Liguistic Research

A relatively new field

Ø 1948: Agard & Dunkel, University.of Chicago first major experimental study to compare ‘new type’ and rational methods of language teaching.
Ø 1948: first journal with a strong research orientation ‘Language Learning ‘was launched by the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan in Ann Abor.
Ø The 60’s witnessed enormous interest in research. Carroll created awareness of value of research and of the quality of good research.
Ø 50’s & 60’s: Language centres with a strong research orientation established in several countries.
Ø USA: Centre for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, DC.1959.
Ø Britain: University Centres in Applied Linguistics. A Centre for information on Language Teaching & Research established in 1966.
Ø Canada: the International Centre for Research on Bilingualism founded in 1967 in Quebc.
Ø Canada: The Modern Language Centre of the Ontario Institute for studies in Education (OISE) in Toronto in 1968.
Ø India: The Central Institute for English & Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad 196
Ø India: HMPIET&R, Vallabh Vidyanagar, 1965 to train teachers to teach English in secondary schools.
Ø Major areas of research in the 50’s & the 60’s were controversies and critical issues in language pedagogy (Audio lingual Method, Grammar Translation Method), pros & cons of the language laboratory, language teaching for younger children, effectiveness of ‘immersion’, home-school language switch as an approach to language teaching.
Ø 1965: An ambitious international research project. Surveyed and evaluated the teaching of English as a foreign language in 10 countries & French in 8-by the international Association for the evaluation of Education of Educational Achievement (IEA).Carroll 1975, Lewies & Massad 1975).
The Domain of Linguistics
· Phonetics
· Diachronic Studies: vertical/ historical
· Synchronic/Horizontal/contemporary
· Theoretical/General
· Applied /Typological
· Comparative

Linguistics & allied disciplines
· Anthropological linguistics: Cultural patterns, beliefs of human race
· Applied Linguistics: Elucidation of language, problems , stylistics, teaching-learning, lexicography, translation
· Biological Linguistics: Language development in humans (Human race & children)
· Clinical :Analysis of disorders(spoken/writer language)
· Computational linguistics: Machine translation, information retrieval, artificial intelligence
· Educational Linguistics: Teaching & learning a language (first language ) in schools & colleges
· Ethnolinguistics: Ethnic types, social interaction
· Geographical linguistics: Regional distribution of languages /dialects.
· Mathematical linguistics: Mathematical properties of language concepts in algebra, statistics, computer
· Neurolinguistics: Brain’s control over the processes speech & understanding.
· Philosophical linguistics: Elucidation of philosophical concepts and of philosophical status of linguistic theories
· Psycholinguistics: Psychological processes: memory, retention, thought
· Sociolinguistics: Language in society
· Statistical linguistics: Quantitative properties
· Theolinguistics: Biblical scholars/ theologians’ study of theory and practice of religious beliefs.
Reference
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
David Crystal
Methods of acquiring knowledge
· Personal experience
· Authority
· Deductive reasoning
· Inductive Reasoning
· Serendipity: Something other than what is looked for comes out. Alexander Fleming 1930 studying growth of bacteria in a small dish. Bacteria stopped growing when surrounded by and killed by mould which had got into the dish by accident. Thus, penicillin from the mold had become such an anti-biotic
(Fungus: Mold – multicultural- mushrooms; Yeast-single cellular)
· Intuition: Archimedes: prepared mind receives it.
·
Obtaining linguistic data


Planned, intensive field investigation Casual introspection
· Informant: Native speakers } Utterances for analysis,
Comments on Correctness,
Judging acceptability
· Recording: Tape recording, video recording
Obtaining good quality, naturalistic data not easy. Recording makes people conscious.
· Elicitation: Structured sessions with informants
· Corpora: A representative sample of language, compiled for the purpose of linguistic analysis –corpus
o Objective statements about the frequency of the usage.
o Data for other researchers
· Experiments:
· Reconstruction: Historical studies of language where written records are lacking. Comparative philology. Forms of proto- indo-European & other restructured languages. Hypothetical yet a major field of linguistic enquiry


Aims of Research:
1. Explanation: Collecting- categorizing data, naming objects/items, assigning reasons for occurrence, building generalizations
[ Scientists are not only postdictive but also predictive]

2. Control: Conditions that have adverse effect on human life (spread of AIDS, backwardness in reading, smoking)
So far, more success in controlling physical phenomena than social ones wherein the variables are more complex

3. Prediction: Planets predicted much before actually identified. Weather, scholastic performance concerned more with a widely based conceptual framework of theory. Gene responsible for blindness in humans of y chromosome. Because the y chromosome determines the sex of the child, fewer girls than boys are afflicted with this illness.

Role of Linguistic Research
Education, an endeavour with financial and human investment. Planning, decision – making, practice and innovation needed. Not to rely exclusively on tradition, opinion trial and error, but be able to draw in rational enquiry, systematic investigation, and if possible, controlled experiment.
Documenting the fund of knowledge in language pedagogy, and thus, give access to the large body of information which already exists. Research can dispel misinformation and point to those areas where knowledge is inadequate.
Language teaching cannot improve suddenly as a result of an invention or breakthrough. No expert, guru or teacher has all answers. Research helps in hypothesis testing, fact-finding, experimentation. The cumulative effect of many painstaking studies, in the long run, can be more productive than mere talks on universal theories/untested global solutions.
The individual teacher’s intuition and ingenuity, which have contributed a great deal to the advancement of language pedagogy, continue to be important. Research is not an alternative to experience. But experiential learning too should be able to stand up to critical enquiry and to empirical tests.
Continued examination of current practice should be made as a form of ‘quality control’. Language teaching, like other educational activities, has a tendency to become institutionalised.Traditions have developed over more than a century: Methods, content etc have remained relatively unchanged. ‘New approaches’ turn out to be only mild variations of traditions. Is the stubbornness of language teaching traditions due to the inevitabilities imposed by the nature of language teaching or language learning, or is it the consequence of a lack of a critical attitude? We should be prepared to scrutinise our established practices. Research represents this questioning element in the educational process.
Research complements theory, injects a questioning attitude to theoretical speculations, offers techniques of validation and verification, provides a stimulus to fresh theorising.
Claims need to be verified: superiority of methods/ approaches /materials/ through empirical res.
Developing a more objective outlook upon practice: Assisting language pedagogy to grow in status as a well- conceived, rationally supported and thoroughly professional endeavour.

Types of Research
· Basic: to advance knowledge
· Applied: to solve day- today problems
· Developmental: Involves the systematic use of scientific knowledge for the production of methods, processes, systems & useful devices, but not involving problems specific to questions of design & production engineering.
· Educational: Any systematic striving for understanding activated by a need/ sensed difficulty directed towards some complex educational problem of more than immediate personal concern & stated in problematic form ( cf. Harris, 1960, Encyclopedia of Educational Research )

Educational research should always denote careful, critical and exhaustive investigation to discover new facts which will test a hypothesis, revise accepted conclusions/ contribute positive values to society in general ( cf. McAshan 1963)

The Role of Theory in Research

Collection of data, spotting relevant relationships between the facts.
A hypothesis, when accepted explains a limited no. of facts & the interrelations between them, A generalization is a hypo of greater generality/laws.
A theory is built on facts, intelligent guesses, adds missing links, puts forward a hypothesis, deduces consequences, builds wider generalisations, eventually elaborates a theory solidly based on evidence.

Theory

A norm
Points out lacunae
Permits classification of facts
Elaboration of new concepts
Enables to make predictions
A theory to be amended/ abandoned when new facts discovered

Construct: A plausible explanation of the consistency of human behavior. Intelligence, verbal ability etc are hypothetical constructs. They cannot in themselves be seen. Only the outcomes of the resulting thinking can be observed.

Model: is a likeness of representation of certain aspects of complex phenomena made by using objects /symbols which in some way resemble the phenomena being modeled. A model is essentially an analogy.

Reference:
Understanding Research in Education
k.Lovell & k.s.Lawson, UNIBOOKS, 1971, Uni of London Press Ltd.
Value of a research topic: Questions to be asked
· Does the topic appear to be of any help in attempting to solve some imp/theoretical
· Free of all ambiguity/clear?
· Related literature adequate reviewed?
· Goals to collect data?
· Clear statement of testable hypotheses?
· Assumptions made clear?
· If no hypotheis, does it appear that the investigator has some idea about the way in which the variables are interrelated and that he is proceeding in a manner consistent with some goal?
· Precise measurement of variables?
· Investments and techniques of measurement reliable and valid?
· Dangers of over generalization from small and representative samples?
· Acceptance /rejection of the hypothesis constant with the statistical evidence?
· Factors affecting result but can’t be controlled indicated?

Hypothesis: A priori judgment. Tentative explanation for certain behaviors, phenomena or events that have occurred or will occur.
· States the researcher’s expectations concerning the relationship, between the variables.
· States what the researcher thinks the outcome of the research will be
· Formulated following the review of related literature.
· Precedes the study proper because the entire study is determined by the hypothesis.
· Webster: Hypothesis, a tentative theory of supposition provisionally adopted to explain certain facts and to guide in the investigation of others.
·
Types
Research Hypothesis
Substantive Hypo” A form of conjecture
( Kerlinger, 1973)
Statistical hypothesis: in quantitative terms

How stated (Declarative /Null)

How derived
(Inductive /deductive)




Directional: states the nature of the relationship

Research Hypothesis

Non-directional: states that a relationship exists






· The mean achievement of the population of 4th std. students taught by Method A equals the mean achievement of the population taught by Method B.
· As punitive, disciplinary methods are increased in an elementary school, student attainment will decrease.
· Lab instruction increases the students’ understanding of scientific processes, over an instructional approach limited to lecture and discussion.
· Task – based teaching of English is more effective than rule-based teaching.
→Null Hypothesis: No difference hypothesis /no relationship.
→ Alternative hypothesis expresses the remaining possible outcomes
Directional Hypothesis: Elementary students who receive computer-assisted instruction exhibit greater math achievement than elementary students who receive regular instruction only.

Non-directional Hypothesis: There is a significant difference in the math achievement of elementary students who receive computer assisted instruction and those who receive regular instruction only.

Hypothesis testing is really what scientific research is all about.
Determine the sample, measuring instruments, design, procedure →Collect data
A Constant is a characteristic/condition that is the same for all individuals in a study. A variable – that takes on different values or conditions.



Comparison of 2 teaching methods English at HSc
Variables

Constant condition/s
Independent gender, teaching methods
Dependent Achievement measured at the end
Standard, teacher, subject

Educational & Linguistic Research
Exercise
Below are a few research statements/ topics. Study them and decide what type of research problems they are. Discuss the purpose of the study and the method/s for the same.
What do parents feel about the state of English in schools in Gujarat?
What kind of decision-making system is more effective: top-down or participatory?
How will CLT fare during the coming decade in Gujarat?
Effect of travel distance on job efficiency.
Are the formal adult literacy programmes worth the cost?
Are intelligence and creativity related?
Which method of irrigation is better- drip/flow?
How can I help my students in class IX improve their reading skills?
How do university and college teachers spend their leisure time?
Are the continents really moving away from each other?
Trends in Teacher Education : 1900-2008
Is the CLT approach effective?
The genesis and changes in the celebration of Navaratri in Gujarat.
Impact of the Nano firm on the image/ economy of Gujarat.
Impact of computer-assisted teaching.
The origin and development of ESP.
A Comparative study of tutorial /small group –based teaching and front- teacher / large-class teaching.
Relationship between anxiety and achievement.
Privatisation of Higher Education. Factors and impact
How can our detergents be made more competitive?
Relationship between the medium of instruction and concept clarity.
How does the life style of the tribals in the Dangs differ from the other tribals in Gujarat?
What race do the Siddiquis of Siddhapur belong to?
Multilingualism and uni-lingualism and their impact on 2nd language learning.
Effect of problem- solving activities on students’ learning.
Improving study habits of class IX students.
Effect of problem- solving activities on students’ learning.
Efficiency of authentic materials on developing oral skills.
Analysis of the textbooks for mathematics for std. 12 in Gujarat State Board.
A surrey of classroom teaching techniques followed by the teachers of social studies in Gujarat