Cover not available

Article published In: Research methods and approaches in Applied Linguistics: Looking back and moving forward
Edited by Rosa M. Manchón
[AILA Review 27] 2014
► pp. 80–97

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Practice and progression in Second Language Research methods

 | Georgetown University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 22 May 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.27.04mac
Since its inception, the field of second language research has utilized methods from a number of areas, including general linguistics, psychology, education, sociology, anthropology and, recently, neuroscience and corpus linguistics. As the questions and objectives expand, researchers are increasingly pushing methodological boundaries to gain a clearer picture of second language learning. At one end for example, we see measures of cognition (e.g., brain imaging and eye tracking) and at the other end we see exploration of issues of culture and identity (e.g., ethnographies, deep dive case studies, introspective and narrative analyses). There is an emerging emphasis on research synthesis, meta-analysis, and replication. This article illustrates a few of the advancements in methods and research agendas in SLA. I will conclude by highlighting some of the ways that second language researchers can continue to incorporate, assimilate, and shape methodology, as well as pointing out some of the potential pitfalls, and overall, how these methodological innovations benefit the field.
References (62)
Baralt, M. & Gurzynski-Weiss, L. 2011. Comparing learners’ state anxiety during task-based interaction in computer-mediated and face-to-face communication. Language Teaching Research 15(2): 201–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bayley, R. & Tarone, E. 2012. Variationist approaches to second language acquisition. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquisition, P. Robinson (ed.), 679–682. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bell, J.S. 2002. Narrative inquiry: More than just telling stories. TESOL Quarterly 36(2): 207–213. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buttery, P. & Caines, A. 2012. Normalising frequency counts to account for ‘opportunity of use’ in learner corpora. Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research 41: 187–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dewaele, J.M. & McCloskey, J. 2014. Attitudes towards foreign accents among adult multilingual language users. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Center for Applied Linguistics. 2014. Projects. [URL].
Collentine, J. & Collentine, K. 2013. A corpus approach to studying structural convergence in task-based Spanish L2 interactions. In Second Language Interaction in Diverse Educational Contexts, K. McDonough & A. Mackey (eds), 167–188. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dominguez, L., Mitchell, R. & Myles, F. 2014. Spanish Learner Language Oral Corpora. [URL]
Dörnyei, Z. 2007. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Driagina, V., & Pavlenko, A. 2007. Russian emotion vocabulary in American learners’ narratives. The Modern Language Journal 91(2): 213–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, N. & Schmidt, R. 1997. Morphology and longer distance dependencies. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19(2): 145–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S. 2009. A historical survey of SLA research. In The New Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, W.C. Ritchie & T.K. Bhatia (eds), 3–28. Bingley: Emerald.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. Methodologies of second language acquisition. In The Routledge Handbook of Educational Linguistics, M. Bigelow & J. Ennser-Kananen (eds), 9–22. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S. & Mackey, A. 2007. Data Elicitation for Second and Foreign Language Research. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S.M. & Mackey, A. (eds). 2012. The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Granger, S., Gilquin, G. & Munier, F. (eds). In press. The Cambridge Handbook of Learner Corpus Research. Cambridge: CUP.
Guiora, A.Z., Acton, W.R., Erard, R. & Strickland, F.W. 1980. The effects of Benzodiazepine (Valium) on permeability of language ego boundaries. Language Learning 30(2): 351–361. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guiora, A.Z., Beit-Hallahmi, B., Brannon, R.C., Dull, C.Y. & Scovel, T. 1972. The effects of experimentally induced changes in ego states on pronunciation ability in a second language: An exploratory study. Comprehensive Psychiatry 13(5): 421–428. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamrick, P. 2014. A role for chunk formation in statistical learning of second language syntax. Language Learning 64(2): 247–278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirkham, S. & Mackey, A. In press. Research, relationships and reflexitvity: Two case studies of language and identity. To appear in Ethics in Applied Linguistics Research: Language Researcher Narratives, P. DeCosta (ed.). New York NY: Routledge.
Lantolf, J.P. 2012. Sociocultural theory: A dialectical approach to L2 research. In The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, M. Gass & A. Mackey (eds), 57–72. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lazaraton, A. 2005. Quantitative research methods. In Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, E. Hinkel (ed.), 209–224. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, S. 2010. The effectiveness of corrective feedback in SLA: A meta-analysis. Language Learning 60(2): 309–365. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mackey, A. & Gass, S. 2005. Second Language Research: Methodology and Design. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marsden, E. & Mackey, A. (IRIS Conference Chairs). 2013. Eliciting data in second language research: Challenge and innovation. Paper presented at the IRIS Conference , University of York, UK, September 2013. <[URL]>
. 2014. Instruments for Research into Second Languages. [URL]
Matsuda, P.K. & Silva, T. (eds). 2005. Second Language Writing Research: Perspectives on the Process of Knowledge Construction. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McEnery, T. & Xiao, R. 2012. What corpora can offer in language teaching and learning. In Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, E. Hinkel (ed.), 364–380. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K. & Ullman, M.T. 2012. The neurocognition of second language. In The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, S.M. Gass & A. Mackey (eds), 282–299. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K., Steinhauer, K., Sanz, C. & Ullman, M.T. 2012. Explicit and implicit second language training differentially affect the achievement of native-like brain activation patterns. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 24(4): 933–947. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moskovsky, C., Alrabai, F., Paolini, S. & Ratcheva, S. 2013. The effects of teachers’ motivational strategies on learners’ motivation: A controlled investigation of second language acquisition. Language Learning 63(1): 34–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Müller, U., Rowe, J.B., Lewis, C., Robbins, T.W. & Sahakian, B.J. 2013. Effects of modafinil on non-verbal cognition, task enjoyment and creative thinking in healthy volunteers. Neuropharmacology 641: 490–495. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muñoz, C. 1995. Markedness and the acquisition of referential forms: The case of zero anaphora. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 171: 517–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murray, J. 2014. The case for language learning: Can drugs deliver peak learning performance? The Guardian, <[URL]> (22July 2014).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Myles, F. 2005. Interlanguage corpora and second language acquisition research. Second Language Research 21(4): 373–391. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. Second language acquisition theory and learner corpus research. In The Cambridge Handbook of Learner Corpus Research, S. Granger, G. Gilquin & F. Meunier (eds). Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Myles, F. & Mitchell, R. 2014. French Learner Language Oral Corpora. <[URL]>
Norris, J.M. & Ortega, L. (eds). 2006. Synthesizing Research on Language Learning and Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ortega, L. 2010. Research synthesis. In Continuum Companion to Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, B. Paltridge & A. Phakiti (eds), 11–126. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Epistemological diversity and moral ends of research in instructed SLA. Language Teaching Research 16(2): 206–226. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Plonsky, L. 2013. Study quality in SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 35(4): 655–687. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. Study quality in quantitative L2 research (1990–2010): A methodological synthesis and call for reform. The Modern Language Journal 98(1): 450–470. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Plonsky, L. & Oswald, F.L. 2012. How to do a meta-analysis. In Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition: A Practical Guide, A. Mackey & S.M. Gass (eds), 275–295. Oxford: Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polio, C. 2015. Replication research in applied linguistics. Colloquium conducted at the conference of the American Association of Applied Linguistics. Toronto, Canada, March, 2015.
Porte, G. 2012. Replication Research in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Porte, G. & Richards, K. 2012. Focus article: Replication in second language writing research. Journal of Second Language Writing 21(3): 284–293. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rebuschat, P. & Williams, J. 2006. Dissociating implicit and explicit learning of syntactic rules. In Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, R. Sun (ed.), 2594. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rebuschat, P. & Williams, J.N. 2013. Implicit learning in second language acquisition. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, C.A. Chapelle (ed.). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, Vol. 201.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Révész, A. 2011. Task complexity, focus on L2 constructions, and individual differences: A classroom-based study. The Modern Language Journal 95(1): 162–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Richards, K., Ross, S.J. & Seedhouse, P. 2011. Research Methods for Applied Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book for Students. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saito, H. 2012. What’s (not) in a corpus? What to look for in a learner corpus of spoken English. In Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research, Y. Tono, Y. Kawaguchi & M. Minegishi (eds), 299–308. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sauro, S. & Smith, B. 2010. Investigating L2 performance in text chat. Applied Linguistics 31(4): 554–577. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schumann, J.H., Holroyd, J., Campbell, R.N. & Ward, F.A. 1978. Improvement of foreign language pronunciation under hypnosis: A preliminary study. Language Learning 28(1): 143–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, B. 2005. The relationship between negotiated interaction, learner uptake, and lexical acquisition in task-based computer-mediated communication. TESOL Quarterly 39(1): 33–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tono, Y., Kawaguchi, Y. & Minegishi, M. (eds). 2012a. Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012b. Introduction. In Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research, Y. Tono, Y. Kawaguchi & M. Minegishi (eds), 7–15. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Turner, D.C., Robbins, T.W., Clark, L., Aron, A.R., Dowson, J. & Sahakian, B.J. 2003. Cognitive enhancing effects of modafinil in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology 165(3): 260–269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, J.N. & Kuribara, C. 2008. Comparing a nativist and emergentist approach to the initial stage of SLA: An investigation of Japanese scrambling. Lingua 118(4): 522–553. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilson, I. 2014. Using ultrasound for teaching and researching articulation. Acoustical Science and Technology 351: 285–289. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Winke, P., Gass, S. & Sydorenko, T. 2013. Factors influencing the use of captions by foreign language learners: An eye tracking study. The Modern Language Journal 97(1): 254–275. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ziegler, N. 2013. Synchronous computer-mediated communication and interaction: A research synthesis and meta-analysis. PhD dissertation, Georgetown University.
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Matebie, Aman, Abiy Yigzaw & Ebabu Tefera
2025. From Textbook Grammar to Real-World Language: The Story of an experiment in Language Classrooms. Corpus Pragmatics 9:3 ► pp. 391 ff. DOI logo
Ivanović, Igor
2024. Game-based learning and underachieving students: Replacing the traditional paradigm in Montenegro?. Education and Information Technologies 29:16 ► pp. 21965 ff. DOI logo
Karpava, Sviatlana
2022. Heritage Language Use, Maintenance and Transmission by Second-Generation Immigrants in Cyprus. In Heritage - New Paradigm, DOI logo
Mackey, Alison
2020. Interaction, Feedback and Task Research in Second Language Learning, DOI logo
Mackey, Alison & Lara Bryfonski
2018. Mixed Methodology. In The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology, ► pp. 103 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue