PBGS 6113 RESEARCH IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISTIONPRESENTATION CHAPTER 2

CASE STUDY RESEARCH: DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH 

Group 4PGP 110016 PAKIALETCHUMY A/P ANTONIPGP 110015 MOHANAMBIKAY A/P PANDIAN

PGP 110008 SITI SARAH BT MUHAMAD AZMI

Group 9PGA 080034 AMELIA EFFENDY

PGA 080211 HAZLINAH AB RAHMANPGP 110024 SITI SHI DI

PGP 110025 BALQIS SHI QINGQING

• Case studies are analyses of persons, events, decisions, periods, projects, policies, institutions, or other systems that are studied holistically by one or more methods.

• They provide a systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results.

What is a Case Study?[Presented by PGP 110008 SITI SARAH BT MUHAMAD AZMI, Group 4]

A case study is an intensive analysis of an individual unit (e.g. a person, group, or event) stressing developmental factors in relation to context. (Wikipedia)

• Case study research comprises an intensive study of the background, current status and environmental interactions of a given social unit: an individual or small group, an institution or a community.

(Wisegeek.com)

• The study of a person, a small group, a single situation, or a specific "case," is called a case study. It involves extensive research, including documented evidence of a particular issue or situation, symptoms, reactions, affects of certain stimuli, and the conclusion reached following the study.

-- James D. Brown, &Theodore S. Rodgers,Doing Second Language Research.

So, what is a Case Study?

• Story about something unique, special, or interesting .

• Individuals, organizations, processes, programs, neighborhoods, institutions, and even events.

A detective story…..

• When• Who• Where• Why• What• How

The Process

• Designing case study research• Interpreting case study research• Compiling case study Data• Analyzing case study Data• Reporting your results• Significance of case study research• Reflecting on case study research

[Presented by PGP 110025 BALQIS SHI QINGQING, Group 9]

Designing case study research

Designing case study research

• Brainstorm a case study topic, considering types of cases and why they are unique or of interest.

• Identify any documents needed for review.

• List participants to be interviewed or surveyed (national, facility, and beneficiary levels) and determine sample if necessary.

Research Topic(Article)

• The Impact of School on EFL Learning Motivation: An Indonesian Case Study

Research Aim(Article)

• The study aimed to track changeschanges in the junior high school students’ reported motivation and learning activity and

• To identify internal and external factorsfactors which might be associated with the changes.

Research Sample (Article)

• A single cohort of students beginning formal study of the language at junior high school in a provincial Indonesian city.

Research Design(Article)

• Closed and open questionnaire for the whole cohort twice:

- 1st time after the beginning of their 1st semester- 2nd time after 20 months

An equal-status mixed-method strategy was adopted.An equal-status mixed-method strategy was adopted.

Research Design (Article)

• A group of 12 focal learners was selected on the basis of the first survey

• They were interviewed (semi-structured interviews) for three times:a) at the beginningb) after 8 months of studyc) 1 year later at the endpoint of the study

Research Design (Article)

• The researcher observed each of these 12 learners at least twice:

a) outside school b) in the class

• A combination of qualitative and quantitative designs might bring out the best of both approaches while neutralizing the shortcomings and biases inherent in each paradigm. (Dornyei, 2001, p. 242)

• Collecting different types of data concurrently meant they could be integrated at different stages in the research process. (Creswell, 2003)

Designing case study research

Interpreting Case Study Research

Interpreting Case Study Research

• As with any research model, there are strengths and weaknesses to the case study.

Potential problems with case studies

• Three main categories:

A. problems regarding the participantsB. problems in data collection (Article p.761)C. problems in data analysis

Interpreting Case Study Research

• One characteristic of case and developmental research is candor.

• If the researcher is straight-forward with us, there is an honest look at both the methodology and the results of the study, then we feel we are closer to the actual case situation.

Interpreting Case Study Research

• Case study research is often written up in a more conversational style than is quantitative research. (James Dean Brown, & Theodore S. Rodgers, 2002, p.47)

• A non-pretentious tone is easy to relate to, and gives us more of an insider sense of what is going on.

Compiling case study data

[Presented by PGP 110016 PAKIALETCHUMY A/P ANTONI, Group 4]

Compiling case study data

• Documents

• Archival records

• Interviews

• Direct observation

• Participant-observation

• Physical artifacts

• Gather all relevant documents.• Set up interviews/surveys with stakeholders (be

sure to explain the purpose, why the stakeholder has been chosen, and the expected duration).

• Seek informed consent of each respondent.• If the respondent has consented, conduct the

interview/survey.

• Questionnaire allowed testing for certain motivational constructs which the researcher could predict to be relevant on the basis of the existing theory and the researcher’s own prior experience of the context.

• Open questionnaire items and semi-structured interviews with the focal learners enabled the researcher to identify and follow up issues and concepts which the researcher had not anticipated in the survey but which were clearly significant in this particular context.

• Meeting learners regularly and observing them in class allowed the researcher to develop a more trusting relationship with the learners but also ultimately to develop richer and more complex portraits of individuals.

Analyzing case study data

Analyzing case study data

• Data analysis

The responses to open items in the questionnaire were categorized and then counted as a proportion of all the pupils’ comments. (Article Table 1, p.764)

The interviews were recorded, transcribed in note form, and then analyzed through multiple listening, coding, and the construction of a media to facilitate direct comparison of learners’ comments to each other and to themselves at the three different points in time.

Reporting the result

Reporting the result

AbstractI. Introduction

A. Literature ReviewB. Purpose

II. MethodsA. ParticipantsB. MaterialsC. Procedures

III. ResultsIV. DiscussionV. Conclusions

ReferencesAppendixTables

• The study has found that:• during their first 20 months in junior high school,

pupils’ attitudes towards English, particularly their view of its personal and social relevance, were relatively stable.

• Strong recognition of the long term value of English for the future of their own and the country.

Results(Article)

• Evidence from interview:

• Learner M: Sometimes I get a bit bored, but only occasionally, not all the time. You know in B____(his place of origin), over there we didn’t have any English lessons but in J_____(site of school) we need English, if you don’t have any English, it’s difficult. Wherever we go here we need English.

• Interviewer: When do you need English?

• M: What I mean is, if we’ve already progressed, got success, started working, we’re tested in English, everywhere we need English.

But, • Their attitudes toward the learning situation

fluctuated, with an overall downward trajectory.

• Their criticism targeted the: Teacher • Evidence:• “Mr. X always gave us lots of practice in English, with songs,

games and with… speeches, but with Ms Y only study with book and practice is very little… and we are in the class very… bored”

his/her classroom procedures.

• Learner A unfavourably compared their current teacher with former teacher.

• Evidence:• Interviewer: How do you feel about studying English in this junior high school, now

you’re in your fourth semester?• Learner D: I feel senang apa? [happy or what?] but now I don’t like er cara

mengajar guru saya [the teacher’s way of teaching] because maybe I can’t understand what does he say…

• Interviewer: ……… Have you talked to the teacher about this?• Learner D: Never, because I am afraid

Significance of case study research

[Presented by PGP 110024 SITI SHI DI , Group 9]

• ‘Case’ = ‘Happening or coming to pass without design, and without being foreseen or expected’

In a Case Study:• There is little specific procedures

to follow • There is little control of how the

content (outcome) will appear

• ‘Chance’ in findings & relevance

Most researchers feel that there is a ‘design’ to the study and there will be some interesting discovery.

BUT, case study = ‘chancy’ = result may not be as expected (total opposite / no result at all)

• Studies in FL acquisition & SLA of researchers’ offspring & self-case study

Reflecting on case study research

Intervention(Formal laboratory

experimentation)

Non-Intervention(Informal classroom

observation)

Non-Selective(All behavior observed of all participants)

Highly Selective(Disabilities, Immigrant 10-year-old boys)

ASKING/ DOING WATCHING

MEASURINGCONTROLLING

Figure 2.2 Parameters of educational research designFigure 2.2 Parameters of educational research design

(Van Lier 1988)

• Open questionnaire & semi- structured interviews. (Article, p.761) (Non-Intervention)

• ‘ The focal learners were selected on the basis of questionnaire responses and teachers’ informal comments…’ (Article, p.762) (Highly-Selective)

• Non-Intervention + Highly-Selective

Measuring

Conclusion

ConclusionAbout Case Study Research, we have introduced:

Conclusion

• Case study researchers always have ready participants (themselves; their children; and their friends).

• Case study = One of the most attractive styles of research for the first-time researcher. (Organizational + Reporting + Less Formal)

Reference

• James Dean Brown, & Theodore S. Rodgers (2002). Doing Second Language Research.

• Palena Neale, Shyam Thapa, & Carolyn Boyce (2006). PREPARING A CASE STUDY: A Guide for Designing and Conducting a Case Study for Evaluation Input. PATHFINDER INTERNATIONAL: SAMPLE INFORMED CONSENT FORM.http://www.pathfind.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_case_study.pdf

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