performance, the nature of language acquisition data, research design, the relevance of contextualized data collection and interpretation, and the desirability of a particularistic nomothetic theoretical paradigm versus more comprehensive consideration of multiple realities and complex influencing factors. This book...

In an attempt to fill the gap left by the many published studies on classroom second language research, this book explores a variety of human, social, and political issues involved in the carrying out of such studies. Many journals are chock-full of the results of classroom research, with evidence to support one claim or another about the efficacy of one teaching method or another. Many textbooks are replete with statistical procedures to be used, and with experimental designs to fit varying situations. Too often overlooked in these treatments are the human, social, and political issues...

This text explores a variety of human, social and political issues involved in the carrying out of studies on classroom second language research

This workbook contains second language data analysis problems dealing with research methods, interlanguage knowledge (syntax, lexicon, semantics, phonology), and interlanguage use (variation, input/interaction, pragmatics, communication strategies). Students are given data and/or summary quantitive data and, through carefully graded questions, are led to possible analyses of those data. Because the purpose of the workbook is to train students to interpret data and to argue for those interpretations, there is ample opportunity for class discussion. When there are theoretical and/or...

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.