John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 5. Operationalizing variables
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Abstract
In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the importance of and the challenges associated with data-coding decisions often go unaddressed. And yet the operationalization of variables ultimately determines our capacity to both enter into dialogue with previous research and to address new and innovative research questions. In the current chapter, we reflect on the operationalization of variables within the field of SLA, offering two concrete examples from investigations on the expression of future time in additional-language French. We demonstrate how two important independent variables – temporal distance and adverbial specification – have either been defined in numerous ways or underspecified in the literature. We then provide concrete illustrations of the impact of data-coding decisions by presenting reanalyses of these two variables using data from previously published research. We conclude with a discussion of the implications that these critical assessments of data coding have for knowledge of additional-language acquisition.
Abstract
In the field of second language acquisition (SLA), the importance of and the challenges associated with data-coding decisions often go unaddressed. And yet the operationalization of variables ultimately determines our capacity to both enter into dialogue with previous research and to address new and innovative research questions. In the current chapter, we reflect on the operationalization of variables within the field of SLA, offering two concrete examples from investigations on the expression of future time in additional-language French. We demonstrate how two important independent variables – temporal distance and adverbial specification – have either been defined in numerous ways or underspecified in the literature. We then provide concrete illustrations of the impact of data-coding decisions by presenting reanalyses of these two variables using data from previously published research. We conclude with a discussion of the implications that these critical assessments of data coding have for knowledge of additional-language acquisition.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Data collection and analysis in developmental L2 pragmatics research 7
- Chapter 2. Data collection in the research on the effectiveness of corrective feedback 33
- Chapter 3. Data analysis and sampling 63
- Chapter 4. Novel sounds 89
- Chapter 5. Operationalizing variables 125
- Chapter 6. The potential of publicly shared longitudinal learner corpora in SLA research 149
- Chapter 7. Concept-oriented analysis 171
- Chapter 8. Naturalistic data in L2 pragmatics research 197
- Conclusion 219
- Index 229
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgments ix
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Data collection and analysis in developmental L2 pragmatics research 7
- Chapter 2. Data collection in the research on the effectiveness of corrective feedback 33
- Chapter 3. Data analysis and sampling 63
- Chapter 4. Novel sounds 89
- Chapter 5. Operationalizing variables 125
- Chapter 6. The potential of publicly shared longitudinal learner corpora in SLA research 149
- Chapter 7. Concept-oriented analysis 171
- Chapter 8. Naturalistic data in L2 pragmatics research 197
- Conclusion 219
- Index 229
