Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:17:14.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Using Time-Series Research Designs to Investigate the Effects of Instruction on SLA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

J. Dean Mellow ,
Kenneth Reeder  and
Elizabeth Forster
J. Dean Mellow
Affiliation:
Northern Arizona University
Kenneth Reeder
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
Elizabeth Forster
Affiliation:
Langley School District, British Columbia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This paper argues that the study of second language acquisition theory and pedagogy can be enhanced through the use of time-series research designs. As quasi-experiments, time-series designs have features that improve internal validity. In addition, because these designs only require a small number of subjects, they are very practical, encouraging a greater number of empirical investigations of the many claims within the field and permitting the use of authentic measures that have high construct validity. The longitudinal nature of the designs also enhances construct validity, potentially yielding new insights into the effects of instruction on SLA. The designs utilized in two time-series studies (Kennedy, E., 1988, The Oral Interaction of Native Speakers and Non-Native Speakers in a Multicultural Preschool: A Comparison between Freeplay and Contrived NS/NSS Dyads, unpublished master's thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Mellow, J. D., 1996, April, A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Instruction on the Development of Article Use by Adult Japanese ESL Learners, unpublished manuscript, University of British Columbia, Vancouver) are reviewed in order to illustrate the design features, the questions that may be investigated, and the issues that are raised in interpreting data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 325 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andersen, R. (1982). Determining the linguistic attributes of language attrition. In Lambert, R. & Freed, B. (Eds.), The loss of language skills (pp. 83–118). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Bachman, L. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1993, 10). The acquisition of tense and aspect in the instructional setting: Rate, route, and the association of form and meaning. Paper presented at the 22nd University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Linguistics Symposium, Milwaukee.Google Scholar
Barlow, D., & Hersen, M. (1984). Single-case experimental design strategies for studying behavior change, 2nd ed.New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Borg, W., & Gall, M. (1989). Educational research: An introduction, 5th ed.New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Breen, M. (1987). Contemporary paradigms in syllabus design, Parts 1 and 2. Language Teaching, 20, 81–92, 157–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bromley, D. (1986). The case-study method in psychology and related disciplines. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Busk, P., & Marascuilo, L. (1992). Statistical analysis in single-case research: Issues, procedures, and recommendations, with applications to multiple behaviors. In Kratochwill, T. & Levin, J. (Eds.), Single-case research design and analysis: New directions for psychology and education (pp. 159–185). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cadierno, T. (1992). Explicit instruction in grammar: A comparison of input based and output based instruction in second language acquisition. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Celce-Murcia, M. (1991). Grammar pedagogy in second and foreign language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 459–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, A. (1975). Forgetting a second language. Language Learning, 25, 127–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collier, V. (1992). The Canadian bilingual immersion debate: A synthesis of research findings. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14, 87–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, T., & Campbell, D. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Crookes, G. (1993). Action research for second language teachers: Going beyond teacher research. Applied Linguistics, 14, 130–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummins, J. (1987). Immersion programs: Current issues and future directions. In Stewin, L. L. & McCann, S. J. H. (Eds.), Contemporary educational issues: The Canadian mosaic (pp. 192–206). Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman.Google Scholar
Day, E., & Shapson, S. (1991). Integrating formal and functional approaches to language teaching in French immersion: An experimental study. Language Learning, 41, 25–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgington, E. (1992). Nonparametric tests for single-case experiments. In Kratochwill, T. & Levin, J. (Eds.), Single-case research design and analysis: New directions for psychology and education (pp. 133–157). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (1989). Sources of intra-learner variability in language use and their relationship to second language acquisition. In Gass, S., Madden, C., Preston, D., & Selinker, L. (Eds.), Variation in second language acquisition: Vol. 2. Psycholinguistic issues (pp. 22–45). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual matters.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (1990). Instructed second language acquisition: Learning in the classroom. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Flahive, D., Noone, L., & Burgamy, R. (1982, 05). Experimental research in the ESL classroom: A time-series approach. Paper presented at the 16th TESOL Conference,Honolulu.Google Scholar
Fraser, C. (1993). Word comprehension and word learning in second language reading: An instructional study. Unpublished manuscript, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Toronto.Google Scholar
Frederiksen, N., Mislevy, R. J., & Bejar, I. I. (Eds.). (1993). Test theory for a new generation of tests. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Gardner, R., Lalonde, R., & MacPherson, J. (1985). Social factors in second language attrition. Language Learning, 35, 519–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, G., Wilson, V., & Gottman, J. (1975). Design and analysis of time-series experiments. Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press.Google Scholar
Gregg, K. (1984). Krashen's Monitor and Occam's Razor. Applied Linguistics, 5, 79–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregg, K. (1990). The variable competence model of second language acquisition and why it isn't. Applied Linguistics, 11, 364–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregg, K. (1993). Taking explanation seriously; or, let a couple of flowers bloom. Applied Linguistics, 14, 276–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammerly, H. (1992). The need for directed language learning in the FL classroom: A response to Collier. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 14, 215–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handscombe, J. (1990). The complementary roles of researchers and practitioners in second language education. In Harley, B., Allen, P., Cummins, J., & Swain, M. (Eds.), The development of second language proficiency (pp. 181–186). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harley, B. (1989). Functional grammar in French immersion: A classroom experiment. Applied Linguistics, 10, 331–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatch, E., & Lazarton, A. (1991). The research manual: Design and statistics for applied linguistics. New York: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Hedgcock, J. (1991). Foreign language retention and attrition: A study of maintenance patterns among adult learners of Spanish. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hedgcock, J. (1994, 03). Memory and transfer effects in L2 attrition: An analysis of forms that “stick” and forms that don't. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Baltimore, MD.Google Scholar
Huebner, T. (1979). Order-of-acquisition vs. dynamic paradigm: A comparison of method in interlanguage research. TESOL Quarterly, 13, 21–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kadia, K. (1988). The effect of formal instruction on monitored and on spontaneous naturalistic interlanguage performance: A case study. TESOL Quarterly, 22, 509–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazdin, A. (1982). Single-case research designs: Methods for clinical and applied settings. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kennedy, E. (1988). The oral interaction of native speakers and non-native speakers in a multicultural preschool: A comparison between freeplay and contrived NS/NNS dyads. Unpublished master's thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Krashen, S. (1992). Under what circumstances, if any, should formal grammar instruction take place? TESOL Quarterly, 26, 409–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krashen, S. (1993). The effect of formal grammar teaching: Still peripheral. TESOL Quarterly, 27, 722–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kratochwill, T. (Ed.). (1978). Single subject research: Strategies for evaluating change. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kratochwill, T., & Levin, J. (Eds.). (1992). Single-case research design and analysis: New directions for psychology and education. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Krishef, C. (1991). Fundamental approaches to single subject design and analysis. Malabar, FL: Krieger.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1991). Second language acquisition research: Staking out the territory. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 315–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M. (1991). An introduction to second language acquisition research. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. (1990). Focus-on-form and corrective feedback in communicative language teaching: Effects on second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12, 429–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. (1993). How languages are learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Long, M. (1983). Does second language instruction make a difference? A review of research. TESOL Quarterly, 17, 359–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. (1988). Instructed interlanguage development. In Beebe, L. (Ed.), Issues in second language acquisition: Multiple perspectives (pp. 115–141). New York: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Long, M. (1993). Assessment strategies for second language acquisition theories. Applied Linguistics, 14, 225–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M., & Crookes, G. (1992). Three approaches to task-based syllabus design. TESOL Quarterly, 26, 27–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marascuilo, L., & Busk, P. (1988). Combining statistics for multiple-baseline AB and replicated ABAB designs across subjects. Behavioral Assessment, 10, 1–28.Google Scholar
McCleary, R., & Hay, R. (1980). Applied time series analysis for the social sciences. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, B. (1990). Restructuring. Applied Linguistics, 11, 113–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellow, J. D. (1992, 04). Towards a theory of second language transition: Implications from constrained studies of instruction and attrition. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, East Lansing, MI.Google Scholar
Mellow, J. D. (1996). A longitudinal study of the effects of instruction on the development of article use by adult Japanese ESL learners. Unpublished manuscript, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Mellow, J. D., & Fuller, J. (1995, 09). The effect of instruction on the ESL acquisition of noun phrase reference. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, Ithaca, NY.Google Scholar
Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
O'Malley, J., & Chamot, A. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pica, T. (1983). Methods of morpheme quantification: Their effect on the interpretation of second language data. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 6, 69–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pienemann, M. (1984). Psychological constraints on the teachability of language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 6, 109–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popper, K. (1959). The logic of scientific discovery. New York: Harper Torchbooks.Google Scholar
Reeder, K., & Shapiro, J. (1993). Relationships between early literate experience and knowledge and children's linguistic pragmatic strategies. Journal of Pragmatics, 19, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Revusky, S. (1967). Some statistical treatments compatible with individual organism methodology. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 10, 319–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richards, J., & Rodgers, T. (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Runkel, P. J. (1990). Casting nets and testing specimens: Two grand methods of psychology. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Schumann, J. (1978). Second language acquisition: The pidginization hypothesis. In Hatch, E. (Ed.), Second language acquisition: A book of readings (pp. 256–271). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Schumann, J. (1994, 05). The role of affect, motivation and cognition in second language acquisition: Implications for students/teachers. Paper presented at the 25th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, Vancouver.Google Scholar
Scribner, S., & Cole, M. (1981). The psychology of literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seliger, H., & Shohamy, E. (1989). Second language research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sharwood Smith, M. (1993). Input enhancement in instructed SLA: Theoretical bases. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 165–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shatz, M. (1983). Communication. In Mussen, P. (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 3, 4th ed., pp. 841–889). New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Spada, N., & Lightbown, P. (1993). Instruction and the development of questions in L2 classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15, 205–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, H. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stevens, J. (1986). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Strauss, S. (Ed.). (1982). U-shaped behavioral growth. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Strong, M. (1983). Social styles and the second language acquisition of Spanish-speaking kindergartners. TESOL Quarterly, 17, 241–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarone, E. (1987). Methodologies for studying variability in second language acquisition. In Ellis, R. (Ed.), Second language acquisition in context (pp. 35–46). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Tarone, E. (1993, 10). Second-language acquisition in a variationist framework. Paper presented at the 22nd University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Linguistics Symposium, Milwaukee.Google Scholar
Tarone, E., & Parrish, B. (1988). Task-related variation in interlanguage: The case of articles. Language Learning, 38, 21–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tawney, J., & Gast, D. (1984). Single subject research in special education. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.Google Scholar
Torranee, N., & Olson, D. (1985). Oral and literate competencies in the early school years. In Olson, D., Torranee, N., & Hildyard, A. (Eds.), Literacy, language and learning (pp. 256–284). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Valsiner, J. (Ed.). (1986). The individual subject and scientific psychology. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Els, T. (1986). An overview of European research on language attrition. In Weltens, B., de Bot, K., & van Els, T. (Eds.), Language attrition in progress (pp. 3–18). Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
VanPatten, B. (1993). Grammar teaching for the acquisition-rich classroom. Foreign Language Annals, 26, 435–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wampold, B., & Worsham, N. (1986). Randomization tests for multiple-baseline designs. Behavioral Assessment, 8, 135–143.Google Scholar
Weltens, B. (1987). The attrition of foreign-language skills: A literature review. Applied Linguistics, 8, 22–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weltens, B., & Cohen, A. (1989). Language attrition research: An introduction. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11, 227–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, L. (1991). Adverb placement in second language acquisition: Some effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom. Second Language Research, 7, 133–161.Google Scholar
Wilson, M. (1989). Saltus: A psychometric model of discontinuity in cognitive development. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 276–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong-Fillmore, L. (1982). The language learner as an individual. In Clarke, M. & Handscombe, J. (Eds.), On TESOL '82 (pp. 157–173). Washington, DC: TESOL.Google Scholar
Woods, A., Fletcher, P., & Hughes, A. (1986). Statistics in language studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yin, R. (1989). Case study research: Design and methods, rev. ed. Newbury Park: Sage.Google Scholar
Young, R. (1991). Variation in interlanguage morphology. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar