Research Methods for Applied Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book for Students

Routledge Applied Linguistics

by Keith Richards, Steven John Ross, Paul Seedhouse

Routledge Applied Linguistics is a series of comprehensive textbooks, providing students and researchers with the support they need for advanced study in the core areas of English language and Applied Linguistics.Each book in the series guides readers through three main sections, enabling them to explore and develop major themes within the discipline.

Section A, Introduction, establishes the key terms and concepts and extends readers' techniques of analysis through practical application. Section B, Extension, brings together influential articles, sets them in context, and discusses their contribution to the field. Section C, Exploration, builds on knowledge gained in the first two sections, setting thoughtful tasks around further illustrative material. This enables readers to engage more actively with the subject matter and encourages them to develop their own research responses.
Throughout the book, topics are revisited, extended, interwoven and deconstructed, with the reader's understanding strengthened by tasks and follow-up questions.

Research Methods for Applied Language Studies:

Provides an advanced introduction to quantitative and qualitative research methods used in second and foreign language learning, teaching and assessment Takes readers step by step through the processes of research, from formulating research questions to writing up a dissertation or report. Employs a wide variety of carefully structured tasks and discussion points to guide the reader through the key themes, frameworks and procedures of applied language research, including ethnography, conversation analysis and quasi-experimental designs. Engages students in readings and tasks on articles from leading names in the field, including Alison Mackey, Roy Lyster, Angela Creese, Junko Mori, Rod Ellis and Diane Larsen-Freeman. Is supported by a Companion Website, including data sets for practice and guides to writing a proposal, making recordings, conducting interviews, producing questionnaires and organising a dissertation.
Written by experienced teachers and researchers in the field, Research Methods for Applied Language Studies is an essential resource for students and researchers of Applied Linguistics.

376 pages, Hardcover

First published June 12, 2011

About the author

Keith Richards is an English guitarist, songwriter, singer, producer and founding member of The Rolling Stones. As a guitarist Richards is mostly known for his innovative rhythm playing. In 2003 Richards was ranked 10th on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

With songwriting partner and Rolling Stones lead vocalist Mick Jagger, Richards has written and recorded hundreds of songs, fourteen of which Rolling Stone magazine lists among the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

There is more than one author by this name on Goodreads

Reviews

[Dann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before launching into this review, I have to note that I'm a psycholinguist, not an applied linguist, and that I read this book for a class. My view on it is quite biased, as I wasn't all that interested in the content. The reason for the poor review, however, is less because of the content and more because of the organisation of the book.

Being a research methods book, the most sensical way to organise the book, in my opinion, is by method. A chapter for ethnography, a chapter for classroom observation, a chapter for questionnaires, and so on. Instead, this book is organised around different issues in the classroom, such as 'Interaction and Pedagogy', 'Language Learning Tasks', and 'Interaction, Context, and Identity'. This irked me a bit. In addition to this, each chapter presents excerpts from two articles that analyse a particular construct, each of which takes a different methodological approach. This is an interesting idea, though I find that it falls flat in practice (it doesn't help that the authors are not clear on this method of comparison until at least half-way through the book).

The other main complaint that I had about this book was that it was pretty low on real, practical advice related to research, which surprised me. There were some good pieces of advice and items of guidance, to be sure, but overall, I feel that I gained little from reading this book. The authors certainly know what they're talking about and have a great deal of experience in the applied language studies field, but I feel that they missed the mark with this textbook.

[Samar Almossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I refer to this book every now and then. It's a useful research methods book with special reference to conversation analysis.