{"id":1901,"date":"2022-06-27T14:36:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T06:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/?page_id=1901"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:19:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T03:19:46","slug":"maal6028","status":"publish","type":"courses","link":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/courses\/maal6028\/","title":{"rendered":"MAAL6028 Introduction to Research Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"

COURSE TEACHER<\/span>:<\/span>
\n<\/span>Dr.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0David Gardner<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>Email:\u00a0<\/span>dgardner@hku.hk<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overview<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This course will provide an overview of the key methods used for researching applied linguistics and will engage you in discussing and writing about them so that you can identify, describe and evaluate the relevance of research methods in relation to any particular piece of research. This knowledge will help you understand and evaluate the published research you read about as you study applied linguistics and may also help you with advance planning for dissertation writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aims<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

By the end of this course successful participants will be able to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Write and speak knowledgably about research methods in relation to Applied Linguistics.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Identify an appropriate research methodology for a specific research goal. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Course Learning Outcomes<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Identify suitable methods for specific research aims<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Describe specific research methods<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Evaluate the relevance of particular research methods<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Assessment<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      The assessment for this course is by a single assignment in which you will evaluate a given research context, select an appropriate research methodology, describe it in detail and explain why it is more suitable than other possible methodologies in that context. Details about the research context will be supplied at the beginning of the course.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      GenAI Policy<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      AI is not allowed for the writing of the assignment for this course.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Key References<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      The core text for this course is:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      McKinley, J., & Rose, H. (2020). The Routledge handbook of research methods in applied linguistics<\/em>. Routledge.<\/p>\n

      You should obtain this book and read Chapters 1 and 2 before the course begins. I recommend buying the e-version because there seems to be no softcover version and the hardcover version is very expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Two lists of other relevant texts will be available on the course moodle under the following headings:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      A. General texts covering a wide range of methods:
      \nB. Texts covering specialized area:<\/p>\n

      There is no need to buy these texts. They are to make use of if you want to pursue specific topic areas during the course. They are all available in HKU Library or on the internet.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Schedule (Semester 1)<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 1: Key Concepts and Issues in Research<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 2: Common Qualitative Research Approaches<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 3: Collecting Qualitative Data<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 4: Analysing Qualitative Data<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 5: Collecting Quantitative Data<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 6: Using Questionnaires<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 7: Analysing Quantitative Data<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Session 8: Selecting Appropriate Methods<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1901","courses","type-courses","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/courses\/1901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/courses"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/courses"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1901"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/courses\/1901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7056,"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/courses\/1901\/revisions\/7056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caes.hku.hk\/maal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}