The Prevalence of Practice-Oriented Research in Applied Linguistics

Abstract

In addition to the weekly reflections, they wrote three-week, six-week, and summative reflections on their experiences with the practice. These qualitative data were entered into NVivo software, coded, and analyzed for themes. The themes that emerged from the data led to the development of cognitive maps for practitioners that provide heuristics and developmental guides for practice, as well as refinements of the training protocols.

Description

In our investigation, 336 research papers published in 2015 were analysed from 10 self-identified applied linguistics journals. Data revealed language-pedagogy-related studies constituted 32 per cent of all empirical research, although this representation was unevenly distributed across the journals. Findings suggest a number of practice-oriented journals now take the lion’s share of pedagogical research, allowing other key applied linguistics journals to focus on a diverse range of nonpedagogy- related language problems. Nevertheless, in general, pedagogy remains a key topic in the field. Participants recorded their thoughts and feelings in semistructured journal entries immediately following the training sessions. At the end of each week, they reviewed their journal notes and wrote a weekly reflection on their experiences with the practice.In addition to the weekly reflections, they wrote three-week, six-week, and summative reflections on their experiences with the practice. These qualitative data were entered into NVivo software, coded, and analyzed for themes. The themes that emerged from the data led to the development of cognitive maps for practitioners that provide heuristics and developmental guides for practice, as well as refinements of the training protocols.

Logistics Education in Order to Nurture Advancement in Logistics Education

There presently is no comprehensive review which systematizes and summarizes the burgeoning body of logistics educational literature. The purpose of this paper is to provide a guide for both educators and practitioners to assess the history, current status, and future trends in logistics education in order to nurture advancement in logistics education. Logistics education continues to benefit from strong ties to industry. Additionally, four principle macro‐environmental factors were discovered that impact the current status of logistics education: an increase in the number of logistics educational programs, limited supply of logistics‐trained faculty, changes to content requirements, and a changing teaching environment. Future research directions from the published literature are summarized. As current logistics programs continue to evolve and the number of logistics and supply chain management programs continue to increase in response to industry demand, this comprehensive review of the logistics literature may help serve as a benchmark for past and current practices in logistics education.

Quality of Learning and Pedagogical Relationship

The purpose of this study was to interrogate discourses of “popular music pedagogy” in order to better understand music education practices generally and specifically those in the United States. Employing a conceptual framework based on the work of Jan Blommaert (2005), a content analysis was conducted on a sample of 81 articles related to popular music and music education according to the variables of journal and nationality. Results suggest that international differences in discourse existed. American-based authors focused on issues of legitimacy and quality (repertoire and teaching), whereas non-American-based authors focused on matters of utility and efficacy, with an emphasis on the quality of learning and pedagogical relationship. The lack of awareness (national and international) of discourse features and functions may be limiting the effectiveness of both communication and practice. While far from providing a complete picture of the field, these keywords begin to elucidate a conceptual vocabulary for transgender studies. Some of the submissions offer a deep and resilient resistance to the entire project of mapping the field terminologically; some reveal yet-unrealized critical potentials for the field; some take existing terms from canonical thinkers and develop the significance for transgender studies. A pedagogical perspective on transgender studies should, at a minimum, note that teaching and learning about transgender phenomena take place across a spectrum of social practices and locations and that transpedagogies are part of a broader public politics not solely limited to what goes on in schools. But more expansively, a pedagogical perspective on transgender phenomena can also help unsettle historically and contextually specific knowledge(s) that shape understandings of normative gender. Transpedagogies should offer students the tools they need to participate in the political and economic power structures that shape the boundaries of gender categories, with the goal of changing those structures in ways that create greater freedom. In a transpedagogical approach, processes of learning become political mechanisms through which identities can be shaped and desires mobilized and through which the experience of bodily materiality and everyday life can take form and acquire meaning. The concept of EL emanated from extensive reading, an approach that aims to improve a variety of reading skills through exposure to materials that approximately match proficiency level. According to Renandya and Farrell (2011: 56), ‘like reading, listening is best learnt through listening’. These authors support EL as the answer to the issue of how to teach listening in L2 classrooms. EL can play a supportive role in L2 listening pedagogy. Through exposure to extensive and various listening texts, learners gain opportunities to practise and refine their listening processes, recognize linguistic and lexical features, and increase cultural knowledge related to the target language. The value of EL in this practice-oriented capacity cannot be overstated. Thus liberation pedagogy calls on even more action from students or participants than constructivism. Here we are called on to apply these principles to analyze our field.