Research Methods (SLAT7806)

Every week from Week 3 to Week 12, there will be an Online Study Task consisting of 10 questions that you need to answer and submit in preparation for that week.

These tasks are available 7 days before the due date and must be submitted by Monday at 1 pm (or Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday).

The questions will cover the lecture content and required readings for that week. For example, the Week 3 Online Study Task will be about the Week 3 lecture and readings, and you need to submit it by 1 pm on Monday of Week 3.

Each Online Study Task is worth 2% of your final grade. You have 60 minutes and one attempt to complete each task.

After all ten Online Study Tasks are completed, your total study task score will be calculated. Please note that tasks not completed and awarded 0 points are included in the average calculation. The percentage of the maximum achievable points will determine your final grade for this assessment.

The link to each week's Online Study Task will be available on Blackboard.

Marking Information

The weekly Online Study Tasks must be accessed, completed, and submitted via Blackboard.

Answers will be assessed automatically, and results will be made available to students within the week of submission. Answers to questions will be rated as correct or incorrect. For each correct answer, students will receive 1 point. Each Online Study Task consists of 10 questions, and there are 10 tasks in total, meaning students can earn up to 100 points if they answer all questions correctly. The marks for the Online Study Tasks follow the marking scheme of the School of Language and Cultures.

Statement on Gen AI & MT

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

The purpose of this assignment is to give you experience in reading the research articles, identifying how research questions are motivated and examined, and to practice your presentation skills.

You should select 2 research articles in your area of interest. Please choose the articles very carefully (i.e., from reputable peer-reviewed journals), as the credibility of your selected sources will be assessed. For each article answer the following questions in your presentation:

1. What is the phenomenon under investigation and what research question(s) did the article attempt to answer?

Identify the phenomenon or topic the article investigated and state the research question(s) and, where relevant, any hypotheses that were tested.

2. What was the motivation for study?

Describe the motivation for the research undertaken. If possible, specify how it relates to, refines and extends. Describe the gap the articles aimed to fill. Be specific. Name and cite the previous studies where appropriate.

3. What methodology was used?

Identify the research methodology used to address the research question(s): Who were the participants? How was the data collected and analysed? How many participants were analysed? What corpus was used? What tools/techniques/procedures/methods were used?

4. What were the findings?

Briefly state the results of the study. Were the research question(s) addressed? Were the hypotheses proved or disproved? What did the study find?

5. What were the limitations and implications of the study?

What were limitations or shortcomings of the study? Evaluate the study's value (contribution to the field) and shortcomings (and were there any suggested improvement to mitigate those limitations?).

Prepare slides for your presentation and record yourself and the slides (we suggest you use Zoom and share your screen). The entire presentation should be between 9 and a maximum of 11 minutes (recordings must not be longer than 11 minutes). Your answers should be presented as a coherent, clear, logical, and engaging manner. Each article should be no longer than 4 minutes. Your answers should be presented as a coherent summary of the articles. Bibliographic details for each article should be presented in APA 7 citation style when you start summarising and discussing the paper. Any sources or citations mentioned in your presentation need to be added in a reference list at the end of your presentation (which should also be formatted according to APA7). After completing the summary and description of the two articles or studies, compare and critically evaluate the articles. This should also take about 3 minutes. Comment on differences and similarities across the articles. These common features might include the kind of research questions asked and the motivations used, the object of study, etc. Evaluate the methodologies and the presentation of results in the articles. Have the articles answered the research questions? Were the data and methods appropriate to answer the research questions? How were the results presented? Was one study better than the other and, if so, why and how?

Your slides and your presentation should be engaging and informative. Your slides should not be too text heavy, and the slides should contain the main aspects of what you say/present. Use appropriate language without errors both on the slides and in your presentation.

Statement on Gen AI & MT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) provides emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task.. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

After the lecture and tutorial on research ethics and academic integrity, students will be required to complete an online assessment on these topics via Blackboard. The assessment consists of 10 multiple-choice questions and can be taken an unlimited number of times until the passing standard is attained.

The module will be made available from the end of WEEK 8, and it must be completed by 4pm, Friday of WEEK 13.

To pass this assessment, students need to answer at least 80% of the questions correctly (8 out of 10).

This research ethics and academic integrity online module is different from the general Academic Integrity Online Module!

The link to the research ethics and academic integrity online module is available on Blackboard and must be accessed through that platform.

Statement on Gen AI & MT

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Write a research proposal of no longer than 2000 words (excluding references), explaining the significance and design of your proposed research project. It needs to be submitted via Turnitin (the link will be made available on Blackboard).

Purpose: To undertake in-depth research of a specific topic in language sciences (it may be connected to the literature review you have already undertaken for your Annotated Bibliography assessment) and to propose a novel and original project which contributes to and/or extends this topic.

Your task is to write a proposal consisting of the following sections:

1. Introduction clearly stating the research topic and establishing the relevance of the research. This is also the section which clearly outlines the organisation of your paper.
2. Literature Review of the topic under discussion. Its structure should be apparent and appropriate for the material. Transitions between different themes, points, and sections should be smooth and clearly indicated. Literature Review should demonstrate student's mastery of relevant theories and concepts and understanding of previous findings, covered in sufficient detail.
3. A clear and specific statement of the Research Question, motivated by the literature review.
4. Method should be clear and appropriate for the research question. Information about the context of the research, participants, data collection method, instruments used for data collection and data analysis should be given in detail.
5. Conclusion should present critical evaluation of the proposed study, including its potential contributions to the relevant field of study and its limitations.
6. References in APA7 format.

 Statement on Gen AI & MT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) provides emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task.. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.

A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.