TESOL Research Methods & Academic Writing – Mid-term Exam

Constructivist

Transformative

Postpositivist

Pragmatic

Narrative research

Phenomenology

Grounded theory

Ethnography

Qualitative data is collected first to build a quantitative instrument.

Quantitative results are explained by follow-up qualitative data.

Both strands are collected at roughly the same time and then merged during interpretation.

One strand is embedded inside a larger qualitative case study.

Emerging data collection

Open-ended questions

Statistical interpretation

Text and image analysis

Transformative worldview + survey with closed-ended Likert items

Constructivist worldview + ethnography + observation in a culture-sharing group

Postpositivist worldview + narrative inquiry + open-ended interviews

Pragmatic worldview + descriptive phenomenology only

A universal research design template that fits all empirical studies.

A reporting convention that organizes empirical papers into Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.

A data-analysis procedure for mixed methods studies.

A sampling strategy used in survey research.

A proposal does not include a literature review.

A proposal presents imaginary results, while a paper presents real findings.

A proposal does not contain real Results; it describes how future data WILL be analyzed.

A proposal always uses mixed methods.

Uses inductive logic and makes the worldview explicit.

Specifies variables and hypotheses in advance and plans statistical analysis before data collection.

Relies primarily on purposeful sampling and information-rich cases.

Does not require a literature review.

Methods → Participants → Ethics → Findings

Research problem → evidence from literature → deficiencies in evidence → importance for audiences

Hypothesis → variable → instrument → sample

Title → abstract → keywords → references

AI-assisted feedback in EFL academic writing.

Whether AI-assisted feedback improves postgraduate EFL students' writing performance is not yet clear.

Although AI-assisted feedback is increasingly used, evidence about its effect on postgraduate EFL writing remains inconsistent, so further research is needed.

The present study will examine the effect of AI feedback on writing scores.

They overclaim a gap, such as 'no one has studied this,' without evidence.

They locate the problem within the scholarly literature.

They state the deficiency and the significance of the study.

They establish the context briefly before identifying the issue.

A quantitative research question.

A qualitative research question.

An integration (mixed methods) research question.

A descriptive sub-question.

There is no significant difference in writing performance between the two groups.

Students receiving AI-assisted feedback will achieve higher writing scores than those receiving conventional feedback.

There will be a relationship between feedback literacy and writing performance.

Writing performance varies across students.

Move 1: Establishing a territory

Move 2: Establishing a niche

Move 3: Occupying the niche

Move 4: Concluding the study

Integral citation (author-prominent)

Non-integral citation (information-prominent)

Direct quotation with a page locator

A summary without a citation

A synthesis organised around ideas and claims.

An annotated bibliography organised author by author.

A response to a gap or unresolved question.

A way to build a theoretical or conceptual framework.

Draft full paragraphs → search databases → identify keywords → assemble the review.

Identify keywords → search databases → skim and prioritise → build a literature map → draft abstracts → assemble a thematic review.

Collect references → ignore abstracts → submit.

Start with conclusions → work backwards to literature.

Replacing a few content words with synonyms while keeping the same sentence structure.

Restating the idea in a new sentence structure and your own wording while preserving the meaning.

Copying the original sentence and inserting quotation marks.

Summarising the entire source without citation.

A synthesis of multiple sources into one paragraph.

Changing a few words but keeping the original sentence structure.

Using direct quotations without a page locator.

Citing only secondary sources.

A synthesis of key concepts from the literature, with arrows showing their relationships.

The theoretical perspective used to frame and guide the study.

A list of every theory mentioned in the literature review.

A summary of the methods used in previous studies.

Did I cite at least five authors who use this theory?

If I removed the framework, would anything else in the study change?

Does the framework appear in the title?

Did I include a diagram of the framework?

Is based on an established grand theory.

Synthesises key concepts and their proposed relationships, often more specific to the current study.

Always comes from philosophy rather than the literature.

Is not grounded in any literature.

Concepts are justified by literature.

Too few concepts are included.

Unjustified causal claims implied by arrows in the diagram.

Concepts are clearly defined.

Introduce

Origin and development

Application

Boundaries

Application → Key concepts → Boundaries → Origin → Introduce → Relationships

Introduce → Origin & development → Key concepts → Relationships → Application → Boundaries

Boundaries → Application → Relationships → Concepts → Origin → Introduce

Key concepts → Introduce → Relationships → Application → Origin → Boundaries

Smith (2020) interviewed 30 teachers.

Smith's study is useful because it draws on classroom observations.

However, the sample is restricted to one university, so the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Smith found that feedback improved revision.

No studies have examined this topic.

Few studies have examined postgraduate EFL students' use of AI feedback in authentic writing.

Everyone agrees that AI feedback improves writing.

All previous research is flawed.

Qualitative – phenomenology

Quantitative – experimental research

Qualitative – case study

Mixed methods – exploratory sequential

Survey research

Ethnography

Experimental research

Correlational research

Convergent mixed methods

Explanatory sequential mixed methods

Exploratory sequential mixed methods

Qualitative case study

Be too narrow, excluding important context.

Imply causal explanation rather than preserving openness.

Force the use of statistical analysis.

Be inappropriate in any kind of qualitative study.

Always choose mixed methods for completeness.

Choose the approach because it can answer the research question, not because it is familiar.

Always choose qualitative because it provides rich data.

Match the approach to the journal you plan to submit to.

Only a method

Only a worldview

A design, a philosophy, and sometimes treated as a design (descriptive method).

Only an approach

It allows the writer to avoid reading the original sources.

It shows how studies speak to each other rather than treating them as a list.

It removes the need for citations.

It reduces the need for a clear gap.

This proves that AI feedback is harmful.

The evidence appears to indicate that students find AI feedback useful for grammar.

All researchers agree.

I believe that teachers prefer AI feedback.

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