Contrasting approaches to classroom research: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of languauge use and learning

Abstract

Traditional concerns with foreign and second language education have been with instructional methodology, curriculum based on needs assessment, and occasionally well-grounded linguistic studies of acquisition. However, in recent years, applied linguists working in the area of education have dramatically expanded the scope of their research to address critical areas of practices and problems in language acquisition and use in classrooms. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the recent research on language form and language choice and use, with respect to the theoretical basis and investigative methodology adopted to study these topics. The stage for understanding these is best set by first looking at developments over the past 20 years.