The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment
For researchers, the typical way of determining whether a pedagogical innovation works is by conducting an experiment. In migrant settings, however, experiments are more challenging to carry out due to the diversity of the learner population. Unfortunately, how to deal with these challenges is not a...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Languages |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/223 |
| _version_ | 1827659548754706432 |
|---|---|
| author | Leila Ranta Alisa Zavialova |
| author_facet | Leila Ranta Alisa Zavialova |
| author_sort | Leila Ranta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For researchers, the typical way of determining whether a pedagogical innovation works is by conducting an experiment. In migrant settings, however, experiments are more challenging to carry out due to the diversity of the learner population. Unfortunately, how to deal with these challenges is not addressed in a practical way in research methods textbooks, which typically provide a normative view of the research process. This paper aims to draw attention to the realities of classroom research carried out in the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) setting. These classes consist of adult immigrants and refugees from a wide range of cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds. We illustrate how this diversity along with other characteristics of LINC programs impact the decision-making of the researcher with respect to a pedagogical experiment focused on pragmatics. The study compared a formula-enhanced approach to teaching speech acts to the more mainstream approach aimed at raising learners’ meta-pragmatic awareness about speech act behaviour. The pre-post-delayed-post-test gains appear to favour the Formula group, but the interpretability of these results is compromised by the fact that the composition of the two classes was very different. Discussion of the limitations of this case study feeds into a broader consideration of the implications for classroom research of linguistic and cultural diversity typical of L2 educational contexts like LINC. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f8b55ee003a648c284c86c1f72a58c44 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:24:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-f8b55ee003a648c284c86c1f72a58c442023-11-23T17:21:15ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2022-08-017322310.3390/languages7030223The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching ExperimentLeila Ranta0Alisa Zavialova1Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5, CanadaSchool of Linguistics and Language Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, CanadaFor researchers, the typical way of determining whether a pedagogical innovation works is by conducting an experiment. In migrant settings, however, experiments are more challenging to carry out due to the diversity of the learner population. Unfortunately, how to deal with these challenges is not addressed in a practical way in research methods textbooks, which typically provide a normative view of the research process. This paper aims to draw attention to the realities of classroom research carried out in the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) setting. These classes consist of adult immigrants and refugees from a wide range of cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds. We illustrate how this diversity along with other characteristics of LINC programs impact the decision-making of the researcher with respect to a pedagogical experiment focused on pragmatics. The study compared a formula-enhanced approach to teaching speech acts to the more mainstream approach aimed at raising learners’ meta-pragmatic awareness about speech act behaviour. The pre-post-delayed-post-test gains appear to favour the Formula group, but the interpretability of these results is compromised by the fact that the composition of the two classes was very different. Discussion of the limitations of this case study feeds into a broader consideration of the implications for classroom research of linguistic and cultural diversity typical of L2 educational contexts like LINC.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/223pragmaticssecond language instructionclassroom research methods |
| spellingShingle | Leila Ranta Alisa Zavialova The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment Languages pragmatics second language instruction classroom research methods |
| title | The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment |
| title_full | The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment |
| title_fullStr | The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment |
| title_short | The Challenges of Conducting Research in Diverse Classrooms: Reflections on a Pragmatics Teaching Experiment |
| title_sort | challenges of conducting research in diverse classrooms reflections on a pragmatics teaching experiment |
| topic | pragmatics second language instruction classroom research methods |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/7/3/223 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leilaranta thechallengesofconductingresearchindiverseclassroomsreflectionsonapragmaticsteachingexperiment AT alisazavialova thechallengesofconductingresearchindiverseclassroomsreflectionsonapragmaticsteachingexperiment AT leilaranta challengesofconductingresearchindiverseclassroomsreflectionsonapragmaticsteachingexperiment AT alisazavialova challengesofconductingresearchindiverseclassroomsreflectionsonapragmaticsteachingexperiment |