Researching English Language

University of Birmingham

'... a highly engaging and admirably reflective introduction to researching English language... excellent introduction to research for any student or beginning researcher to discourse and conversation analysis in English. Important issues and complex concepts are formulated accessibly, critically and with a high degree of reflection. I highly recommend this book to any student about to embark on an undergraduate or postgraduate research project.' - Beatrice Szczepek Reed, LinguistList‘This is a well structured, comprehensive and accessible guide to researching the English Language. It answers the most frequently occurring questions asked by students who are new to research, and offers guidelines that will help to make their projects manageable. However, at no point does it limit students’ horizons. Nor does it lose the larger intellectual vision which drives research, even at beginner level.’ Caroline Coffin, The Open University, UK‘Researching English Language is a book brimming with excellent observations, case examples, and well-focused exercises. The book draws on recent and authoritative sources, and emphasizes the indispensable notion of "triangulation" in which findings are corroborated based on different (and yet complementary) types of linguistic evidence and research methodology.’ Vincent Ooi, National University of Singapore

• Section A: Introduction: The Basics of Researching English language 1. The First Stages: Getting Started and Settling on a Topic 2. Reading Around Your Topic 3. What Do You Want to Know? 4. Ways of Finding Out What You Want to Know 5. Possibilities and Pitfalls 6. Doing the Research: Collecting data 7. Clarifying What You Have Found Out 8. Writing and Reporting 9. Beyond the Dissertation Section B: Development: The How and Why of Researching English language 1. The How and Why of Getting Started and Choosing a Research Topic 2. The How and Why of the Literature Review Joining a 'Community of Practice' 3. The How and Why of Clarifying Research Questions 4. The How and Why of Choosing Research Methods 5. The How and Why of Sorting Out the Details 6. The How and Why of Data Collection 7. The How and Why of Data Analysis 8. The How and Why of Writing Up Your Project 9. The How and Why of Taking it Further Section C: Exploration: Issues and Debates in Researching English Language 1. Language Research Topics 2. The Literature Review 3. Research Questions 4. Research Methods 5. Details 6. Data Collection 7. Data Analysis and Interpretation 8. Writing Up Your Project Section D: Extension: Readings in Researching English language 1. The Origins of Some Research Projects in English Language 2. Reviewing Previous English Language Literature for Research 3. Questions in English Language Research 4. Methods in English Language Research 5. Problems in English Language Research 6. Collecting English Language Data 7. Analysing English Language Data 8. Writing about English Language research 9. Moving on from doing English Language research Glossary of terms Further reading References Index