Professional Documents
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Language and Literature Research
Language and Literature Research
Area: ENGLISH
LET Competencies:
There are a number of definitions of research. These definitions emphasize the purposes of
research, the methods and strategies used, the analysis of data, and the ethics in
conducting research. Below are some of the definitions given by the research practitioners
themselves.
The two general types of research are quantitative research and the qualitative research.
However, in recent literature, the action research is already included in the list.
1. The Problem and Its Setting- This section includes the introduction of the study,
statement of the problem, scope and delimitation, importance of the study, and the
definition of terms. It is also in this part that the hypotheses and assumption of the study
are stated.
2. Review of Literature and Studies – This section presents the theories, concepts
and studies related to the research topic.
3. Research Methodology – This section clears out the processes used to answer
the research questions. This section also states the research methods and design,
sampling, statistical treatment, procedures, and other related concepts necessary for
data gathering.
5. Discussion – this section presents the interpretation and analysis of the results.
The research problems can be gathered from various sources, such as:
1. Research Literature –It provides the much needed information to determine what
have already been explored in relation to the topic that will be investigated.
2. Theory-Based Research – This contains the studies in which the existing theories
on language and literature were tested.
5. Experience – this is another rich source of research topics because this provides
the motivation to the researcher to investigate or examine what he/she knows is
important in language or literature study.
1. The topic is interesting. It will hold the researcher’s interest through the entire
research.
a. Independent variable – a variable that the researcher thinks occurred prior in time
to, and has an influence on another variable or on the dependent variable.
ii) Cross- sectional survey – collects information from a sample that has been
drawn from a predetermined population. The information is collected at just one
point in time, although the time it takes to collect all the data desired may take
anywhere from a day to a few weeks or more.
Types of Questions – the nature of the questions, and the way they are asked,
are extremely important in the research survey:
1. Closed-ended questions are easy to use, score, and code for analysis on
a computer. Since all subjects respond to the same opinions; standardized data
are provided.
Kinds of Questionnaire
Kind of interview
ii) Correlational Research – a type of investigation that seeks to discover the direction and
magnitude of the relationship among variables through the use of correlational statistics.
O1 X O2
O1= pretest O2= posttest
X O
C O
ii) Quasi-Experiment – these designs provide control of when and to whom the
measurement is applied, but because random assignment to experiment and
treatment groups has not been applied, the equivalence of the groups is not
assured. Some examples of experimental designs are:
e.g O1O2O3O4O5O6O7O8
Treatment group R X1 O
Control Group R X2 O
Treatment Group R O X1 O
Control Group R O X2 O
Treatment Group R O X1 O
Control Group R O X2 O
Treatment Group R X1 O
Control Group R X2 O
ii) Media recording and analysis - this uses media-like audio or video recording to
record a sample of teacher performance for subsequent analysis by the teacher,
peer or both. Microteaching is one example of media recording.
iii) Student feedback tools – this is similar to the self- reflection tool except that the
students, instead of the teacher, complete the forms. Teacher- made
questionnaire, minute surveys and journals are examples of sources of student
feedback.
iv) Student performance data – include all student products that can be used to help
teachers assess their own instructional effectiveness. Test results, essays,
classroom projects, and the like are examples of students’ performance data.
vii) Collegial dialogue, experience sharing, and joint problem solving- all of these
encourage collaboration among teachers to discuss common problems, share
procedures, and strategies, and compare perceptions. Exposure to the ideas and
practices of colleagues is a potent strategy for teacher reflection and change.
i) to make people aware of what has happened in the past so they may learn
from past failure or success
ii) to learn how things were done in the past to see if they might be applicable
to present day problems and concerns
iii) to assist in prediction
iv) to test hypotheses concerning relationships or trends
b. Types of Sources
c. Categories of Sources
i) Documents – these are written or printed materials that have been produced
in some form or another. Examples of these are annual reports, artwork, bills,
books, cartoons, circulars, records, diaries, diplomas, newspapers, among
others. They may be handwritten, printed, typewritten, drawn or sketched;
published or unpublished; intended for private or public consumption; original
or copies. Therefore, documents pertain to any kind of information that exists
in some type of written or printed form.
iii) Oral statements – these include stories, myths, tales, legends, chants, songs
and other forms of oral expression that have been used by people down
through the ages to leave a record for future generations.
iv) Relics –These are objects whose physical or visual characteristics can
provide some information about the past. Examples include furniture,
artwork, clothing, buildings, monuments, or equipment.
i) Contextual – the research is carried out in the context in which the subjects
normally live or work.
ii) Unobtrusive – the researcher avoids manipulating the phenomenon under
investigation
iii) Longitudinal – the research is relatively long term
iv) Collaborative – the researcher carries out interpretative analyses of the data
in cooperation with other people, e.g. the natives in a community
iv) Complete participant – the identity is not known to any of the individuals
being observed. The researcher interacts with the group as naturally as
possible.
ii) Halo effect – the tendency for the observer’s early impressions of an
individual being observed to influence the observer’s ratings of all variables
involving the same individual
iii) Observer effect – any action or bias of an observer to record the occurrence
of a behavior that fits one of the categories in the observational schedule.
ii) Sampling error- the deviation of a sample statistic from its population value
a. Convenience sampling – a group of cases that are selected simply because they
are available and easy to access
h. Random sample or simple random sampling –selecting participants such that all
members of the accessible or target population have an equal and independent
chance of being selected
l. Quota sampling – is most often used in survey research when it is not possible to
list all members of the population of interest.
5. Ways of Measurement
ii) Questionnaire – a measure that presents a set of written questions to which all
individuals in the sample respond
iii) Rubric- in performance assessment, this refers to a scale of measuring different levels of
proficiency demonstrated in students’ portforlio.
ii) Content validity – the extent to which inferences from a test’s scores
adequately represent the content or conceptual domain that the test claims to
measure
a. Types of reliability
ii) Multiple researchers/ participant researchers – the best way to guard against
threats to internal reliability. However, this is quite expensive. The alternative is to
enlist the aid of local informants to validate the interpretations of the
ethnographer.
iii) Peer examination – this involves the corroboration by other researchers working
in similar settings
iv) Mechanically recorded data – this strategy allows for the preservation of the
primary data.
i) Observation – certain questions can be best answered by observing how people act or
how things look.
ii) Field notes – observer’s record of what he or she has seen heard, experienced, and
thought about during an observation session
i) Descriptive field notes – attempts to describe the setting, the people and what
they do according to what the researcher observes. They include the following:
ii) Reflective field notes – present more of what the researcher himself or
herself is thinking about as he or she does the observation. These include the
following:
ii) Knowledge questions – are questions researchers ask to find out what
factual information respondents possess.
iv) Opinion or values question - are questions researchers ask to find out what
people think about some topic or issue. Answers to such questions call attention
to the respondents’ goals, beliefs, attitudes, or values.
vi) Sensory questions – are questions a researcher asks to find out what a
respondent, for example, has seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or touched.
a. Think aloud techniques – are those in which subjects complete a task or solve a
problem and verbalize their thought processes as they do so. The researcher
collects the think-aloud protocol on tape and then analyzes it for the thinking
strategies involved.
b. Anagram tasks – this is similar to Think Aloud, but the focus is on letters and
words rather than numbers. An anagram is a word or phrase whose constituent
parts have been rearranged.
vi) Elicitation Techniques – these techniques are used to obtain data by means of a stimulus,
such as a picture, diagram, or standard test, as well as those based on a questionnaire,
survey and interview data. Examples of these are production tasks, completion tasks,
among others.
11.Literary Research
a. Select a topic- this pertains to the selection of the author and the aspect or element
of his or her work that you want to study. Some of the literary topics could be a
discussion of the work's characters, if they are realistic, symbolic or historically-
based; a comparison and contrast of different authors or characters in a work; a
reading of a work based on a literary approach or theory outside philosophical
perspective, e. g. how would a Freudian read Hamlet?; a study of the sources or
historical events that occasioned a particular work, e.g. comparing G.B. Shaw's
Pygmalion with the original Greek myth of Pygmalion; an analysis of a specific
image occurring in several works, e.g the use of moon as imagery in certain plays,
poems, novels; a "deconstruction" of a particular work, e.g. unfolding an underlying
racist worldview in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, among others
d. Prepare the methodology – in this section, the literary researcher underscores the
needed elements to address the research questions. This includes the
identification of authors to be studied, their texts to be analyzed, procedures or
stages of the literary research, among others. Since the selection of materials is a
significant aspect in any literary research, it is labeled under steps of literary
research and not just a component of the methodology part.
e. Select Materials – In selecting the materials for a literary research, make sure that
you have built your bibliography. This includes the selection of a few good articles
about the author and his/her work. Include the reviews made by literary critics of a
particular work. Other things to consider are the following:
f. Prepare the findings of the study – In this section, the researcher answers the
research questions and addresses the hypothesis of the study.
ii) Translation
a. Topics to be explored
Research in Literature may include the study in translation. In doing this type of
research, the author may explore the following translation studies:
ii) Actual translation – in doing the actual translation, the translator needs to
have a theoretical grounding to support the manner and processes employed
in the actual translation. This is important in setting a clear direction in the
translation process
ii) Meaning-based Translation – this method gives the highest priority to the
meaning and form of the original, and is appropriate to translations of source
texts that have high status. It retains the aesthetic value of the translated
texts. It is both semantic and communicative in nature.
One of the challenges for language and literature teachers in this information age is to
be active contributors of knowledge in academic setting. In academic institutions, from
elementary to tertiary, teachers are encouraged, and at some degree, are expected to
undertake a small-scale research. This small scale research is often focused on the
classroom interaction where the teacher –researcher is a significant member.
Although the methods used in classroom research resembles those used in other types
of researches, classroom research can be considered distinct because it focuses on
issues and concerns of a specific classroom. Hence, classroom research addresses a
specific learning concern in the classroom setting.
ii) Classroom interaction – this focuses on the type of talk observable inside the
classroom
iii) Classroom instruction – this centers on the teaching styles of the teacher,
selection of materials, use of teaching methodologies and strategies, along
with the students’ response to the initiatives of the teacher.
iv) Classroom assessment – this looks into the assessment and testing done in
the classroom using both teacher and expert made tests and assessment
tools.
The research is not complete without the written report. The report is the gateway
towards the understanding and appreciation of such intellectual endeavors. Basically the
report follows a conventional structure (as presented above). What is discussed on this
section is the convention in writing a research report that a researcher should observe. These
are the following:
1. The research writer is expected to fit in his report to the intended audience or
readers. This means that the researcher should meet the expectations, in terms of
format and style of the specific audience that who will read his work.