Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, any references to assessment tasks and on-campus delivery may no longer be up-to-date on this page.
Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.
Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Professor
Mehdi Riazi
Contact via email
C5A 512
Margaret Wood
Program Director
Peter Roger
Contact via email
C5A 509
|
---|---|
Credit points |
Credit points
10
|
Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MAccComm or MAppLing or MAppLingTESOL or MTransInter or MConfInt or MAdvTransInterStud or MTransInterMAppLingTESOL
|
Corequisites |
Corequisites
|
Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
APPL8020 Online
APPL7020
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit focuses on general principles of research and the use of research methods in language studies. It covers the whole process of research from choosing a topic, searching the related literature on the topic, and formulating research questions, to collecting and analysing data and writing up research reports. The exploration of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research methodologies develops students' research literacy to understand research reports and to design research projects. Research ethics and conducting and writing up a small-scale research project are two other components of this unit. |
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Assessment details are no longer provided here as a result of changes due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Students should consult iLearn for revised unit information.
Find out more about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and potential impacts on staff and students
Assessment Task 1: Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources and annotations (summary and evaluation) on a selected topic arranged in alphabetical order. Each annotation should have three parts. The first part is the bibliographic information of the source which should strictly follow APA style. The second part of each annotation includes a concise summary of the content and methodology of the study (what problem was investigated using which methods and with what results?). The third part of the annotation should include your reflection (critical evaluation of the study) and its relevance to the theme of the AB (your chosen topic or area of interest). Roughly, the summary and the evaluation of each stud should have a 70% to 30% proportion.
Assessment Task 2: Review Paper
Assignment 2 is a “literature review” task and requires you to transform your annotated bibliography (Assignment 1) into a coherent literature review. You can refer to the “Writing a literature review” section in Chapter 3 of the interactive text to learn about how to prepare and write your literature review. If you have prepared your AB well, you already have the content for your literature review though you can update your AB and add any other resources you might find useful. You need to transform your AB into a coherent and focused review with an appropriate structure. This assignment is a mediatory assignment that links your first assignment to the third assignment. As such, the literature review should provide a context and background for the primary research you’ll be doing for the third assignment.
Like your first assignment, this assignment will also follow the “Introduction”, “Body”, and “Conclusion” structure.
Assessment Task 3: Research Report
Assignment 3 is a research report of a small-scale study you’ll complete. Follow the structure of Introduction (including selective Literature Review), Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion (IMRDC) (See Chapter 3 of your Interactive Text). Since you have already submitted a literature review (Assignment 2), only a selective part of it (significant sources and arguments) should be included in the Introduction.
Late Assignment Submission
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
Any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19.
Please check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status
The learning and teaching strategies used in this Unit include individual study, in-class face to face lectures and in-class and online discussion Forums. Face-to-face weekly lectures include a two-hour lecture and a one-hour tutorial.
The unit convenor will be monitoring the online discussion. If you have any general questions, concerns, and comments these may be posted on the Forum in iLearn. However, should you have any personal issues (e.g. requests for extensions etc.) then these should be addressed directly to the unit convenor at mehdi.riazi@mq.edu.au
The online discussion provides students (especially external students) the opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with other classmates to consolidate their understanding of theoretical concepts. Both internal and external students are urged to take part in online discussions as relating to weekly topics.
For the required and optional texts and/or materials please refer to the Unit Guide in iLearn.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
The unit schedule/topics and any references to on-campus delivery below may no longer be relevant due to COVID-19. Please consult iLearn for latest details, and check here for updated delivery information: https://ask.mq.edu.au/account/pub/display/unit_status
Week |
Topic |
Lecturer |
Required reading(s) |
Recommended readings |
Tasks & Assignments |
|
1
|
Introduction to Research Methods: Overview of the unit and assignments
Primary vs. Secondary research |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 1
|
--
|
Read about the first assignment (Annotated Bibliography) in Chapter 1
Identify your area of interest (topic)
|
|
2
|
Conducting Secondary Research:
Knowing about and searching databases
|
Mehdi Riazi
|
Riazi (2018) Chapter 2 |
--
|
Read Chapter 2 carefully and complete the learning activities
Prepare a list of articles for your AB (First Assignment)
|
|
3
|
Writing Academically:
Writing up research |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 3 |
-- |
Presentation of research topics
Internal students (ISs) present in class External students (ESs) present in online “Forum”
Read Chapter 3 carefully and prepare Assignment 1 |
|
4
|
Conducting Primary Research: Overview of three research paradigms: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research
|
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 4 |
Cumming (1994)
|
Assignment 1 is due on Sunday, March 29th at 23:55 Sydney time
Read Chapter 4 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 4 |
|
5
|
Conducting Quantitative Research: Surveys and correlational studies |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 5 |
Surveys (Wagner, 2013)-Accessible from MQ Online Library
|
Read Chapter 5 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 5
|
|
6
|
Conducting Quantitative Research: Experimental designs |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 6
|
-- |
Read Chapter 6 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 6
|
|
7
|
Collecting and Analysing Quantitative Data |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 7
|
Brown, J.D. (1991) |
Read Chapter 7 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 7
|
|
Mid-term Break (April 13-26) Assignment 2 is due on Sunday, April 26th at 23:55 Sydney Time
|
||||||
8
|
Conducting Qualitative Research: Case study and ethnography |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 8
|
Case study (Duff, 2013)- Accessible from MQ Online Library
Richards (2009) |
Read Chapter 8 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 8 |
|
9
|
Conducting Qualitative Research: Discourse analysis and narrative inquiry |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 9
|
Narrative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (Pomerantz, 2013)- Accessible from MQ Online Library
|
Read Chapter 9 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 9 |
|
10
|
Analysing Qualitative Data |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 10
|
Maguire & Delahunt (2017) |
Read Chapter 10 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 10 |
|
11
|
Mixed-methods research-Part 1 |
Mehdi Riazi |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 11
|
Riazi (2017)
Riazi & Candlin (2014)
Teddlie & Tashakkori (2006) |
Read Chapter 11 carefully and complete “Learning Activity” of Chapter 11 |
|
12
|
Elaboration on Assignment 3 |
Mehdi Riazi |
--
|
-- |
-- |
|
13
|
Ethical issues in research* |
Peter Roger |
Riazi (2018) Chapter 13
|
Thomas (2009)
Rieschild (2003)
|
Assignment 3 due on Sunday, June 14th at 23:55 Sydney Time
|
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