Mixed-methods research: Ecological perspectives on language teaching

We are pleased to announce that the “Mixed-methods research: Ecological perspectives on language teaching” summer school will take place from 17 to 20 August 2022 at the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium).   

Aims of the workshop 
In the past few decades, mixed-methods studies have proven very useful to account for the multidimensional nature of language learning and the complexity of authentic classrooms. The plurality of research methods allows for a higher ecological validity and thus for a better transferability of findings into practice. Implementing mixed-methods studies remains an exciting but also a challenging endeavor. Simply including different data collection instruments (performance assessment, questionnaires, interviews, etc.) does not automatically lead to convergence between quantitative and qualitative methods. Instead, researchers need to carefully plan how the different methods in data collection will contribute to the study aims and to identify the study design that is best-suited to connect and integrate data. Therefore, the present workshop addresses some of the questions regarding the planning, implementation of and data analysis in mixed-methods studies, such as for instance:   

– How can qualitative and quantitative methods foster empirical convergence? 

– How can ecological validity be improved in classroom-based studies? 

– How can measurements be constructed and validated in mixed-methods studies?     

Participants
The workshop aims to provide interested researchers in the fields of applied SLA, instructed SLA and applied linguistics (PhD students, PostDocs and others) with a strong methodological background and strong commit­ment to further develop their research competences towards more ecological research designs. To this end, the program of the workshop includes both talks reporting the most recent advances in the field and hands-on sessions on different methods and their combination in empirical research, requiring the participants to critically reflect on their own research. Participants will have the opportunity to receive specialized feedback, become familiar with practice examples and actively engage in discussion. The workshop will be held in English, but pedagogical applications for other foreign languages like Spanish, German and French will be showcased. Researchers working on any foreign language are strongly encouraged to participate.  

See also:  

Program  

Registration