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Research Instruments

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Investigating Chinese HE EFL Classrooms

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Abstract

This chapter justifies the research tools used by providing a rationale for each tool, how it was designed, and what the data collection procedures were. The order of discussing these tools is consistent with the data collection sequence.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This type of observation is given different names by different researchers. Bryman (2008) names it as structured observation, while McDonough and McDonough (1997) calls it systematizing observation.

  2. 2.

    The researcher’s reflections may concern the data collection methods used, ethical dilemmas and conflicts, and some emerging interpretations.

  3. 3.

    The modifications were in two aspects. The first modification was in wording. In items 5, 9, 18, 23, 26, 27, and 29, the word “group” was used in the original design, which was regarded as imprecise by the researcher because it was less context-specific. Therefore, “group” was altered to “collaborative learning” or “working collaboratively with peers” for the purpose of precision and this sounds more appropriate in this study. The second alteration was the description of the Likert-scales. Originally, the description for each item was from “1” = “Strongly disagree” to “5” = “Strongly agree.” These were however revised to “1” = “Not true of me at all” to “5” = “Very true of me” because the original description intended to enquire about attitudes, whereas the latter aimed to explore participants’ learning condition, and was believed to be more appropriate and reflective. Other modifications were made to change the difficult words into relatively simple ones, and changing the layout of the questionnaire to be read more easily.

  4. 4.

    Interestingly, all the 60 participants selected the Chinese version both in the pre- and post-questionnaires. But in the motivation tests, only students from Class 9 chose the Chinese version in the pre- and post-motivation tests , and 12 students from Class 10 preferred the English version in the pre-motivation test. However, all of them chose the Chinese version in the post-test.

  5. 5.

    Questions in the learning journals were developed from Denscombe (2010, p. 229), “the three crucial elements of diaries ” However, these questions were sub-divided by the researcher who considered that a more detailed classification would be clearer and provide in-depth data (see Appendix 7).

  6. 6.

    This approach is borrowed from Morgan (1997, p. 41). It seeks to find ways to balance “standardized” versus “unstandardized” interview and “high” versus “low” involvement of the moderator, known as the funnel strategy.

  7. 7.

    The questions in the focus group interview were generated from a very preliminary analysis of the CL questionnaire and journal writing. More in-depth questions were asked to probe for detailed information (see Appendix 8).

  8. 8.

    The focus groups were one from each class, with a group of six students from Class 9, and seven participants from Class 10.

  9. 9.

    It was found that some participants misinterpreted the term “academic benefits” and “social benefits” in Q16 and Q17 (see Appendix 8), both in the Chinese and English versions. Therefore, these terms were explained by the researcher immediately as they arose.

  10. 10.

    The original AMTB was designed with regard to attitudes toward learning French and French Canadian. However, in this study, the English version was used to suit the present context.

  11. 11.

    It was found that most students’ learning journals were written in a combination of Chinese and English. Some of the journal questions were answered in Chinese, while others were in English. It was assumed that students might have encountered language difficulties while writing their learning journals. Therefore, their L1 served as a supporting tool.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of English Studies, Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, China

    Lin Lin

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Lin, L. (2015). Research Instruments. In: Investigating Chinese HE EFL Classrooms. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44503-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44503-7_5

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