Stimulated Recall Methodology in Second Language Research

by Susan M. Gass, Alison Mackey

The methodology of introspection, and especially of stimulated recall, is gaining increasing popularity in second language research. This book provides a "how-to" guide for researchers considering using this technique, contextualized within a history of the procedure and a discussion of its strengths and weaknesses. Topics covered in depth include:
* research questions for which this methodology is (and is not) well-suited,
* preparing for data collection,
* transcribing, coding, and analyzing stimulated recall data, and
* avoiding common pitfalls in the use of this methodology.

By way of demonstration, the authors walk readers, step by step, through several studies in different areas of second language education which have used this technique, including L2 writing, reading, oral interaction, and interlanguage pragmatics.

This book is one of several in LEA's Second Language Acquisition Research Series dealing with specific data collection methods or instruments. Each of these monographs addresses the kinds of research questions for which the method/instrument is best suited, its underlying assumptions, a characterization of the method/instrument and extended description of its use, and problems associated with its use. For more information about these volumes, please visit LEA's Web site at www.erlbaum.com.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Susan Gass is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages at Michigan State University. Her research is in Second Language Acquisition and includes the areas of Input and Interaction, Language Universals and Language Transfer.

More recently she has become interested in the area of attention and how it relates to acquisition. She has written/edited a number of books on second language acquisition and has taught and lectured in various parts of the world. She co-edits Second Language Acquisition Research with Alison Mackey - published by Routledge

Currently at MSU, she is the Director of the English Language Center, Co-Director of the Center for Language Education And Research, co-Director of the Center for Language Teaching Advancement and Director of the Second Language Studies Ph.D. Program. She recently served as President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (2002-2008) and is Associate Editor of Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

She has been invited to give lectures in Europe (most recently, Greece and Germany) and in Asia (most recently, Japan, S. Korea, China).