Abstract
Varieties of Qualitative Research Methods Selected Contextual Perspectives is a book that compiles various concepts related to qualitative research. The book has 75 chapters written by 53 authors from different parts of the world, and it is edited by three Canadian editors: Janet Mola Okoko, Scott Tunison, ...
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Varieties of Qualitative Research Methods Selected Contextual Perspectives is a book that compiles various concepts related to qualitative research. The book has 75 chapters written by 53 authors from different parts of the world, and it is edited by three Canadian editors: Janet Mola Okoko, Scott Tunison, and Keith D. Walker, who are all associated with the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan. The editors noted that as the world becomes more interconnected, there is a need for qualitative research to become more diverse and inclusive of different ways of knowing and inquiry. The field of qualitative research has become much larger, with many nuances, varieties, complementary ways of knowing, and new methods to explore. To cover such a wide range of topics, the editors have identified the best authors who can provide reputable practice and scholarly experience on each concept or method which have been discussed in the book.
James P. Lantolf; Saeed Karimi-Aghdam
Abstract
James P. Lantolf is George and Jane Greer Professor Emeritus of Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics and former director of the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics in ...
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James P. Lantolf is George and Jane Greer Professor Emeritus of Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics and former director of the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Applied Linguistics in the same academic unit at Xi’an Jiaotong University. He is founder of the Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning research group,which has been holding an annual meeting to discuss research in progress on second language acquisition from the perspective of sociocultural theory since 1993.He is founding editor of Language and Sociocultural Theory (Equinox Press, 2013 to present) and was co-editor of Applied Linguistics (Oxford University Press,1993–1998).He served as President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) in 2004 and was recipient of the AAAL Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award in 2016. He has co-authored or co-edited nine books and has published more than 140 articles and book chapters. His seminal book entitled Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development (2006, coauthored with Steven L. Thorne) published by Oxford University Press coupled with a co-edited volume Vygotskian Approaches to Second Language Research (1994, coedited with Gabriela Appel) ushered in a new upswing of research on language development and teaching from the sociocultural theory vantage point. His latest co-edited book The Routledge Handbook of Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Development was published in 2018. The following is a written interview with James P. Lantolf conducted by Saeed Karimi-Aghdam. Dr. Karimi Aghdam is Associate Professor of English Language and Didactics in the Faculty of Education and Arts at Nord University, Norway. He is a member of the editorial board of Language and Sociocultural Theory and serves on the advisory board of the Journal of Applied Linguistics and Applied Literature: Dynamics and Advances.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Saeed Karimi-Aghdam
Abstract
Language learning strategies, “the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge” (Rubin, 1975, p. 43) or more pertinently “complex, dynamic thoughts and actions, selected and used by learners with some degree of consciousness in specific contexts” (Oxford, ...
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Language learning strategies, “the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge” (Rubin, 1975, p. 43) or more pertinently “complex, dynamic thoughts and actions, selected and used by learners with some degree of consciousness in specific contexts” (Oxford, 2017, p. 48), have been widely researched and discussed for more than forty years since the mid-1970s. Shifting the focus to language learner from language teacher, from language teaching methodology to language learning styles, and from transfer of information to construction of knowledge as the fulcra of language learning process are qualities which brought language learning strategies into high vogue. The language learner no longer was viewed as an inert and passive meaning-apprehending receptacle devoid of creative agency; rather, language learner was viewed as an active and meaning-giving individual who is endowed with creative agency for envisioning and generating a course of actions to achieve his/her language using and learning objectives. Thus, language learner’s capacity to perform intentional and goal-oriented actions regarding how to initiate, guide, and sustain language learning process and how to attain high language proficiency received considerable attention in the extant research literature. The great swell of academic interest in language learning strategies reached its sharp crescendo in the 1980s and early 1990s (e.g., O’Malley & Chamot, 1990; Cohen, 1998).
Davoud Amini
Abstract
Since ‘the development of whole person’ was brought to the focus of attention by humanist psychologists as a central concern in educational theory, affective variables have been assumed to have a significant share in the learning process that goes on in a pedagogical setting. Meanwhile, the ...
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Since ‘the development of whole person’ was brought to the focus of attention by humanist psychologists as a central concern in educational theory, affective variables have been assumed to have a significant share in the learning process that goes on in a pedagogical setting. Meanwhile, the process of second language development, because of the very nature of language as a vehicle for communication, is immensely influenced by socio-affective variables. In an instructional setting, on the other hand, emotional factors are clearly manifested in what goes on between the teacher and learners. As a result, the way the affective dimension of teacher-learner interactions is handled can predict, to a large extent, the effectiveness of interactional activities in second language classes. In this paper, having reviewed the learner-teacher relationship in methodologies that were particularly based on humanistic language teaching, I will argue, following Kumaravadivelu’s post-method pedagogy, that humanistic handling of the instructional situation by the teacher, beyond any methodological considerations, pledges a more positive atmosphere and better chances of language acquisition as a consequence. A set of guidelines are proposed to ascertain a humanistic relationship between teacher and learners in a language class.
