Syllabus
1. Introduction
2. Scientific thinking, scientific methods, and scientific communication,
3. Research in applied linguistics
4. Research ethics
5. Critical reading and analytic thinking
6. Structure of a research article and literature review
7. Q&A session and a discussion of final essay requirements
8. Validity, reliability and generalisability
9. Validity, reliability and generalisability
10. Types of quantitative research
11. Formulating hypotheses
12. Formulating research questions
13. Final review
Annotation
This introductory course invites students to explore quantitative research methods in applied linguistics. Students will read, describe, analyse and critique published empirical studies covering a wide range of topics, such as vocabulary acquisition, the use of technologies in second language acquisition, assessment and testing, individual differences among learners including motivation and learner autonomy, listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Student will have an opportunity to influence the selection of topics based on their own research interests. Upon a successful completion of the course, students will be familiar with the fundamentals of quantitative research and will be able to critically review quantitative studies and design replication studies. Background in mathematics or statistics is not required.
The course will be conducted in the English language.