-

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HOW TO WRITE

RESEARCH PROPOSALS

A.M. RIAZI, Ph.D.

Shiraz University

RAHNAMA
PUBLICATIONS
2000
Riazi, Mehdi A. 1955
How to write Research Proposals.
Proposals a guide book for graduate students
in applied linguistics/ A. Mehdi Riazi.--
Tehran: Rahnama, 1378 = 2000
145 P.: tables, charts.
ISBN-964- 6054-00-5
Cataloging based on CIP infonnation.
1.Linguistics - Research. 2.Dissertations,
Academic. 3.Report writing. 4.Academic writing.
I.Title.
P51.R54 410.72
National lib. of Iran M78-l 3973
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any fonn or by any means without the prior permission, in writing, from
the Publisher.
RAHNAMAPUBLICATIONS
Copyright ©2000
Enghelab Ave., Shohadaye Zhandarmerie St.,
(Moshtagh St.), Between Farvardin & Fakhre Razi,
No.220 Tehran, Iran. P .0.Box: 13145/1845
Tel: (021) 6416604 & 6400927

How to write Research Proposals

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Dedicated

To the soul of n1y father

To the passions of rny rnother &

To the co1npanionship of my wife and

children
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures and Tables iii

Preface iv

Chapter One: Introduction 1

Where and when to start? 2

The next steps 4
Organiz.ation of the book 6

Chapter Two: Choosing a topic 8

Step I: Identify your general area of interest 8

Step 2: Check and search for different sources 12
Step 3: Fonnulate your research problem 15
Step 4: Examine and evaluate the research problem 21

Chapter Three: Working on the topic 29

Task 1: Preparing a working bibliography 30

Task 2: Reading and summarizing the literature 35

Chapter Four: Drafting a proposal 41

Drafting 41
Composing the draft 43
The format of a research proposal 45
Introduction 47
Literature review 48
Ways of citing others' work 49
Order of citation ss
 Theoretical or conceptual framework 57
Providing a rationale for the study 58
Method 62
Outline and organii.ation of the study 65
References 66
Appendixes 71

Chapter Five: Revising and editing the proposal 73

Revising your proposal 74

Editing your proposal 75
Proofreading checklist 76
AP A editorial style 77
Punctuation 77
Capitalization 82
Revising and editing by a PC 83

Chapter Six: Resources for research in applied linguistics 94

Part 1: Indexes and abstracts 96

Part 2: Surveys of research 99
Part 3: Journals 101
Part 4: ERIC 123
What is ERIC? 123
Resources in education (RIE) 123
Current index to journals in education 124
How to do a search in ERIC? 125
Other databases 126
PsycLIT 126
Dissertations Abstract OnDisc 127

References 128

Appendix: A sample proposal 130

Index 144
 List of Fi1ures

Figure 1.1: Stages involved in the

process of thesis preparation page 5

Figure 1.2: The process of developing

a proposal page 7

Figure 2.1: Three spaces of knowledge page 22

List of Tables

Table 3.1 : Objectives in reading materials page 35

Table 4.1: Major sections in a proposal page 46

Table 5.1: Standards for the acceptability of

a thesis proposal page 88

Table 6.1: Features of the journals in

applied linguistics page 103

w
 In the Name ofGod

Preface

In the context of gradate studies, research proposals play an important role. In

most instances the decision to permit the student to embark on a thesis or
dissertation is made solely on the completeness of the research proposal. The
quality of writing in the proposal is likely to be used by advisors as a basis for
judging the clarity of thought that has preceded the document. The proposal
along with its constituencies will also be used as an index of the degree of
facility with which the study will implemented if appropriate, and the adequacy
of·expository skills the student will bring to reporting the results. In sum, the
proposal is the instrument through which faculty must judge whether there is a
reasonable hope that the student can conduct any research project at all.
This step-by-step guidebook is prepared to help graduate students in the
field of applied linguistics to prepare and write proposals that could meet the
conventions of the field. The text moves with the student from discovery of a
topic to gathering sources and references, reviewing related literature, drafting,
revising and editing the intended research proposal. In chapter six, a list of
resources in applied. linguistics has been provided that should be useful to both
students and researchers.
The book may be used as a textbook for such courses as .Advanced
Writing in graduate programs in which students will be required to go through
the book chapter by chapter and prepare their research proposal. Or~ it may be
used independently by the graduate students.
I should thank Mr. Hassan Ansari, a Ph.D. student at the department of
foreign languages and linguistics of Shiraz University for his careful proofread
of the manuscript. His keen eyes did not let any defects to go unnoticed.

A.M. Riazi
Shiraz University

V
 CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

Many students attending graduate programs, MA or Ph.D., do

not often have much experience in writing their theses and
dissertations or preparing similar tasks such as research articles.
At times, we are faced with various questions on the part of
graduate students as to how they should do their research or
what processes they should go through in order to prepare their
thesis or dissertation. These questions are mostly related to
choosing an appropriate topic, selecting an advisor, finding
suitable references and sources, preparing proposal, doing the
research itself, writing up and defending the thesis or
dissertation. We may say that the process of conducting research
and documenting it is, in effect, a socialization process in any
academic discipline. Students gradually and through different
Chapter 1 2
--

disciplines. As I have stated elsewhere (Riazi, 1997, p . 106),

different studies carried out on writing "suggest that academic
contexts have a powerful influence on how students define and
approach writing tasks." Also, a common thread and a basic
theoretical premise in all these studies is that writing involves
unique intellectual properties and therefore fosters higher order
reasoning.
In this chapter, the general process of conducting research
in a graduate program of applied linguistics will be presented. Then, in
the following chapters, each issue will be discussed in more
details.

1.1. Where and when to start?

The first step in academic research is not to get overwhelmed by
the volume of scientific and academic findings and materials on
the one hand, and not to get lost in the institutional rules and
regulations, on the other. Otherwise, you may be bogged down at
the outset. The best thing to do at this stage is to get a bird's eye
view of the major steps involved in the preparation of the
research work. It is a good idea to prepare a list of important
dates. It will help you to organize your work and predict
everything appropriately.
Try to acquaint yourself with departmental, faculty, and
university information sources including regulations for thesis
Introduction 3
- -- - -- - - - - - - - --- - - - - - --

and dissertation preparation. If these regulations are written up,

you should read them carefully and raise your questions with
authorities so that there is left no ambiguous points for you . In
case, there is no written document, try to become familiar with
the whole process by discussing issues with your advisor or other
interested people. To this end, faculty members, head of the
department, and more experienced students are good sources of
information and reliable consultants. This familiarity 1s
important because each department and university may handle
the procedures in different ways.
Another important step in doing research and, in particular,
theses and dissertations is to start soon as possible. It has been
frequently seen that students postpone the tasks to the last
months of their study. This is not appropriate at all. Not only will
such students face the shortage of time, they are also deprived of
directing a major part of their studies (courses and assignments)
toward the preparation of their thesis and dissertation. The best
thing to do is that when you start your graduate program, you try
to have a plan for your dissertation in advance. If not possible,
then thinking about the thesis and dissertation topics should be
one of your priorities and job should be started from the early
days. Usually universities require graduate students to propose
their plan for research after the second semester or not later than
the end of the third semester. When students know in what area
and on what topic they will be doing their research, they can
Chapter 1 4
- --------- --

organize all the possibilities and tasks of different courses in line

with their research topic. In this case., students are able to direct
the assignments of the courses toward their thesis; they can also
use their free time to prepare the needed literature, read them
and make notes. If this happens, then before getting to the actual
process of conducting research, most parts of the thesis have
already been done .

1.2. The next steps

Every graduate student should have a general picture of the
processes involved in carrying out a thesis or dissertation. Figure
1.1 depicts the stages of the task of research in graduate
programs. Although these stages are here presented in a linear
way, the process is not likely to be linear. You often need to get
back to some previous stages in order to revise or modify the
already-done jobs. Think of Figure 1.1 as a checklist rather than
the actual steps that you will follow. Similarly, as most of the
steps in the process are discussed in apparent chronological
order in subsequent sections and chapters; you need not follow
them in the sequence described here. Nevertheless, this figure
will help you to p,icture the activities you are likely to engage in
and assist in budgeting your available time.
Once you have a general overview of the requirements and
resources in mind, you should focus on conceptualizing the
thesis problem. Start thinking about what might be a good thesis
Introduction s
-- - - - -- - --- - - - --- - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - ---- -

FilUJ'e 1.1
A 1eneral picture of the staee• involved in the process
or thesis or dissertation preparation

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Identifying the general

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Narrowing down the
area and the topic

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Chapter t 6
- --- - -
topic. To be successful at this, follow the processes introduced to
you in the next chapter. A final suggestion is that you should
keep track of your ideas and give the thesis a prominence in your
life. Set up a file, on your PC or in a notebook, to keep track of
ideas, references, conversations, decisions, etc.

1.3. Organization of the book

This book is organized in six chapters. Each chapter elaborates
on one issue related to the preparation of thesis or dissertation
proposals. The sixth chapter, however, presents the reader with a
good reference to resources available in the field of the second
language teaching and learning. These resources could be used
both at the time of preparing the proposal as well as at the time
of submitting papers. Figure 1.2 below, presents a schematic
guide to the content of each chapter, and the process through
which a proposal will be developed.
The book may be used as a textbook for such courses as
advanced writing in graduate programs of applied linguistics. In
that case, the instructor as well as the students will follow the
chapters one by one so that toward the end of the semester they
may come up with their actual proposals. Or it may be used as
an independent guide-book which interested readers might use
those chapters they find useful in the course of their proposal
development.
Introduction 7
- - - -- -

Figure 1.2
The process of developing a proposal

Choosing a topic and

f onnulating a research
Cbapter2
problem

Working on the topic

preparing a working
bibliography apter 3
reading and taking notes

....raftin_·_g_th'll"""e__p.....
"-r--D ro_po_sa1_...., QCbapter 4

Revising and editing the

proposal

Submission to supervisor
and committee members

~·
 l CHAPTER •rwo

Choosing a Topic and

Formulating a
Research Problem

Choosing an appropriate and workable topic is probably one of

the most difficult tasks for graduate students. Students usually
wander around looking for an appropriate topic. They think
about it around the clock, often with little or no success. To some
extent this is natural. However, choosing a topic is as much a
process as the whole research itself is. Therefore, you should go
through some steps to come up with an appropriate topic. The
following steps will help you to choose your topic more
systematically and with lesser ambiguity. This chapter aims at
introducing and explaining four steps to you.

Step 1: Identify your general area of interest

If you are waiting for a topic to hit your mind, you are not likely
Choosing a topic 9
- -- -- - - - -- - - - -

to be inspired soon. Instead of waiting and waiting, it is more

reasonable to go through some processes to choose your research
topic. The first step is to identify your general area of in tere~t. It
is the case that any piece of research deals with one aspect of
language issues. In other words, if you look at the publis hed or
reported research projects, you can categorize them into different
aspects of language and language teaching and learning areas .
Thus, any piece of research in applied linguistics is usually
directed towards a specific area of interest. This means tha t at
the very outset of research, you should decide on the area of
applied linguistics in which you are interested. We refer to this as
the general area of interest.
As members of the community of applied linguists, any
one of us is perhaps interested in one particular area more than
the other areas of language. This interest might come from
different sources such as our previous experiences and readings,
our future career, our personality, and so on or even a
combination of them. It is not important where we have taken
our interest. What is important is that we often have such an
interest. This area of interest leads us to have most of our
readings and knowledge in this area. The researcher should have
enough knowledge in the area in order to be able to ask good
questions to be answered through systematic research. One point
should be made clear, however. Having an area of interest does
not mean that we are not interested in ·other topics and areas. As
Chapter 2 10

members of this community we cannot detach ourselves from the

issues and topics in our field. Nevertheless, due to the fact that
human knowledge is becoming more and more specialized on the
one hand, and that our resources are limited on the other, we
cannot spend the same amount of time and energy on all topics
and areas. Therefore, identifying an area of specialization or an
area of interest, as is commonly called, would be considered as
an academic and professional endeavor by and of itself.
What are the areas of interest in our field? To answer this
question it should be mentioned that there is no fixed and
standard classification of these areas. Rather, by checking
literature, journals, and other resources in our field, it is possible
to identify and name these areas. Just to provide you with some
ideas, we can say that the four skills, reading, writing, listening,
and speaking, and language components, such as grammar and
vocabulary; testing, teaching, learning, instructional technology,
and learners' motivation constitute but a fraction of the many
interesting areas in applied linguistics. In any of these areas we
can identify some more detailed areas as well. Hence, one might
be, for example, interested in studying learning strategies in the
area of writing or reading. Or, one might be interested in
studying how different types of motivation would affect leaniers'
L2 achievement.
Therefore, the first step in choosing a research topic is to
identify in what general area you are going to condu.c t your
Choosing a topic 11
- - - ----------~
~ - - - - -- - - --~- -

research. Identifying the general area will narrow down your

search and direct your thinking towards the final goal. You no
more have to think about and search in all other areas. You
become more focused and up to the point. Depending on your
previous experiences, your line of studies or your future career,
you then decide in what area you will do your research. If you
have already entered a graduate program, do this step early. The
advantage of identifying your general area of interest is that you
can lead all your activities in the same direction. One of the
common mistakes that some graduate students make is that they
think they should postpone their choice of research topic to the
end of their program or when they are finished with their course
work. There are two problems with this. Firstly, if you wait until
you finish your course work, you will most probably run short of
time for your research project. Given the time limit set by most
universities for graduate students to finish their program, this
will put you under much pressure. Secondly, if you postpone
your choice of topic, you deprive yourself of shaping your course
work and assignments in the direction of your research and
thesis. In all graduate courses you have to do a number of
assignments such as writing annotated bibliographies, book
reports, article reviews, small-scale-replication reports, etc. If you
already lmow in what area you will be conducting your thesis,
you can certainly take advantage of all the course work and
assignment opportunities with an eye to your thesis. For
 Chapter 2 12

example, if in a graduate course you are asked to carry out a

small-scale-replication study, you can take this chance to do a
pilot study of your own actual and main study. Or if you are
required to prepare an annotated bibliography, you can do it on
the topic of your thesis in order to save time in literature review.
Take the first step and choose your area of interest as
early as possible in the course of your graduate studies if not
done already.

Step 2: Check and search for different sources

to pinpoint your topic
Now that you have located your general area of interest, i.e., you
know on what aspect of language teaching and learning you will
be doing your research, the next step would be to check different
sources to pinpoint your general topic. These sources may
include published research articles in journals, completed
master's theses and doctoral dissertations, conference papers,
and so on. In the course of carrying out their investigation,
researchers usually encounter new problems or topics, which
they have not been able to address in their piece of research.
Therefore, they often write them down and suggest them for
further research to be done by themselves or by other
investigators. In all these sources and almost towards the final
parts of a research report there is always a section, titled or
 Choosing a topic 13

untitled, called suggestions for further research that you can

consult to locate a research topic. One of the criteria for the
selection of a topic is that the findings should add to the body of
the knowledge of the field. So, avoid trivial topics, or topics that
have been worked on before. You will, in any case·, spend time
and work on your research. If so, then why not choosing and
working on a topic whose outcomes may result in personal and
disciplinary growth?
In identifying your general topic, m addition to source
materials, you might use other sources as well. Lester (1994)
identifies personal experiences, talking with other people, and
stretching one's imagination as other possible sources of choosing
one's topic of research. Lester states that research often starts
with talking to fellow investigators, instructors, friends, and/ or
even relatives. Thus, asking people in your school and
community for ideas might lead to topics for investigation. The
best introduction to the current state of affairs in a research area
is close association with your advisor who knows the territory
and is often busy formulating and attempting his/her own
questions. In short, conversing with peers, listening to
professional discussions, assisting in research projects, attending
lectures and conferences, exchanging papers, and corresponding
with faculty or students of other universities and institutions are
all ways of getting informed about the current state of the art in
the field.
Chapter 2 14
--------- - ---------·-

Seliger and Shohamy ( 1989) also believe that the general

topic and question might come from three sources namely,
experience and interests, other research, and sources outside
second language. These sources provide the rationale for
questioning the phenomena related to the field of applied
linguistics. What is new in Seliger and Shohamy's suggested
sources is the sources outside second language. Given the fact
that applied linguistics is an inter-disciplinary enterprise, you
can certainly use sources from other disciplines to inspire your
choice of topic and general research problem. One of these
disciplines is, for example, psychology. Many research articles
are published in journals of psychology that may also be related
to the issues of pedagogy. We can, therefore, consult these
sources as well and discover ideas and topics for research. For
example, many articles in psychological bulletins and journals
are dealing with learners' mental and cognitive processes. As
researchers in the field of applied linguistics, one might be
interested in exploiting what mental and cognitive processes
ESL/ EFL learners use in mastering their L2 writing ability?
By the same token, Ary et al. ( 1996) also consider
experience, deductions from theory, and related literature as the
possible sources of identifying one's general research problem. In
explaining deductions from theory as a probable source of finding
a general topic or problem, Ary ct al. state that theories involve
general principles whose applicability to specific educational
Choosing a topic 15
-------

problems is only speculations until they are empirically validated .

It is only through research, that one determines whether th e
generalizations embodied m theories can b e translated into
specific recommendations for the improvement of educational
practices. From a theory, therefore, one might be able to deduct
hypotheses to be researched. There are various theories on ,
cognition, learning, linguistics, etc. whose validity can be tested
empirically. Consequently , any of these theories can stimulate
you to raise questions or pose problems to be investigated in
educational contexts.

Step 3: Formulate your research problem

The process of research begins with a question and ends with
finding answer(s) to that question. Using the sources stated in
step two, you are now in a position to formulate your research
pro blem-the cornerstone of your research project. You might
consult only one of the sources and locate your topic, or it might
be the case, that almost always you benefit from your
consultations with many different sources and then make up
your mind on a specific topic. That is, not only you may use your
own personal experience and imagination, but also you may talk
with other people and check various sources.
Finally, you may identify your topic of research. Whether
you use one of the sources or you combine several of them to
choose your topic, you should be able to formulate your topic in
Chapter 2 16

the form of a research problem. Your research problem is the

foundation of your whole research process. Eveiything would be
built upon it. As such, it should be as precise as possible. When
formulating a research problem, you should take your time;
otherwise you will wonder why you asked it. The most important
factor in deciding on a research problem, according to Hatch and
Farhady (1981), is your own interest and curiosity. The choice of
your research problem must necessarily be very attractive to you
or else you will not have enough motivation to carry it through.
You will live with it and it will be with you for a long time.
Therefore, give it enough time and care. It should be something
you are really interested in, and at the same time, it should
originate from your own mind and curiosity. In such a case, not
only will you have an impetus to work out your research problem
and to find answer(s) to it, but also you will enjoy it.
Your research problem will also influence your choice of
research method. The nature of some research problems leads us
to use quantitative research methods; whereas some other
questions are researchable only through qualitative research
methods. This means that when choosing your topic and
formulating your research problem, you should also bear in mind
that you should use an appropriate research method in
investigating the problem. This is especially important if you
prefer one research method over the other. If, for example, you
are interested in finding out lww kids acquire their mother tongue
Choosing a topic 17

or what type of strategies ESL/ EFL learners use in their reading

comprehension, you may probably go for longitudinal and
qualitative methods of research to collect and analyze your data.
Qualitative research methods include descriptive and case
studies, ethnographies, interaction analysis, participant and non-
participant observation. On the other hand, if you intend to
discover whether there is any relationship between learners' IQ
and their language proficiency, then, perhaps, you may go for
quantitative methods for data collection and analysis.
Quantitative research methods also include experimental
designs, surveys, correlational studies, etc. Given the fact that
the nature of your research problem will determine the type of
research method to be used, it should be borne in mind that
one's preference for a specific research methodology is another
important factor in choosing one's research problem.
After the problem has been identified and you are satisfied
with it, it is time for formulating it in a way that lends itself well
to systematic investigation. You can state the problem in either
declarative or question form. Suppose that you are interested in
finding out how PC use would affect. L2 learners' writing progress.
You can formulate this problem in either of the following
forms:

1. This study intends to find out if there is any

relationship between L2 learners' use of personal
computers and their writing improvement.
Chapter 2 18
-------

2. What is the effect of using computers (word

processors) on L2 learners' writing development?

In either case the statement of the problem should point to

the variables of the study as well as the relationship between
them provided that the problem lends itself to quantitative
research methods. For example, in the above problem, use of
computers is considered as one variable (technically independent
variable) and learners' writing development as the other variable
(dependent variable). The researcher is interested in finding out
the relationship between these two variables. The above problem
can be investigated using an experimental design in order to look
for a cause and effect relationship between the two variables, or it
might be searched through correlational studies, seeking only
probable relationships between the two variables. Even it might
be possible to use qualitative methods, if we can locate a group of
L2 learners who have used computers in their writings. You may
intetview them to have their own ideas on the effect of computers
on their writing development. You may now refer to Appendix A
and have a look at the research problem of the example proposal.
The author of this proposal is interested in finding out whether
various listening tasks would have any impacts on the listeners'
listening skill.
To sum up, the three steps explained and discussed so far
include (1) identifying an area of interest, (2) searching, and
checking, different sources to discover a topic; and (3) stating
Choosing a topic 19
-- -- ---- ------- - --------

and formulating a general topic in the form of a research

problem. Remember that your research problem embodies the
purpose or objective of your study. You might, and most of the
times you have to, prepare research questions or hypotheses
based on your research problem. Research questions or
hypotheses are, in fact, more detailed, functional, and
operationalized versions of a general research problem. This
means that you have to use more precise and specific definitions
of the variables stated in research questions or hypotheses.
Student researchers usually confuse the terms problem, question,
purpose, and hypothesis and have difficulty to state them
appropriately in their proposals. Locke et al. (1987, pp. 39-40)
provide the following definitions that help you to differentiate
between them:
Problem: the experience we have when an un-
satisfactory situation is encountered. Once
carefully defined, it is that situation, with all
of the attendant questions it may raise, that
can become the target for a proposed study.
Your proposal, then, will not lay out a plan to
study the problem but will address one or
several of the questions that explicate what
you have found •problematic• about the
situation. Note that in this context neither
situation. nor problem is limited to a
pragmatic definition. The observation that
two theories contradict each other can be
expressed as a problem, and a research
question may be posed to address the
conflict.
Chapter 2 20
- - - -

Question: a statement of what you wish to know about

some unsatisfactory situation, as in the
following: What is the relation between ... ?
Which is the better way to ... ? What would
happen if ... ? What is the location of ... ?
When cast in a precise, answerable form, one
or several of these questions will become the
mainspring for your study-the formal
research question.

Purpose: the explicit intention of the investigation to

accumulate data in such a way as to answer
the research question posed as the focus for
the study. The word •objective" is a
reasonable synonym here. Although only
people can have intentions, it is common to
invest our research design with purpose (as
in "The purpose of this study is to determine
the mechanism through which ...•).

Hypothesis: an affirmation about the nature of some

situations in the world. A tentative
proposition set up as a convenient target for
an investigation, a statement to be confirmed
or denied in terms of the evidence.

After you clearly state the problem, you should do the

following.
Choosing a topic 21
-- -------

Step 4: Examine and evaluate the research

problem
After a problem has been identified and formulated, it is time to
examine and evaluate its significance. This is, of course, not an
easy task. It is a matter of personal judgement. Ary et al. (1996,
pp. 51-54), however, present five criteria that can be used in
evaluating the significance of a research problem. We will explain
them in the following section.

1. Ideally the problem should be one whose solution will make a

contribution to the body of organized lmowledge of the field .

It should be mentioned that in almost all graduate

programs, one major · criterion in accepting or rejecting theses
and dissertations is that they should add something to the
available body of knowledge of the field. What does it mean? If we
think of knowledge in any discipline as three concentric circles,
as shown in Figure 2 .1, then research is supposed to be carried
out in the third space.
Space 1 is the common knowledge of the field. That is, the
information and knowledge shared by both people within the field
(members of the academic community: students and experts) and
people outside the field. For example, people's general conception
Chapter 2 22

Fipre 2.1: Three apace• of lmowledae la any field

Space 3

Space 2

Space 1

about language is included in space 1 in the figure above. Much

the same is people's general lmowledge of medical issues which
will form space 1 in the field of medicine. However, space 2
includes lmowledge and infonnation which only members of the
field (students and experts) have but not the other people. This
lmowledge space might include theories, models, principles,
concepts, and so on. The members of academic community
acquire this lmowledge by reference .to the established lmowledge
of the field. As the literacy level of people increases, more and
more lmowledge of space 2 will be transferred into space 1. By
Choosing a topic 23
- - -

the same token, the lower the literacy level of the people of the
society, the narrower and smaller the space 1 would be.
Space 3 includes issues and problems that even members
of the field do not know. What they know is the existence of such
problems and questions. This space forms the frontiers of the
research in any field. The existing problems and issues open to
investigation are located in this space. Therefore, graduate
students as well as the researchers in scientific and academic
fields are supposed to pick up their research topics from this
space. Accordingly, the findings and results of the investigations
would be first fed into space 2, and possibly a later time, into
space 1. Thus, by stating that your research should add to the
body of our knowledge of the field, it is meant that your research
should solve one of the available problems in space 3 and inject
the findings as knowledge into space 2. Now, if you choose a
research problem, which belongs to spaces 1 or 2 , your research
would be redundant and uninformative.
Your research can add to the body of our knowledge of the
field in two ways. Firstly, as you can infer from figure 2 .1, there
is always a knowledge gap between space 3 and space 2.
Consequently, provided that your topic and research problem
come from space 3, the findings of your research will certainly
bridge part of the gap, however, small that part may be.
Secondly, as you review the literature on a specific topic, you
may come across conflicting findings with regard to the topic
Chapter- 2 24
. -- - - -• ·----..----- - - -- . - -- - -------·- - - -· -- -

under investigation. The competing and discrepant findings

might have different reasons. It might be because of different
research methods used in the studies, or it might be due to
different contexts, or different types of participants, or many
other reasons. You can choose this topic or research problem,
conduct a research on it and solve the problem. In fact, such
problems are located on the borderline between spaces 2 and 3.
By shedding some illuminating light on the competing findings,
you may solve the problem and move it to space 2.
So, your research study should be one which, when
investigated, its findings may add something to the available
body of lmowledge of the field, i.e., it may expand space 2 .

2. The problem should be one that will lead to new

problem~ and so to turther research.

In the process of carrying out research, researchers face

other questions and problems that cannot be answered within
the scope of the same study. You should, therefore, note down
the new problems and suggest them for further research. If you
remember, in the section on searching other sources for
appropriate topics, it was mentioned that any published research
report usually has a section entitled suggesti.ons for further
research. Such a section includes problems encountered by the
Choosing a topic 25

researcher during his or her investigation of a particular

problem. As other researchers provide you with topics for future
research, you are also obliged to do the same thing to prospective
researchers. This will further research in a particular field and as
the research furthers, the findings and the knowledge of the field
will widen accordingly.

3. The problem must be one that is researchable.

In searching for a topic and formulating a research

problem there is always a degree of risk. That is, students may
choose either novel or unresearchable topics. The problem with
novel topics is that the researcher may not find enough literature
both to contextualize the topic and to benefit from the previous
research methods and procedures. Therefore, as a rule of thumb,
it is not appropriate to start from the scratch. Hence, the topic
and the research problem should have a precedent so that you
can use the past lmowledge and information and try to move
ahead adding a bit to the available body of our lmowledge of the
field. However, you may say that many important contributions
to different fields of studies have come from novel and
unprecedented topics. The fact is that most of such studies are
carried out by exceptional people and in exceptional situations.
Chapter 2 26
-- --- --- - - ----- ---- - - ~ ---

Therefore, as a norm, graduate students should do their research

within the context of available lmowledge and theoretical
frameworks. This will help and guide them throughout the
research process.
Some other topics are just unresearchable in the sense
that they are not suitable for empirical investigation. It might be
the case that the topic does not lend itself well to the empirical
procedures of data collection and data analysis. Philosophical
questions are examples of this type. The other point related to the
researchability of the topic is the logistics of research. That is,
the topic under investigation might be a very good topic; however,
it may demand a lot of fmancial resources, or too many subjects,
or too complicated instruments or tools which are beyond what a
researcher can afford. It can, therefore, be implied that topics
chosen for investigation should be empirically researchable and
logistically feasible.

;·. :..:...~ ~ . lit~ i i~li:,ii;'.'~ ~·~

; >···· · · · ~ i.'·. · · • ,.. · . · ·: I !Ii ;: i:!~;t;~~I: '. ;'.' ·>·
111 1

In addition to the points discussed. above, the topics

should also be suited to the researchers. This means that some
topics are appropriate and researchable for some researchers,
but not for others. Among the factors affecting the suitability of a
research problem for a particular researcher we may name, (1)
Choosing a topic 27

the researcher's interest, (2) the researcher's knowledge and

experience, and (3) the allotted time and money.
As it was discussed and explained before, the research
problem should be in the area of your interest. You will spend
quite a lot of time on your research. Simply put, you will live with
your research. Therefore, you should be really interested in the
research problem and be eager to find answer(s) to the problem.
Othetwise, the whole research would not be suitable for you.
Another important factor in estimating the suitability of a
research problem for a researcher is that it should be in line with
the level of the researcher's knowledge and experience. The
researcher is expected to have the required lmowledge about the
topic in terms of basic concepts and theories as well as the
appropriate research methods. We might refer to these two
lmowledge sources as declarati.ve (the lmowledge of what) and
procedural (the lmowledge of how). The investigator needs to
lmow about the whats of the topic under study in order to be
able to conceptualize the problem and to establish the theoretical
framework in which the study is going to be carried out. While
having the necessary background lmowledge about the topic
under study is a must it is, however, not enough. It should be
accompanied by the researcher's ability to select and use
appropriate research methods to collect and analyu the required
data. This will indicate the degree of suitability of some research
topics for some researchers, but not for others.
Chapter 2 28
~---- - - --- - ~- - - - ·--- - --------- --------

5. The problem should be ethically appropriate.

One of the major issues in research is that it should be

ethical, i.e., protect the legal rights of the participants in the
study. It is often the case in empirical research that we perform
our investigation on a number of participants. In hard sciences,
like physics and chemistry, since the experiments are done on
substances and materials and not human beings, ethical issues
are irrelevant. However, in soft sciences, humanities and social
sciences, as most of the time human beings are involved as
participants, it is crucial to take any measures in order to
observe the participants' rights.
A very common step in this direction is to solicit
participants' consent to take part in the study. To this end, you
may send them a letter explaining the objectives of the study and
the role(s) they are supposed to play in it and then ask for their
written consent. They should be assured that the information
collected from them, through questionnaires or interviews or any
other instruments, would remain confidential. There is the hope
that with these measures the participants do not feel that they
are forced to take part in"the study. Rather, when they decide to
take part, they should do it voluntarily.
If your research problem attests these features, then it is
time to work on it. You need to prepare a working bibliography.
 3 · CBAPTER 'illREE

Working on the Topic and

Research problem

In the second chapter four steps were introduced to help a

graduate student find his/her topic and research problem. It was
mentioned that choosing an appropriate topic is often considered
to be a difficult task especially for student researchers.
Nevertheless, the research process does not end with finding and
formulating a good research problem. Once the topic has been
chosen and the research problem has been formulated, it is time
to move on and work on the topic. The two main tasks after
choosing a topic are (1) preparing a working bibliography, and (2)
reading and summarizing the related literature. The purpose of
this chapter is, thus, to describe and explain these two tasks.
Chapter 3 30
- ----- - - - - ------- -- - ~- -- ~--

Task 1: Preparing a working bibliography

The term working bibliography means a collection or a general list
of all the possible sources and materials you can find related to
your topic and research problem. For example, if the topic is
reading strategies then you might try to collect as many
references on this particular topic as possible. These references
might include a variety of materials such as published research
papers, books, papers presented at conferences, theses and
dissertations, research reports, etc. There is, of course, a
distinction between a working bibliography and a final reference
list, which will accompany your proposal or thesis. The final
reference list includes only and only those sources that are cited
in the body of the proposal or thesis. In other words, there
should be a one to one correspondence between the works cited
in the body of a report and the list of references accompanying it.
Thus, what you prepare as the working bibliography is, in effect,
a general list of the materials related to your topic under
investigation. But the ones you use and cite in your proposal or
thesis will appear in your final list of references. The working
bibliography would be a great help in the whole research process.
You may benefit from it in different phases of your research; the
least it seives is that it makes the references section of your
proposal, thesis, or papers. Therefore, the more complete your
bibliography, the more thorough your research would be. Follow
Working on the topic 31
-- - - -- - -- --- . ------ -

a specific writing style, APA for example, and arrange the sources
according to it so that you can make use of it in future and for
the purposes of referencing. In order to prepare the working
bibliography as thoroughly and systematically as possible, you
need to follow two steps.
In the first step, and probably the immediate one, you
should choose from the references of the materials at your elbow.
That is, as it was mentioned earlier it is usually the case that you
seek and then choose your topic from either research papers or
theses. This is because they do have a section entitled
suggestions for further research that can trigger new ideas. If this
is the case, then immediately check the reference list of the paper
or thesis you have consulted and copy those references that have
something to do with your selected topic. This procedure can be
repeated for any other sources and references you get access to.
Certainly you come across a good number of sources related to
your topic through this process. However, the problem is that
you may not be sure whether you have accessed all the available
materials. To overcome this problem, proceed to the second step.
In the second step, you need to perform a computer
search on the topic through the available databases. A
computerized literature search is a fast, efficient, and
comprehensive way of retrieving literature on almost any topic in
almost all field of study. Many subject indexes that might
normally be available in a well-bound book are searchable by the
Chapter 3 32

use of a computer. These indexes on computer are called

databases. Some of the related databases are introduced in
chapter six. Readers are encouraged to get acquainted with these
databases and get accustomed to using them.
There are two ways of searching databases: Online and
offline. Online search is used where there is access to computer
networks such as Internet. Such databases are usually stored in
some sites and users can search them online. All you need is an
account and a PC equipped with a modem. However, an easier
and a more feasible access to databases is oflline. This involves
the use of a Compact Disc, often called Compact Disc-Read Only
Memory (CD-ROM). Such a CD is identical in appearance to the
audio compact disc which plays music. The technology is also the
same, except that the information stored on a CD-ROM 1s
textual. One compact disc can hold the same amount of
information that can be stored on 1,500 floppy disc, or
approximately 275,000 pages of printed text. The disc can be
scanned for the required information by a laser beam contained
in the compact disc player in the computer. Numerous
databases, which cover areas within different fields such as
education, psychology, sociology, language and linguistics, can
be often found in libraries and/ or departments. Some examples
of such databases on compact discs are ERIC, PsycLIT, and
Dissertation Abstracts OnDisc.
Working on the topic 33
------ --

The offiine search procedure is to identify the keywords

(descriptors) and/ or a combination of them and click the
computer to do the search. A database works by combining
various subject headings together to create a customized
bibliography on a specific topic. A search that wo~ld normally
take hours of manual searching in a paper subject index can be
accomplished by a computer in a few minutes. If, for example,
you are going to use ERIC to perform a computer search on
reading strategi.es, you might identify the following as your
descriptors:

Reading
Strategies
Reading strategies
Learning strategies
Teaching strategies
Reading OR strategies
Reading AND strategies

There is another possibility, and even a more efficient one,

and that is consulting the ERIC's list of descriptors (see part IV of
chapter 6). These are multi-volume reference books that provide
the user with key terms and the plausible combinations of them
that computer can do the search on. Thus, before heading to
computer center for a search, it is reasonable, to check the
Chapter J
~ ~--~~ ---- - - - -- - - - - -
34

descriptors and select with a number of possible terms. There

are, of course, librarians and other experts who can help you
with your search. One useful hint is that if your chosen keyword
is very general, you are likely to get a great number of references,
hundreds, if not thousands. On the contrary, if your keyword is
very specific, the number of references you get from the computer
will be very small. In the first case, you need to narrow down
your topic by limiting it to some other keywords to get to a
reasonable number of and more related sources. In the second
case, however, you need to expand your topic a little by relating it
to other keywords.
The constnlction of a database is based on Boolean logi.c.
Three major functions of the Boolean logic are AND, OR, and
NOT. AND makes the things smaller or limits them. For example,
if your search for reading strategies it goes like this: you type
Reading AND Strategi.es, then computer will search through the
database, select, and report to you only those strategies which
are limited to reading. OR, on the other hand, makes the things
wider, or expands them. For example, if you decide to search for
Strategi.es OR Styles, then computer will search both strategies
and styles and will report back to you. Finally, NOT excludes the
unwanted terms. For example, if you want to find materials on all
types of strategies except speaking ones, then you should
formulate your search as Strategies NOT Speaki.ng. TI1e computer
Working on the topic 35
- - -- - - - - - - ----- - - - - - - - - ---- - - - - - -

would automatically get all the materials on strategies except

thos.e related to speaking strategies.
After you finish your search and get your printout, go
through it and select the ones you think are the most related to
your topic and put them on your working bibliography.
Fortunately, the references selected by the computer on a
particular topic will be supplied with an abstract giving you a
chance to check the content of the studies.

Task 2: Reading and summarizing the related

literature
Now that you have prepared a working bibliography including the
majority of the available sources related to your topic, your next
job is to read them one by one and make appropriate notes.
Di.fferent people might have different approaches toward reading
materials. However, it is recommend here that you read the
materials with an eye to the aims stated in Table 3.1 below.
Table 3.1
Objectives in readln1 materials

1• Ai!iffl~.ft .:....:£; ...::.....

:~~ "itormaq.-u~ an~ :conceptu~'6,:q~e
A. :ali;,i~M' •"i.. issues·
- ~- - .
' .
' . .... ... .
._' ·'. . ' ~

-.·2~. . ~=& comm1-:& miliar:w1ta.m e t b ~ asp -.'t s - · -

. ,'

:: ...
'). ·:; . :. •:: - .•.·..· .
,·.,•,•

. ·.·• ,:· '.· ·,· ,.. ·_· - . . ·.·, -

..:>·. :-.··· .·· :<.;.;, .
Chapter
-
3 - - --- ~------ -
36

As for the first objective, in order to carry out a research

project, you need to have a knowledge base related to the topic
under study. This knowledge base can best be obtained through
reading previously carried out research and published research
reports. Reading and thinking about issues will broaden your
perspective on the topic under study. It will also help you to
conceptualize the critical terms and issues presented and
discussed by other researchers. Without a moderate knowledge
base you will face difficulties at different stages of your research.
The more information and knowledge you can source about a
topic, the better and the more efficient you can deal with it in
different stages of your topic of investigation. Therefore, do not
hesitate to read as much as you can about your problem. You
should become an expert in the field that you do your research.
Part of the expertise you gain is by reading available materials.
Thus, the first and foremost objective in reading published
research reports and other materials should be to learn as much
as possible about the topic under study.
Although sometimes there might be some reasons why you
need to skim an article or a book, it can only help you to get a
gist of what is being said. This is a good strategy for deciding
whether a reading is an appropriate material or not. In general,
skimming is not a useful strategy for reading for graduate
students, but you may well be used to doing it in other contexts.
For the purposes of making sense out of what other people have
Working on the topic 37

to say, instead of skimming you should develop ways of

concentrating on large chunks of quite dense text and make
sense of them.
There seem to be two major difficulties that readers have
when they read academic books and materials. One is struggling
with the ways in which things are written. The other is the
amount of time that they take to read. Many readers express
surprise that they make repeated readings of the same materials.
It should be made clear here that you are likely to find yourself
having to read things more than once and this is in no way to be
seen as strange or unusual. Academics themselves find it often
necessary to re-read articles and books.
Your second objective in reading materials should be to
make yourself familiar with methodological aspects of the
studies. That is, since you will be doing more or less the same
study, you should know how to operationalize the research
problem, what instrument(s) to use, how to collect and analyze
data and so on and so forth. The best sources you can find out
about these issues are the previous studies. Even in rare
situations where your study might employ a completely different
design, the minimum advantage of attending to methodological
issues would be to gain some ideas about the design of your
study. Sometimes the design of the previous studies can be
applied to your own study; oftentimes some modifications might
-
Chapter 3
- ---- - - - - ----- --

be in order. In any ways, attending to the methodological aspects

of the studies you review will often give you useful insights.
Your third objective in reading materials should be to
make notes of what you read for the sake of literature review.
This is an essential aim in reviewing others' writings. Both in
your research proposal-though not as thoroughly as in the
actual thesis-and in your chapter of literature review in your
final thesis, you need to review other studies done in the same
field and around the same topic. Having this in mind and given
the fact that you cannot remember whatever you read, you
should carefully read and make notes of the materials you
review. You might use note-cards (usually 15x15 centimeter
cards) or notebooks to record the summaries as well as the
bibliographic information of the sources you review. In case, you
use note-cards, it is recommended that you use both sides of the
card. On the one side of the card, put the bibliographic
information such as author's name, date of publication, type of
reference, publisher, page numbers, etc. for direct quotes and
any other information you will need to reference your materials
later on. On the other side of the card, put your notes, summary,
paraphrase, and direct quotes. Certainly you will need more than
one card for each of the works you review. No problem, you can
paginate the cards and use some initials to help you to keep in
order the records of the materials you review. You might prefer to
use a notebook (or notebooks) instead of note-cards. In that case,
Working on the topic 39
- ---------- - -~---

you can put the bibliographic information at the top of the page,
leave some space, and then continue with your notes and
summary of the article or book. In any case, do not forget to write
the bibliographic information. This is crucial, because at a later
time you will be faced with piles of books, articles, notes, and
other materials. Unless you have already organized your
materials, it will be difficult for you to find the exact place of your
notes and to cite on appropriate reference for what you claim or
state.
The fourth objective of reviewing materials should be to
identify the major findings of each study to draw upon them later
on and especially in the discussions section of your thesis.
Although this might not seem of immediate use in preparing a
proposal, it is wise to do this as you read through the article or
book. One way of discussing your findings is to discuss them in
light of other people's findings. Therefore, you need to know what
other researchers have come across in their studies. As you
review published materials, it is worth identifying major findings
and including them in your summaries.
As you now lmow reviewing previously published materials
is a multi-fold process. If you are aware of these different folds
'
you can take care of it easily and in sequence. As you read
through materials, keep a record of the source, attend to the
methodological aspects of the study, and summarize its major
Chapter 3 --- -
40

findings. This will help you to benefit from previous studies in

their totality.
 4 Chapter Four
Drafting a Proposal

The two major parts of a proposal are (I) the statement of the problem, and (2)
the method by which the problem will be investigated. The other parts of the
proposal are, in effect, the complementary parts with the aim of contextualizing
the problem. In drafting a thesis proposal, you should attempt to organize your
ideas and present them in different sections of the proposal. Based on the nature
of the problem, you need to select appropriate sections for the proposal. To get
to the final draft of your proposal, you might need to edit and revise it several
times. In this chapter, you will learn how to draft a thesis proposal.

4.1. Drafting
Learning how to write in a second language in a context
like graduate programs is an active, extended, and dynamic
Chapter 4 42

process; something different from writing in classroom contexts,

in which, for example, student writers spend a lot of time with an
ESL teacher to write an essay (Riazi, 1997). Berthoff (1981) has
described the composition process as an act of making meaning--
a phrase that precisely indicates writing's dual purpose. On the
one hand, words are the symbols through which we externalize
and shape the process of thought. We think through writing,
making meaning for ourselves. That is, making sense of the
subjects and discovering its significance to us. On the other
hand, while writing permits us to explore meaning for ourselves,
it also allows us to communicate-to make meaning for an
audience. We write to discover what we think, but we also write
to tell others what we think.
The dual purpose of writing is prominently evident in the
composition of the first draft. At this. point, the writer is still in
search of meaning. Although one necessarily begins a draft with
at least a premise and probably a formal outline in mind, in the
process of writing he must feel free to test, examine, and expand;
and to pursue a natural course of exploration and investigation.
At the draft stage, however, the writer will also begin the
task of conveying ideas to an audience, and will move away from
a personal and private record of exploration towards a form of
writing that makes meaning for an audience. Written language,
shaped into phrases, sentences, paragraphs, essays, proposals,
Drafting a proposal
- - - --- ------ - - - - -- - ---- -- -~ -- - -- - ---
43

conveys meaning through its organization. Any piece of written

language has its own organization. The conventions of written
language help thought to emerge from language. Preparing the
thesis proposal, should then be considered as communicating to
others what you want to do.
Simplicity, clarity, and parsimony are the characteristics
of good writing that reflect adequate thinking about the research
problem. Complicated matters are best communicated when they
are the objects of simple and well-edited prose. In the early
stages of development, the only way to obtain prompt and helpful
assistance is to provide advisors with a document that is easily
and correctly understood. At the final stage, however, approval of
proposal will hinge not only on how carefully the plan has been
designed, but also on how well that design has been
communicated. Often an oveiwhelming mass of details goes into
the planning of a research proposal, however, the writer must not
forget the proposal's most immediate function, which is to inform
readers quickly and accurately.

4.1.1. Composing the draft

Before you can grasp the components of a first draft, you must
understand how the finished proposal works to make meaning
for the target readers. The main characteristic, as it certainly is
with the thesis itself, is unity. To convince your readers (memberk
Chapter 4 44
--------------- ----- -- - - - - - - -

of your committee) that you understand the problem and you are
prepared to investigate it, you must produce a unified proposal.
An analogy may help you to see how important the concept of
unity is. Imagine, for a moment, that you want to establish your
understanding of the mechanism of a watch. You may begin by
disassembling the watch into its component parts. When the
watch is on your desk in fifty separate pieces, you may see how it
operates. But, to convince anyone else that you understand the
mechanism, you must put the pieces back together, re-fashioning
it into a unified, ticking whole. So is with a proposal.
Creating unity involves not only combining parts to form a
coherent whole, but also showing clearly and distinctly the
relation between parts. In the final draft, then, the relation of the
components of the proposal to each other and to the topic under
study should be self-evident and unambiguous: unity should be
achieved in one way or another at any cost. However, the student
who attempts to produce a unified, coherent proposal in a single
move often falls victim to that often-dreaded disease of
composition, i.e., the writer's block. The reason for this lies in the
fact that achieving unity is not an isolated task, but an ongoing
part of the writing process. As we revise and edit our drafts, we in
fact work again to establish the relation between parts and
whole. Moreover, unity must be achieved on several planes: at
the macro level of different sections of the proposal, but also at'
Drartin1 a proposal 45

th e more micro level of sentences and paragraphs. Because one

begins writing with words and sentences, thinking about them
too 1nuch during drafting can keep a writer stuck forever on the
first paragraph. Better to give some thought to sections: that way,
you can hold the proposal in your mind and have an approach
that propels you forward, rather than leaving you beached on
page one.
A final gentle reminder before you begin is, just relax! and
give some thoughts to what should come next, but do not aim
now for a completely unified product, even at the global level.
Rem em her, as well, that although making meaning for readers is
important, you should be discovering meaning for yourself at this
point as well. Don't concentrate on unity so rigidly that you forget
to think deeply about your topic and research problem.

4.1.2.-The format of a research proposal

As it was mentioned before, proposals for research studies may
take different formats depending on the nature of the problem as
well as the design of the study. Some universities give very
specific instructions for the fonnat of proposals. Others provide
general guidelines for form and content. Whatever the partioular
situation, it is vital to remember that there is no universally
acceptable and/or correct format for a research propo~. Each
research plan requires that certain communication tasks be
Chapter 4
--- - -- --- - --- - - - ---- ------ - - - -
46
-~ - -

accomplished. Some of these tasks are common to all proposals

and others are unique to the specific f onn of inquiry. Taken
together, however, the tasks common in all proposals demand
that what · is written fit the actual topic at hand, not some
preconceived ideal. In a word, it is flexibility, not rigidity, that
makes acceptable proposal documents strong.
Table 4.1 specifies communication tasks that are present
m nearly all proposals for empirical research in applied
linguistics. You might, however, adjust these tasks when
necessary. Check against the suggested format with the example
proposal presented in the appendix.

Table 4.1
M~or section• ot task• ln a proposal

introduction
literature review
conceptual or theoretical framework
objectives and significance of the study
.. method
.. outline and organization of the study
.. references
appendices
Drafting a proposal 47
-- --- - --- -- - -- ---- - --------

In what follows the function and the content of each of

these sections are briefly described.

4.1.2.1. Introduction
The introduction section serves as an orientation for readers of
the proposal, giving them the perspective they need to
understand the detailed information given in later sections.
Proposals, like other forms of written communication, are best
introduced by a short, meticulously devised statement that
establishes the overall area of concern, arouses interest, and
communicates information essential t:o the reader's
comprehension of what follows.
In the introduction, you establish a context, or frame of
reference, to help your readers to understand how your study fits
into a wider field of inquiry. This first se'ction might also be called
the setting. You should prepare this setting so that it provides
your readers with the background necessaiy to locate the
particular purpose of your research within a general area of
study.
After you have presented a contextual setting, you may
use the final part of the introduction to focus the attention of the
reader on the specific research problem you will be dealing with
in the body of your proposal. You can think of this stage as a
process of establishing a universe for your readers isolating one
Chapter 4 48
-- - ~ -----

galaxy within this universe and finally, leading your readers to

one star in that galaxy. That star is your specific topic or
research problem. The statement of the problem need not include
all the subtopics. Nor need it be written in the language of formal
research questions or hypotheses. It should, in effect, offer a
specific and accurate synopsis of the primary target of the study.
An early and specific comm unication of this kind satisfies the
reader's most pressing need. It also allows the reader to attend to
your subsequent exposition and topic development.

4.1.2.2. Literature review

In the previous sections, you established a setting for your
research as well as a theoretical and/ or conceptual framework.
In this section, you review the findings of other studies done in
your area of interest. For this reason, this section is often called
the review of literature. It is essentially an organized collection of
references to, or citations of, other works that are listed in a
separate section at the end of your proposal and under the title of
references.
Your complete literature review would appear in your
thesis or dissertation, because you would review more works as·
you do your study. However, at the time of writing your proposal,
you need to prepare only a brief literature review.
The review of literature setves three important functions.
Drafting a proposal 49

First, it continues the process started in the Introduction Section

giving your readers some background information required to
understand your study. Second, it assures your readers that you
are familiar with the important research that has, been carried
out in your area of interest. Third, it establishes your study as
one ring in a chain of research that is developing and adding
knowledge to your academic field.

4.1.2.3.1. Ways of citing other researchers' works

When reviewing other researchers' studies, you may choose to
focus either on the information provided by the author or on the
person him- or herself. The first focus is called information
prominent because the information is given primary importance
(Weissberg & Buker, 1990). The author's name and date of
publication should be parenthetically attached to the end of the
sentence, and the most complete source information would be
provided in an alphabetical list of references at the end of the
proposal. The following is an example of information prominent
citation taken from Mendonca & Johnson (1994, pp. 747-748):

Moreover, because teachers maintain control over students' grades,

teachers' intentions an~ expedations for their students' written texts
can easily influence the negotiations that occur during peer reviews
(DiPardo & Freedman, 1988).
Chapter 4 50

When the focus of the citation is on the information (as in

the above example), you should write the citation in the present
tense. The present tense is used when the information you are
citing is generally accepted as a scientific or an academic fact.
The present perfect tense is used in general statements that
describe the level of research activity in an area of interest. These
statements are often written without citations. The following is an
example:

Little research has been done on topic development in ESL

students' composition.

The second focus is called author prominent in which the

author's name is given more emphasis (Weissberg & Buker 1990,
p. 44). The author's name serves as the subject of the sentence.
Citations of this kind are used when you proceed with your
literature review and the citations refer to studies more closely
related to your own. The following is an example of an author
prominent type of citation taken from Mendonca & Johnson
(1994, p. 747):

Stanley (1992) found that coaching L2 writers on ways to be effective

peer evaluators enabled them to be more engaged in the peer review
task, communicate more effectively about their peers' writing, and make
clearer suggestions for revisions.
Draftin& a proposal 51.

When you use author prominent citations to report the

findings of individual studies closely related to your own (as in
the above example) the simple past tense is used in the report.
However, your attitude towards the findings of the researchers
also affects the complement verb f onns. You may feel that

the findings of a particular study are generally accepted

as fact. In this case, use the present tense in the
complement verb (that is, the verb in the part of the
sentence giving the findings. For example: Stanley
(1990) showed that students' proficiency is affected by
their reading).

the findings of a particular study are limited to that

study, but are not to be accepted as true in all cases.
In this case, use the past tense in the complement
verb. For example: Stanley (1990) reported that
minority students had lower academic perlormance.

the author(s) of the study you are citing may

themselves feel tentative about their findings; or they
may not be reporting findings at all but only making
suggestions or proposals. Here, use tentative verbs for
the verb of report, and a modal auxiliary with the
Chapter 4 52
---~--

complement verb. For example: Stanley (1990)

proposed (suggested) that low proficiency in English
may be common among minority students.

There are varieties of citing other authors' works. The

following is an example of one work by one author cited in four
different ways (the examples are taken from APA Publication
Manual (1994):

Rogers (1994) compared reaction times

In a recent study of reaction times (Rogers, 1994)
In 1994 Rogers compared
In a recent study of reaction times, Rogers (1994) described
the method . . .. . Rogers also found

When a work has two authors, always cite both names

every time you make a reference to it in the text. When a work
has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the
reference occurs; in subsequent citations, however, include only
the surname of the first author followed by the phrase et aL The
phrase should not underlined and it should have a period after
•a1•, and the year if it is the first citation of the reference within a
paragraph. e.g.,
 Drafting a proposal 53
a

Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, Gerstman, and Rock (1994) found

[first citation in text]
Wasserstein et al. (1994) found [following the first citation in
paragraphs thereafter]
Wasserstein et al. found [omit year from subsequent citations after
the first citation within a paragraph]

If a reference list includes publications by two or more

authors with the same last name or surname, include the first
author's initials in all text citations, even if the year of
publication differs. Initials help the reader to avoid confusion
within the text and to locate the entry in the list of references:

R. D. Luce (1959) and P. A . Luce (1986) also found

J. M. Goldberg and Neff (1961) and M. E. Goldberg and Wurtz
(1972) studied

Identify works by the same author (or by the same two or

more authors in the same order) with the same publication date
by the suffixes a, b, c, and so forth after the year; repeat the year
every time.

Several studies (Johnson, 1991 a, 1991 b, 1991 c; Singh, 1983, in

press-a, in press-b)
 Chapter 4
- ------- - -- ---- -- - - --~- --- --~-

List two or more works by different authors who are cited

within the same parentheses in alphabetical order by the first
author's surname. Separate the citations by semicolons.

Several studies (Balda, 1980; Kamil, 1988; Pepperberg & Funk, 1990)

To cite a specific part of a source, indicate the page,

chapter, figure, table, or equation at the appropriate point in text.
Note that the words page and chapter are abbreviated in such
text citations:

(Cheek & Buss, 1981, p. 323)

(Shimamura, 1989, chap. 3)

To cite a work discussed in a secondary source (e.g. , for a

study by Seidenberg and McClelland cited in Coltheart et al.),
give the secondary source in the refe·r ence list. However, in the
text, name the original work you did not read, and give a citation
for the secondary source you read:

Seidenberg and McClelland's study (1989 cited in Coltheart,

Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993)
Drafting a proposal 55
--- -- - - - --- -- --- ·- -

4.1.2.3.2. Order of citation

There are a variety of ways to order the literature you review. It is
possible to arrange the citations from those most distantly
related to your study to those most closely related. In either case,
you can begin with a more general area and narrow down to
specific studies exactly related to your topic and research
problem. We might also call this type of literature review general
to specific. In a literature review, describing the history of
research in an area, you may arrange your citations m
chronologi.cal order. Another possible arrangement would be to
categorize the studies according to the different approaches to the
research problem taken by different researchers. The citations
within each category can then be ordered chronologically or from
general to specific. The following figure taken from Weissberg &
Buker (1990, p. 46) illustrates three different types of ordering
citations:

Citations grouped
Citations
by approach
ordered Citations ordered
from Chronologically One approach
distant
+

Another approach
_ _ (latest)
+

Still another
approach
 Chapter 4 56
- --

At the end of the literature review section, you sum up the

review by pointing out a gap, that is, an important research
question not yet investigated by other researchers. This is usually
accomplished in few sentences. The following are three
alternatives you can choose from in ending your literature review
section:
1. You may indicate that the previous literature described
is inadequate because an important aspect of the
research question has been ignored by other
researchers.

2. Or, there 1s an unresolved conflict among the

researchers of previous studies concerrung the
research problem. This may be a theoretical or
methodological disagreement.

3 . Or, an examination of the previous literature suggests

an extension of the topic, or raises a new research
question not previously considered by other
investigators in the field.

In indicating sort of gap left by earlier studies, you prepare

your reader for your own study. This will be fulfilled in the
objectives and significance section of your proposal.
Drafting a proposal 57

4 . 1.2.3. Theoretical or conceptual framework

Often times it happens to you to carry out your r esearch within a
specific theoretical or conceptual framework. If so, then , you
need to explain it to your readers. This will help both yourself
and your readers to conceptualize the issues related to your
study. Miles and Huberman (1994, p . 18 cited in Riazi, 1999, p .
46) state that a conceptual framework "explains, either
graphically or in narrative form, the main things to be studied-
the key factors, concepts, or variables-and the presumed
relationships among them." For example, if your study is r ela ted
to schema theory, then you better explain the principles of this
theory and how your study would fit these principles in the
specific context of your study. Or, if your study d eals with
language learning strategies and you are using one specific
typology of these s trategies (for example, the one offered by
Oxford , 1989 or O Mally & Chamot, 1990), then, it is much the
better to present any of these typologies as the frame of your
reference.
This is important, because concepts, labels, components,
relations, and even definitions might be different from theory to
theory and from model to model. Depending on the topic under
study, the theoretical and/or conceptual framework might vary in
scope as well. Sometimes a typology (language learning
strategies, for example) may form your conceptual framework,
Chapter 4
a

some other times your framework might be a linguistic,

psychological, or social school of thought. For example, you
might consider behaviorism, structuralism, .functionalism, or social
interactionism as your theoretical framework. When you choose
and explain your theoretical framework, you in fact inform your
readers of your perspective towards issues related to your study.
Also, as Riazi (1999, p. 282) states, theoretical framework •is a
framework which its function is to inform the rest of your
design-to help you assess your purposes, develop and select
realistic and relevant research questions and methods, and
identify potential validity threats to your conclusions.•

4.1.2.4. Proviclin1 a rationale for the study

(Purpose and alplftcance of the study)
Once the reader understands the topic of investigation, the next
logical point that pops up in mind is why bother about that
question? In explaining why the study is a worthwhile endeavor,
you can point to the potential utility of results in either or both of
two domains: what might be contributed to the evolving body of
knowledge, or what application might be made in a practical
setting.
Purpose and significance of the study might constitute one
section, or they might come in two independent sections of a
research proposal depending upon their length. If you have a lot
Draftin& a proposal

to write about the purpose(s) and the significanc~ of your study,

then, it would be better to separate them. In any case, this
section of the proposal setves to present an important research
problem not investigated by other researchers. Usually the
purpose section constitutes one paragraph followed by specific
research questions or hypotheses. It setves to state as concisely
as possible the specific objective(s) of your study. This section-
also referred to as the statement of pu,pose--follows directly the
introduction section.
In the significance section, you should justify your study
on the basis of some possible values or benefits your study may
have to other researchers in the field or to practitioners or both.
We can call this section the statement of value as well. The
statement of value is usually written in a way that suggests an
attitude of tentativeness or modesty on the part of the researcher.
You should not sound too sure of the benefits, either theoretical
or practical, of your study. It is conventional to sound more
cautious. This is accomplished by using modal auxiliaries,
principally may. The example in the next page is a very brief
example of how to state the pwpose(s) and significance of a
study. As can be seen, in this example both the objectives and
significance of the study arc presented together and in one
section. However, in some cases you might prefer to devote two
different sections to the objectives and significance of the study.
C'hnpter 4 60
- ------ - --- -

Research proposals must arrive at a formal statement of

qu stions or hypotheses. These may be set aside as a separate
section or sim.ply included in the last part of the purpose section.

2.C. The Purpose and Significance of the Study

This study intends to detennine if students' scores on two standardized

tests of English language proficiency could serve to predict whether
they would make greater or lesser progress in English during a one-
year intensive program. In particular. the study aims at testing the
following null hypothesis:
H0 : There is no statistically significant difference between students' level
of English proficiency and their progress in English during a one-year
intensive program.
It is hoped that a systematic analysis of relative rates of progress
among beginning, intennediate, and advanced students will indicate if
the program is benefiting some types of students more than others.
Significant differences in progress, if found , would indicate the need for
a thorough re-examination of program organization and instruction.

In exploratory studies, research questions are most

appropriate. However, you should indicate by the specific
questions that the research problem would be subjected to
thorough analysis.
Drafting a proposal 61
- -

However, when the state of existing knowledge and theory

permits formulation of reasonable predictions about the
relationship between variables, research hypotheses are
employed. Hypotheses ordinarily have their origin in the
theoretical perspective already established in the review of
literature. Because the proposal must ensure that the reader
grasps how the relationships expressed in theory have been
translated into testable hypotheses, it is often useful to provide a
succinct restatement of the theoretical framework at a point
adjacent to the presentation of formal research hypotheses.
Hypotheses have to meet a number of standards: they should (1)
be empirically testable, that is, they can be statistically confirmed
or rejected, (2) be clear, specific, and precise, (3) contain
statements that are not contradictory, and (4) describe variables
or establish one issue only (Riazi, 1999).
They are of two stages. A directional hypothesis can be
formulated when there is a sound theoretical reason, usually
based on previous research, to hypothesize that the relationship,
if there is any, will be m one direction or the other. This
hypothesis has come to be known as a one-tailed hypothesis
because it predicts a relationship with reference to one tail (end)
of the probability curve. A nondirectional hypothesis leaves open
the possibility of the relationship being in either tails (ends).
Such a hypothesis is also called a two-tailed hypothesis.
Chapter 4 62

4.1.2.S. Method
All proposals for empirical research must embody a plan for the
careful and systematic obseivation of the topic under
investigation. In the method section of the proposal, you show
how the study will be set up so that the research questions will
be answered or the hypotheses will be tested. In this section of
the proposal, you should include all the steps and procedures
that will be taken to investigate the question under
consideration. The presentation of method requires great
attention to detail. The discussion of method must, in fact,
include the sources, the collection, and the analysis of data.
Usually this section includes statements about (1) the subjects
(Ss)-those who will participate in the study, when and where, (2)
the materials and/ or instruments-the types of materials or tests
to be used, and (3) the data collection and analysis procedure-
what the Ss will be asked to do and how the analyses will be
performed.
As for the participants in your study, you need to describe
the characteristics of the people who will take part in your study:
Who they are, how many of them, their age range, their gender,
their proficiency level, and any other important information, all
clearly stated. Usually the selection procedure will also be
described here. First, you should describe the population of
interest: Is the study concerned with university students, EFL
Draftine a proposal 63

teachers, users of a particular accent, or what? Then, depending

on your research problem, you might decide to select your
participants from the identified population using a probability or
a non-probability procedure. In quantitative research, you will
need to use probability sampling (simple random sampling, for
example) and describe how you will choose your participants. If
your research problem lends itself to qualitative designs, then
you might need to choose your participants using a non-
probability sampling procedure (purposive sampling, for
example). A careful description of the participants and the
selection procedure will help the readers of the proposal to
determine the internal consistency or internal coherence of the
study.
Tests, questionnaires, and other types of elicitation
techniques are the type of materials and instrument(s) you
usually use in your study. In research, you sometimes deal with
the relationship between constructs. However, since constructs
are usually impossible to obsetve or measure directly, you must
operationalize the constructs in the form of some measurable
variables represented in the instruments. If you use an available
instrument (for example, an available test or questionnaire), you
should report the evidence of the reliability and validity of the
instrument. Otherwise, and in case that you yourself intend to
develop the required instrument, then, you must outline the
Chapter 4 64

procedures of developing the instrument as well as presenting

how you will validate the instrument and how you will get
appropriate indexes of reliability and validity.
The next major part of the method section of the proposal
is data collection and analysis section. As the title indicates, the
data collection and analysis procedures might be presented
together or, as you might find appropriate in some cas es, each
might constitute an independent section to itself. In any case,
you need to clearly state what type of data and how much of it
will be collected through what procedures for the purpose of your
study. It is assumed here that you have already identified the
type of study you will be doing. Thus, you can specify the data
sources and the ways you would obtain the required data from
these sources. Quantitative data, qualitative data, or a
combination of both may form your data. Make sure that you
have described the sources as well as the collection procedures in
detail.
After you describe your data collection procedures, then it
is time to inform your readers as to how you would analyze the
collected data. If your study is a quantitative one, then your
design determines what statistical techniques should be used.
Sometimes you use only one statistical technique, while there are
occasions that you might need a variety of statistical analyses
due to the nature of your research problem as well as the data
Drafting a proposal 65

that you have. You should single out, from among different
research designs, the one that best fits your study. For example,
if you are to compare two teaching methods, you are in fact
dealing with an experimental design, and a t-test might suffice
for the analysis of your data In case, you intend to include other
variables besides the teaching method in your study and come
up with a comparison of all factors, then, you may need to set up
a factorial design.
It goes without saying that qualitative data require their
own ways of analysis. They might need, for example, codification
of the data (as such, you need to introduce your coding scheme),
extraction of specific codes, and presentation of some patterns.

4.1.2.6. Outline and organization of the study

In this section of your proposal, you inform your readers as how
your study will be organized in the form of a thesis or
dissertation. Therefore, what you are required to do in this
section is to introduce, though tentatively, the chapters that
would form your thesis. The most common organization currently
being practiced and used by graduate students is the five-chapter
format including: chapters of (1) introduction, (2) literature
review, (3) method and design, (4) findings and results, and (5)
summary and discussions. Certainly there would be cases that
you might need to change this format and adjust the chapters of
Chapttr 4 66

)rour thesis according to the structure of your study. You can do

it in consultation with your supervisor. In the proposal, however,
) ou need only to briefly introduce the probable chapters of your
study. For each chapter, present a short description of the
content you think would appear in that chapter. This not only
helps your readers to see what format your final report will take,
but also helps you as a researcher to organize your ideas about
your study.

4 . 1. 2. 7. References
This is another important section of the research proposals. In
the list of references that appears at the end of your proposal,
you mention the source(s) for readers to enable them to locate
more bibliographical information about the works that you have
cited in your proposal. It comes in alphabetical ord,e r and follows
an accepted format, usually APA. Therefore, there should be a
consistency in reporting the sources used. One important factor,
however, with regard to the list of references is that there should
be a one-to-one correspondence between the works you have
referred to in your proposal and the ones you name in your
reference list. In other words, whatever source(s) you refer to in
the body of your proposal should be reported completely in your
refere.nee list, and whatever appears in your reference list should
have been referred to in your proposal. Make sure that citations
Drafting a proposal 67
---~-- ------------ - -- --

111 the text and entries in the reference list are identical in
spelling and the date of publication. What follows are some
examples of preparing reference lists according to the APA style.
For more examples see APA Publication Manual (1994).

A. References to periodicals
1. Journal article, one author
Brown, J.D. (1989). Improving ESL placement tests using two
perspectives. TESOL Quarterly, 22, 65-84.

2. Journal article, two authors

Alderson, J.C., & Wall, 0 . (1993). Does washback exist? Applied
Linguistics, 14, 115-129.

3. Citation of a work discussed in a secondary source (e.g., for a study by

Seidenberg and McClelland cited in Coltheart et al.)
Coltheart, M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller. M. (1993). Models of
reading aloud: Dual-route and parallel-distributed-processing
approaches. Psychological Review, 100, 589-608.

• In text, name the original work, and sive a citation for the
secondary source. For example, if you did not read the work cited,
list the Coltheart et al. reference in the References. In the~ use
the following citation:
Seidenberg and McClelland's study (as cited in Coltheart, et al., 1993)
Chapter 4 68
- --
-

B. References to entire books

1. Book, one author, second edition
Anderson, J.R. (1985). Cognitive psychology and its implications (2nd
ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman.

2. Edited book, two authors

Green, J., & Harker, J. (Eds.). (1988). Multiple perspective analyses of
classroom discourse. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

3. Article or a chapter in an edited book, two editors

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of
comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its.
development. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in second
language acquisition (pp. 235-253). Rowley, MA: Newbury
House.
4. Book, no author or editor
Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (1 oth ed.). (1993). Springfield,
MA: Merriam-Webster.

5. Entry in an encyclopedia
Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia Britannica
(Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encydopedia Britannica.

C. References to technical and research reports

1. Reports available from the Educational Resources Information Center
(ERIC)
Drafting a proposal 69
-- - - --- --- - - - --

Mead, J. V. ' (1992). Looking at old photographs: Investigating the

teacher tales that novice teachers bring with them (Report No.
NCRTL-RR-92-4). East Lansing, Ml : National Center for
Research on Teacher Leaming. (ERIC Document Reproduction
in Service No. ED 346 082)

2. Reports from a university

Broadhurst, R. G., & Maller, R. A. (1991). Sex offending and recidivism
(Tech. Rep. No. 3). Nedlands, Western Australia: University of
Western Australia, Crime Research Centre.

D. References to proceedings of meetings and symposia

l . Published proceedings, published contributions to a symposium, articles
or chapters in an edited book
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991 ). A motivational approach to self:
Integration jn personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska
Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 38. Perspectives on Motivation
(pp. 237-288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

2. Regularly-published Proceedings
Cynx, J., Williams, H., & Nottebohm, F. (1992). Hemispheric differences
in avian song discrimination. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, USA, 89, 1372-1375.

3. Unpublished papers presented at meetings

Lanktree, C., & Briere, J. (1991, January). Early data on the Trauma
Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at
Chapter 4 70
- -- ~- - - - - --- - - -

the meeting of the American Professional Society on the Abuse

of Children, San Diego, CA.

E. References to doctoral dissertations and master's theses

1. Unpublished doctoral dissertations
Wilfey, D. E. (1989). Interpersonal analyses of bulimia: Normal-weight
and obese. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of
Missouri, Columbia.

2. Unpublished master's theses

Almedia, D. M. (1990). Fathers' patticipation in family work:
Consequences for fathers' stress and father-child relations.
Unpublished masters thesis, University of Vidoria, Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada.

3. Doctoral dissertations abstracted in Dissertation Abstracts International

(DAI) and obtained on university microfilms
Bower, D. L. (1993). Employee assistant programs supervisory
referrals: Characteristics of referring and nonreferring
supervisors. Dissertation Abstrads International, 54 (01), 5348.
(University Microfilm No. AAD93-15947)

4. Doctoral dissertations abstracted in Dissertation Abstracts International

(DAI) and obtained from the university
Ross, D. F. (1990). Unconscious transference and mistaken identity:
VVhen a witness misidentifies a familiar but innocent person
Draftinf a proposal 71

from a lineup (Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, 1990).

Dissertation Abstracts lntematlonal, 49, 25055.

5. Manuscripts in progress or submitted for publication but not yet

accepted
McIntosh, D. N. (1993). Religion as schema, with implications for the
relation between religion and coping. Manuscript submitted for
publication.

F. References to reviews of a book

Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self...knowledge myth [Review of
the book The seff-knower: A hero under contra~. Contemporary
Psychology, 38, 466-467.

4.1.2.8. Appendlce•
According to the APA Publication Manual (1994), an appendix
allows the author to provide the reader with detailed infonnation
that would be distracting to read in the main body of the article.
Therefore, the materials that cannot naturally be included in the
body of the proposal will appear in the appendi.ces section of the
proposal. This includes the instruments (tests and their
validations, a sample of a questionnaire or other swvey
instrument used in the research, lists of words, a computer
program, etc.) as well as any other type of materials that is an
integral part of your study. An appendix is necessary only if it
helps readers to evaluate the study.
Chapter 4 72
- -- - - -------- ~ - --- --

Your proposal or thesis may include more than one

appendix. If your work (proposal or thesis) has only one
appendix, label it Appendix, if it has more than one appendix,
label each one with a capital letter (Appendix A, Appendix 8, etc.)
in the order in which it is mentioned in the main text. Each
appendix must have a title. In the text, refer to appendices by
their labels as in the following example:

Produced the same results for both studies (see Appendixes A and
B for complete proofs).
 5 CHAPTER FIVE

Revising and Editing the

Proposal
l}.::;~:~..-: ....."!
....
:

,;
. ,

When you are finished with drafting your proposal, next step is to
go through the draft carefully with the purpose of editing and
revising. These two tasks should be done separately. That is, try
to get satisfied with the overall structure of your proposal and the
different sections first. Then, read your proposal to edit any
possible misspellings, any ungrammatical sentences, or any
other mistakes you may find in your proposal. In this chapter,
you are introduced to the procedures of editing and revising your
proposal as well as the APA Editorial Style.
Chapter 5 74
-----

5.1. Revising your proposal

It is now generally accepted that no complete piece of writing can
be done in one go. So, write the first draft quickly if you can,
leaving yourself some time to revise it carefully. Remember that
you should not feel that you are a failure if you need to rework
your first draft. The best writers revise their work constantly,
although students often find this difficult to believe. Writers
rethink and rewrite the first draft. This rethinking may lead to
reorganizing what has been written in the first draft; for example,
sometimes ideas are added or omitted so that a clearer and more
coherent piece is drafted. Part of the revision will be done by
yourself and part of it by your committee members. The more you
work on your proposal, the less it would be changed by your
committee members. Making revisions should make you feel
powerful and in control of your writing. While a first draft is an
attempt to make meaning that is guided only by an outline, the
revised draft(s) is/ are built on your own writing; each revision of
the writing should bring you closer. to your intentions.
To revise a proposal means •to look agam• at the proposal
you have constructed, not just to tinker with what you have on
paper. But what are you looking for? You are looking for
discrepancies, discrepancies between what you intended to write
and what you actually wrote, between what your audience
expects and what you actually deliver. It is wise to look for these
R~vising and ~ditin& 75

discrepancies by examining the whole proposal be-fore you attend

to its sections. Revising at a global level first will prevent you
from merely changing particularly glaring errors and help you to
•re-sec• your work. Next, your proposal's sections should be
scrutinized. Do these s ections fit together to create a coherent
whole? Finally, revise the sentences of your proposal so that their
syntax, diction, and grammar adequately communicate your
intended purposc(s).

5.2. Editing your proposal

Editing, or proofreading as some may call it, is not the same as
revising. While revising means looking again at the whole draft
and its constituent parts, proofreading implies taking a last look
at your almost-completed proposal. You may think of editing as
the final step of revising, with special attention to grammar,
punctuation, and spelling. Since •proof' is a publishing term for
the typeset version of a writer's text, by the time a writer reads a
proof, it is very close to its final version. Proofreading is the
writer's last chance to check the text for minor errors before it is
submitted for approval.
In order to proofread your proposal effectively, you should
provide yourself with a fairly legible and accurate revised draft.
After all, it will be difficult to catch spelling errors, faulty
documentation, and inaccurate citations if the drafts you proof
arc sloppy. The copy you submit to your supcIVisor should be
Chapter 5 76
- ---------- -

proofread with as much attention as your revised draft. If you

type your proposal, or have it typed, correct any typographical
errors. While it is to your advantage to make the proposal
submitted as attractive and professional-looking as possible, it is
better to locate and correct the mistakes than give your
supervisor a neat but incorrect proposal. A checklist of things to
consider while editing follows.

5.2.1. Proo&eading checklist

1. Are the words spelled correctly? Sometimes there are two
or more ways to spell the same word. Ensure that you
choose one variation and stick to it. Be consistent!
2. When you had to divide words at the end of lines, have you
done so properly? In such instances, a word should be
divided at syllable breaks. Consult a dictionary if you
cannot decide where to break the word.
3. Have you corrected typographical errors?
4. How are numerals expressed in your text? There arc
certain conventions to follow here. Usually, numerals that
can be expressed in one or two words are written out.
However, if the numerals are big, or if you are listing more
than one item in a sentence, using numerals is preferabl~.
Do not begin a sentence with a numeral in any
circumstance.
Revising and editing
-- -- - -- --- --- - - ~ ------ - - - -- - ~- - - - -
77
--

5. Have you indicated which words and phrases in your

proposal are titles?
6. Have you used the proper form when quoting?
7. Have you cited all of your sources using a standard,
acceptable method of documentation, and have you
done it consistently throughout your proposal?
8 . Does your list of references include all the works you
have cited? Lists of cited works should be arranged
a ccording to the conventions of documentation.
9. Does your title page contain all the required
information?

5.2.2. APA editorial style

According to the APA Publication Manual (1994, p . 61), •editorial
style concerns uniform use of punctuation and abbreviations,
constnlction of tables, selection of headings, and citation of
references, as well as many other elements that are part of every
manuscript.• This section describes the APA Editorial Style that
you can follow in preparing your proposal, thesis, or dissertation.
The APA Publication Manual has been consulted in developing
this section.

S.2.2. 1. Punctuation
(a) Use a comma
Chapter
----
5 -- ---- - ----- - - ------- - - --- - - - - - -78

• Between elements (including before "and• and "or') in a

series of three or more items.
the height, width, or depth
in a study by Stacy, Newcomb, and Bentler (1991)
• To set off a nonessential or nonrestrictive clause, that
is, a clause that embellishes a sentence but if removed
would leave the grammatical structure and meaning of
the sentence intact.
Switch A, which was on a panel, controlled the
recording device.
Significant differences were found for both ratings of
controllability by self, F (3, 132)a 19.58, p < .001, and
ratings of controllability by others, F (3, 96)= 7 .36, p <
.01.
• To separate two independent clauses joined by a
conjunction.
Cedar shavings covered the floor, and paper was
available for shredding and nest building.
• To set off the year in exact dates.
April 18, 1992, was the correct date.
but
April 1992 was the correct month.
• To set off the year in parenthetical reference citations.
(Patrick, 1993) (Kelsey, 1993, discovered .... )
Revisin& and editing 79
--- ---- - - -------- -- - ~ - - ----

(b) Use a semicolon

• To separate two independent clauses that are not
joined by a conjunction.
The participants in the first study were paid; those in
the second were unpaid.
• To separate elements in a series that already contain
commas.
The color order was red, yellow, blue; blue, yellow, red;
or yellow, red, blue.
(c) Use a colon
• Between a grammatically complete introductory clause
(one that could stand as a sentence) and a final clause
that illustrates, extends, or amplifies the preceding
thought. If the clause following the colon is a complete
sentence, it begins with a capital letter.
For example, Freud (1930/1961) wrote of two urges: an
urge toward union with others and an egoistic urge
toward happiness.
• In ratios and proportions.
The proportion (salt: water) was 1:8.
• In references between place of publication and
publisher.
New York: Wiley.
St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Chapter 5 80

(d) Use a dash

• To indicate only a sudden interruption 1n the
continuity of a sentence. Overuse weakens the flo\v of
material.
These 2 participants-! from the first group, 1 from the
second group-were tested separately.
(e) Use double quotation marks
• To quote directly from a source.
As Gillies (1992 , p. 11) writes, ·The methods used are
designed to empower the participants and bring about
social change.•
• To introduce a \\iJrd or phrase used as an ironic
comment, as slang, or as an invented or coined
e.xpression. Use quotation marks the first time the
word or phrase is used: thereafter, do not use
quotation marks.
considered •normal• behavior
the •good-outcome• variable . . . the good-outcome
variable [no quotation marks after the initial usage]
• To set off the title of an article or chapter in a periodical
or book when the title is mentioned in text. (Titles in
the reference list are not enclosed in quotation marks)
Riger's (1992) article, •Epistemological Debates,
Feminist Voices: Science, Social Values, and the Study
of Women•
Revising and editing 81
---- -

• To reproduce material from a test item or verba tim

instructions to participants.
The first fill-in item was "could be expected to
"

(fl Use parentheses

• To set off structurally independent elements.
The patterns were significant (see Figure 5).
• To set off reference citations in text.
Dumas and Dore (1991) reported is fully described
elsewhere (Hong & O'Neil, 1992)
• To introduce an abbreviation.
In English as a Second Language (ESL) contexts
• To set off letters that identify items in a series.
The subject areas included (a) synonyms associated
with cultural interactions, (b) descriptors for ethnic
group membership, and (c) psychological symptoms
and outcomes associated with bicultural adaptation.
• To enclose the citation or page number of a direct
quotation.
The author stated, "The effect disappeared within
minutes" (Lopez, 1993, p. 311), but she did not say
which effect.
Chapter 5 82
- --- - - - - ~ -~--- ---- --- - - - --- -

s.2.2.2. Capitalization
(a) Capitalize
• The first word in a complete sentence.
• The first word after a colon that begins a complete
sentence.
The author made one main point: No explanation that
has been suggested so far answers all questions.
• Major words in titles of books and articles within the
body of the text. Also, capitalize the first word after a
colon or a dash in a title. (In titles of books and articles
in reference list, capitalize only the first word, the first
word after a colon or a dash, proper nouns)
In her book, History of Pathology
The criticism of the article, •Attitudes Toward Mental
Health Workers•
• Proper nouns and adjectives and words used as proper
nouns.
• Names of university departments if they refer to a
specific department within a specific university and
complete names of academic courses if they refer to a
specific course.
Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics,
Shiraz University
Psychology 101
bat
a sociology department
Revising and editing 83
- ------- iiiliiliilllliiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiililliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilliiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiliiilllll. . . . . . . . . . . . .iiillliiil. . . . . . . .

an introductory psychology course

• Nouns followed by numerals or letters that denote a
specific place in a numbered series.
On Day 2 of Experiment 4
during Trial 5 , the no-delay group petformed
as seen in Table 2 and Figure 38
• Exact, complete titles of published and unpublished
tests.
Advanced Vocabulary Test
Stroop Color-Word Interference Test

5.3. Revising and editing by a PC

There is no doubt that PCs have revolutionized the writing
process; the ability to revise, proofread, and correct without
having to handwrite an entirely new draft at each stage. More
and more students are using a word processor for their studies,
and you should certainly try at least to present your work in
typescript. However, new technology demands new methods of
training and presents new problems. You need to get accustomed
to a word processor program and use it professionally.
Since the most effective method of ensuring that a
proposal still reads gracefully after it has been revised is to read
it aloud. It is best to print out a hard (paper) copy of your
proposal after each major revision. Reading from a computn
screen is not a completely satisfactory method of checking a
Chapter 5 84

proposal as you will be forced to pause, to disrupt the flow of

your reading because a computer screen can display only a
portion of your writing at a time. It is also a good idea to
proofread a print-out copy, first because errors are more easily
spotted on a typewritten page, second because you can pinpoint
the correctly spelled but unfitted words such as in instead of is,
something that a word processor cannot do.
On the positive side, most computers have proofreading
programs that, when used properly, can be of tremendous
assistance to you. Even the most outdated ones now have
dictionaries, and although they cannot solve all the spelling
problems, they can eliminate many typographical errors. Good
spellers should use a computer dictionary to catch typing errors;
these dictionaries make a cleaner copy possible for everyone. New
software programs can do much more than spell-check. There
are sophisticated editing programs that will analyze the text and
sentences and will provide you with some alternatives.
Last but not least, remember to "save" your work
frequently and in different places, on the hard disc of your
computer as well as on a floppy diskette. There are now
numerous reports of lost and damaged files. Therefore, before
you lose whatever you have written, try to save itl
Here is one student's experience of discovering the uses of
the word processor for university writing:
Since I have been at university I have incorporated word
Revising and editing 85

processing into the method I use for writing my essays . I

make notes on the reading and construct an essay plan on
paper and then move on to the computer to start writing
the essay. I find it useful to write an introductory
paragraph directly on to the computer as I think that the
beginning is one of the hardest parts. Typing it on to the
word processor forces me to start and lets me get into the
flow of the essay without worrying too much about what I
have written. !usually go back and change it into a
coherent introduction at the end. Nevertheless, I feel I
need to have something at the beginning so that I can get
a feel for the essay before I embark on the main body of
the assignment.
I normally print out what I have written when I am
about half way through so that I can read it properly and
make changes by hand. I can then think through what I
am going to write in the second half and how I will relate it
to what I have already written. When I have finished the
essay, written the references and done a spell-check, I
print it again to read it through a.s I find it difficult to read
the essay as a whole when it is on the screen. Sometimes
there are still typing errors or parts which don't link
together very well so I change these by hand on the printed
copy, then on the computer, and when I am finished I
hand it in. (Taken from Creme & Lea 1997, pp. 10-11)
Chapter 5 86

Although the format of the proposal is a matter of personal

taste, or departmental regulation, the following general rules,
stated in Locke et al. (1987, p. 104), may be helpful in designing
the layout of your proposal:
1. Use double-spacing, substantial margins, and ample
separation for major subsections. Crowding makes
reading both difficult and unpleasant. Always paginate
so that readers can quickly refer to a specific location.
2. Make ample use of graphic illustration. A chart or
simple diagram can improve clarity and make easy the
difficult task of critical appraisal and advisement.
3. Make careful and systematic use of headings. The
system of headings recommended in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association
(1983, 1994) is particularly useful for the design of
your proposals.
4. Place in an appendix everything that is not immediately
essential to the main body of your proposal. Allowing
readers to decide whether they will read supplementary
materials is both courtesy and good strategy.

The acceptability of a thesis or dissertation proposal is

something graduate students are very concerned about. There is
no agreed upon criteria that could be used in all situations. As a
rule of thumb, however, when the members of the thesis or
Revisin5 and editin1 87

dissertation committee have read the proposal and are satisfied

with it, you may prese.n t it in the committee and get it formally
approved. In any case, Locke et al. (1987, pp. 253-256) have
provide some general standards for judging the acceptability of a
thesis or dissertation proposal which are reproduced in Table
5.1.
 Table S.1
Some General Standards for Jud1ia1 the AcceptabWty of a Thesis or Diuertation Proposal

Desirable Undesirable

Topic

A. Importance

1. Basic Research

A clear relationship exists between the topic and
existing information in related areas of knowledge.
Topic is recognized a.s substantial by people who
are knowledgeable in the area. Topic is articulated
to a body of knowledge recognized as broadly relevant
to the discipline.
Proposal does not support the importance of the
study. Topic seems unrelated to existing fact.a
and theoretical constructs. Proposed study is not
inserted into a line of inqui.ty.

2 . Applied Research

Topic is relevant to professional needs, and recognized Topic seems unrelated to realistic professional
as substantial by competent individuals engased in concerns and divorced from matters of practice.
professional practice. There is a clear relation between
the topic and existing problems in practice .

II
 Desirable Undesirable

B. Scope

The extent of the proposed study is reasonable in terms
of the time and resources available to the candidate. A
clear indication exists that the student has considered
and made provision for each of the demands implicit
within the study.
C. Advisement
Projected study is grandiose and unreasonable m
terms of time and resources. Or, the study is so
small or limited in its concern that it may (a)
provide little useful information, and (b) involve
less than a reasonable exposure to scholarly
inquiry for the candidate.

At least one faculty member possessing scholarly com- Faculty members available for advisement lack
petence in the domain of the topic is both interested and special competence in the domain of the topic.
available. Resources for developing or obtaining needed Needed sources of technical assistance are not
technical skills are available and specifically identified. identified.

" Scholarship

A. Originality

The proposal provides in the definition of the problem, Proposed study paraphrases and collects
the methodology employed, or the mode of interpretation, opm1ons, results, or conclusions of others

(continued)
 Desirable
some contribution that is different from work previously
done and that distinctly is the product of the candidate's
own thinking. In replicative studies, special attention is
given either to deliberate alteration in method and design
or to the unique problems of maintaining equivalent con-
ditions for all critical variables.
B. Perspective
Student reveals the capacity to relate the topic to a larger
framework of knowledge and theory.
c. Logic
Design of the proposed study is appropriate to the nature
of the topic, being no more elaborate than demanded by
the question asked. There is congruence among title,
problem, hypotheses, procedures and analysis. Student
makes explicit the rationale and assumptions that underlie
the form of the question and the procedures selected.
Alternatives are revealed that might have been followed,
and the reasoning supporting the choices made is clear.
90
Undesirable
without criticism, synthesis, or creative
development of an organizing structure.
Replicates without intentional and appropriate
variation in method or special attention to the
problems of creating a satisfactory level of
experimental equivalence.
Student treats the problem in isolation from previous
work, related disciplines, and relevant theoretical
structures.
Proposed design is more complex than demanded
by the question and the present level of knnowl-
edge. Design fails to confront important complex-
ities in the topic through the use of methods
leading to multivariate analysis. Title does not
precisely reflect the central problem. Procedures
are not designed to deal with the problem
identified as central to the study. Student does
not make clear the procedural alternatives that
were considered.
 Desirable
0 . Objectivity
Student clearly delineates the limits, weaknesses,
and strengths of the study, and maintains objectivity.
Language is restricted to a level made justifiable by
previous findings and a conservative appraisal of
current knowledge and practice.
E. Depth of Preparation
Student demonstrates familiarity with the major
sources of information that rel.at.e to the problem,
and makes apt and ready application of these to
the development of the study: Includes pilot study
data, specimen tables and figures, power t.ests for
det.ennining sample size, and relevant sample
applications of the methods to be employed.
Student clearly has considered the feasibility
factors of time, cost and the availability of data.
Student indicates how special compet.encies
demanded by the procedures are to be acquired.
91
Undesirable
Student overgeneraJius from an in.adequate body of
knowledge or suggests applications that seem un-
warranted by the evidence pre.sented. Limitation• im-
posed by selection of the sample or methodology go
unnoticed.
Student has not completed a thorough search of relevant
literature, or has not assimilated it to the point of
understanding the major concepts involved and their
application to the problem. Proposal includes no pilot
study data or relevant sample application.a of methoda to
be employed. Student fails to recogniz.e the aophiaticated
scholarship needed for the use of such procedures a.a
sampling, use of demographic data, test and question-
naire construction, interviewing, or the selection and
use of psychometric instruments.
 Desirable Undesirable

Ill. Presentation

A. Mechanics

Proposal is well edited, with adequate attention
to grammar, sentence stnlc ture, spelling, and all
matters of mechanical accuracy. The style is terse ,
with a minimum of unnecessary words and
irrelevant commentary.
Obvious failure to proofread as revealed by mechanical
errors. Unnecessary use of descriptive words and phrases.
Rambling style, introduction of peripheral commentary,
and use of trite jargon.

B. Documentation

Citations are limited to and consistently provided Inadequate reference to the relevant literature,
for (a) concepts, or materials (including quoted failure to give credit where due, or failure to in-
materials) that are the unique product of dicate sources likely to be needed by the interested
particular individuals and fall under the broad and critical reader. Overabundance of docu-
canon of •credit due," and (b) positions, mentation in which citations are irrelevant, need-
interpretations, or methodological alternatives lessly repetitious, or refer to matters clearly within
elected by the author that might require the the public domain . Extensive use of direct quotation
support of further argument and explication as that are not justified by their contribution to the
developed in supplementary references . main tasks of the proposal.

92
 Desirable Undesirable

C. Organization

Proposal has a logical, easily understandable Order of topics violates logic and causes . reader
sequence from initial statement of the problem to skip forward and back to make sense of the
through the last appendix. Major topics are presentation. Words are used to indicate sys-
separated under appropriately devised subhead- tematic meanings, prior to their defin1tion in the
ings. Format tailored to meet demands peculiar text. Arbitrary format followed even when in-
to the topic. appropriate to topic .

D. Clarity

Procedures are described in terms of specific
operations. Copies of such relevant materials
as test instruments, inteiview schedules, ·
directions to subjects, criteria for selection of
experts, and pilot test data are appended to the
main proposal document. Given the level of
detail contained in the proposal, any appropriately
trained researcher could cany out the study with
results not differing substantially from those that
would be obtained by the author. Explicit, step-by-
step sequence of operations is presented.
93
Report makes vague references to unspecified procedures
that are described only in general terms or that are link-
ed together by relationships that leave their purpose un-
clear. Such important operations as •a structured
inteiview,» •an analysis of literature,• •an evaluation of
of materials,• or •a test of attitudes• are not presented in
explicit forms such as particular test instruments, lists of
criteria, procedures for analysis, or experimental
operations. Exact temporal sequence of individual parts
of the investigation is not made clear.
 6 ·· CIIAPrBRSIX
Resources for Research in
Applied Linguistics

It is very important to become familiar with resources available in

applied linguistics. Firstly, because knowing about the resources
in our field will help us to get the necessary information m
conducting a review of the research literature m an area of
interest. Secondly, because getting published in specialiud
journals is certainly one of the aspirations of the researchers,
scholars, and practitioners in any field of the study. Publishing in
specialized journals promotes the individual's academic growth,
adds to the body of the knowledge of the field, and helps the
dissemination of specialized and domain-specific knowledge. One
problem, however, is that we might not be familiar with or we
may lack a comprehensive lmowledge about the resources which
are available m our field. A helpful step in this
Resources for research 95
- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - ---- - -- - ~ - -

direction is to get to know such resources.

This chapter is organized in four parts. The sources in the
first part, titled Indexes and Abstracts, will help you to find
articles by topic or author. The surveys of Research listed in the
following part contains articles and book chapters that provide
comprehensive reviews of the research literature on a particular
topic. The third part, Journals, describes the content of the major
journals in second and foreign language learning and bilingual
education. It introduces 38 publications that will be of interest to
those interested in the field of applied linguistics. The
computerized databases such as ERIC, PsycLIT, etc. form the
fourth part of this chapter.
The materials of this chapter are mainly based on the
information the author has gathered in a session, coordinated by
most editors of the journals and resources, during the TESOL '94
Conference in Baltimore, Maryland as well as the Appendix to the
Approaches to Research in Second Language Leaming. *

• Johnson, D.M. (1992).Approaches to research in second language Leaming.

NY: Longman.
Chapter 6 96
---- -- - - - -- -- - - - ---

Part One: Indexes and Abstracts

Language Teaching: The International Abstracting Journal
for Language Teachers and Applied Linguists. London:
Cam bridge University Press.

This a bstracting journal is published quarterly in England by the

Center for Information on Language Teaching and Research
(CI LT). It provides abstracts of significant recent articles related
to the teaching and learning of second or foreign languages. The
a bstracts are organized into four broad categories: (1) language
learning and teaching-theory and practice; (2) teaching
particular languages; (3) research in the supporting sciences; and
(4) la nguage description and use. Each issue contains one state-
of-th e-art article. The articles that are abstracted are selected
from a list of some 400 journals from all parts of the world.

Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts. Ann Arbor:

University of Michigan.

This is a scholarly reference work that provides abstracts on

articles from more than 1,000 publications in 30 languages.
Some of the subjects covered include language acquisition,
reading, speech and language, and verbal leantlng.

U.S . Education Resources Information Center. Resources fn

Education (RlEJ.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

This is an index and abstracting setvice to the ERIC document

collection. ERIC documents include non-copyright materials such
as conference papers, curriculum guides, research reports, and
other hard-to-find documents. The RIE indexes these documents
by author, institution, document type, and subject, as listed in
the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors. Subjects relevant to
L2/FL/BE include second language leantlng and instruction,
English for special purposes, migrant education, applied
linguistics, multilingualism, and language dominance.
Resources for research 97

MI.A Bibliography. New York: Modern Language Association of

Amenca.

This reference work is generally considered a source of literary

criticism. However, each index includes a section (in Volume III)
on linguistics, which contains abstracts of language,
bilingualism, language processing, and psychoacoustics.

Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE). Phoenix, AZ:

Oryx Press.

CIJE indexes and abstracts over 750 education and education-

related journals. The articles are indexed by the terminology used
in the Thesaurus ofERIC Descriptors. There is also an author
index as well as an index of journal contents.

Education Index. New York: H.W. Wilson.

This is a basic index to over 240 education-related periodicals,

proceedings, and documents, organized by author and subject
categories. One useful feature is a book review section containing
reviews of individual authors and titles, as well as special articles
and sections of books about education.

Psychological Abstracts. Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association.

This index is primarily concerned with the psychological aspects

of learning and education. It provides summaries and citations of
books, documents, and articles in over 900 journals on
psychology, psychometrics, statistics, motivation, and
counseling.

Sociological Abstracts. San Diego, CA: Sociological Abstracts,

Inc.

This index provides abstracts of .articles from journals that

address second language acquisition, including the NABE Journal
Chapter 6 98

and the Journal of Language and Social Psychology, as well as

other journals addressing topics in sociology. It provides
comprehensive coverage of the field of sociology and its subfields.

Social Science Citation Inde1t. Philadelphia: Institute for

Scientific Information.

This index is a comprehensive source of information published in

journals concerned with all aspects of the social sciences. It is
divided into three parts (in separate volumes). The Source Index
provides full bibliographic details on articles indexeq. as well as
citations included in each article. The Citation Index lists, by
author, who is being cited, by whom, and where. The Permuterms
Subject Index is a keyword analysis of the titles of articles listed
in the Source Index.
Resource9 for research 99

Part Two: Surveys of Research

Annual Reuf•w of Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Published annually, this review is a collection of state-of-the-art

articles on a different theme each year. Recent themes have been
international bilingualism, communicative language teaching,
second language acquisition, and discourse analysis. Each artjc le
in a volume provides an overview of important research in an
area as well as, a useful annotated bibliography.

Handbook of Research on Teaching. 3rd ed., 1986, New York:

American Educational Research Association/Macmillan.

The Handbook provides comprehensive reviews of research on

teaching, particularly advances made since the previous edition
in 1973. Broad areas include theory and method of research on
teaching, research on teaching and teachers, social and
institutional contexts of teaching, and differences among
learners. Particularly relevant chapters include teaching bilingual
leruners, classroom discourse, reading, composition, teacher
education, qualitative methods, and observation.

Reui.ew of Research in Uucatlon. Itasca, IL: F.E. Peacock.

This review is a yearly publication of the American Educational

Research Association that offers critical analyses of several major
areas of educational research per issue. Within each general
area, a number of specific issues (chapters) are presented and
reviewed. Topics covered in Volume 1'4 (1987} included early
childhood education, improving the teaching force, writing
instruction, and gender and minority issues. Each chapter
includes a substantial bibliography.
Chapter 6 100
----- ------ --- -

Handbook of Reading Research. White Plains, NY: Longman,

1984.

The Handbook is a compilation of reports of research on reading,

and over 350 journals are reviewed. It contains sections on
methodological issues, reading processes, and instructional
practices. Topics such as the history of reading research, the
design of experiments, and individual differences are addressed.
Author and subject indexes and extensive reference lists are
included.
Resources for research 101
- - --- ---

Part Three: Journals

What follows is some information about 38 publications that may
be useful to those interested in Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages (TESOL) and applied linguistics. Table 6.1
compares these journals in terms of different features. Then, a
prose description of each publication is presented.

Abbreviations:

Issue/yr Issu es per year. This r efers to the number of

issues published in each calendar year.

Avg# pgs Average number of pages, per issue.

Refrd/Blod Refereed/ Blind. Refereed articles are

revie\ved by experts who evaluate whether or
not the manuscript is acceptable for
publication. Blind reviews means that those
who evaluate the manuscript do not know
the author's name.

Rprnt Reprint. Does the publication reprint articles

that have been published m another
publication?

Avg Tm Rv Average Time for Review. How long does it

take from the time a manuscript is accepted
for publication until the article actually
appears in print?

Avg Tm Pub Average Time for Publication. How long does

it take from the time a manuscript is
submitted until the author is notified on
acceptance/nonacceptance?

Sty Sht Style Sheet. What style should be used when

preparing a manuscript?
Chapter 6 102

RVW Does the journal publish reviews of books,

teaching materials, and/or other materials?

No
y Yes

Mos months
IILA Modem Language Association
LSA Linguistic Society of America

Own their own style

 Resources for research tOJ

Tbale 6.1
A comparison of different features of the journals

Avg Avi
Name of Journal b1ue1 Avg# Length Refrd Rpr Tm Tm Sty Rvw
/vr P21 (oa1e1) !Bind nt Rv Pub Sht
ARAL l 300 15-17 N N - 5 mos OWN N
Applied Ling. 4 llo+ 20-25 YIN N 4 mos 9 mos N y
Applied Psych. 4 130 10-30 Y/Y N 4 mos 8 mos APA y
y
Can Mod Lang R 4 250 25 Y/Y N - - APA
y
College ESL 2 70 20 Y/Y N 6 mos 6 mos APA
ELT Journal 4 100 15 YIN N 3 mos 9 mos OWN y
Eng Teach Forum 4 56 25 N Rar 3 mos 9 mos N N
English Today 4 64 NIA YIN y ASAP ASAP N y
ESP Journal 3 100 20-25 Y!Y N 3 mos I yr APA y
IDEAL 1 120 20 YIN N 1 mo vanes APA y
Ind. JAL 2
4
140
125
-
20-100
y
Y/Y
N
N
7wks
5 mos
9 mos
9 mos
Ml.A
OWN
y
y
Int. JAL
IAL 2 175 20-35 YIN N 5 wks vanes APA y
ITL RAL 4 129 40 YIN N 3 mos 2 yrs OWN y
JALT 2 100 30 Y/Y N 9wks 9 mos APA y
J Int. Eng. Studies 1 100 10-20 YIN N 2 mos vanes APA y
J Lang Int Bus 2 70 10-20 YIN N - - APA y
JML&MC Dev 6 96 35 y N 8wks 8 mos OWN y
J 2nd Lang Writing 3 100 15-30 Y/Y N 3 mos 9 mos APA N
Language 4 225 50 Y/Y N 4 mos 8 mos LSA y
Language Learning 4 160 20-50 YIN N 3 mos 6 mos APA y
Language Tcacher 12 75 13 NIN N 3 wks 6mos APA y
Linguistic Analysis 4 85 4-250 Y/Y N 3 mos 5 mos OWN y
MEXTESOLJ 4 70 5-15 N y 1 mo 3 mos N y
ModemLangJ 4 150 20 Y/Y N 3 mos 9mos MLA y
Prospect 3 100 15 Y/Y N 5 mos 8mos OWN y
PASAA 2 80 20 YIN N 6mos 4 mos APA N
Read in a For Lang 2 70 20 Y/Y Rar varies vanes OWN y
RELC 2 110 22 YIN N 6 mos 9 mos OWN y
R Eng Lang Tch 3 150 25 YIN N l mo I yr OWN N
Standpoints 5 64 10 Y/Y N 2mos 18ms OWN y
SSLA 4 120 10-20 Y/Y N 4mos 4mos APA y
System 4 130 30 YIY N lmos 9mos OWN y
TESL Canada 2 150 8-lO Y/Y N Smos 6mos APA y
TESL Reporter 2 40 13 YIN y 3 mos 5 mos APA y
TESOL Journal 4 48 15 YIY N 3mos 8mos APA y
TESOL Quarterly 4 200 20 YIY N 3mos 9mos APA y
World Englishes 3 140 20-25 YIN N 3mos 9mos OWN y
Chapter 6 104
- -- - --~ --- - --

( 1) Annual Review of Applied Lfngufstics (ARAL}

Editor: William Grabe

English Department, Box 6032
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Az 86011
USA

ARAL provides survey overviews of various areas of applied

linguistics written by experts. Articles are published within 5
months after submission. Emphasis is placed on bibliographic
references appearing in last 2 years.

Other features: Reference citation index of previous 5 years and

subject matter of previous 10 years.

(2) Applied Lfnguf.stfcs

Editors: James P. Lantolf

Dept. of Modem Lang. & Linguistics
Cornell University
314 Morrill Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
USA

Rosamond Mitchell
Center for Language in Education
University of Southampton
Southampton S09 SNH
U.K.
Applied Linguistics, sponsored by the American, British, and
International Associations of Applied Linguistics, promotes a
principled approach to language education and other language-
related concerns by encouraging inquiry into the relationship
between theoretical and practical studies. The journal is mainly
interested in the handling of problems in a principled way by
Resources for research 10~

reference to theoretical studies. Applied res~arch topics includ~

L 1 and L2 learning and teaching; bilingualism and bilingual
education; discourse analysis; translation; language testing; and
langu age teaching methodology.

Other features beyond articles and reviews: Occasional special

issues and exchange of views between authors and critics.

(3) Applied Psycholinguistics

Editors: Catherine Snow, John Locke

Harvard Graduate School of Educa ion
Larsen 3, Cambridge, MA 0 2138
USA

Applied Psycholinguistics is an international journal which

publishes articles on the psychological processes involved in
language acquisition. Articles address the nature , acquisition,
and impairments of language expression and comprehension and
writing and reading.

Other features: Problem oriented reviews. Notes: reactions to

previous articles or methodological notes, and occasional topic-
focused issues.

(4) The Canadian Modern Language Review

Editors: Vivian Edwards, Sally Rehorick

French Second Language Teacher Education
Center, University of New Brunsv.rick
Fredericton, N.8., E3B lKl
Canada

The Canadian Modem Language Review publishes items of

interest to teachers and researchers of French as a second
language, English as a second language, and other foreign
languages at all levels of instruction. The dual focua of this
Chapter 6 106
- - - -- - - -- - --- - - -~- - - - -- - -------

journal is linguistic theory and teaching pedagogy. It publishes

articles , book reviews , and other material of interest to teachers.

Other features: Practical tips for teachers, readers' opinions and

reactions, calendar for forthcoming events, and annual list of
recently published Canadian materials.

(5) College ESL

Editor: Gay Brookes

Instructional Resource Center
The City University of New York
535 East 80th Street
New York, NY 10021
USA

College ESL explores questions and concerns regarding the

education of ESL students, specifically urban immigrants, and
refugee adults in post-secondary settings. The journal welcomes
articles and essays supported by research studies, teacher
education, cultures of ESL populations, and ethical or political
issues.

Other features: Recommended readings.

(6) ELT Joumal

Editors: Tricia Hedge

16 Half Acre Road
Hanwell, London W7 3JJ
UK

Keith Morrow (review Ed.)

The Old School
Norwich Road, Reepham
Norwich NRlO 4AH
UK
Resources for research 107

ELT Journal is published for all those who are professionally

involved in the field of teaching English as a second or foreign
language internationally. It is concerned with the fundamental
practice factors that influence the evolution of the profession as
well as with the theoretical issues that are between the everyday
concerns of teachers in their classrooms and the disciplines such
as psychology, sociology and applied linguistics that may offer
insights. The journal publishes articles, interviews, features with
a language focus, language conundrums, a glossary of key
concepts in ELT, book reviews and survey reviews of specialist
areas of ELT. Each issue contains several articles devoted to a
single topic. In 1988, for example, these topics included teacher
training and learning strategies.

Other features: Occasional survey reviews of specialist literature,

e.g. on research, business English, learner training in textbooks,
etc. Talking Shop (interviews with applied linguists, authors,
researchers, and teachers on topics of interest). Language
conundrums (comments, reports and insights from readers in
response to language problem set), and correspondence,
announcements, periodicals received etc.

(7) English Teaching Forum

Editor: Thomas J. Kral

301 4th Street, S.W., Room 312
Washington, DC 20547
USA

English Teaching Forum is a practical journal for ESL/EFL

teachers outside the U.S. Primarily articles by secondary
teachers, teacher trainers, and university professors.

Other features: Question/ Answers on grammar and usage,

English idioms, annual 4-skill package containing audio
recording, script of audio material, background material on
subject, posters, glossaries, and teaching tips.
Chapter 6 108
---- - -- -

(8) Engluh Today

Editor: Tom McArthur

22-23 Ventress Farm Court
Cherry Hinton Road
Cambridge CBI 4HD
England

English Today publishes a wide variety of commentaries on the

English language and related topics by academics and non-
academics.

(9) English for Specific Purposes (UP} Journal

Editors: Tony Dudley-Evans

English for Overseas Students Unit
The University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 OSH, UK
UK

John Swales
English Language Institute
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
USA

Liz Hamp-Lyons
English Department
Campus Box 175
University of Colorado, Denver
Denver, CO 80217-3364
USA

ESP Journal publishes articles, research notes, and book reviews

on specialized varieties of English and ESP methodology. Themes
dealt with include discourse analysis, second language
acquisition in ESP contexts, needs assessment, curriculum
development and evaluation, materials preparation, teaching and
Resources for research 109
- -~ -- -- -- - ~ - ---

testing techniques, and the effectiveness of various research and

pedagogical approaches in ESP contexts.

Other features: Research notes.

( 10) Issues and Developments in Bnglish and Applied

Linguistics (IDEAL}

Editors: Wayne B. Dickerson (Chair), Yamuna Kachru

Division of English as an International
Language
University of Illinois
707 South Mathews Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
USA

IDEAL is a forum for research into the acquisition and teaching of

ESL. The following areas are particularly appropriate: TESOL,
second language acquisition, varieties of English, neuro-
linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, pragmatics,
discourse analysis, applications of computer technology to
second language teaching and research.

Other features: Issues alternate between general-topic and

specific-topic content.

( 11) Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics

Editor: Uijal Singh Bahri

997A/9 Gobindpuri
PO Box4453
Kalkaji
New Dehli 110Q19
India

!JAL publishes theoretical and methodological ideas and research

in Applied Linguistics, sociolinguistics, first-second language
learning, anthropological linguistics, psycholinguistics,
Chapter 6 110
- ---~ - - -- - - - --- - - - ~----- - -

acquisition, bilingualism, language standardization and language

pedagogy. Articles are submitted from all parts of the world and it
is distributed almost to every country where applied linguistics is
taught or practiced.

Other features: ( 1) Notes: Select Bibliography on a special

subject , (2) connected with any aspect of applied linguistics, (3)
advertisements from academic bodies and publishers only, (4) no
commercial advertisements other than publishing world, (5)
response letters if received, (6) books and journals received, (7)
major events, projections, (8) selected contents of those journals
which are reviewed by IJAL (on selective basis only).

( 12) International Journal of American Lfngubtfcs

Editor: David S. Rood

Linguistics - Box 295
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309
USA
IJAL's content is limited to linguistic studies of Native American
(North and South) languages. Language data, carefully presented
and organized, is preferred over purely theoretical papers, though
making a point about a language or a theory is encouraged. Most
papers are about technical linguistics. A good analysis with new
data will often be accepted even if the writing is mediocre. Editors
help with re-writing.

( 13) Issues fn Applied Linguistics {IALJ

Editors: Joseph Plummer, Scarlet Robbins, Cynthia

Walker
Dept. of TESL and Applied Linguistics
UCLA
3300 Rolfe Hall
405 Hilgard Ave
Los Angeles, CA
USA
Resources for restarch III

JAL is a refereed journal published by the gra dua te ~tud~nt s of

the UCLA Department of TESL and Applied Lin¥.u ist ic :-l.
Submissions of previously unpublished m anuscripts in t h· broad
areas of language acquisition, langua ge analysis, h-,nl(UHf{<"
education, langua ge testing, langua ge use, and r ·~·u;arc h
methodology are welcome.

Other features: Editorials, replies to (or commen ts on) previously -

published articles, and announcements.

( 14) I. T.L. Review of Applied Ltngufatfcs

Editor: Nicole Dclbecque

Fakulteit Lctteren En Wysbeseerte
K.U. Lcuven
Blyde-lnkomststraat 21
3000 Lcuven
Belgium

Publications are accepted in the field of applied linguistics in the

broad sense.
Audience: Linguists and language teachers.
Languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch.

(15) JALTJournal

Editor: Malcolm J. Benson

Hiroshima Shudo University
1717 Ohtsuka, Numata-cho
Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima
Japan 731-31

The JALT Journal publishes practical and theoretical articles

concerned with foreign language teaching and learning in
Japanese, Asian, and international contexts. Articles in specific
areas such as testing, classroom-baaed research, cross-cultural
research, and sociolinguistics are solicited.
Chapter 6 112
------ -----

Other features: Research reports [short reports (1500 words) of

interesting but perhaps not major research]. Point to Point
(readers' responses to articles).

( 16) Journal of Intensive English Studies

Editors: Frank Pialorsi, Jonathan Seely

CESL 100-Bldg #24
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
USA

The journal of Intensive English Studies is devoted to original

studies of interest to faculty and administrations of intensive
programs for the study of English as a Second or Foreign
Language. Its aim is to improve theory and practice in intensive
English programs.

Other features: Squibs and Comment section.

( 17)Journal of Language for International .Business

Editor: Robert M. Ramsey

JO LIB
Dept. of Modern Languages
American Graduate School of International
Business
Glendale, AZ 85306
USA

The Journal of Language for International Business (JOLIB)

addresses practical and theoretical topics in the areas of
international business communication, cross-cultural
communication, foreign language pedagogy and technology, as
well as related linguistic themes.
Resources for research 113

( 18) Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

Editor: John Edwards

Multilingual Matters LTD
Frankfort Lodge
Cleveland Hall, Victoria Rd.
Cleveland, Avon
England BS21 7SJ

JMMD is interested in theory, research and practice on aspects of

multilingualism and multiculturalism. This includes
contributions dealing with language teaching/learning, bilingual
education, minority-group issues, etc.

Other features: Notes of courses, conferences, etc., Work-in-

progress contributions, and Readers' response section.

(19) Journal of Second Language Writing

Editors: Ilona Leki

Dept. of English
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 3 7996-0430
USA

Tony Silva
Dept. of English
Heavilon Hall
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 47901-1356
USA

The Journal of Second Language Writing is devoted to publishing

theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions of
central issues in second and foreign language writing instruction.
Chapter 6 114
- - - - - -- -- - - -- -- - - - -- -

(20) Language

Editor: Sarah Thompson

Department of Linguistics
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
U.S.A.

Language publishes original research results in linguistics. Any

sub-field is appropriate for the journal, but accepted articles
must be of potential interest to all linguists, not just specialists
in a single sub-field.

Other features: Discussion notes.

(21) Language Learning

Editor: Alister Cumming

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Modem Language Center, Room 10-273
2 52 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Canada MSS 1V6

This journal defines research in language studies as (1) the

application of methods and theories from linguistics,
psycholinguistics, cognitive science, ethnography,
ethnomethodology, sociolinguistics, sociology, semiotics,
educational inquiry, and cultural or historical studies to address
(2) fundamental issues in language learning, such as
bilingualism, language acquisition, second or foreign language
education, literacy, culture, cognition, pragmatics, and inter-
group relations.

(22) The Language Teacher

Editors: Greta Gorsuch, Gene Van Troyer, Naoko Aoki

Resources for research 115
----~ - - - - -- -- - ----- - - -- --- - - - - ---

Korutaju # 601
1452 Oazasuna
Omiya-Shi, Saitama 330
Japan

The Language Teacher is the monthly publication of the Japan

Association of Language Teachers (JALT), a non-profit
organization of concerned language teachers interested in
promoting more effective language teaching and learning. Articles
focus on practical, classroom-oriented foreign language teaching,
learning , and research, with emphasis on Japan-related issues.

Other features: JALT news; chapter meeting announcements;

reports on chapter presentations; My share (practical teaching
ideas); N-SIG column; bulletin board; upcoming conferences
column; opinions (1200 word max); readers' views; JALT
conference related articles; and job information.

(23) Linguistic Analysis

Editor: Michael K. Brame

Dept. of Linguistics
GN-40
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
U.S.A.

Linguistic Analysis is a research journal devoted to the

publication of high quality articles in formal phonology,
morphology, syntax and semantics.

(24) MEX'IZSOL Journal

Editor: Jo Ann Miller

San Borja # 726-2
Colonia del Valle
03100 Mexico, OF
Mexico
Chapter 6 116
---- -- - ~ -------

The MEXTESOL Journal is a quarterly publication dedicated to

the classroom teacher in Mexico. Articles and book reviews
related to EFL teaching in Mexico and in similar situations
throughout the world are accepted for publication. Articles can
be either practical or theoretical and written in either English
and Spanish.

(25) The Modern Language Journal

Editor: Sally Sieloff Magnan

The Modem Language Journal
University of Wisconsin-Madison
618 Van Hise Hall
1200 Linden Dr.
Madison, WI 53706-1558
USA

Devoted to research and discussion about the learning and

teaching of foreign and second languages, The Modem Language
Journal speaks to teachers and researchers. It publishes
documented essays on L2 learning theory and teaching practice,
qualitative and quantitative research studies, editorials, and book
reviews. With contributions pertaining to many different
languages, including ESL/EFL, the MW strives to offer a forum
for discussion across disciplines.

Other features: News & Notes of Profession and Listing of articles

published in other professional journals.

(26) Prospect: A Journal of Auatraltan T&SOL

Editor: Anne Bums

NCELTR
Macquarie University
Sydney, NSW 2109
.A ustralia
Resources for research 117

Es tablished in 1985 as the national journal of the Australian

Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), Prospect has since
broad ened its base to include the wider Australian and
interna tional TESOL audience. It balances the practical realities
influen cing the d evelopment of the profession with discussion of
relevant and significant theoretical issues.

Other features: Publications received, forthcoming events, and

teach er exchange.

(27) PASAA

Editor: Pavinee Navarat

Chulalongkom University
Language Institute
Phyathai Rd.
Bangkok 10330
Thailand

PASAA aims to present information and ideas in curriculum

design and development, testing and evaluation, teacher training,
and issues in language learning and teaching.
Other features: Interviews and reports.

(28) Reading fn a Foreign Language

Editor: A.H. Urquhart

INT EC
Marjons
Derriford Road
Plymouth PL6 8BH
UK
Reading in a Foreign Language strives to contribute to the theory
and practice of second language reading pedagogy.

Other features: Discussions by materials writers of motivation for

material, ....
Chapter 6 118

(29) RELC

Editor: Makhan Lal Tickoo

RELCJoumal
Regional Language Center
Singapore 1025

RELC Journal prefers papers that address the products of

empirical study, classroom-based techniques, clinical case
studies, descriptions of proven materials, methodologies,
techniques, and those based on work done in or related to Asian
second language teaching or Asian languages in classrooms or
under study.

(30) Standpoints

Editors: Elyane Comarteau, Wilga Rivers, Alan Maley

31 rue de la Vanne
BP359
92541 Montrouge Cedex
France

Standpoint is a fully illustrated magazine published in France by

the Center National de Documentation Pedagogique and the
Mission Laique Fran~aise for EFL/ESL teachers. It features a
unique combination of articles by native English speakers giving
insight into all the aspects of the English-speaking world plus
suggestions for classroom activities from primary to advanced.

(31) Studfa fn Second Langu.age Acqufsltton (SSZAJ

Editor: Albert Valdman

1105 E. Atwater
Indian University
Bloomington, IN 47405
U.S.A.
Resources for research 119
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - --

Studies in Second Language is a journal of

Acquisition
international scope, devoted to problems and issues in second
language acquisition and foreign language learning. The subject
is defined broadly to include problems of language contact-
inference, transfer, pidginization. SSLA publishes theoretically
oriented papers, reports of empirical research or discussions with
broad pedagogical implications.

Other features: Thematic issues include 4-6 invited papers;

usually the second issue of the volume; State-of-the-art articles
(approx. 1 per year); review articles; ·Replication• rubric; and
Publications Received Section.

(32) System

Editors: Norman Daies, Udo Jung, John Higgins

Department of Language and Literature
University of Linkoping
Sweden

System deals with Educational Technology in both the narrow

and broad senses and applied linguistics. Concerned with
aspects of language pedagogy. Articles have a theoretical basis
with a visible practical application.

Other features: News notes and Congress Calendar.

(33) TESL Canadajoumal

Editors: Sheena Gardner, Janet Carroll

University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Ave.
Winnipeg, Manitoba RJB 2E9
Canada

The TESL Canada Journal is written for ESL professionals across

Canada and abroad. Each issue includes reports on current
research in ESL, articles on practical classroom ideas, position
Chapter 6 120
- -- - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - -

papers on language issues, and reviews. Submissions from all

those who can contribute to the professional development of ESL
practitioners in Canada are encouraged.

Other features: Perspectives, e.g. texts of keynote addresses.

(34) TESL Reporter

Editors: Mark 0. James, Ellen Bunker

Language, Literature & Communications Div.
BYU-HC Box 1964
Brigham Young University- Hawaii Campus
Laie, Hawaii 96762
U.S.A.

TESL Reporter is a semiannual journal which deals with the

practical application of TESL /TEFL theory and innovations.
Articles explain and critically examine a wide variety of methods,
techniques, materials, and issues, but they all have one thing in
common-a pragmatic perspective. Manuscripts are selected on
the basis of their usefulness to classroom teachers.

(35) TESOL Journal

Editor: Elliot Judd

Department of English
University of Illinois at Chicago (M/C 162)
601 S. Morgan
Chicago, IL 60607
USA
TESOL Journal is a practitioners' journal which publishes articles
on matters relating to ESL/EFL methodology and techniques,
materials, curriculum design and development, teacher
education, program administration, and classroom observation
and research.

Other features: Tips from the classroom, Ask the TESOL Journal,
Resources for research 121

Perspective, and Readers Respond.

(36) TESOL Quarterly

Editor: Sandra Mckay

Department of English
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132
U.S.A.

TESOL Quarterly invites manuscripts that bridge the gap between

theory and practice in language learning and teaching.
Appropriate areas of submission include curriculum design and
development, methods, materials, and techniques, issues in
research and research methodology, testing and evaluation,
professional preparation, language planning, and professional
standards.

Other features: Book notices, brief reports and summaries, The

Forum which includes research and teaching issues.

(37) World Englishes

Editors: Braj B. Kachru Lany E. Smith

Dept. of Linguistics Institute of Culture
University of Illinois & Communications
4088 Foreign Languages East-West Center
Building 1777 East-West Road
707 South Mathews Ave. Honolulu, HI 96848
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
U.S.A.

World Englishes (WE) is devoted to the study of the forms and

functions of varieties of English, both native and non-native, in
diverse cultural and sociolinguistic contexts. Original
contributions on any aspect of English studies in the broadest
sense including language, literature, and methodology arc
Chapter
- -
6- - ~ - - - ---- ---- -
122

published. The emphasis 1s on data-based research with a

theoretical orientation.

Other features: Comments, symposia of special interest,

announcements, reports on research in progress, listings of
publications received and theses and dissertations.
Resources for research 123

Part Four: The Educational Resources

Information Center (ERIC)
A computerized literature search is a fast and comprehensive way
of retrieving literature on almost any topic in almost any field of
study. Many subject indexes which might normally be searched
in book form are searchable by the use of a computer. The
indexes on computer arc called databases. One of the maJor
databases in the field of education, in general, is ERIC.

What is BRIC?

The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is an

information system designed to provide users with ready access
to an extensive body of education-related literature. Established .
in 1966, ERIC is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education,
Office of Educational Research and improvement. ERIC
maintains a computerized database of education-related
documents and publishes a monthly abstract journal, Resources
in Education (RIE}, in which ERIC documents are announced and
to which over 8,000 libraries and resource centers are
subscribed. Each year over 450,000 on-line and CD-ROM
searches are conducted on the database.

Many libraries have now acquired a number of databases on CD

which can be searched by faculty members, staff and students.
ERIC is such a database that can be used by every one working
in an area of education. So, students of applied linguistics are
strongly encouraged to use this database in their research
projects.

ERIC consists of two subfiles: Resources in Education (RIE) and

Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE).

Re•urce• la INaoatloa (RYS)

The RYS subfile includes records of many different types of

Chapter 6 124
-- - ---- - ---- - - -- -- ~ - ~-- ----- -

documents: research/technical reports, conference papers,

conference proceedings, program descriptions, opinion papers,
bibliographies, state-of-the-art reviews, legal, legislative,
regulatory materials, dissertations, classification schemes,
teaching guides, curriculum materials, lesson plans, and course
descriptions. These documents are usually available in
microfiche form only, but paper copies can be ordered from the
ERIC Document Reproduction Service.

Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE)

The CIJE subfile includes records of journal articles and other

items contained in copyrighted serial publications. CIJE covers
approximately 800 journals that are either education-related or
that regularly contain education-related topics.

ERIC covers the following subject areas:

Adult, Career, and Vocational Education

Counseling and Personnel Services
Elementary and Early Childhood Education
Educational Management
Handicapped and Gifted Children
Higher Education
Infonnation Resources
Junior Colleges
Languages and Linguistics
Reading and Communication Skills
Rural Education and Small Schools
Sciences, Mathematics, and Environmental
Education
Teacher Education
Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation
Urban Education

The compact disk version of ERIC is called ERIC OnDisk, with

the full databw contained on two disks. RIE and CIJE records
are interfiled. Disk 1 contains records from 1966 to 1979. Disk 2
Resources for research - - - 125
- -- -- - - - - - - - --

contains records from 1980 to the present. Disk 2 is updated

every three months. All of the records are indexed using the
controlled vocabulary of the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors.

One of the 16 ERIC Clearinghouses, ERIC/CLL collects and

disseminates information on current developments in education
research, instructional methods and materials, program design
and evaluation, teacher training, and assessment in the following
areas:

• English as a second or foreign language

• Foreign Languages
• Psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics
• Theoretical and applied linguistics
• Bilingualism and bilingual education
• Intercultural communication and cultural education
• Study abroad and international exchange

How to do a search. in ERIC?

There are two ways in which a computer search can be

conducted. The newest and most popular method of searching
involves the use of a Compact Disk, often called Compact Disk-
Read Only Memory (CD-ROIi). This CD is identical in
appearance to the audio compact disks which contain music. The
technology is also the same, except that the information stored
on the CD-ROM is •textual.• One compact disk can hold the same
amount of information that can be stored on 1,500 floppy disks,
or approximately 275,000 pages of printed text. The disk is
scanned for information by a laser beam contained in the
compact disk player in the computer. A computer works by
combining various subject headings together to create a
a
customized bibliography on specific topic. A search that would
normally take hours of manual searching in a paper subject
index can be accomplished by the computer in a few minutes.

Not all databases are stored on CD-ROM. Thus, the database can
still be searched by logging on to a mainframe computer and
Chapter 6 126
- - - - - --- -- - ----- -

searching remotely. This type of computer search is usually

conducted by a librarian trained in the use of various search
system commands.

After you choose your topic of research, you can locate a library
subscribed to ERIC. Using the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors,
you find the appropriate keywords from the book. By entering the
keywords or a combination of the key words, the computer will
search and provide you with all the abstracts available on the
selected topic. The abstracts started with EJ are those that you
can find the whole articles in journals. However, those started
with ED are documents like conference papers. These documents
are available in the library in microfiche form, but paper copies
can be ordered from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service.

Other Databases
Other databases related to the filed of applied linguistics are (1)
PsycLIT and (2) Dissertations Abstracts on disk.

(1) PsycLIT

PaycLIT is the compact disk version of Psychological Abstracts.

This database provides access to the international literature in
psychology and related behavioral and social sciences, including
psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, education and linguistics.
The following fields are covered:

applied psychology
developmental psychology
educational psychology
experimental human and animal psychology
personality
physical and psychological disorders
physiological psychology and inteivention
professional personnel and issues
psychometrics
 Resources for research 127

social processes and issues

sports psychology and leisure
treatment and prevention

Material in PsycLIT represents substantive articl~s selected on

the basis of relevance to psychology from approXllllately 1,3~0
journals and technical reports published throu~out tJ:ie world 1n
over 20 languages. Citations to U.S. dissertations from
Dissertation Abstracts lnt,e rnational are also included.

The PsycLIT database is stored on two compact disks. The first

disk covers the years 1974 to 1982, with the second disk
covering the period 1983 to the present. An updated d!sk is
supplied every three months. Virtually all of the records m the
database are accompanied by abstracts. All of the records are
indexed using the controlled vocabulary of the Thesaurus of
Psycholoeical Index Terms.

(2) Dissertations Abstracts On disk

Dissertations Abstracts On disk is a definitive subject, title and

author guide to virtually every American dissertation accepted at
an accredited institution since 1861, when academic doctoral
degrees were first granted in the United States. In addition,
citations for thousands of Canadian dissertations, and an
increasing number of papers accepted abroad, are included in
the database. Professional and honorary degrees are not
included. All subject areas are covered. The database includes
b.oth bibliographic citations and abstracts for titles published
since July 1980. Abstracts are not included for dissertations
prior to July 1980. The full database is contained on four
compact disks, each covering a specific range of years.

Dissertation Abstracts International is the paper equivalent of

Diuertation Abstracts On disk. The index contains an author
and a subject index and can be searched back to 1861.
References
American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of
the American Psychological Association (4th ed .).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Ary, 0., Jacobs, L.C., & Razavieh, A.. (1996). Introduction to

research in education. (5th ed.). Orlando, FL: Harcourt
Brace College Publishers.

Berthoff, A. (1981). The making of meaning: Metaphors, models,

and maxims for writing teachers. Upper Montclair, NJ:
Boynton/ Cook.

Creme, P., & Lea, M.R. (1997). Writing at university: A guide for
students. UK: Open University Press.

DiPardo, A. & Freedman, S.W. (1988). Peer response groups in

the writing classroom: Theoretical foundations and new
directions. Review of Educational Research, 58, 119-149.

Gillies, A. (1992). Research for empowerment: Tanzanian women

explore alternative research methods. Voice Rising, 1, 10-
12.

Hatch, E., & Farhady, H. (1982). Research design and statistics

for applied linguistics. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Lester, J. D. (1994). Writing research papers: A complete guide. (6th

ed.). Austin, TX: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

Locke, L.F., Spirduso, W.W., & Silverman, S.J. (1987). Proposals

that work: A guide /or planning dissertations and grant
proposals. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Mendonca, C.O. & Johnson, K.E. (1994). Peer review

negotiations: Revision activities in ESL writing instruction.
TESOL Quarterly, 28, 7 45-769.

Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis:

An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
References 129

Riazi , A.M. (1999) . A dictionary of res earch methods: Quantitative

and qualitative. Tehran: Rahnama Publications.

Riazi, A. M. (1997). Acquiring disciplinary liter acy: A social-

cognitive analysis of text production and learning among
Iranian graduate students of education. Journal of Second
Language Writing, 6(2), 105-137.

Seliger, H.W. & Shohamy, E. (1989). Second language res earch

methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Stanley, J. (1992). Coaching student writers to be effective peer

evaluators. Journal of Second Language Writing, 1, 21 7 -
233.

Weissberg, R. & Buker, S. (1990). Writing up research·

Experimental research report writing for stude nts of
English. Englewood, Cliffs, NJ: Printice Hall.
 Appendix A

A Sample Proposal *

•This proposal was prepared by my MA student Miss Khatereh Yazdanpanah

whose MA thesis I supervised. It was submitted to the Department of Foreign
Languages and Linguistics at Shiraz University in 1998 in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for her MA degree in TEFL. The completed thesis received the
Excellent Award by the thesis committee.
Sample proposal 131

This is the cover pase usually attached to the proposals. It

contains th~ title of the thesis project student's name and
· probably date and department.

OK THE EFFECT OF TASK-TYPB OK

LISTERIKG COMPREHENSION llf Alf
IKl'ORIIATIOR-PROCESSllfG PERSPECTIVE

A
Thesis Proposal

Prepared by

Khatcreh Yazdanpanah
Appendix A 132
a

In the introduction section, the author moves from general

propositions on listening comprehension to specific focus on the
important constructs involved in the process of listening. In the first
paragraph; a brief vignette from history effectively captures the
reader's attention. In the second paragraph~ the author further
attracts the reader's interest by referring to the theories focusing on
the mental processes. The next two paragraphs briefly report the
empirical studies on LC within Anderson's framework. Because of
this, we do not see a separate section for literature review in this
proposal, The fifth paragraph draws upon language learning
strategies and their role in listening comprehension and a
justification for the present study. Note that the introduction
immediately acquaints the reader with the topic, and leaves
extensive detail for later sections of the proposal.

INTRODUCTION

It was not until the late 1940s that listening was considered as
a field of investigation as a result of the works of the "fathers of
listening" such as Brown, Nichols, and. Weaver (Feyten, 1991, p .
173). Nowadays, listening has become the groundwork of some
of the theories that focus on the early stages of language
acquisition (see, for example, Asher, 1969; James, 1984;
Krashen et al. , 1984; Winitz, 1978; Wipf, 1984). The underlying
assumption of these theories is that language can be acquired
through exposure to authentic and comprehensible input which
can mostly be accomplished through listening.
On the other hand, there are some other theories focusing
on the mental processes taking place during listening
comprehension (LC). As Greenberg and Roscoe ( 1993) state,
these theories view LC as an active mental process through
which utterances are taken as input to the short-term memory
(STM), which is responsible for the identification of utterance.s ,
and are stored in long-term memory (LTM) .
Sample proposal 133

O'Malley et al. ( 1989) in a study empirically investigated the

three phases of LC proposed by Anderson (1980, 1983). Using
11 Hispanic subjects, designated as effective and ineffective
listeners, they indic ated that t he strategies subjects used were
parallel to what Anderson had proposed. Additionally, the three
strategies of self-monitoring, elaboration, and inference
differentiated effective from ineffective listeners.
Bacon ( 19 92a, 1992b) experimented the three phases of LC
proposed by Anderson using a familiar and an unfami1iar
passage . The results revealed that subjects made little use of
advance organizers during the perceptual pha..~ and efficient
use of background knowledge during the utilization phase .
Moreover, language learning strategies (LLSs) have been
integrated into information processing models in order to study
them from a cognitive point of view (O'Malley & Chamot, 1995) .
However, Vogely ( 19 95) believes that researchers still have a
long way to e mpiric ally validate the relationship between theory
and what language learners actually do while listening for
comprehension.

Here the author reveals the purpose of the stndy. As you will note,
later in the proposal a problem and its related research questions
also are stated.

The purpose of this study. as such, is to determine how

listening comprehension takes place in the minds of EFL
learners by the help of LC strategies within the framework of an
information processing model.
Appendix A 134
- - - -- - - - ---- ---

1n tho following section, the author explains the tbemctical frame.

work orfhc.-study. This will help ~ ~ t o direct their attention .
: '8dDaDVW'1 heit~~
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

There are various models for representing the underlying

competence of human beings in language production and
comprehension. Some examples of these models are, bottleneck
model (Broadbent, 1958; cited in Robinson, 1995), rational task
analysis (Gagne & Paradise, 1961; cited in O'Malley & Chamot,
1995), attenuated filter model (Tresiman, 1964; cited in
Robinson, 1995), late selection theories (Norman, 1968;
Watanbe, 1982), interrelated procedural networks (Brown &
Burton, 1978), and production systems (Anderson, 1980, 1983,
1985). This study uses Anderson's production systems to see
how LC strategies can be integrated into this model. The reason
for using this model is that concepts from other fields have been
integrated into it giving it more generality than other models. In
addition, the theory has been continually revised and updated.
Moreover, by means of strategic processing it would be possible
to describe how information is processed from the perspective of
this theory.
In Anderson's model (1983, 1985), information is
processed during three stages and a production system is used
to point out the mechanism of these stages. According to this
model, the initial stage of learning is the cognitive stage through
which learning talces place actively and consciously and what is
acquired is declarative knowledge. During the second stage of
l e ~ t h e associated stage-errors are discovered and
removed from declarative knowledge. It is at this stage that
learners proceed from declarative knowledge to procedural
knowledge. The last stage of learning, according to Anderson's
model, is the autonomous stage. During this stage, errors that
binder performance are eliminated and the performance of a
Sample proposal 135

skill becomes automatic with less processing demands on the

STM or consciousness. Accordingly, as learners become more
proficient in learning a second or a foreign language, less
conscious processmg 1s needed for comprehension or
production.
As for comprehension (listening or reading) , Anderson
( 1983, 1985) proposes three stages: perceptual processing,
parsing, and utilization. During perceptual process ing,
attention is focused on the physical representation of
information which can be in written or oral form. This process
takes place in the STM which is capacity limited. At the second
stage, individual words in the working memory match with their
representation in the declarative lmowledge stored in LTM .
Finally, at the third stage, elaboration takes place which relates
the mental representation of the information to the declarative
knowledge in the LTM .

The author states the general purpose or research problem of the

study here. Then based on the general problem. the specific
research questions arc stated.

OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study intends to investigate how learners process

familiar/ unfamiliar information in a visual and non-visual
situation. That is, how listeners process familiar and unfaroiJiar
information when their schemata is activated through visual
aids and when they are deprived of the visual aid. In particular,
this study aims at investigating how different task-types
namely, fami1iar/unfarni1iar and visual/non-visual tasks affect
the LC process by using Anderson's phases of LC as a model.
The study, therefore, seeks answers to the following
questions:
Appendix A

Research queationa

1- Is there any diffe ren ce among the learners' <'omp.rch c n 8ion

in any of the three tasks?
2- Is there any diffe ren ce in the proportion of th e learn <- rs' Utie
of cognitive and m etacognitive strategj 8 in ·urh of th
three tasks?
3- Is there any re lations hip between the type of strategy u se
and learners' comprehension in any of the three taRk:i?
4- Is there any differen ce in the w ay informa tion is proce ~'K!d
in the three tasks?

As c an be seen, none of the s tudie s stated a bove ha ve

compared how learners process unfamiliar inf ormation in a
visual and non-visual situation and how this migh t affect
mental processes and strategies. In this perspec tive, ther efore,
the present study gains significance as the re sult s can s h ed
more light on the proces ses involved in LC .

METHOD
Participants

This study will be conducted with 10 TEFL gradua te students

studying at the Department of Foreign Languages and
Linguistics of Shiraz University. The re ason for selecting these
students is that they will be required to perform think-alouds
and it is believed that graduate students would better explain
the processes they go through while comprehending a passage .
The participants will be chosen on the basis of their scores on
a TO EFL LC test. The ten top ones will be chosen.

Materiala

Three passages will be used in this study. One passage will be

used as a warm-up to teach think-aloud procedure to the
participants. The passage contains 122 words with the
readability of 69.5. The passage is taken from Rivers and
Temperley (1978, p. 89) (see appendix A) .
Sample proposal 137

The two other passages will be used in the main srudy. The
content of one passage is unfamiHar to the participants. These
two passages are both about two famous religious personalities
in the Islamic and Catholic traditions (see appendix B). The
passages are the ones used by Carroll (1987) . The passage in
Catholic religion will be accompanied by a series of drawings
used as visual aids. All the three passages are tape recorded by
a female American native speaker.

Data collection and analysis procedures

Each individual will attend a warm-up session prior to the

actual data collection. The purpose of this warm-up is to
familiarize the participants with the data collection procedures.
In case, it is felt necessary more practice sessions will be
arranged.
After the practice sessions, participants will be exposed to
the main passages. Appropriate pauses will be given so that
participants can report what processes they go through.
Participants in the study will randomly be divided into two
groups. Both groups will receive familiar text first. However, for
the unfamiliar text, one group will receive a pictorial
representation of the unfamiliar text prior to listening to the
passage. The other group will not rec~ive the visual aid before
listening to the tmfamiliar text. All the participants will listen
to the familiar text first and then to the unfamiliar one. The
order of listening will not be counter-balanced since according
to Bacon's ( 1992a) study, listening to the unfamiliar (difficult)
text first will have an effect on how to report on the familiar
(easy) text, making them explain more on the familiar text. The
participants will be allowed to use their mother tongue
(Persian) or English to report their mental processes.
After listening to each passage, and performing the think-
aloud, the participants will write a recall on the text in English.
One score will be assigned for each proposition recalled.
Appendix A 138
--- ----

In the following section, the focns is on data analysis. More

detail would help many readers. It would b~ particulatly
helpful if the author had discussed the analysis in light of each
research questions stated earlier. In particular, while it is easy
to guess that qualitative analysis will consist of ~acting
themes, a commonly employed: technique in qualitative
studies, the matter is inadequately introduced and left aJmo~ as
.an·afterthought to the data collection stage.

Data analysis

After the required data are collected, an ANOVA will be run to

find out if task-type affects participants' comprehension. Also
participants' uses of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in
the three tasks will be analyzed. The relationship between
participants' use of strategies and their comprehension will
form another analysis of the data. Finally, to answer the
fourth question, a qualitative analysis will be carried out on
the reports from the think-aloud protocols.

OUTLINE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This study will be organized in a thesis with the following

chapters:
Chapter One: Introduction in which the problem under study
will be introduced, significance of the study and research
questions will be presented as well.
Chapter Two: Literature review in which the most outstanding
models of information processing along with their strong and
weak points will be discussed. Anderson's model will be
explained. Empirical studies will be reviewed in this chapter
as well.
Sample proposal 139

Chapter Three: Method of the study in which some

information about the participants will be provided. The
procedures of data collection and analyses will also be
introduced.
Chapter Four: Results and findings in which the re~ts of the
study will be presented in appropriate tables and figures.
Chapter Five: Summary, discussions, and conclusions in
which the study will be summarized, the findings will be
discussed, and some implications based on the findings of the
study will be presented.

REFERENCES
Anderson, J. R. ( 1980) . Cognitive psychology and its
implications. San Francisco, CA: Freeman.

Anderson, J .R. (1983) . The architecture of cognition.

Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Anderson, J . R. ( 1985). Cognitive psychology and its

implications. (2nd ed) . NewYork, NY: Freeman.

Asher, J .J. ( 1969). The total physical response approach to

second language learning. Modem Language
Journal, 53, 3-1 7 .

Bacon, S.M. (1992a) . The relationship between gender,

comprehension processing strategies, and cognitive
and affective response in foreign language listening.
ModemLanguageJoumal, 76, 161-178.

Bacon, S.M. ( 1992b). Authentic listening in Spanish: How

learners adjust their strategies to the difficulty of
the input. Hispania, 75, 398-412.

Broadbent, D.E. (1958). Perception and communication. New

York, NY: Pergamon Press.
Appendix A 140
- - - - - - - - - - -----

Carrell, P.L. (1987) . Content and formal schemata in

reading. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 461-81 .

Feyten, C. M. ( 1991). The power of listening ability: An

overlooked dimension in language acquisition.
Modem Language Journal, 75, 173-80.

Gagne, E.D., & Paradise, N.E. (1961). Abilities and learning

sets in knowledge acquisition. Psychological
Monographs: General and Applied, 75, Whole No.
518.

Greenberg, S .N., & Roscoe, S . (1993) . Echoic memory

interference and comprehension in a foreign
language. Language Leaming, 38, 209-19.

J aines, C .J . ( 1984). Are you listening? The practical

components of listening comprehension. Foreign
Language Annals, 1 7, 129-33.

Krashen, S .D., Terrell, T.D., Ehrman, M.E., & Herzog, M.

( 1984) . A theoretical base for teaching receptive
skills. Foreign Language Annals, 1 7, 261-7 5.

Norman, D.A. (1968) . Toward a theory of memory and

attention. Psychological Review, 84, 522-38.

O'Malley, J .M., & Cham.at, A.U. (1995). Leaming strategies

in second language acquisition. New York, NY:
Cam.bridge University Press.

O'Malley, J .M., Cham.ot, A.U., & Kupper , L. (1989).

Listening comprehension strategies in second
language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 10, 418-
37.
Rivers, W.M., & Temperely, M.S. (1978) . A practical guide to
the teaching of English as a second or foreign
language. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Sample proposal 141

Robinson, P. (1995). Attention, memory, and the "noticing"

hypothesis. Language Leaming, 45, 283-331 .

Tresiman, A.M . ( 1964). Verbal cues, language. and meaning

in selective attention. American Journal of
Psychology, 77, 533-546.

Vogely, A. (1995) . Perceived strategy use during

performance on three authentic listening
comprehension tasks. Modem Language Journal,
79, 41-56.

Watanabe, Y . (1982) . Selective listening and attention.

Japanese Psychological Review, 23, 335-354.

Winitz, H . (1978) . Comprehension and language learning.

In C.H. Blatchford and J . Schachter (Eds.), On
TESOL 78: EFL policies, programs, practices (pp. 49-
56) . Washington, DC: Teachers of English to
Speakers of Other Languages.

Wipf, J .A. (1984). Strategies for teaching second language

listening comprehension. Foreign Language Annals,
17, 345-48.
App~ndix A 142
------------- - --- ·- -------------··-·-·- ·------ - -· ---- -

Appendix A: Warm-up paaaaie

Th huge sno,vfall in Northen1 Califon1iA is good n "WS for

framers out there. In San Francisco the biggt!St snowfall in 89
years came as a surprise. The drought' hns got so bAd in
Califonlia that y,e sterday in San Francisco Roman Catholics
,vere asked to pray for rain. This mon1ing when SAn Francisco
woke up it was snowing-the biggest snow in San Francisco
this century laid a couple of teet of snow in the Sierra Nevada
mow1tains which had been woefully short. Winter sports can
finally get going again. Ski resorts had · been paralyzed.
Ranchers had sold off their cattle prematurely. Agriculture in
California had lost three hundred million dollars before the
snow and the rain which has finally started to come.

Appendix B: Familiar passage

Ali Affani
There once was a young man nruned Ali Affani. He lived in
Jidda with his widowed mother. Towards the end of the year
405, young Ali's mother agreed that he could go to Mecca as all
young men do. While in the desert, on his way to Mecca,
something happened which made young Ali unfit to continue
his trip. Believing that his trip has begun badly, he returned to
Jidda Upon returning to Jidda, young Ali found his mother
sitting in the street, crying and tearing her clothes and hair like
a crazy women. She told Ali that since he had left, she had been
in the street. She would not enter the house without her son.
Ali really wanted to go to Mecca, but could not leave her sitting
outside, so he stayed home.
Ali was finally able to go to Mecca, several years later, after
his mother died in the year of 420. Ali spent the rest of his life
in the sanctuary, Al-Haram, in the holy city. He only left once
each day to buy food. He did not need to buy water because
God provided it. As an old man, Ali was veiy religious and
prayed constantly. Each day he would recite the Koran while
walking around Kabba a number of times. In the sanctuary in
Mecca, whenever Ali walked around the Kabba, he would show
Sample proposal 143

his respect to the precious stone. Ali died in the Great Mosque,
his home for thirty years.

Appendix B: UnfamWar p-age

Saint Catherine
About six hwidred years ago, there was a young woman named
Catherine. She lived with her parents in Italy. As a young child,
because she was born on the Feast of the Annunciation,
Catherine loved the Blessed Mother and the holy family very
much. Whenever she climbed up or down stairs, she would
kneel on each step and say a Hail Macy. She never went
anywhere without her rosary. When she was sixteen years old,
a rich man was eager to many Catherine. Her parents liked him
and wanted her to many him, hut Catherine did not want to.
After refusing to many the rich man, Catherine told her parents
she wanted to become the bride of Christ. Her parents were
angry but they finally agreed. When she was twenty-one years
old, Catherine joined the Dominican order. She worked in the
hospitals with the other young women of the order. When she
was not nursing the sick, she was at Mass. One day, on Ash
Wednesday, after receiving communion as a Dominican,
Catherine had a remarkable vision. When looking at the cross,
five blood red rays of light came from the cross and touched her
hands, feet, and chest. After her vision, Catherine fainted. She
got better quickly, but the scars remained o:i her body for the
rest of her life. This was not long, however; she died when she
was thirty-three. Because of this, and other remarkable things
about her life, she is known today as Saint Catherui.e .
144

INDEX

A E
a cadem ic disc ipline, 2 edit, 42. 45
advisor, 2, 3, 13 editing, 74 1 75 1 76 1 83, 85
a nnotated bibliography, 12 ERIC,33 1 34 1 95 1 97,98 1 124, 126,
APA , 3 1, 52, 66, 71 , 74, 77 127
applied linguistics, 9, JO, 14, 94, 95, 97, ethnographies, / 7
102. 105. 108. IJJ. l/2, /20.124.126, experimen ta1 designs, 17
127 exploratory studies, 61
area of interest, 9, JO, 11, 12, 19, 95
a r ea o f s p ecializa tion , JO
G
B graduate program, 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 42

behaviorism, 58
Boolean logic, 3 5
H
hypotheses,/5,/9, 4~ 59, 60, 61, 62
C Hypothesis, 20

c ase studies, / 7
CD, 33
I
c hecklist, 76 indexes, 32, 95, 97
c ognitive processes, 14 instruments, 26, 28, 63, 72
c omputer network, 33 Internet, 33
compute r search, 32, 34 interviews, 28
con ceptual framework, 48, 57, 58
corre lational studies, 17, 18
L
D literature review, 12, 46, 49, 50, 55, 56,
66
database, 32, 12 7
declarative, 17, 27
directional hypothesis, 61 M
disciplinary, 13, 14 method, 16, 17, 42, 47, 52, 62, 64, 65, 66
disciplines, 14
Dissertation Abstracts OnDisc, 33, 127
di~tion,2, 3, 4, ~ 6, 31 0
draft, 42, 44, 74, 75, 76, 84 offiine, 32, 33
drafting,42, 45, 73 onlinc,32
one-tailed hypothesis, 62
145

p
participants, 62 research questions, 19, 48, 58, 59, 6/,
participant obseIVation, 17 62
participants, 24, 28 research reports, 31 , 36
PC,33 revise, 42, 45
pilot study, /_2 revising, 74, 75
Problem. 9, 19 resources, 5, 6, I 0, 26, 94, 95, 96
procedural, 27
proofreading, 76
proposal, 2 , 6, 7, 31, 38, 39, 42, 43,
s
44, 45, 46, 4 7, 48, 49, 57, 59, 61, sampling, 63
62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 73, 74, 75, skills, JO
76, 77, 78, 84, 86, 87 small-scale-replication, 12
PsycLff, 33, 95, 127, 128 social interactionism, 58
Purpose, 20 socialization, 2
sources, 2, 3, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 24,
2~ 3~ 32, 35, 36, 38, 39, 62, 64, 66
Q statistical analysis, 65
qualitative data, 64, 65 structuralism, 58
qualitative research, 16 supeIVisor, 76
quantitative data, 64 SUIVeys, /7
quantitative research, 16, 63
Question, 20
questionnaires, 28, 63
T
tasks,2,3,9,/~ 30, 46, 74
R TESOL,96, 102,104,110,117,
• 1 18 121, 122
I

references,2,6, 31,34,35,47,48, theoretical framework 27, 46, 58, 61

49,53,66
research, 2,3,6,9, IO, 11,12, 13, 14,15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,
28, 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48,
49, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 65,
66, 69, 72
research articles, 2, 12, 14
research methods, 17,24,25, 27
research papers, 31, 32
research problem, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19,
23, 25, 27, 30, 38, 43, 45, 48, 55, 56, 59,
61, 63, 65
research process,16,2~3~31
research project, 9, Jl, 14, 15
theories, 15, 20, 22, 27
theory,15
thesis, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 31, 32, 38. 39.
42, 43, 44, 49, 65, 70, 72
topic, 2, 4, 6, 9, ll, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
19, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 32, 34, 35. 36, 38
t-test, 65
two-tailed hypothesis, 62
w
working bibliography, 28, 30, 35, J6