Syllabus/TU/ B.Ed. 4th Year/ Research Methodology in English Education/Eng. Ed. 445

  Course Title: Research Methodology in English Education Course No. : Eng. Ed. 445                        Nature of the course: Theoretic...

 Course Title: Research Methodology in English Education

Course No. : Eng. Ed. 445                        Nature of the course: Theoretical and Practical

Level: B. Ed.                                                               Full marks: 100(T=50; P=50)

Year: Fourth                                                                Pass marks: T= 35, P=40                    

Periods per week: 6                                                     Total periods: 150

 

1.         Course Description

This course has been designed to help students understand the basic concepts and processes of doing and writing research in English language education. The first unit of the course is focused on helping students conceptualize the definition, characteristics, paradigms and types of research.  The second unit deals with the basic components of research. In this unit, students will be engaged in the process of identifying research problems, framing research questions and objectives, writing literature review, specifying research methods and data analysis procedure and writing reports. The third unit is focused on the methods of data collection while the fourth and the fifth units deal with research designs and data analysis/interpretation, respectively. The final unit aims at engaging students in writing research reports.

 

2.         General Objectives

       The general objectives of this course are as follows:

·   To acquaint the students with a general understanding of the nature and characteristics of research methodology in language education.

·   To familiarize the students with the research problems, questions.  

·   To enable the students to design different types of research relevant to language education.

·   To engage students in doing basic research in language education.

·   To develop students’ competencies in analyzing and interpreting data.

·   To enhance students’ skills in writing research reports.

 

3.         Specific Objectives and Contents

Specific Objectives	Contents
·         Define research and discuss its characteristics, rationale and application. ·         Discussion the paradigms of research. ·         Provide an overview of the types of research.	Unit I: Introduction (15) 1.1  Defining the concept of research 1.2  Characteristics of research 1.3  Rationale/purposes of doing research 1.4  Application of research 1.5  Paradigms of research: Positivist/ quantitative and post-positivist/qualitative 1.6  Types of research: overview
State the research problems, questions and objectives in their areas of interest. Write a review of literatures related to their areas of interest. Specify and apply data collection methods and data analysis procedures.	Unit 2: Basic components of research (20) 2.1  Research problem 2.2  Research questions 2.3  Research objectives 2.4  Literature review 2.5  Sampling procedure 2.6  Data collection: Methods and tools 2.7  Data analysis and interpretation 2.8  Reporting (Project work:  Teachers should engage students in identifying research problems, research questions and objectives, and write a literature review. They should also work together to specify the methods and data analysis procedures for their study. Students should write a report of all these.)
Discuss the types and processes of developing different methods of data collection. Develop questionnaire, interview guidelines/schedule, observation guidelines, and test items to use for research.	Unit 3: Methods of data collections (30)  3.1 Questionnaire •      Purpose •      Types •      Design •      Techniques/process 3.2 Interview •      Purpose •      Types •      Design •      Techniques/process 3.3 Observation •      Purpose •      Types •      Design •      Techniques/process 3.4 Test items •      Purpose •      Types •      Design •      Techniques/process        (Project work:  Students will develop the tools to collect data by using above research methods).
Discuss major principles of research designs. Develop research designs of different kinds.	Unit 4: Research designs (20) 4.1 Qualitative vs quantitative 4.2 Survey research 4.3 Experimental research 4.4 Action research 4.5 Case study 4.6 Interactional research     (Project work: Students will be engaged in designing research and collect data by using appropriate methods and tools.)
Identify appropriate tools for data analysis and interpretation. Develops themes from the data. Interpret the data	Unit 5: Data Analysis and Interpretation (30) 5.1 Identifying the appropriate tools 5.2 Transcribing data (for qualitative) 5.3 Thematizing the data (for qualitative) 5.4 Running statistical tools (for quantitative) 5.5 Presenting data 5.6 Interpreting data: triangulation process      (Project work: Students are engaged in analyzing and interpreting data by using statistical tools and the process of theme building. The analysis and interpretation should be based the actual data students have collected.)
Write a research report. Use appropriate citation and referencing style (APA) and	Unit 6: Writing research (35) 6.1 Following the step wise process 6.2 Organizing the data 6.3 Writing the report 6.4 Citation and referencing styles    (Project Work: Students will write a compete research report based on their study.)

 

4.      Instructional Techniques

The instructional techniques for this course are divided into two groups.  First group consists of general instructional techniques applicable to most of the units. The second group consists of specific instructional techniques applicable to specific units

4.1 General instructional techniques:

·         Lecture and discussion

·         Demonstration

·         Teacher-guided self-study

·         RDWS (read-discuss-write-share)

·         Group/pair work

4.2 Specific instructional techniques

The major instructional approach for this course include a research-based collaborative approach in that both teachers and students work together to design and carry out research. Rather than focusing simply on understanding of concepts, students will be engaged in exploring issues, designing research methods, data collection, analysis and interpretation and writing research report through project work and other related techniques. For this purpose, the teachers design both individual and collaborative activities with the students.

 

 

5.      Evaluation and Time Allotment

The course is for one academic year and it carries 100 marks. The distribution of marks and time allotment for each unit is as follows:

 

o   Theory: 50%

o   Practical: 50%

 

 

Unit                               Marks                                      Time

I                                         T: 6                                        10%

II                                       T: 10; P: 10                            15%

III                                      T: 10; P: 10                            15%

IV                                      T: 8; P: 10                              20%

V                                       T: 8; P: 10                              20%

VI                                      T: 8; P: 10                              20%

 

6.      Assessment Technique

6.1 Written examination: 50 marks

 

The students will be assessed through annual examination held by the Office of Controller of Examinations. The types and number of questions in the annual examination paper are given in the following table:

 

Nature of questions	Total questions to be asked	Number of questions to be answered	Weighing
Group A: Multiple choice items	10 questions	10x 1 mark	10 Marks
Group B: Short answer questions	6 questions with 2 ‘or’ questions	6 x 5 marks	30 Marks
Group C: Long answer questions	1  question	1 x 10 marks	10marks

 

6.2 Evaluation scheme for practical part: 50 marks

 For the practical assessment, students should keep a portfolio of their project work for each unit. Teachers should design appropriate project works that requires writing at least 2000-3000 words. Teachers should provide feedback to the students on their work. The portfolio will be assessed by an external appointed by the office of the Controller of Examinations. The division of marks is as follows.

Activities	Internal	External	Total
Attendance and participation	5	-	5
Collection of documents	5	5	10
Quality of report	5	10	15
Presentation in seminar	5	-	5
Viva-voce	5	10	15
Total	25	25	50

 

7. Recommended Books and References

 

Recommended Books

Kumar, R. (2011). Research methodology (3^rd edition). New Delhi: Sage.(All Units)

McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (1997). Research methods for English language teachers. London: Arnold. (Units II & III)

Nunan, D. (2008). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (All units)

Wallace, M. (2000). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.(Unit IV)

References

Burns, A. (2010). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching. New York: Routledge.

Cohen, L. Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge.

Paltridge, B. and  Starfield, S. (2007). Thesis and dissertation writing in a second language. Routledge: London.

Seliger, H. W. & Shohamy, E. (1999). Second language research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.