Doing a Research Project in English Studies

A guide for students

Louisa Buckingham

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781138846937
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317520214
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Doing a Research Project in English Studies is the essential guide to undertaking research and developing academic English literacy skills for students new to research. With a particular focus on the needs of students in contexts where English is used as a foreign or an additional language, this accessible textbook takes the reader through the research process in five main sections:

• getting started (arriving at a topic, interacting with a supervisor)
• finding bibliographic resources
• collecting data
• developing academic writing skills
• preparing for the oral defence

Each chapter contains exercises; the answer key facilitates independent study throughout. Extracts from published research articles provide invaluable illustration of the features of academic writing. This is a must-have resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students embarking on a research project in English studies.

1 Introduction

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Whether you are embarking on your undergraduate senior-year research project or your Master's thesis, this research is both the final assessed work required for graduation and probably also the first piece of real research you have undertaken. In this sense, it represents both the successful completion of your degree and an initiation into conducting research. As your study will likely be assessed by a committee, this is also probably the first time that you have written for a wider audience than just your instructor. This book will guide you through the different stages of preparing your research project.

Each chapter covers a different topic related to the research process; most chapters include reading texts, together with examples, tips and exercises to check comprehension and allow you to apply what you learn. Some exercises encourage you to think about how our understanding of appropriate academic writing practice is culturally dependent. The answer key to these exercises is found at the back of the book together with the Appendices, which contain extra input related to some chapters. Exercises that are best done with a partner (or in a group) are labelled ‘Discussion task’. There is no answer key to these tasks, as they are designed to elicit a variety of responses. Also, the appropriate answers for the questions posed here usually depend on your specific context; consider these tasks an opportunity to discuss the expectations or ‘norms’ in your setting. Most chapters include components entitled ‘Insights from the literature’. These sections summarize research findings published by well-known authors in the field. Through these texts, you will become familiar with concepts and terms that relate to topics in this book. These summaries demonstrate that much of the in-formation and advice contained in this book is based on research findings. By reading this brief summary of the literature and doing the accompanying Discus-sion task, you will gain an understanding of the choices available to you when composing texts and how conventions in academic writing in English have evolved. Throughout the book, the following icons signal each of these additional components:

Example

Exercise

Discussion task

Throughout this book, you will read about how four students (Zareen, Zurab, Zeina and Zakia) approached different sections of their research project. While these students are not real people, their experiences are common to many students in contexts where English is used as an additional or foreign language. This icon will be used to indicate input from one of these students:

In addition, excerpts from three published research articles are included to illustrate particular features of academic texts, and to provide practice in reading authentic academic texts written for other scholars. By the end of this book, you will have a better understanding of how to read such texts strategically and use them to inform your own research. This icon is used to signal these texts:

The three texts used are the following:

• Chen, C.E. (2006). The development of e-mail literacy: From writing to peers to writing to authority figures. Language Learning & Technology, 10(2), 35–55.
• Chik, A. (2014). Digital gaming and language learning: Autonomy and community. Language Learning & Technology, 18(2), 85–100.
• Lee, L. (2011). Blogging: Promoting learner autonomy and intercultural competence through study abroad. Language Learning & Technology, 15(3), 87–109.

Learning from your research project

Doing a research project:

• deepens your understanding of how we arrive at what we consider to be ‘knowledge’.
• teaches you to distinguish between opinions and common ideas and what we think of as ‘knowledge’ or even ‘facts’.
• helps you develop critical thinking skills. As you review information collected from books or from other people, you need to distinguish between information that seems reliable, objective or factual, and information that is based on opinion and is likely to be subjective.
• teaches you to plan your work and organize your time. A research project involves a series of steps that have to be undertaken within a determined period of time. This is an opportunity to develop time management and planning skills at the start of your professional career.
• teaches you how to investigate a topic and locate relevant information using the library and electronic resources, such as the websites of institutions, organizations or newspapers. This involves the ability to sift through and organize coherently large amounts of information.
• helps to develop your objective reasoning skills. In most cases, your research project will contain one or more claims about what you believe to be true and these should be supported by convincing argumentation or evidence.
• broadens your understanding of the beliefs and practices of people in your community and extended social context. If you use methods such as interviews, questionnaires or observations to collect data, you will gain experience in interacting with people beyond your usual social circle.
• enables you to engage with a topic in greater depth. After graduating, you may not have the opportunity to learn again in this methodical, structured manner with the guidance of a supervisor, and you are unlikely to have access to so many interesting books and journals!

All of the aforementioned skills are useful in professional contexts. They are all ‘multi-purpose’, transferable skills that will build your confidence in your ability to compile and analyse information and work with a variety of people in different social contexts. Above all, the experience of doing an original piece of research will give you confidence in your ability to investigate a topic, develop an informed point of view and convince other people of your ideas.

If, after finishing your research project, you feel that you enjoyed this experience, consider enrolling on a research-oriented higher degree such as a Master's or a PhD. Your supervisor or department should be able to provide ad-vice on this.

The stepping stones of your research project

Undertaking research, whether a small- or a large-scale project, entails carrying out multiple activities; some occur simultaneously, some separately. The list below is intended to help you visualize the process, although your own sequence of activities may be a little different. Think of this as just a guide. Although arranged in list form for the sake of convenience, the research process is not linear and does not comprise discrete moves. For instance, the literature search is an ongoing process that usually continues right up until the end of the research project; you will likely be drafting different sections of your work at different points of the research process, and the need to revise and redraft is constant.

1. Choose a topic.
2. Contact your assigned supervisor.
3. Obtain authorization from your department to research your chosen topic.
4. Begin your literature search.
5. Read as much as possible and take notes while reading.
6. Plan your project.
7. Develop your data collection instrument (if you intend to collect data).
8. Begin your data collection.
9. Make notes of what you might write in each section of your project.
10. Start drafting your project.
11. Revise your work.
12. Consult the Writing Centre for feedback on your writing (if your university has one).
13. Send each chapter to your supervisor for comments and corrections.
14. Ensure the formatting of your project is in accordance with university requirements.
15. Ensure the list of references is complete.
16. Submit the completed project to your supervisor for a final revision.
17. Receive approval from your supervisor that you are ready to present your work.
18. Prepare copies of the final version and submit them to the department.
19. Prepare a brief oral presentation on your project (if this is a requirement at your university).

Discussion task 1.1

Your research project from start to finish

Looking at the list above, discuss with a partner the activities you expect to undertake. (Add any activities you think are missing.) Note down the numbers in the approximate order in which you will do the activities, indicating which could be done simultaneously. Consider how much time you will need for each activity.

2 The preliminaries

Getting started

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Choosing a topic

For many students, the process of choosing a topic is fraught with anxiety and indecision. In some contexts, rather than expecting students to arrive at a topic individually, the department provides a list of potential topics. Where a choice is available, issues influencing the decision will include the student's areas of interest and anticipated career path, as well as previous experience of learning and teaching languages. At undergraduate level, many students have not yet formed a clear idea of their specific academic interests or where they can expect to work after graduation and this can hinder the process of arriving at a topic. In such cases, the following prompts may be helpful. As indicated below, it is helpful to inform one's thinking from a variety of sources and reflect critically on the information one gathers. This will be particularly helpful during the process of narrowing the research topic and formulating a research question (or questions).

Your university studies

Look at the course material and lecture notes from the subjects included in your degree programme. Consider the following:

• What did you enjoy doing? What did you find interesting?
• What did you find difficult? What did you dislike studying?
• What study-related problems did your fellow students experience during their studies?
• What topics or issues might be particularly relevant to your future career?

Your school years

Think back to your school years. What issues or problems do you remember related to teaching, learning and communication in the school context? These may be specific to teachers and the teaching proces...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The preliminaries: getting started
• 3 Working with your supervisor
• 4 Finding literature
• 5 Reading
• 6 Collecting data
• 7 Your project chapter by chapter
• 8 Features of academic writing
• 9 Research logistics: time management and revisions
• Appendix 1: introductions from published articles
• Appendix 2: conclusions from published articles
• Appendix 3: creating transitions in your writing
• Appendix 4: reporting verbs
• Appendix 5: citing your sources
• Answer key to the exercises
• References
• Index