This paper introduces the Lang-Track-App, a smartphone application and backend system to aid second language acquisition researchers in implementing the experience sampling method (ESM). Surveying research participants with the Lang-Track-App multiple times per day can yield exceptionally rich data that can be analyzed in multiple ways. This…

Second language (L2) researchers often have to develop or change the instruments they use to measure numerous constructs (Norris & Ortega, 2012). Given the prevalence of researcher-developed and -adapted data collection instruments, and given the profound effect instrumentation can have on results, thorough reporting of instrumentation is…

This paper reports on a promising methodology for multilingualism studies that was trialled at the National Institute of Education (NIE) on the campus of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, in 2018. The methodology named the Aural-Oral Transect (AOT) is a systematic, easy-to-implement, unbiased way of collecting quantitative data on…

The central goal of the field of second language acquisition (SLA) is to describe and explain how second language learners acquire the target language. In order to achieve this goal, SLA researchers work with second language data, which can take a variety of forms, including (but not limited to) such commonly used methods as naturalistic…

The present article focuses on data collection through web questionnaires, as opposed to the traditional pen-and-paper method for research in second language acquisition and bilingualism. It is argued that web questionnaires, which have been used quite widely in psychology, have the advantage of reaching out to a larger and more diverse pool of…

The advance of digital video technology in the past two decades facilitates empirical investigation of learning in real time. The focus of this paper is the combined use of real-time digital video and a networked linguistic corpus for exploring the ways in which these technologies enhance our capability to investigate the cognitive process of…

Methods of data collection are reviewed that were used in 39 studies of interlanguage pragmatics, defined narrowly as the investigation of non-native speakers' comprehension and production of speech acts, and the acquisition of second language-related speech act knowledge. Data collection instruments are distinguished according to the degree to…

A brief overview of the various methodologies used to study second-language acquisition focuses on the particular complexities presented by the interdisciplinary character of the field and its effects on such aspects as theory construction, empirical methodology, epistemological positions, data collection, hypothesis testing, and data…

Discusses the wide array of variables and possible research approaches and techniques that need to be considered in conducting research that investigates the linguistic impact of the study abroad experience. Offers a framework that evaluates, assesses, and ensures the effectiveness of study abroad and also integrates and interprets the diversity…

The results of this study raise serious questions about the validity of cross-sectional studies of second language acquisition based on instrument-solicited morpheme data. The analysis of spontaneous data examined longitudinally suggests that such data may provide richer insights into the second language acquisition process. (Author/POP)

Reviews visual anthropology, educational anthropology, and ethnographic filmmaking literature on questions concerning collection of valid video recorded data in the second language context. Examines h an interaction should be video recorded, who should be video recorded, and who should do the recording. Examples illustrate the kinds of research…

The field manual for a series of coordinated studies of the spontaneous acquisition of a second language by adult immigrant workers provides a theoretical and practical framework for the entire project and a source of information about it for other researchers. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the project's objectives and organization. Chapter 3 reviews…

Two types of verbal-report data (concurrent and retrospective) and four major introspective methods used in second-language research (L2) (thinking-aloud, questionnaires, interviews, diary-keeping) are described in a discussion of introspective L2 research studies. It is argued that, though incomplete, verbal reports from informant-learners offer…

This paper summarizes the presentations given at the 1974 TESOL Convention, and includes discussion of second language learning universals, statistical techniques for analyzing morphemes, data collection techniques and tests of hypotheses about the nature of the second language learning process. (CK)

In research on second language instruction, the researcher's knowledge of the learner's background has not always been central in data collection. However, data collection is part of a research design that should include both a description of the sample population and the role of the learner in the decision to carry out a given study.…