In:Less Frequently Used Research Methodologies in Applied Linguistics
Edited by A. Mehdi Riazi
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 6] 2024
► pp. 180–190
Chapter 11Phenomenology
A showcase of EFL learners’ experience of foreign language proficiency maintenance
Published online: 5 January 2024
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.6.11ost
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.6.11ost
Abstract
This chapter aims to showcase Phenomenology as
a research methodology by presenting EFL learners’ experience of
proficiency maintenance in a context where English has no social
function. The study started with a participant who was able to
maintain her proficiency and then sampled other participants who
shared the same experience through snowball sampling.
Transcendental phenomenology was chosen to explore the
participants’ subjective experience of the phenomenon under
study in an objective manner. To achieve this objective, a
reflexive account of the researcher’s preconceptions of
proficiency maintenance was written and bracketed as irrelevant
to the participants’ account of their experience. To present a
clear synopsis of the study, the chapter will explain why the
mode of inquiry was chosen, how it was implemented, and how the
challenges were addressed.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.An overview of the study
- 3.Why was phenomenology chosen, and how was it implemented?
- 4.Challenges faced and how they were addressed
- 5.Insights gained using phenomenology
- 6.Conclusions
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