Wiersma 2000

 1. To help with the study’s design  How does it relate to: -the research question? -the hypothesis? -the method? -the findings?  2. To put the study in context in terms of the overall academic discussion

 The Eduction Index (Covers educational periodicals)  ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center- contains both low and hıgh quality research)  Review of Educational Research (As a starting point )  Theses and Dissertations (Generally quite long, but parts can be useful as well)  Books  BU library catalog searches!

 Recall: What is the difference between a primary source and a secondary source?  Some examples:  What type of source is more valuable for the researcher? A primary source is written by the person who experienced the situation themselves; a secondary source is written by someone who is reporting someone else’s first-hand experience. research study = primary source Newspaper = secondary source A primary source

 Look at the 8-10 most recent references first... WHY?  The most current articles should reflect the most recent state of the research.  The most recent bibliographies and literature reviews = guide to the more seminal articles

 Contradictions often occur...  Example:  Johnson and Newport (1989) find evidence in favor of the Critical Theory Hypothesis for L2  Bialystok (1997) refutes the Critical Period Hypothesis for L2  Can you think of any examples of research studies that present very different kinds of results?

 What do you do if you find conflicting information? Explore the studies more to assess the possible causes of differences... What are some possible causes? -Maybe the studies came up with the same results but interpreted them differently... -Maybe the studies’ different approaches led to different results... -Perhaps one study’s method is more valid and/or reliable than the other...

 Partner Work:  Make up two studies that have different findings about the same topic for the following reasons: ▪ A.) The 2 Studies come up with the same results, but interpret them differently. ▪ B.) The 2 studies use different approaches, which, in turn, lead to different results. ▪ C.) The method used in one study is more valid and/or reliable than the method used in another study.  Write a couple of sentences for your literature review that describes these differences.

 When have you looked at enough materials? Topic: Incidental contact with English and the perceptual abilities of non-English-speaking Brazilian adults  Trends in the Age Debate:  Cases of Exceptional Learners:  Sub-Phonemic Awareness:  Explicit Training Studies:  Classroom-Based Studies:  Second Language Experience : When reviewing provides no more new, useful information to address the research problem. Sub-topics of the literature review

 Example of one sub-topic:  Cases of Exceptional Learners ▪ Boengaerts et al. (1997, 1999): 3/5 Dutch native speakers judged to speak English like natives despite post- pubescent learning ▪ Neufeld (1977, 1978, 1979): After training 20 adults to say words in Chinese & Japanese, 1 judged as native of both languages; 2 more judged to be native J speakers ▪ Novoa et al. (1988): Qualitative study of one learner of multiple languages (after puberty;) achieves native-like levels in each of them.