Korean Job Discussion Forums

Spongebob Squarepants

This is a topic which comes up every so often, and even elicits heated debate from time to time. As a short exercise in a research methods class I'm taking, I have decided to put together a short multi-item scale questionnaire to gather quantitative data on all our perceptions in this area.

http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=1191cd1f-c992-49d4-879f-ca2ef2da7a42

I am inviting all - yes you too - who are interested to take 5 minutes out of your regular Dave's surfing time to click on the link to my questionnaire and share your perceptions on postgraduate degrees in the field. I'm hoping for a sample of at least 100, so the more the merrier.

Briefly, there are 4 sections of interest:

1. General interest in pursuing postgraduate study
2. The usefulness of a postgraduate degree in the field of TESOL
3. Attitudes towards the locations of degree-granting institutions
4. Attitudes towards methods of delivery

each has 5 items which were intentionally worded the way they are for increased reliability and validity.

A short section on subject variables (personal information) finishes the questionnaire off.

I plan to share the results, once they have been duly SPSSed, with all on this board, so please do participate.

Once again the link is

http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=1191cd1f-c992-49d4-879f-ca2ef2da7a42

and thank you all in advance.

Squarepants

losing_touch · Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Location: Ulsan - I think!

Finished ....

agoodmouse · Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Location: Anyang

Where are you taking your methods research class?

Spongebob Squarepants · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:49 am Post subject:

To those of you who have participated so far, thank you! Keep 'em coming folks. Wink

Good Mouse, I'm taking one last module in Research Methodology at the Univ. of Nottingham (with Zoltan Dornyei) before I embark on my dissertation for an MA in App. Ling. and ELT.
I saw that you were accepted into the UMass at Boston program. That's a solid program and one I was looking at back in 2007 when I initially applied to a variety of programs. Let the rest of us know how that program goes.

Maneki Neko · Joined: 15 May 2009

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

My co-worker is taking the UMASS course along with Mouse.

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Good survey. Good luck with it.

Spongebob Squarepants · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:07 pm Post subject:

Bumpity bump and thank you all who have responded so far, interesting stuff!

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Please share your results!

Spongebob Squarepants · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:18 pm Post subject:

I certainly will! Cool

yeremy · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:22 pm Post subject: Re: Survey

I took the survey and would be interested in the results. I didn't know that Dornyei was teaching at Nottingham. If he's the professor I'm thinking of, I read one of his books on Group Dynamics last semester, which I got a lot from. Thanks. I was glad to participate.

Spongebob Squarepants · Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:30 pm Post subject:

Yes, Dornyei (Hungarian) - the one who is also famous for research into learner motivation - is a full time professor at Nottingham. Lucky for me he also runs an MA level course on research methods in applied linguistics, and he strongly advocates that researchers resist the urge to shy away from quantitative research/data.

He has written a very accessible intro to research methodology (Dornyei 2007) that is one of the core texts for the module. We've talked a bit and he's actually quite a down to earth guy if you ask me.

To all who have participated, thank you. Results will be shared with all.

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

Not to be nitpicky but in the US postgraduate means after your Masters e.g. EdD, PhD etc. An MA, MS etc. are just graduate degrees, not postgraduate. Is you survey talking about graduate degrees or postgraduate degrees?

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

kiwiduncan · Joined: 18 Jun 2007 Location: New Zealand

Done the survey. I went so far as to discuss possible MA topics with the MA programme coordinator at the University of Otago's Linguistics Department a couple of days ago, but they can't offer supervision until next year so it's back to Korea for me. She actually recommended Auckland University's extramural MA programme so that'[s something to consider while I'm in Korea.

For now I think should go back to studying Korean - one possible area of research I'm considering is the benefits of using Korean in class. Even though I'm far from fluent I find using Korean as a verbal prompt can actually result in students speaking much much more English with each other. Also, the fact that my Korean is crap but they can understand me probably makes them feel more confident to use English without worrying too much about grammatical accuracy. A worthwhile area of research perhaps?