Research Methods in Foreign Language Education

Research Methods in Foreign Language Education provides a comprehensive and accessible guide to understanding, planning, conducting, and communicating research in foreign language education. Rather than presenting research as a collection of isolated procedures, the book emphasizes methodological reasoning and the coherence among research questions, evidence, analysis, interpretation, and claims.

Moving from the foundations of systematic inquiry to qualitative, descriptive, correlational, multivariate, and experimental designs, the book guides readers through literature review, research planning, data collection, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and research writing. It explains not only how research methods are used but also why particular methodological choices are appropriate for particular research questions and what kinds of conclusions different forms of evidence can reasonably support.

Dedicated chapters examine the expanding roles of technology and artificial intelligence in contemporary research, with particular attention to methodological quality, ethics, transparency, reproducibility, privacy, and human responsibility. The book also addresses practical issues such as developing research questions, critically reviewing the literature, selecting participants and instruments, analyzing data, interpreting findings, and constructing coherent research reports.

Practice activities, reflection questions, research tasks, and a continuing research project encourage readers to apply methodological concepts and progressively develop their own research ideas. Designed for students, teachers, researchers, and academics in foreign language education, the book aims to support research that is coherent, critical, ethical, transparent, and appropriately grounded in evidence.