Ethical and Methodological Issues in Researching Young Language Learners in School Contexts

Edited by Dr. Annamaria Pinter, Kuchah Kuchah

Publication date:

10 May 2021

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781800411425

This book focuses on ethical and methodological issues faced by researchers working with young language learners in formal school contexts. It uncovers and explicitly discusses a range of ethical dilemmas, challenges and experiences that researchers have encountered and grappled with, in studies of all kinds from large scale, experimental studies to ethnographic studies focused on just a handful of children. The chapters are written by researchers working with children in different classroom contexts around the world and highlight how ethical dilemmas and tensions take on a complex form in child-focused research, requiring researchers to pay particular attention to the social and cultural norms of the different communities within which children are educated as well as their school-based experiences. The book comprises three sections, with the first part focused on involving children as active participants in research; part two on ethical challenges in multilingual contexts and part three on links between teacher education and researching children. The book includes a critical discussion of the opportunities and challenges associated with applying the UNCRC (1989) document in second language research with children which will be of use to any researcher working in this area.

Contributors

Chapter 1. Kuchah Kuchah and Annamaria Pinter: Researching Young Language Learners in School Contexts: Setting the Scene

PART 1: ENCOURAGING CHILDREN TO PLAY ACTIVE ROLES

Chapter 2. Yuko Goto Butler: Researching with Children as an Opportunity for Active and Interactive Learning: Lessons from a Digital Game Design Project

Chapter 3. Samaneh Zandian: Constructing Joint Understandings of Research with Children

Chapter 4. María del Pilar García Mayo: ‘Are you coming back? It was fun’: Turning Ethical and Methodological Challenges into Opportunities in Task-based Research with Children

PART 2: RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN IN MULTILINGUAL CONTEXTS

Chapter 5. Victoria A. Murphy: Social Justice and Questions of Marginalization in Research with Linguistically Diverse Children

Chapter 6. Gail Prasad: Reframing Expertise: Learning with and from Children as Co-investigators of their Plurilingual Practices and Experiences

Chapter 7. Nayr Ibrahim: Artefactual Narratives of Multilingual Identity: Methodological and Ethical Considerations in Researching Children

Chapter 8. Jane Andrews: "I don’t want to talk any more": Reflecting on Research into Young Children's Perspectives on their Multilingual Lives

Chapter 9. Kuchah Kuchah and Lizzi O. Milligan: Navigating Cultural and Methodological Complexities in Research with Children in a Sub-Saharan African Context

PART 3: TEACHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN

Chapter 10. Gail Ellis and Nayr Ibrahim: Teachers' Image of the Child in an ELT Context

Chapter 11. Rama Mathew and Annamaria Pinter: Children and Teachers as Co-researchers in Indian Classrooms: Some Ethical Issues

Chapter 12. Sandie Mourão: The Ethical Practices of Collecting Informed Consent from Child Participants in Action Research Projects

Chapter 13: Annamaria Pinter and Kuchah Kuchah: Revisiting and Expanding Opportunities for Participatory Research with Young Learners in School Contexts

Index

The book is an excellent resource for anyone contemplating research focused on young linguistically diverse learners, and those in multilingual classrooms. Not only are readers given critical insights into issues of social justice, marginalisation and ethics to guide the research process but children’s rights are also highlighted for a better understanding of possible areas for concern.