In:Less Frequently Used Research Methodologies in Applied Linguistics
Edited by A. Mehdi Riazi
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 6] 2024
► pp. 9–29
Chapter 2The Multiperspectival Approach to Applied Linguistic
research
Exploring principles, questions, and orientations
Published online: 5 January 2024
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.6.02cri
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.6.02cri
Abstract
This chapter explores the distinctive features
of the Multiperspectival Approach (MPA) to research: its
theoretical and philosophical background, the questions it
addresses, and the research orientations it enables. The chapter
explains how MPA offers researchers a heuristic that addresses
ontological and epistemological challenges to research that are
central to the language-context relationship and consequential
for any researcher who seeks to make claims about the meaning of
language in the lives of others at particular sites. The chapter
provides detailed background and guidance on what MPA involves
and its value as a practical ontology that enables researchers
to discover – rather than to search – the worlds of their
participants, iteratively to learn through this process of
discovery, developing warrants and finding themes to bridge
these worlds through multiple, mutually-corroborating
perspectives.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical foundations
- 3.Methodological orientation
- 3.1Principles and affordances
- 3.1.1The researcher’s perspective
- 3.1.2Participants’ perspective
- 3.1.3Textual perspective
- 3.1.4The social action perspective
- 3.1.5The socio-historical perspective
- 3.2Types of research questions addressed by MPA
- 3.3Procedures of data collection and analysis
- 3.4Ethical issues
- 3.1Principles and affordances
- 4.Critiques and responses
- 5.Conclusions
Note References
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