Job Discussion Forums

[madhatter109]

Hello everyone,

I'm an ESL teaching currently getting my master's in linguistics. This is my first semester, and I'm taking a researching class. It's a pretty simple straightforward class. The professor wants us to pick a topic (any topic we want) to research. It could literally be on anything, but I want to do mine on an ESL topic.

Just wondering if anyone has some ideas for a research thesis. My mind is kinda drawing a blank, because it's such a vast scope. Any tips or ideas on what to research?

Thanks!

[spiral78]

Teacher question types?
Student question types?
.....either of the above in a specific classroom situation?

I could do/would like to do a week-long course on this....

[madhatter109]

[spiral78]

Re: teacher questions

Wide range of possibilities from rhetorical questions (OK? Everybody with me?) which can actually if done properly give class a genuine comprehension check opportunity to genuine questions. Genuine questions tend to be followed by a real wait by the teacher for real answers. It can take a bit of time to 'train' a given class to realize that the teacher genuinely expects a response.

Once a student volunteers a response a teacher has many options.

One can validate the response. "Yes, that's right."
or the opposite "No, not quite (or variations thereof)."

One can pass the response off to other students
"Does everyone agree?"
"Does anyone have a different idea?"

and so on ad infinitum.

For an overview of question types: http://teaching.unsw.edu.au/questioning

Basic question: Who's in control of a conversation: the person answering or the person asking?

The correct answer should be obvious.


The power of questions is HUGE, both in the classroom and in everyday life. I'm writing the workshops at this moment.....

[nomad soul]

Research on "an ESL topic" is too broad; you need to keep the scope of your research thesis in perspective---keep it manageable. Since you chose linguistics as your degree major, you might want to start with why you're interested in the field. What about it fascinates you? Otherwise, there are general topics on www.usingenglish.com/links/

[Denim-Maniac]

My interest lie in China / Chinese learners / Learning Chinese.

If I was doing some kind of major research project it would be something along the lines of how the phonology of different Chinese dialects impact on English language learning.

An old Chinese girlfriend of mine often called me 'Lick' (my name is Nick), because she couldnt pronounce /n/ sounds very easily. That was interesting to me as it must affect her Mandarin Chinese too as /n/ is a common sound in Mandarin, but isnt in her dialect / mother tongue.

So actually, my study might even be how Chinese dialects impact on learning Mandarin....Hmmm. Im not sure how Id go about doing the study, but I do like the sound of it.

[Glenski]

[coledavis]

Yes, the length of time to be devoted to this will have an effect on what is feasible. However, some general suggestions:

Testing out different teaching techniques.

They could be trivial ones such as the results of two board colours versus three.

Or the order in which tasks are performed; do they make a difference to the outcome? This could also lead to comparisons with educational theory.

Middling difficulty: Effects of different interventions. Such as, what if a type of text is introduced. Does the introduction of different content make a difference? (Content-based approach would suggest so.)

More difficult. Should true beginners and false beginners be taught together? Does this result differ at different ages.
Do successful language teachers differ in their psychological attributes (as well as their wallet size) from successful teachers of other languages?

[geaaronson]

I am currently doing research by questionnaire of the reading preferences of Mexican schoolchildren in the Yucatan peninsular. This is for my own benefit to be shared to SEP, educators in the area, Mextesol, whoever is interested.

I am doing this as to better structure the educational needs of the students in the area and specifically for my students enrolled in the teacher training course with our program of idiomas here at the university.
As the reading habits of Mexicans is horrible, (approximately 1.5 books per year), I am convinced if we gear reading assignments to those topics that the students themselves are interested in, it would increase their desire to become independent readers and better learners.

If you want my questionaire, pm me.

[coledavis]

Good idea. Really useful research.