Job Discussion Forums

tac · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

Hi everyone,

This is my first posting, although I've been reading for quite a while.

I've been teaching EFL in Asia for about 5 years now - the past three or so in Japan. I'm based in Tokyo, where I teach at a private high school. I'm also in my second semester of a distance MAppling with Macquarie in Sydney.

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing about your research interests, especially those of you who have done research here in Japan. Having just started the MAppling, I'm still at the stage of "wanting to research everything" and would like to start narrowing down my options. I'd love to hear what others in the field are up to !

Many thanks !

tac

wintersweet · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:47 am Post subject:

I'm about 1/3 of the way through an MA program. I wish we had a research methodology class as part of the program, but we don't. I'm thinking about trying to take one somewhere else, though. I guess I'm in the same boat as you, where everything still seems really interesting. Sociolinguistic topics interest me a lot, but so do more practical questions such as "Can I get students to start reading for pleasure in English by using comic books?" (My thesis project may involve designing a reading curriculum with comics.)

abufletcher · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:18 am Post subject:

There are lots of good books on research methodology for second language learning:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/102-0778980-6570559

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/ref=s_sf_b_as/102-0778980-6570559

Initially you'll need to making a choice between a quantitative or qualitative methodology.

In terms of selecting a research topic, I'd suggest you let a research topic PICK YOU! Read and then keep reading on topics of interest to you. Once you've read enough you'll start to ask questions and then you'll have your topic. It would be foolish to just pluck a topic out of the air.

tac · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

Abufletcher:Thanks, actually I had no intention of plucking a research topic from the air Smile

I'm mainly just interested in hearing about what kind of research people are currently doing, or have done here in Japan...

Wintersweet: One of the core courses in my program is "research methods in language study". We're using "Introduction to Research Methods" (4thed.) by Burns. It seems to be a pretty comprehensive introduction... perhaps you can find a copy in your library ?

tac

wintersweet · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:43 am Post subject:

I'm going to look up all of the above. Thanks! I have a little bit of background in anthropological research (there's a bit more similarity than you might think Wink

). I also need to find out if my school has any kind of reciprocity agreement with SFSU, where there's a course on it--we're both part of the state university system, so maybe.

Although I've been too busy to participate much, I've been happy to see more pedagogical posts lately from people like abufletcher and womblingfreely (and now tac).

abufletcher · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:12 am Post subject:

My own research area is ethnomethodological conversation analysis. My Ph.D. thesis looked at turn-construction and (self) repair in novice-to-novice L2 interactions. Not exactly your usual SLA stuff.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I'm more interested in action research, which basically is research into activities that can be directly used in the classroom. Some of the more theoretical topics don't interest me that much, they often don't and aren't practical.

As to areas with action research, work with video (I have something already semi-written) is one of my favorite ares. I am also interested in wired classroom activities, but unfortunately I have limited access to computers in many of my classes.

Sherri · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:22 am Post subject:

I am in the final days of finishing off my MA dissertation (University of Birmingham, UK). Although, I have enjoyed the work and the research, I am really glad that this is near an end and I can get my life back!

I have been doing research based on changes to the curriculum at the place where I am working now as the curriculum coordinator, so while theory does come into it, it is also very practical.

Gaijinalways, I like using videos too and used to be involved in a very interesting materials development project using CNN and BBC news videos.

Regards and good luck to anyone staying up late tonight with a cup of coffee and an excel spreadsheet on their computer!
Sherri

tac · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

Thanks for sharing !

Yes, I'm also interested in "practical" research, although not necessarily in the classroom.

Would love to hear from anyone else doing (or planning ) reasearch in Japan...

cheers

tac

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

MrCAPiTUL · Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 232 Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Cultural implications on international terrorism (and vise-versa).
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womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826