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In:Child-centered Approaches to Applied Linguistic Research
Edited by Yuko Goto Butler and Annamaria Pinter
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 13] 2025
► pp. 149–168

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Chapter 9
Possibilities and ethical and legal challenges in child-centered L2 research

 | University of Oslo
Published online: 5 September 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.13.09sun
Abstract
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) emphasizes children’s voice and rights. In child-centered research, it is important that participants understand what their participation entails and what their roles are, and that researchers consider children’s developmental characteristics. In this chapter, I reflect on my experiences of having conducted child-centered research on foreign/second language English in Scandinavia. The aim is to discuss possibilities but also ethical and legal challenges in this line of research, including adherence to international regulations, here, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. While it is excellent that regulations protect minors as research participants, an unwanted consequence of them can be that researchers refrain from relevant studies that potentially could benefit children. After an introduction, there is a section where I align myself with some interpretations of child-centered research, followed by a section in which three areas of research are addressed: extramural English, foreign/second language (L2) oral proficiency, and classroom-based research on L2 teaching, learning, and interaction. I then discuss my position further with reference to my own and other’s research, both in the past and more recently. The chapter closes with implications for future research.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Interpretations of the concept child-centered research
    • Securing children’s voice and rights
    • Assuring children’s understanding of the research and their role in it
    • Considering children’s developmental characteristics
    • Exploring topics of immediate importance to children
    • Benefitting from research participation at the core
    • Leaving room for children’s active role in research
  • Basis for reflection: Three areas of research involving children
    • Extramural English
    • L2 oral proficiency
    • Classroom-based research on L2 English teaching, learning, and interaction
  • Possibilities in child-centered L2 research
    • Researching extramural English involving children
    • Researching L2 oral proficiency involving children
    • Researching L2 English teaching, learning, and interaction in the classroom
  • Challenges in child-centered L2 research
    • Ethical challenges
    • Legal challenges
  • Implications for future research
  • Conclusion
  • References
References (47)
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