Conference Review

Know Thyself, Know Thy Research

Methods: The Winter 2013 QualitativeResearch Workshop
Tanja McCandieNanzan University
The Japan Association for Language Teachers ( JALT) Special Interest Group(SIG) for Colleges and University Educators (CUE) held a one-day workshopthat focused on qualitative research on December 1, 2012 in Nagoya at Nanzan
University. With two facilitators and approximately 20 participants, there wereseveral discussions on different kinds of qualitative research and plenty of ideas andsuggestions for research topics. While JALT meetings and workshops are often
seen as being attended predominately by native English speaking male university
teachers, this workshop was a clear indication that JALT, and the CUE SIG, hasa diverse range of members. While mostly university teachers, participants hadvarious teaching experience and backgrounds which made for some interesting
discussions with regards to research needs, support from employers and necessity
to publish. Male and female participants were nearly equally represented as were
the numbers for non-native and native English speaker participants. The wide
range of experiences and interests meant that people could easily connect withat least a few other participants and perhaps work together in future research
projects.
Dr. Naoko Aoki, a professor at Osaka University, and well known for her
outstanding research in learner autonomy and teacher education, started themorning off by discussing “Narrative Inquiry” and storytelling that focused on
our own personal experiences as students and as educators. This helped us to71

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better understand our professional and teacher identity, which was somethingthat some of us had not done before. By sharing in small groups, participants
explored issues that are important to them as teachers and why these matters
might be worthwhile to explore in our research. Dr. Aoki completed her timeby having group poster sessions that had groups focus on what topics and ideas
we felt were significant based on our discussions. For more information on Dr.
Aoki’s research and publishings, please visit her Osaka University Web page(http://osaka-u.academia.edu/NaokoAoki).
Dr. Robert Croker, a Nanzan University professor and teacher trainer,
covered a wide range of important topics including types of qualitative research,
forming good research questions, ethical concerns, data collection techniquesand data analysis. He also introduced transcription software, observation sheetsand research design. Many participants struggled with forming good researchquestions, so a large quantity of time was spent on this one area. Dr. Croker
was able to deal with the numerous questions and concerns from participants,
not only about research topics and forming good research questions, but also
about the process of finding participants and keeping to a research schedule.
This session contained essential information with regards to how to properly
formulate research questions and how to get started on your research journey.
At the end of the day, we also received information about which journals in theapplied linguistic field are qualitative research friendly, about research trends inlanguage teaching and about guidelines for conducting research in TESOL. For
those who couldn’t attend the workshop and who would like to read about someof the topics cover in this session, Qualitative Research in Applied Linguistics, coedited by Dr. Croker, is highly recommended.
With the “publish or perish” stress that is very prevalent amongst university
staff these days, this workshop provided much-needed tools and suggestions on
how to get started and improve your research techniques. The only suggestionthat I personally have is to lengthen the days from one to two and for CUE tooffer more of these types of workshops. As the workshop came to an end, allparticipants agreed that the time was well spent and expressed an interest inattending more workshops in the future.
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Know Thyself, Know..., OnCUE Journal, 6(3), pages 71-73

References

Heigham, J., & Croker, R. A. (Eds.). (2009). Qualitative research in appliedlinguistics. London, England: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Author’s bio

Tanja McCandie has been teaching for over 10 years and has taught in Canada,
England and Japan. She currently teaches at Nanzan University, and her researchinterests include gender awareness and learner autonomy. mccandie@hotmail.com
Received: January 11, 2013
Accepted: August 6, 201373