Since its inception, the field of second language research has utilized methods from a number of areas, including general
linguistics, psychology, education, sociology, anthropology and, recently, neuroscience and corpus linguistics. As the questions
and objectives expand, researchers are increasingly pushing methodological boundaries to gain a clearer picture of second language
learning. At one end for example, we see measures of cognition (e.g., brain imaging and eye tracking) and at the other end we see
exploration of issues of culture and identity (e.g., ethnographies, deep dive case studies, introspective and narrative analyses).
There is an emerging emphasis on research synthesis, meta-analysis, and replication. This article illustrates a few of the
advancements in methods and research agendas in SLA. I will conclude by highlighting some of the ways that second language
researchers can continue to incorporate, assimilate, and shape methodology, as well as pointing out some of the potential
pitfalls, and overall, how these methodological innovations benefit the field.
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2002Narrative inquiry: More than just telling stories. TESOL Quarterly 36(2): 207–213.
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2007Russian emotion vocabulary in American learners’ narratives. The Modern Language Journal 91(2): 213–234.
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1997Morphology and longer distance dependencies. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19(2): 145–171.
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Gass, S
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2007Data Elicitation for Second and Foreign Language Research. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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2014A role for chunk formation in statistical learning of second language syntax. Language Learning 64(2): 247–278.
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2012Sociocultural theory: A dialectical approach to L2 research. In The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, M. Gass & A. Mackey (eds), 57–72. New York NY: Routledge.
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2005Quantitative research methods. In Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, E. Hinkel (ed.), 209–224. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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2010The effectiveness of corrective feedback in SLA: A meta-analysis. Language Learning 60(2): 309–365.
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2005Second Language Research: Methodology and Design. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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2020. Interaction, Feedback and Task Research in Second Language Learning,
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2018. Mixed Methodology. In The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology, ► pp. 103 ff.
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