Project topics and materials
Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »
Classroom Observations
Classroom observations were another lens that I used in order to understand the purposively selected teachers‟ language behaviour and motivations. Observational data enables a researcher to gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation being described (Paton, 1990:200). Although I had initially planned to carry out structured observations as explained in my research proposal, I abandoned this idea at the data collection stage and opted for discursive observation, the reason for this being the fact that I was going to use observation not as a design type but as research tool. Henning, Van Rensburg and Smit (2004: 82) states that “observation may be brief and serve only as a discrete research tool for gathering information within a study that is not ethnographic.” Henning et al., (2004:96-97) maintain that observation for discourse analysis purposes is “focused on the research question, which will direct the researcher to be sensitive to issues of structure and form.” The researcher would be on the lookout for the following during data collection and analysis: language forms and other communication actions dominating a piece of discourse; discourse shapers such as symbols and signs shaping the backdrop to the inquiry; and the stage on which the social actors performed their roles. The researcher would then make conceptual links to connect what he/she hears and sees. The researcher‟s field notes would focus on what is not seen or recorded and as such would add another dimension to the analysis. Observations carry the risk of bias; factors involved may include, for example, the selective attention of the observer; participant reactivity; attention deficit; selective data entry, selective memory; interpersonal matters and counter-transference; expectancy effects; the number of observers, the problem of inference; and decisions on how to record (Shaughnessy, Zechmeister & Zeichmeister, in Cohen et al., 2007). The classroom observations were video-recorded by someone who specializes in videorecordings. He was briefed on the purpose of the task at hand and on how he was expected to carry it out. I visited the research sites with him and sat at the back of the class as a nonparticipant observer. The use of video-recording during the classroom observations and focused interviews strengthened the qualitatitive integrity of the study in that the recordings were accurate and comprehensive. They could be re-played to ensure accuracy of interpretation. Their advantage was that they captured both verbal and non-verbal behaviour.
Together with a student assistant, I transcribed the video-recorded lessons, the original copies being duplicated for safe-keeping. The advantage of transcribing the lessons myself emerged clearly at the time I was doing the analysis, as I could recall most of the content in the tapes. I then read through the transcribed lessons several times and made notes and comments where I observed interesting or relevant information on the teacher‟s classroom language practice. I kept going back to the literature chapter in search of answers to some of the questions that I raised as I was reading through the transcripts.
The interest displayed by the teachers in the study was a key reason for their selection for participation in the classroom observation. On average, three one-hour lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed for each teacher. A major consideration in the choice of participants was the proximity of the schools to my work situation and the fact that I wanted to work in subject fields to which I could relate.
Focused Interviews
Focused interviews, sometimes referred to as “discursively-oriented” interviews (Henning, 2004), concentrate on the respondent‟s subjective responses to a known situation, one which has been analysed by the interviewer prior to the interview. The data collected are employed to confirm or reject previously formulated hypotheses (Cohen et al., 2000:290). The major difference between this type of interview and the structured or semi-structured interview is its open-ended character and the fact that it can challenge the preconceptions of the researcher (May, 1993). It allows the interviewee to talk about a subject from his or her “frame of reference” and offers a greater understanding of the subject‟s point of view (May, 1993). The two interviewees who had previously responded to the questionnaire and were then recorded during classroom observations, provided me with some insight into what informed their classroom language behaviour. In order to generate meaning from the interview data, their responses were coded. Cohen et al. (2007:369) describe coding as “the ascription of a category label to a piece of data, with the category label either decided in advance or in response to the data that have been collected.” Key concepts in Qualification Analysis and Social Constructivism provided the codes for analysis of classroom observations. Recurrent themes were then identified in the three data sets. Consequently, I formed conclusions about the participants‟ linguistic behaviour and the belief system underpinning their classroom practice. As the interviews were employed at the last stage of the research, I acquired a deeper understanding of the teachers‟ classroom language behaviour, as I could now reflect on the previous two phases of the research and theorize about the findings.
Field Notes
Field notes are a researcher‟s aid when it comes to compiling narrative accounts of what takes place in the field. Berg (2004:172) maintains that detailed, complete and accurate field notes in the form of cryptic jottings, detailed descriptions, analytical notes, and subjective reflections should be completed immediately following every excursion into the field. In the different types of observations, field notes capture what is not seen or heard on the recording (Henning et al 2004:96). Although I was not consistent in taking down notes during classroom observations, when I did remember to record what was not captured in the video, I made cryptic jottings which I revisited after the excursion. By the time I came to conducting interviews I was acutely aware of the value of field notes in qualitative studies.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Language-in-Education Policy Implementation in African Countries
1.3 Background of the Problem
1.4 Statement of the Problem
1.5 Purpose of the Study
1.6 Over-arching Aim
1.7 Research Objectives
1.8 Research Questions
1.9 Rationale of the Theoretical Framework
1.10 Research Assumptions
1.11 Definition of Terms and Concepts
1.12 Justification of the Study
1.13 Research Approach
1.14 Limitations of the Study
1.15 Organization and Overview of the Study
1.16 Conclusion
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Medium of Instruction Debate
2.3 Critical Synthesis of the Literature: Gaps, Patterns and Trends
2.4. Theoretical Framework
2.5 Conceptual Framework
2.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Description of Research Approach
3.3 Data Collection Tools
3.4 Field Notes
3.5 Research Diary
3.6 Data Collection, Management and Analysis
3.7 Quality Assurance
3.8 Limitations of the Study
3.9 Ethical Considerations
3.10 Conclusion
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF DATA
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Data Analysis Plan
4.3 Questionnaire Findings
4.4 Classroom Observations
4.5 Focused Interviews
4.6 Emergent Themes
4.7 Discussion of the Findings in Relation to the Literature on LIE Policy Implementation and Conceptual Framework
4.8 How Teachers Implement MOI Policies in Practice
4.9 Classroom Language Choices and their Effects on Teaching and Learning
4.10 Why Teachers Implemented MOI Policies in Ways Evident in the Study.
4.11 Reflections on the Findings
4 .12 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, DEDUCTIONS, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary
5.3 Deductions
5.4 Conclusions/Findings
5.5 General Recommendations
5.6 Recommendations for Further Research
5.7 Contribution to Expansion of Knowledge
5.8 How the Triangulated Model of Enquiry can be Replicated
5.9 Conclusion
REFERENCES
