Research Article Critique
Parlindungan Pardede
What is a Research Article Critique?
A critique is an article (usually in an essay form) that gives a critical assessment of an article, literary works, book, and any other forms of work. Different from a summary, which is written to merely answer the question ‘What did the author say?’, a critique answers questions of how? why? and how well? In other words, a critique is written to analyze and evaluate the criticized work by providing an analysis of its main points and giving additional insight into its strengths and weaknesses.
Since critiquing a research article is to analyze, interpret, and evaluate the text, to write a good research article critique necessitates a sound knowledge of the discipline and the research method employed in the paper one is working on and analytical thinking skills. These knowledge will enable him to to consider the truthfulness of the research, at what the author is claiming, evaluate the research methods, evaluates the data analysis technique, and look critically at the relevancy and applicability of the results.
Outlines of Research Article Critiques
Scientific articles have many points to consider, including the title, the introduction, methods, results and the conclusion. To make the evaluation easier, the critic needs to breaking down his critique into each part. An outline of a research article critique could be read here.
Steps in a Research Article Critique Writing
Different guidelines may present different steps for writing a research article critique. However, the following the steps could be used as a general tips.
- Read the article more than once to get an idea what is written. make sure you understand what the writer wants you to understand.
- Summarize the article in your own words. Your summary should be an extract of the main points the writer has emphasized in his/her article.
- After summarizing the article, start to evaluate and assess the the weaknesses and strong points of the writer of the article. Show whether the background literature review is relevant or not; the research method is proper or not; the theories, methods and data analyses consistent are consistent or not; and so on.
- End your article critique with a conclusion. This section should present the extracted result you have achieved after reading the article again and again. It should also contain the summarized assessment of the article have been working on.
Some relevant links:
How to Critique a Journal Article
Related articles
- Peer Critique (jessicasiewert.wordpress.com)
Universitas Kristen Indonesia 
Dear Mr.Parlin
I try to make my revision of research article critique
Title : Educational Settings and Second Language Learning
Author : Rod Ellis
Source : Asian EFL Journal December 2007, Volume 9, Issue 4 / Article 1
Introduction
I chose the title of Educational Settings and Second Language Learning as a critique of research articles. Moreover, I use a qualitative research article because I saw there was a connection and a highly relevant background of current knowledge with research topics that I choose. We can view educational settings as both determining how successful learners are in learning an L2 and / or as constructed by the participants (the teacher and the learners) through the social actions that they perform in a particular setting. This is an interesting study because the purpose or goal of this research can be seen very clearly.
The question in this research is very clear, where the statement said why some of the teachers in some African and Asian countries seem to find it especially difficult to abandon the traditional role ‘knower’. Limitations in this research also clearly given where the social status needs it and a conflict between the norms the students.
Method
This research uses qualitative methods, where this method is used correctly by using the data that is needed in a research in the classroom, where there is an interaction between teacher and pupil and research in environment that is family. I think that although this research was equipped with many complete data and use appropriate methods, but the context of the research scope is too broad and open. This is because the researchers did not focus on one country alone, but includes many countries.
For the sampling selection process or the participants are self-explanatory, where teachers, students and families are the ingredients of the researcher conducted the sampling. In the context (setting), the research is already quite clear by outlining some of the very principle of the list but some of these principles there is no correlation with the objectives to be achieved.
Results
I think between the theory and methods that consistent but between the theory and methods of data analysis are inconsistent with an inadequate or inconsistent. The absence of tables and graphs are sufficient to support the theories and methods used. The researchers conducted a study limited to just go directly to the field in the absence of concrete data. In the use of illustrations is quite clear, in my opinion only illustration used is too broad and not focus on the object to be achieved.
In the procedure, the careful analysis describes it very easy for me to check the conclusion is true or not.
Discussion
In conclusion, this research is consistent, with the purpose of ‘learning outcomes’ and the potential ‘learning opportunities’ are inconsistent. For ethical issues, in this study are mentioned or discussed adequately in the presence of sources obtained from various countries and programs are established so that the basis of this research.
Qualitative Research Article Critiqued
Title : Guiding EFL Learners In The Use Of Web Resources
Author : Shiao-Chuan Kung
Source : GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies Volume 5(2) 2005 50
http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/gemaarchives.html#volume52
There are two reasons why I chose this article. First of all, when the first time I read the title of this article, I was curious and wanted to know how to guide students in using the web as a means of learning. For instance, what websites are good in developing the skill of EFL Learners, and how to find the useful resources through websites in a less time. Secondly, I would like to know about the steps in guiding the EFL learners in the use of web as a sophisticated tool to get more materials in supporting their learning process. In short, by reading this article I hope to broaden my horizon in guiding myself an my students to find the resources from the World Wide Web as useful tool to improve learning process of a language.
Introduction
Based on “Guiding EFL Learners in the Use of Web Resources” I find that literature reviewed was relevant. The World Wide Web has unique qualities that make it a suitable tool for foreign language learning and it is supported by many experts’ statements. The literature on how to harness this huge collection of resources for language learning has been expanding in the past few years. On the other hand, the objective is not clearly and specifically stated. The writer deals more on the benefits of website usage as a medium of learning. However, the research questions are clearly stated:
1. What are the students’ present online reading habits?
2. Do students think it is appropriate to use Web assignments in a
reading class?
3. What do students feel they have gained from doing Web assignments?
4. What problems and difficulties do students encounter when attempting the
Web assignments?
Based on my view on this article there was no problem statement clearly stated.
Methodology
The design of the study wasn’t described adequately. The researcher didn’t state in the methodology section what method was used, but he stated it in the Finding & Discussion. So the placement of method was not appropriate. Beside that there was no sampling technique explanation which used to determine the sample. But the context or setting of the study was clearly described that the participants were a class of 48 (8 male, 40 female) students majoring in English at a college of languages in Southern Taiwan. The mother tongue of all of the students was Mandarin Chinese and their ages ranged from 20 to 25. They had between an intermediate high to advanced low proficiency level and are currently in their junior year in college. At the time of this research project, they were taking three required English courses: Public Speaking, Listening, and Reading. In the combined model study, researchers combined quantitative and qualitative strategies in one or two stages of the same, but in this article the researcher didn’t enhance of the data through triangulation, just used single method, qualitative method.
Results
The theories, method and data analyze was consistent although the explanation of the method used was not clearly enough. However, the finding and discussion are well described. The table and bar graph were presented clearly and understandable.
Discussion
The finding and the discussion were described altogether. So it’s not easy to differentiate between findings and discussion. The author describes that students mostly browse websites in their native Chinese even though they were English majors and had enough knowledge of English to understand most of websites, but none of his statement is shown in the figure that makes readers rather confuse. The participants’ spending time durations in surfing the net are shown, but author doesn’t gives information whether going online longer can improve their learning in language or not.
Conclusion
The conclusion is well described that the author summarizes the whole article and then he states that the study is useful for practical way of using internet resources for foreign language learning. From my point of view, the article is not provided enough information, because the explanation of the objective, method and technique are unclearly described.
Sir this is my article answer
B. QUANTITATIVE METHOD
I choose E-LEARNING CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE PLAYS FOR EFL LEARNERS IN CHINA’S because in this article is described in detail the influence of the constructive role plays have a positive impact to improve the quality and production of language and students express their positive opinions towards the implementation of e-learning constructive role plays because in many chinese universities, EFL students rarely communicate in english with other people effective communication skills in english.
In this article, described about experiment on implementing e-learning constructive role playsdfrom the data analysis: students speaking performance, students language productivity, students’ attitudes towards the implementation of e-learning constructive role plays.
When the students use constructive role plays, the students understood the context of constructive role plays from the instruction by teacher, and they actively constructed knowledge based on their previous learning.
Use constructive e-learning has 2 effects: the students agreed that constructive role plays should be utilized more in speaking classes because they actively participated in learning to speak english, constructive e-learning helped the teacher to understand better before performing it and students feel actively involved at the center of the whole learning and teaching process. Students constructed new knowledge based on their previous their experiencess from the real life situations instead of passively accepting what the teacher taught.
INTRODUCTION
The authors provide relevant background to the problem of the study that speaking has played an increasingly important role in 2/foreign language setting because in many chinese universities students rarely communicate in english with other people effectively.
The rationale communicated was clearly to give the clear information to the readers.
The research questions/hypotheses clearly stated that this study aims at investigating the implementation of e-learning constructive role plays on chinese EFL learners speaking in college english classes.
The study based on a theory is many students rarely communicated in english with other people and the mentioned in the study was from students’ evaluation, the problem of the NHCE e-learning rests with its behavioristic nature, especially in the speaking section. It involves such speaking activities as behavioristic role playing recording & comparing, listening & retelling which require students to repeat the speaking materials over and over again.
METHOD
There was a connection between the method of data collection and the research questions because from the research question, the authors did research to the students and from the method of data collection that the authors did, we know that the students understood the material.
From the beginning in the article, the authors properly define, describe the sample selected and from the method was sampling properly described.
The instruments were used appropriate to support the research
RESULT
The table & graphs presented in my article was clear to know how much the students understood the material and to know how much the students fail the material.
All of the illustrations required to support the hypotheses, the theory from the beginning and finally can give the best result to the readers.
DISCUSSION
all of The conclusion firmly based in the data presented from the beginning of the article. The conclusion of all this article is e-learning constructive role plays have positive effects on improving the speaking performance of students at various language proficiency levels. Students performed well and they applied the knowledge gained from the tutorial class and from their previous studies to perform the constructive e-learning role plays actively and succesfully.
The authors related hypotheses for the findings reasonable.
The authors always related and connected their findings to the theory: constructive role play has the active and interactive essence and enable students to develope skills to use in real life situations, and the second: utilizing constructive role plays in the classroom allows the students to test out the knowledge that they already have/to study the new knowledge by interacting with group members and the class as in the construtivist argument that learning is an active process in which new knowledge is developed on the basis of previous experiences pointed out that constructive role play encourage students to engage in L2 speaking interactively and creatively and it encourage the exploration of options through creative use of languages.
thank you sir
Title: A Qualitative Case Study of EFL Students’ Affective Reactions to and Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Written Feedback.
Authors: Mr. Omer Hassan A. Mahfoodh Ph.D Candidate & Prof. Ambigapathy Pandian.
(School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia)
Source: http://www.ccsenet.org/elt English Language Teaching Vol. 4, No. 3; September 2011
Research article critique:
I chose this article because I was an EFL student, and also a prospective teacher. As an EFL student, I want to understand the students’ affective reactions to and perceptions of the teachers’ written feedback by comparing it with my personal experience. Where as a student I am often given the task of writing, had difficulties in writing, and got the teachers’ written feedback. Through this article I hope to respond to teachers’ written feedback with positive affective reactions to improve my abilities in written essays. And as a prospective teacher, I will learn to give written feedback good and clear so that it can motivate students to write essays.
INTRODUCTION
1. The relevant background literature reviewed so that the gaps between the current knowledge and the research’s topic of interest were identified. There are 44 literatures (Al-Khuwaileh, Bitchener, Brice, etc) are listed in reference.
2. The objective stated clearly. The paper reports a qualitative case study of investigating EFL students’ affective reactions to and perceptions of their teachers’ written feedback. In addition, the study reported here also focuses on contextual factors that may influence students’ reactions to and perceptions of their teachers’ written feedback.
3. The research questions clearly stated. There are three research questions :
(1) How do English Major EFL students react effectively to their teachers’ written feedback?
(2) How do English Major EFL students perceive their teachers’ written feedback on their written texts?
(3) What are the factors in the context that may influence EFL students’ perceptions of and reactions to their teachers’ written feedback?
4. The limitations of the study clearly indicated in three research questions.
METHOD
1. The design of the research study is a case study with a qualitative method and the method used is suitable to achieve the objective of the study.
2. The process of purposeful selection of the sampling or participants clearly described. Eight English major students were selected according to their revision process as rated by their teachers using an adapted scheme of Sommers (1982). Moreover, the students’ willingness to participate and to attend all research sessions was also taken into account during the selection of the student participants. It should be noted that the selected English major student participants shared similar cultural and language background. Arabic is the mother tongue and the first language for all of them, and they started learning English officially as a Foreign Language at schools when they were in Grade 7.
3. The context (setting) of the study clearly described in the Department of English Language, Faculty of Education, Hodeidah University, Yemen. The courses were ‘Writing Course 2’ and ‘Writing Course 4′. By the time data collection started, EFL students in Second Year had already finished three courses of EFL writing instruction; EFL students in the First Year have already finished one course of EFL writing instruction. Moreover, the EFL students in the selected courses were required to write essays of different types at the time of data collection for the current study.
4. The researcher/s enhances trustworthiness of the data through triangulation. Trustworthiness is considered an essential element of conducting any type of qualitative research (Merriam, 1998), and it consists of credibility, transferability, dependability, and conform ability. These four components of trustworthiness guided the researchers throughout the research processes of this study. To establish trustworthiness, the researchers took measures such as reviewing transcripts with colleagues, submitting findings for peer review, and approaching data collection and analysis in a particular manner to avoid developing and finding anticipated outcomes. Moreover, triangulation of data collection was employed because data were collected from different sources. The triangulation of time, triangulation of methods of data collection, and triangulation of techniques for analysis of data were employed for enhancing reliability and validity in this research. In addition, member checking was also done to increase the credibility of the findings.
RESULT
1. The theories, methods and data analyses are consistent.
In the present study, data were collected through semi–structured interviews; think-aloud protocols, teachers’ written feedback, and students’ written texts. Table 1 provides a list of the students’ participants and the data collected from them. A total of 1038 points of written feedback were collected from 45 drafts marked by the two teachers. To examine how EFL students reacted effectively to their teachers’ written feedback and how they perceived written feedback given on their drafts, think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews had their strengths in eliciting the subjects’ responses, especially immediate responses after they received their commented-on drafts. For the think aloud sessions, the student participants were trained and requested to read their commented drafts as they would be reading it in normal situations. Semi-structured interviews, adapted from F. Hyland (1998), were conducted with each student after he/she produced the second draft of an assignment. All think-aloud sessions and semi-structured interviews were tape-recorded. Inductive data analysis, as suggested by Patton (1990, p. 390) was used in which patterns, themes, and categories of analysis “emerge out of the data rather than being imposed on them prior to data a collection and analysis”. The file sounds from the think-aloud protocols and semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim. After that, the transcripts were broken down into smaller units of segments. The process of segmentation was done according to the continuous episodes which were not defined as sentences or clauses but rather as units of concentration or focus (Grant-Davie 1992). Coding the segments of think-aloud protocols and interviews was carried out based fifteen codes/categories (see Table 2). This coding scheme was considerably based on the coding scheme used in Brice (2005) with some modifications to suit the research objectives. The data analysis was further completed through a triangulation of relevant data from other sources, in particular, students’ written drafts, and written feedback provided by the teachers. After the segments of the think-aloud protocols and interviews had been coded, larger patterns were created to put these codes under them. These patterns were associated to the research questions.
2. The tables presented clear and understandable.There are 2.
Table 1. Student participants and data collected from them.
Table 2. Coding scheme for students’ interviews and think-aloud protocols.
3. All illustrations are required.
4. The analysis procedure carefully described so that it is easy to check whether conclusions are correct.
DISCUSSION
1. The conclusions are consistent and congruent with the findings. This study has some pedagogical implications for writing instructions and responding to EFL students’ writing. First, teachers of EFL writing courses are encouraged to understand the positive and negative aspects of their written feedback when responding to their students’ written texts. This is because harmful effects of written feedback may lead the students to ignore teachers’ written feedback. Second, teachers of EFL writing should try to find ways through which their students can get motivated to read and spend some effort to use written feedback in revising their drafts. Third, students need their teachers of EFL writing to provide both praise and constructive criticism. This is because EFL students perceive these written feedback points as helpful and encouraging. It is an implication that was also suggested by Ferris (1995), a study that focused on ESL students’ reactions to teacher written comments.
2. The ethical issues are not mentioned or adequately discussed.
Title of the article : Student’s View on Grammar Teaching
Author : Hendrikus Male
Source : Journal of English Teaching (JET),Volume 1, Number 1, February 2011, 57-69
It is very hard to find suitable education research to be criticized. I found many, but after I read I found many difficulties to answer the questions when we criticize an article. Finally, one of my lecturers said that I can find in JET (collection of journals having FKIP- UKI). I downloaded, then I scanned, I saw tables there and also the methodology stated clearly. Then, I decide to criticize this article, “Students’ View on Grammar Teaching” by Hendrikus Male.
Since I only have little knowing about research, so I will not say that I want to criticize this article but I want to say that I want to learn from this article. So, I hope that I get knowledge how to write article, how to get literature review, how to make a research, etc.
In literature review, the writer wrote many opinions about grammar from researches conducted before. He told that a long time ago grammar had been central to foreign language teaching, a research also said that grammar teaching is necessary to achieve communicative goals, but some language researchers said that teaching grammar was not only unhelpful but might be detrimental. Some research said it was a waste of time to teach grammar. That’s why, the necessity of grammar become the center of debate now. From the explanation, we know that the writer found current knowledge about grammar is different. Some research said grammar is important in foreign language teaching but some research said it is unimportant. Therefore, in order to determine whether grammar should be taught explicitly or implicitly and what activities and techniques are best to teach and learn it; students’ views need to be considered.
The objectives of this research stated clearly that is to investigate the students’ perceptions on grammar instruction at the English Teaching Study Program of the Faculty of Education and Teachers Training of the Christian University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
The research question is not clearly stated, because the writer didn’t write in the article. But we can find it, the question is what is the students’ perceptions on grammar instruction at Faculty of Education and Teachers Training of the Christian University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
The limitation of the study clearly indicated. Because he just studied the student’s view, not teacher’s view not the other’s view. It also only studied about grammar not about many aspects of language.
The writer employed quantitative and qualitative method. It is justified, because according to Creswell et al. (2003) it enables us to gather qualitative input to explain and extend quantitative result to gain a comprehensive insight of the research. A questionnaire was used to get quantitative data, while a focused semi structured open-ended interviews was employed to get qualitative data. I think these methods and also the ways to find data are suitable to achieve the objective of the study. The questionnaire was constructed to measure the respondents’ views of the teaching of English grammar. (Likert scale was employed here to indicate student’s agreement and disagreement) The interview was conducted to understand the respondent’s point of view rather than make generalizations.
Process of purposeful selection of sampling clearly described. It is visible from the writer’s statement that : The respondents were all the fifth-semester students of the English Teaching Study Program of FKIP-UKI. They were purposively selected on the assumption that they had passed all language grammar classes and almost finished all language skill classes in which they were supposed to apply grammatical knowledge they had studied.
The setting of the study is described clearly. The writer said that there are 54 students of semester VI in the study program when the data were taken (Academic Year 2010/2011 in November 2010). Eight of them were involved in the pilot study to determine the reliability of the instrument (to see whether the wording of the questions was clear and the completion of the tasks was feasible). The other 46 students were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement to each statement in questionnaire. The interview sessions were around 15-20 minutes, conducted with 5 volunteers (were also respondents to the questionnaire)
The researcher enhanced trustworthiness of the data through triangulation, that is the data source triangulation and the methodological triangulation. He used data source triangulation because he used two ways to find the data that is questionnaire and interview. He used methodological triangulation because he used qualitative method and quantitative method. I think they are appropriate, because finding data via interview support and enrich the data finding by questionnaire. Also to describe the result, qualitative method is needed to support quantitative findings. The quantitative finding (present by tables) really makes the result easy to understand.
Title: “Effects of classroom testing by microcomputer”
Author : Bowen, B.E., & Agnew
Source : Journal of AATEA 1986, 27(4), 2-7
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Microcomputers are being used for a variety of purposes, but research about their instructional effectiveness lags behind adoption rates for the technology. Further, there is a limited research base about the effects of microcomputers in vocational agriculture on learning in the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor domains. The research base is even more shallow when effects of testing students by computer technology are explored.
Critics – The statements above agreed with the title and seemed to be of educational significance. The problem was not clearly visible to the average reader, and it required several readings to establish why the researchers felt this study needed to be done. It was limited to the researchers’ capabilities and resources.
B. Purpose
This research tested hypotheses about how effectively microcomputers could be used to administer an objective classroom test to students who had studied and used computer technology.
Critics – The purpose was clearly and concisely stated and agreed with the title. It was limited to the researchers’ capabilities and resources.
C. Objective of the Study
Specifically, the study sought to determine: (a) the effect taking an objective final examination by microcomputer would have upon student cognitive performance; (b) the effect this method of testing would have on student attitude about computers immediately after the examination; and (c) whether this method of testing would require more time than conventional paper and pencil testing procedure.
Critics – The authors’ objectives were answerable, and they chose to obtain them by testing null hypotheses. These hypotheses were testable and served to help explain the problem.
II. METHOD
The author cited no clear review of literature; however, several appropriate references were used in the introduction section. These statements contributed to the overall understanding of the subject and to the reasoning for establishing the problem statement. Suggested section titles would have been: (1) competencies vocational education teachers need to use computer technology effectively; (2) effects of microcomputers on learning; and (3) effects of testing students by microcomputer.
A. Procedures
The treatment followed the post-test only control group design; consequently, the study involved two replications. Both replications were conducted during a Mississippi State University course. A two stage random assignment was used in assigning groups and treatments. The three dependent variables measured in this study were: (a) minutes to complete the test; (b) score on the test; and (c) score on the attitudes about computers instrument.
Critics – The methods used to gather the data for this article were clearly explained. The instruments and development were explained, and the reliability coefficients of all possible tests were given. The population used was adequate. No discussion of the statistical techniques was given in this particular section.
B. Findings
Personal data by treatment and control group was provided in table form and explained with a short narrative.
Hypothesis one – A one way analysis of covariance revealed that the two groups were not significantly different in terms of their scores on the 35 item final examination.
Hypothesis two – The mean attitudinal scores of the two groups were positive in both replications, and there was no significant difference in the two groups’ attitudes about computers.
Hypothesis three – There was a significant difference in minutes required to complete the exam in replication one; however, there was no significant difference in replication two.
Critics – The findings were well organized, sectioned, and reported objectively. The tables were well organized but, due to the difficulty of the statistical tests employed, would not stand alone to the average reader.
Arlin Adriana Tumbelaka
This is my revision for article critic,
Its quite difficult for me to find the right article to be criticized. My best friend suggested me to find out the article in JET ( collection of journals of FKIP – UKI )and finally I got one. The title is “ Student’s Perception on EFL Speaking Skill Development “ by Situjuh Nazara.
In Literature review, the writer told about speaking. Speaking is multifaceted construct. its so intertwined with daily interactions that difficult enough to define. So the writer suggested us to do the best with defining speaking bt its feature, functions and conditions.
The objectives of this research article stated clearly that is to investigate the perceptions of the students of the English Teaching Study Program of UKI – Jakarta on their English Speaking Skill development.
There was some questions wrote in the article. How the teachers/lecturers work with the students, how the students motivate speech activities, and relate them to their personal interests and needs?. Just like the writer had answered that those are vital factors for the improvement of speech. And I agree with that.
The limitation of the study is clearly indicated. He studied from student’s view and also the teacher’s/lecture’s.
A.METHOD
The writer employed the explanatory mixed method design which enables us to gather qualitative input to explain and extend quantitative results in order to gain a comprehensive insight of the research (Creswell et al., 2003).
According to the article, 16 item questionnaire‘ was administered to obtain quantitative input and constructed to determine the students‘ perceptions on EFL Speaking development. Before it was used to collect the data, the questionnaire was tested in a preliminary pilot study conducted with five students. The pilot study served to see whether the wording of the questions was clear and the completion of the tasks was feasible. Minor changes were introduced in the original plan as a result of this process.
The Process of purposeful selection of sampling clearly described. The writer’s statement that :
The respondents were 40 students randomly selected from the fifth and the seventh semester students of the English Teaching Study Program of FKIP-UKI. The reason for limiting the sample only to the fifth and the seventh semester students was that since they had passed Speaking classes (Speaking I, II, III, and IV) they would find no difficulty to properly respond to the questionnaire.
Its already mentioned that the writer took 40 students from the fifth and the seventh semester students of the English Teaching Study Program of FKIP – UKI.
There’s a triangulation in this article because the writer used two ways to find the data.
By giving questionnaires and interview. To enrich and support the quantitative findings, a focused semi structured open-ended interview was also employed. As in all such interviews, the researchers set the focus of the interview. For 20 – 25 minutes interview sessions were conducted by 5 volunteers who were respondents to the questionnaires.
So the writer will get the accurate results not only from qualitative method (questionnaire given) but also from interview as a quantitave method.
So that the reader will understand about the article.
Title: Do multimedia-oriented visual glosses really facilitate EFL vocabulary learning? : A comparison of planar images with three-dimensional images
Author: Takeshi Sato & Akio Suzuki from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Toyo University
Source: asian-efl-journal.com/PDF/Volume-12-Issue-4-Sato&Suf
I. Introduction
A. Background
In the learning process there are many ways and methods to extend knowledge from facilitators to students. The writers wanted to prove one kind of method which applies glossy images in multimedia language textbooks or dictionaries could bring a certain amount of effectiveness in foreign language learning. The results might indicate the superiority of multimedia-based materials over paper-based ones. On the other hand, it might be also true that the superiority of the multimedia-oriented configuration of glosses has not been examined, which might imply that the potential of multimedia materials as tools for language learning has not been maximized. Therefore, the aims of their research are to examine the superiority of multimedia-oriented gloss in comparison with traditional glosses. This paper addresses three-dimensional images as a multimedia gloss to demonstrate the spatial relationship of prepositions such as “above,” “across,” “below,” “in,” “on,” and “over,” which are regarded as difficult to learn because of the appropriate choice of the words’ several senses based on various contexts. This research begins with the development of two multimedia dictionaries of spatial prepositions: one with planar images, and the other with three-dimensional images of spatial relationships for each language item. This is followed by an experiment to verify the effectiveness of multimedia gloss by randomly dividing it into two groups—a control group and an experimental group, and then conducting a vocabulary test in each group to choose appropriate spatial prepositions with reference to these dictionaries. The results will be analyzed using a t-test. The results of this study should help in suggesting methods to optimize the application of multimedia materials in EFL settings.
B. Objectives of the study
The objectives were stated clearly by the authors, which are to examine the superiority of multimedia-oriented gloss in comparison with traditional glosses, help in suggesting methods to optimize the application of multimedia materials in EFL settings, The objectives are relevant with the topic research (Do multimedia-oriented visual glosses really facilitate EFL vocabulary learning? A comparison of planar images with three-dimensional images)
C. Research questions
The researchers clearly mentioned all the questions in the “research questions point”, which are:
a. Is visual glosses more effective in the comprehension of spatial preposition rather than long term retention of vocabulary?
b. Are the images schemata of spatial preposition as visual glosses can facilitate “learners” comprehension of preposition better than visual gloss?
c. Is image schema which is close to their perception of spatial relation with 3D and animation techniques, can be more affective visual glosses than pictorial image schema, which is traditionally viewed as gloss?
D. Limitation of the study
The researchers stated the limitation of the study clearly, which are focus in proving whether multimedia-oriented visual glosses really facilitate EFL vocabulary learning, and also suggesting methods which could optimize the application of multimedia material in EFL setting.
II. Method
A. Type of study
This research is based on qualitative study. Even though the researchers didn’t clearly mention the design which they used in the research, it seem they used cross sectional design by doing experiment to two groups, and also carry out some test (in this case they are trying to collect facts whether their research is successful or not) we can say that besides using qualitative method, they are also using quantitative method to get the data
B. The process of purposeful selection of the sampling
The researchers collected 24 ELF learners from the author’s first academy to be the sampling (they didn’t mention about how in the end these 24 EFL learners could be selected from the population), after that they were randomly divided into two groups: control and experimental group which are given some tests to found out the answers of the research questions.
C. Context of the study
The researchers clearly described the setting of the study from the introduction, research objectives, researches questions, sampling, result, discussion, and finally the conclusion. The y collected the data from the sampling by doing experiment to see their responses and given some test to get the exact result.
D. Trustworthiness data through triangulation
The researcher/s enhance trustworthiness of the data through triangulation, they explained the result both using experiment (in this case occur an observation) and also making test to get the score (authentic data), they also included figures which explain the research data/result to make it more trustworthy. The methods which are used to get the result are also appropriate to the research problem.
Title : “Shifts in NNESTs’ Professional Identity: An Impact of Language and Culture Immersion “
Author : Anita Dewi ( staff member of CILACS Islam University of Indonesia)
Source : Asian EFL Journal, December 2007, Volume 9, Issue 4, page 111 – 125.
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Background
The writer stated that her study draws heavily on two theories of identity, by Dan P. McAdams and Stuart Hall that provide a relative balance between the personal and social aspects of identity. This was expected to provide a logical framework for an explanation of the case studies that the writer wanted to investigate – the professional identity of Indonesian EFL educators in relation to language and culture immersion. A ‘life story model’ by Bauer and McAdams (2004, p. 583) was employed, with reference to three events – prior to coming to Australia, staying in Australia and upon returning to Indonesia.
Stuart Hall elaborates a comprehensive understanding of the connection between language, identity and cultural difference and argues that they are closely connected, thus cannot be separated from each other. In other words, they are somehow interrelated, making them impossible to discuss as individual units. This is exactly how Hall tries to cover those concepts – by exploring them as a unity.
B. Objective of The Study
The objective of the study was stated clearly. The writer wrote the objective of her research was to explore the shift of professional identity of Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators studying at Monash University, particularly the influence of English language and cultural immersion on how these people perceived themselves prior.
C. Research Questions
The research questions were stated clearly. The writer stated the research questions as follows :
1. What professional identities did Indonesian EFL educators carry with them into Monash University?
2. What identity di Indonesian EFL educators acquire while undertaking a Master of Education TESOL International at Monash University?
3. Was there any professional identity shift happening in these people within the time frame of arriving in, staying in, and leaving Australia?
D. Limitations of The Study
The limitations of the study were clearly indicated . The writer indicated the limitations of the study to the following points:
1.The focus of this study is the professional identity of Indonesian EFL educators.
2. The study conducted with Indonesian EFL educators on their immersion in the language and culture while undertaking the Masters of Education TESOL international at Monash University, Australia within the time frame of arrival, stay and departure.
II. METHOD
A. Kind of Study
This study is a qualitative study. A research design and its modification within the process of research needed to be developed to maintain harmonious relationships among aspects of this research. I think the method the writer used is suitable to achieve the objective of the study.
B. Process of Purposeful Selection of The Sampling
The process of purposeful selection of the sampling or participants was described clearly. The recruitment process was begun after the approval of her study proposal was granted. The writer described as follows :
1. The participants involved in her research included Indonesian EFL lecturers and teachers, both male and female, who were taking Master of Education (TESOL International) at Monash University. This specific category of participants was recruited to fulfill the aim of this research – an analysis of the professional identity shifts in the case of the Indonesian EFL educator.
2. The participants comprised male-married, male-single, female-married and female-single Indonesian EFL educators from rural, semi-urban and urban areas. Age was not one of the considerations in recruitment, because all of the participants were Australian government scholarship awardees, for which one of the requirements was to be in productive and prospective age or no more than 42 years.
3. Participants received information on the reason, focus and potential use of the research. Participation within the study was entirely voluntary. Participants were also assured of confidentiality and that no harm was involved in the process. These were put in written informed consents, which were signed by those willing to participate. Thus, participants knew exactly what they were involved in and fully understood the possible risks of the study. What is meant by possible risks here are emotional risks that might be caused, considering that professional identity included not only professional but also personal aspects that are potentially sensitive to the participants.
C. Context of The Study
The setting or context of the study was described clearly. The writer uses subjective information and participant observation to describe the context, or natural setting, of the variables under consideration, as well as the interactions of the different variables in the context. It seeks a wide understanding of the entire situation.
D. Method of Data Collecting
The writer enhanced trustworthiness of the data through triangulation. The writer stated that the method of data collecting was in-depth interview, observation and individual reflection through writing.
1. In-depth interview was conducted in English, as the participants were fluent English speakers.
2. The written individual reflection, however, was offered with two alternatives for the participants – writing in English or in Bahasa Indonesia.
3. The interview was audiotaped, so that there was no misunderstanding in the follow up process of transcribing.
4. Transcription of the interview and reflective writing was then coded,
The types of triangulation is investigator triangulation and it was appropriate.
Dear all attendees of Research Methodology Class,
Please post your research article critique below this post. On top of your posting, you need to provide the following information:
1. Title (of article critiqued: ……………………………
2. Author(s): …………………….
3. Source: (Journal Title, edition, number, year, pages) or (website address of the e-journal).
Good luck!