The aim of this task is to examine and evaluate different methodological approaches to researching topical issue within second language (English) education.
You are required to choose two different pieces of research that address a common topic (e.g., teachers’ questioning techniques, using technology in the L2 classroom, etc.), and prepare a comparative essay that includes these main components:
• For background/context, critically consider the main professional, public, and scholarly debates on the topic you have chosen.
• Succintly summarise the different arguments presented in your two research articles, and critically examine their main points of disagreement and agreement.
• Discuss the criteria you employ to evaluate research, and explain how these are informed by the educational research methodology literature.
• Compare and critically evaluate the two different research approaches used in the articles with respect to their main argument, conclusions, and knowledge claims.
• Ensure language is clear, cohesive, and appropriately referenced using APA conventions.
To help you prepare for this assignment, we offer the following questions to guide your reading and evaluating:
• What are some of the main points of debate about the chosen topic?
• How do we judge contrasting research approaches and competing arguments?
• How do we ‘make sense’ of and evaluate the different claims made about topical and controversial issues?
• What constitutes evidence in evidence-based educational research?
• Is it appropriate to acknowledge standpoints and contexts of different ‘stakeholders’ (e.g., parents, academics, teachers, policy makers, young people, managers…) and how might we best do so?
• What are the different criteria by which we might judge and evaluate research approaches, research quality and claims and arguments?
Word count
(3000 words).