research questions in english language teaching

Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics

A Reference Guide

• © 2021
• Hassan Mohebbi   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3661-1690 0 ,
• Christine Coombe   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7105-1644 1

European Knowledge Development Institute, Ankara, Türkiye

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Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Dubai Men’s College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• Provides a rich collection of research questions that are suggested by well-known experts in the field of language education research
• Offers guidance on finding relevant and original topics for future research
• Is a source of research inspiration from the undergraduate to postgraduate level

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Education (SPTE)

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Table of contents (153 chapters)

Front matter, volume introduction: research questions in language education and applied linguistics: strategies for their conceptualization and development.

Christine Coombe

Teaching and Teaching-related Topics

Attending to form in the communicative classroom.

• Martin East

Blended Learning

• Lana Hiasat

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

• Zohreh R. Eslami, Zihan Geng

Content-Based Language Teaching

• Zübeyde Sinem Genç

Creativity and Language Teaching

Discourse analysis.

• Brian Paltridge

English Academic Vocabulary Teaching and Learning

• Sophia Skoufaki

English for Academic Purposes

• Helen Basturkmen

English for Specific Purposes

English-medium instruction.

• Keith M. Graham, Zohreh R. Eslami

Focus on Form in Second Language Instruction

• Alessandro Benati

A Genre-Based Approach to Writing Instruction in the Content Areas

• Luciana C. de Oliveira, Sharon L. Smith

Global Englishes and Teaching English as an International Language

• Heath Rose, Mona Syrbe

Identity in Language Learning and Teaching

• Bonny Norton

Inclusive Language Teaching

• David Gerlach

Increasing Reading Fluency

• Neil J. Anderson

Instructional Pragmatics

• Zohreh R. Eslami, Shaun Weihong Ko
• language skills teaching
• language skills assessment
• language learning through technology
• research methods in language education
• genre analysis
• form-focused language teaching
• language teacher development
• linguistics teaching

About this book

This volume encompasses the range of research questions on language-related problems that arise in language teaching, learning and assessment. The [150] chapters are written by experts in the field who each offer their insights into current and future directions of research, and who suggest several highly relevant research questions.  

 An important skill in reviewing the research literature is following a study’s “plan of attack.” Broadly, this means that before accepting and acting upon the findings, one considers a) the research question ( Is it clear and focused? Measurable? ), b) the subjects examined, the methods deployed, and the measures chosen ( Do they fit the study’s goal and have the potential to yield useful results? ), and c) the analysis of the data ( Do the data lead to the discussion presented? Has the author reasonably interpreted results to reach the conclusion? ). Mohebbi and Coombe’s book,  Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics: A Reference Guide,  helps budding researchers take the first step and develop a solid research question. As the field of language education evolves, we need continual research to improve our instructional and assessment practices and our understanding of the learners’ language learning processes. This book with its remarkable 150 topics and 10 times the number of potential research questions provides a wealth of ideas that will help early career researchers conduct studies that move our field forward and grow our knowledge base.  Deborah J. Short, Ph.D.,  Director, Academic Language Research & Training,  Past President, TESOL International Association (2021-22)

As a teacher in graduate programs in TESOL I frequently come across the frustration of students at centering their research interests on a particular topic and developing research questions which are worth pursuing so as to make a contribution to the field. This frustration stems from the fact that our field is so vast and interrelated, that it is often impossible to properly address all that interests them. Hence, I wholeheartedly welcome this most relevant and innovative addition to the research literature in the field of TESOL and Applied Linguistics. Coombe and Mohebbi have created a real  tour de force  that stands to inform budding researchers in the field for many years to come. Additionally, the cutting-edge depiction of the field and all it has to offer will no doubt update the research agendas of many seasoned researchers around the world. The 150 chapters are organized in a most powerful, yet, deceptively simple way offering a positioning within the topic, suggesting questions that might direct inquiry and offering a basic set of bibliographic tools to start the reader in the path towards research. What is more, the nine sections in which the chapters are organized leave no area of the field unexplored.  Dr. Gabriel Díaz Maggioli,  Academic Advisor, Institute of Education, Universidad ORT del Uruguay,  President, IATEFL

Chapter “Metacognition in Academic Writing: Learning Dimensions” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Editors and Affiliations

Hassan Mohebbi

About the editors

Dr Christine Coombe is an Associate Professor of General Studies at Dubai Men’s College, Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE.  She served as President of the TESOL International Association from 2011 to 2012. Christine has authored/edited over 50 books on different aspects of English language teaching, learning and assessment.  Throughout her career she has received several awards including the 2018 James E Alatis Award for exemplary service to TESOL.  In 2017 she was named to TESOL’s 50@50 list which honored 50 top professionals who have made an impact on ELT in the past 50 years.   

Bibliographic Information

Book Title : Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics

Book Subtitle : A Reference Guide

Editors : Hassan Mohebbi, Christine Coombe

Series Title : Springer Texts in Education

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8

Publisher : Springer Cham

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Softcover ISBN : 978-3-030-79142-1 Published: 14 January 2022

eBook ISBN : 978-3-030-79143-8 Published: 13 January 2022

Series ISSN : 2366-7672

Series E-ISSN : 2366-7680

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XXVII, 889

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations, 2 illustrations in colour

Topics : Language Education , Language Acquisition and Development , Education, general

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Nat Turner, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Cynthia Tyson, The Ohio State University; Lalitha Vasudevan, Teachers College, Columbia University; Saba Khan Vlach, University of Iowa; Jon Wargo, Boston College; Autumn West, Illinois State University; Melissa Wetzel,  University of Texas, Austin; Jill Williams, Columbus, Ohio; Arlette Willis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Darius Wimby, Atlanta, GA; Ursula Wingate, Kings College London; Maisha Winn, University of Wisconsin; Karen Wohlwend, Indiana University; Angie Zapata, University of Missouri, Columbia

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For many years now, RTE has been publishing an Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English. Most recently, these bibliographies have been published annually in the February issue since 2018, and they have grown larger every year. Because of their length, the bibliographies are no longer published in their entirety in the print version of the journal; the complete version is to be found only online. They are open and available to all scholars, not just RTE subscribers.

2023 Bibliography

2022 Bibliography

2021 Bibliography

2020 Bibliography

2019 Bibliography

2018 Bibliography

2016 Bibliography

2015 Bibliography

2014 Bibliography

2013 Bibliography

2012 Bibliography

2011 Bibliography

2010 Bibliography

2009 Bibliography

2008 Bibliography

2007 Bibliography

2006 Bibliography

2005 Bibliography

2004 Bibliography

2003 Bibliography

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Review article, studies of teaching and learning english-speaking skills: a review and bibliometric analysis.

• School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

This study conducted a comprehensive historical review and bibliometric analysis of the literature on English-speaking (ES) education and mapped the current state of the field, trends, and emerging topics, as well as identified gaps where further research is needed. We retrieved 361 sample documents on ES teaching and learning in Scopus (2010–2021) under certain conditions and analyzed the extracted data using Excel and VOSviewer 1.6.17 from the perspectives of the number of yearly publications, countries, authors, citation numbers, and keywords. The findings show that the number of publications on ES education increased from 2010 to 2021, but there was a lack of sustained engagement with this topic by researchers. Countries with an ESL or EFL context focused more on the subject of ES, although studies from native ES countries were more influential. The research topics showed a multidimensional trend, covering communicative skills, language knowledge, assessment, teaching or learning methods, ICT-related applications, and cognitive factors, of which ICT-related applications (such as flipped classrooms, blended learning, and e-learning) and cognitive factors (such as motivation, anxiety, and affect) were the areas of focus. Students in higher institutions, rather than children, became the main research subject of ES education over the period studied.

Introduction

A considerable amount of time and money has been invested in English language education (ELE) around the world, especially in countries where English is a Foreign (EFL) or Second Language (ESL). For example, ELE in East Asian countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan has been identified as a necessary skill, which has motivated the development of various approaches and policies ( Song, 2011 ; Hu and McKay, 2012 ). There have been at least three phases of English curriculum reforms by the Malaysian Ministry of Education directed toward improving students’ English proficiency and teachers’ professional development (TPD) ( Rashid et al., 2017 ; Kummin et al., 2020 ).

Despite unremitting efforts in many countries, ELE is still facing the problem of low average English skills. For example, students’ English skills in Turkey are not as good as expected ( Coskun, 2016 ; Özmen et al., 2016 ; Umunĉ and Raw, 2017 ). The survey by Wei and Su (2015) clearly showed that the subjects’ ES proficiency was generally low.

Many terms have been used to refer to the speaking aspects of the English language, e.g., “oral English,” “spoken English,” or “English speaking.” “English speaking” is the term used in this article. Speaking is different from writing, although both are productive skills, in that it is “transient, unplanned, context-dependent, oral/aural, and dynamic” ( Hughes, 2017 ). English-speaking (ES) has been treated as an indivisible language skill for learners in the language education fields of TESOL, EFL, and ESL.

How to improve ES ability, including teaching and learning approaches, influencing factors, and other related issues, have always been a focus of researchers. Thus, in view of the profound changes in society, politics, economics, and technologies, this article aims to give an overview of the current situation and trends regarding ES studies based on Scopus from 2010 to 2021. Moreover, it seeks to provide useful information for further ES teaching and learning research through visualized data analysis using VOSviewer 1.6.17 and Micro Excel.

Thus, the research questions (RQs) of this article are as follows:

RQ1. What is the bibliometric information regarding publications about ES teaching and learning in Scopus (2010–2021), including the number of yearly publications, authors, citations, country contributions, and keywords?

RQ2. What is the status of ES teaching and learning?

RQ3. What are the most influential authors in the field of ES teaching and learning?

RQ4. What are the trends in ES teaching and learning?

RQ5. What are the gaps in ES teaching and learning from the bibliometric information?

Materials and Methods

Bibliometric analysis refers to the cross-science of quantitative analysis of all carriers of knowledge by means of mathematics and statistics ( Broadus, 1987 ). The development of bibliometric software such as VOSviewer, Citespace, and Gephi, and the foundation of the big databases for academic documents such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Taylor and Francis make bibliometric analysis more feasible and practical ( Donthu et al., 2021 ). Meanwhile, according to Rogers et al. (2020) , the recommended minimum sample size for a bibliometric analysis is 200 entries.

Article Selection and Identification

Scopus was chosen as the database for this historical review and bibliometric analysis of ES education. This is because Scopus, as one of the world’s largest databases, covers a wide range of academic journals, conference proceedings, books, and other related publications with relatively high citation indexes and quality, much like the Web of Science ( Pham et al., 2018 ; Baas et al., 2020 ). Scopus is user-friendly in the sense that information can be conveniently retrieved through string retrieval. This study replicated the methodologies used by Lázaro (2022) and Kaya and Erbay (2020) . This article was conducted around RQs after the identification of some keywords as conditions for data mining.

Thus, 23,633 sample documents were first strictly extracted under the condition [TITLE-ABS-KEY (“English speaking” OR “English-speaking” OR “oral English” OR “spoken English”)] AND (“TESOL” OR “EFL” OR “ESL”). Then, the conditions of time span and document type were added for filtering from 2010 to 2021. Then, the articles, conference papers, reviews, book chapters, and books were chosen as the target document types. The detailed conditions can be seen in Table 1 .

Table 1. Retrieval conditions.

Finally, 1,893 documents were obtained. These were exported in the form of an Excel document with citation information, bibliographic information, abstract and keywords, funding details, and other information.

After strict data cleaning through thematic analysis of the abstracts by three researchers for more than three times, 361 sample documents remained, which were classified into four types of documents: journal articles (256; 70.91%), conference papers (79; 21.88%), book chapters (16; 4.43%), and reviews (10; 2.77%), covering more than 10 subject areas, such as social sciences, computer sciences, medicine, engineering, and arts and humanities.

Research Framework and Instruments

In the data selection step, sample documents were screened for information about authors, titles, years, citations, author keywords, index keywords, publishers, document types, countries, and author affiliations from Scopus under strict conditions. The sample documents were then uploaded to Excel and VOSviewer 1.6.17 during the data-processing step. Excel and VOSviewer 1.6.17 were used to perform the visualized bibliometric analysis of the number of publications per year, contributions of authors and countries, and keywords ( Chen, 2016 ; Van Eck and Waltman, 2017 ). Finally, the current situation, developing trends, research gaps, and lessons we can learn about ES teaching were sorted. Thus, the research framework is divided into four main steps, as shown in Figure 1 .

Figure 1. The conceptual framework.

Compared with studies on English writing and reading, studies on ES education are relatively very small in scale. Although only 361 sample documents conforming to the screening conditions were identified, it was still feasible to conduct a bibliometric analysis from the perspectives of the number of yearly publications, countries, authors, citations, and keywords.

Number of Publications by Year

According to the linear trend line in Figure 2 , the overall trend of the ES education literature in Scopus was on the rise from 2010 to 2021. The number of publications in 2021 was six times more than that in 2010, indicating that ES education was gradually beginning to be taken seriously by researchers.

Figure 2. Yearly publications on English-speaking teaching and learning (2010–2021).

However, there were some tortuous changes. In 2010, only 10 studies were identified, but the percentage of the high citation index occupied 50%. From 2011 to 2018, the number of documents published in this area presented an up-and-down curve. The number of publications was slightly lower in 2012 than in 2021. This might be due to the decreased demand for ES education as a result of the economic downturn in many emerging economies such as China, South Korea, and Brazil ( Reid, 2013 ). Yearly publications in this field increased from 2012 to 2013, but decreased again from 2013 to 2015, which was again in line with the global economic situation ( Mau and Ulyukaev, 2015 ). In 2015, the number of publications was more or less the same as in 2010. The reasons for this might be that world trade reduced during the global crisis from 2014 to 2015 ( Baber, 2015 ; Xu and Carey, 2015 ) or that no new research directions were explored during that time. After 2015, there was a continuous increase until 2017. After a subtle decrease in 2018, there was a significant accumulation in the number of publications from 2018 to 2021, showing a new growth trend. Especially in 2020 and 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought disaster to the whole world, publications on ES education increased, reflecting the increasing requirement for ES communication during this time of global cooperation ( Sun and Lan, 2021 ). The influence of the date on the extraction of the sample documents was not very great, as it was 12 December 2021.

Contributions and Collaborations by Country/Region

The 361 sample records extracted in Scopus from 2010 to 2021 were associated with around 40 countries, showing the global distribution of interest by country in ES education.

Figure 3 shows the top 20 countries/regions publishing articles in this field, and they were responsible for 344 ES education publications (2010–2021) (accounting for 95.29% of the total). The countries with big and bright circles were the ones with the large number of the publications. Apart from the 75 publications contributed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Spain, and New Zealand, the remaining 269 publications were published by 10 Asian countries, accounting for 74.52% of the total sample documents, which implied the huge demand for the improvement of the learners’ ES skills in those countries. Mainland China contributed 128 publications, accounting for 40.44% of the total, followed by the United States, with 38 documents, accounting for 10.53%.

Figure 3. Density map of the top 10 countries.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, countries in South-East Asia, occupied the third, fourth, and fifth positions, with 22, 22, and 18 publications, respectively. Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Bangladesh began to participate in country collaborations in recent years, in contrast to countries such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Singapore where English is the native language or first language.

The citation network in Figure 4 shows only countries with more than five publications, which reflected the passive collaboration among the countries. As one of the native ES countries, home to many ELE approaches and English assessment tools such as TOFEL, the publications by the United States were cited 518 times (total link strength = 10). Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, home to IELTS, contributed 12 publications, which were cited 72 times (total link strength = 5). Malaysia, where ESL, contributed 22 publications, which were cited 90 times (total link strength = 17). Meanwhile, China, with an EFL context, ranked second with 128 publications, which were cited 395 times, and the total link strength achieved 24.

Figure 4. Country co-authorship in the field of English speaking teaching and learning.

The total citation number of the 361 sample publications was 1,828. Table 2 provides detailed information on the 15 countries that published the most cited articles. The publication and the corresponding citation rate of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore showed huge contrasts, respectively, 12.92, 19.45, 19.5, and 13.83. The high citation rate may to a certain extent represent a high reference value, although it may also be influenced by some highly cited papers ( Schubert and Braun, 1986 ; Aksnes et al., 2012 ; Brika et al., 2021 ). Thus, it was concluded that the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, where English was the official language, were the leading countries with high citation rates in the field of ES education studies. Similarly, native ES countries—the United Kingdom and Canada—showed relatively high citation rates of 5.83 and 6.14, respectively. Meanwhile, the citation rates of Asian countries such as China (4.73), Japan (6.35), South Korea (5.08), Vietnam (8.38), and Oman (6.75) indicated the progress and the relatively high reference value of publications on ES education studies in those countries. The non-ES European countries such as Spain received 4.57 in citation rates, which were much lower than those of the native ES countries.

Table 2. Description of the 15 countries that published the most cited articles in the field of English-speaking (ES) education studies in Scopus (2010–2021).

Co-authorship among the countries is shown in Figure 5 , which is a presentation of active collaborations. The co-authorship links among Malaysia, India, China, and the United States were linear. However, the collaboration in the map showed a tendency toward a partial focus. For instance, the United States was the main collaborating country for Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. While China collaborated mainly with the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam, and New Zealand. Thus, there was a need for an omnidirectional and multi-angle collaboration among the countries for ES teaching and learning research across the world for further studies.

Figure 5. The map of the co-authorship among the countries on English-speaking teaching and learning.

Author Contributions

Table 3 shows general information about the citations for the 361 sample documents in Scopus (2010–2021). As can be seen in Table 4 , the topics of the top 10 most frequently cited articles were concerned with the assessment of ES proficiency and fluency, teachers’ influence, lexical acquisition, and the facilitation of mobile social networks. The total citation number was 1,828. On average, each document was cited 5.06 times. An experimental study by Kang et al. (2010) that proposed suprasegmental measurement for pronunciation assessment from the perspective of accent and equipment use was the most frequently cited article, which was cited 134 times. A qualitative study by Ma (2012) was cited 66 times, ranking second among the top 10 most frequently cited. It focused on ES teaching methods and investigated the advantages and disadvantages of native and non-native ES teachers in practice. The third most frequently cited article, which analyzed the academic lexical demands and academic word list coverage for ES communications by means of corpus, was cited 61 times ( Dang and Webb, 2014 ). Obviously, most of the top 10 most frequently cited articles were published before 2016, except for the experimental studies by Sun and Lan (2021) on the application of e-learning to develop young learners’ ES competence, implying the emergence of new research topics after 2016 in ES teaching and learning studies.

Table 3. General citations of English-speaking (ES) education publications in Scopus (2010–2021).

Table 4. Top 10 frequently cited authors on English-speaking (ES) education in Scopus (2010–2021).

The top 10 authors with more than three articles in order, were Ismail, K. (6), Abdullah, M. Y. (5), Hussin, S. (5), Liu, M. (5), Habil, H. (4), Chen, Z. (3), Hasan, M. K. (3), Hwang, G. J. (3), Rao, Z. (3), and Seraj, P. M. I. (4), and the co-authorship relationships can be seen in Figure 6 . Seraj, P. M. I published four articles (one in 2020 and three in 2021) focusing on the topic of a flipped classroom. The other author with four publications was Liu M., studying the problem of Chinese EFL students’ anxiety, respectively, in 2013, 2018, 2018, and 2021. Rao Z. made three publications on the issues of native and non-native English teachers in China in 2010, 2016, and 2020.

Figure 6. Density map of the key words.

Keyword Analysis

There were 1,049 keywords among the 361 sample documents, and only 49 keywords (2.88%) appeared more than five times after merging synonyms and deleting extraneous words. This indicates that the number of high-frequency keywords was relatively small, which reflects the relatively extensive content of ES research in the field of language education. Table 5 lists the top 10 keywords ordered by the frequency of occurrence apart from the retrieval words, among which the frequency of “ES skill” was the highest, accounting for 3.43%. The remaining keywords with a frequency greater than 10 were “speech recognition” (32), “College English” (26), “e-learning” (22), “computer-aided instruction” (19), “learning system” (14), “native-English speaking teachers” (13), anxiety (13), “oral communication” (12), “virtual reality” (11), and “artificial intelligence” (10). Obviously, the gap in frequency among keywords is not very large.

Table 5. The top 10 most frequently occurring keywords on English-speaking (ES) education in Scopus (2010–2021).

The bibliometric co-occurrence analysis of keywords provided a convenient way to assess the state of the research field and spot hot issues ( Chen, 2016 ; Mutira et al., 2021 ; Sun and Lan, 2021 ). Meanwhile, importantly, keyword co-occurrence analysis can reflect the viewpoints of core academic articles and may be beneficial for researchers trying to keep up with research trends in a certain area ( Li et al., 2016 ; Shoaib et al., 2021 ). Figure 6 shows the density of keywords that appeared more than 10 times; the brightness of the color represents the heat color of the keyword studied. The more studies, the brighter the color ( Van Eck and Waltman, 2020 ). The colors of the keywords “English speaking skill,” “college English,” “computer-aided learning instruction,” and “speech recognition” were brighter than others. The other keywords, such as “speaking anxiety” and “e-learning,” were also brighter. To some extent, these brighter keywords reflected the research hotspots in the field of ES education from 2010 to 2021 in Scopus.

Keyword cluster analysis reflected the topics to some extent ( Yang et al., 2017 ). After combining synonyms (e.g., oral English and spoken English; computer-aided learning and computer-aided instruction; and native and non-native ES teacher) and the deletion of non-sense words (e.g., human, priority journal, and education), the keywords except the retrieval terms “English speaking,” “oral English,” “English-speaking,” “spoken English,” “EFL,” “TESOL,” and “ESL” were categorized into seven clusters with three main topics, as seen in Figure 7 . The keywords with red color dealt with the application of ICT in ES education, including items such as artificial intelligence, automatic speech recognition, computer-aided instruction, correlation methods, deep learning, information science, learning system, machine learning, quality control, correlation methods, corrective feedback, ES learning, oral communication, etc. Cluster 2 dealt with the cognitive factors influencing students’ ES skills or performance, such as attitude, EFL, English speaking performance, ES skill, the flipped classroom, motivation, speaking anxiety, and teaching methods, of which flipped classroom as a teaching method had the highest frequency of occurrence. Clusters 3 and 4 dealt with the application of ICT in college ES education, covering topics such as e-learning, engineering education, English speaking, learning, virtual reality, big data, college English, and educational computing. Cluster 7 dealt with the assessment of pronunciation or others.

Figure 7. The network visualization map of co-occurrence of keywords.

Keyword Changes and the Enlightenment to Research Topics

Figure 8 reveals a change in the time distribution of topics. It was obvious that most of the light-colored nodes were close to the keyword “college English,” while there were only a few around the keywords “child,” “preschool,” and “adolescent” after 2016. This shows that college students had become the main subjects of ES education studies instead of young learners.

Figure 8. The overlay visualization map of keywords according to year.

Meanwhile, studies with keywords related to the application of ICT, such as “big data,” “artificial intelligence,” “flipped classroom,” “speech recognition system,” and “virtual reality” in ES education, were emerging as a focus of research. Academic ES also began to attract researchers’ attention. Some researchers started to consider the development of twenty first-century skills during ES education. In addition, light-colored nodes of the keywords concerning teaching and learning modes (“continuous development,” “teaching method,” “EMI,” “error correction,” etc.), cognitive factors (“students’ interests,” “anxiety,” “motivation,” etc.), language skills (“ES performance,” “communicative skills,” “accuracy,” “fluency,” etc.), and language knowledge (“pronunciation,” “grammar,” etc.) remained the focus of research.

Limitations

The interpretation of the review should be very cautious due to some limitations. First, bibliometric analysis is a literature review method based on big data technology rather than synthesized thematic analysis. The data were collected and analyzed through the software. Thus, the accuracy of this analysis method is highly dependent on that of the software. The second limitation refers to the database. Though Scopus has covered the majority of the publications on ES teaching and learning worldwide, there are still some publications that were not included in the research.

This historical review and bibliometric analysis sought to better understand the current state of the research field, trends, and emerging research topics on ES education from 2010 to 2021. The results show that there was an increasing trend in the number of publications in this area from 2010 to 2021 in Scopus, indicating that ES education studies remained a necessary research topic, although the research population was not large. Countries with an ESL or EFL context, such as China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia, paid more attention to the development of learners’ ES abilities and contributed more to ES education studies. However, the citation analysis revealed that native ES countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Canada, were the major authorities or origins of ES education studies, which can also be seen by author contributions. Country collaboration analysis showed that the United States, China, India, and Malaysia acted as hubs of contact, establishing overall relationships within the collaboration network. In addition, the analysis of author distribution and collaboration revealed that there were constantly new researchers entering this field, but the lack of authors focusing on ES education over the long term and sustained research was still a problem. Further exploration of keywords revealed that the hot research issues encompass communicative skills, language knowledge, assessment, teaching or learning methods, ICT-related applications, and cognitive factors. Rather than focusing on ES education for young and adolescent learners, researchers showed a preference for investigating ES education for college students, catering to the increasing requirements of oral international communication. Meanwhile, topics on ICT application, autonomous learning, academic ES ability, and twenty first-century learning skills are gradually becoming hot areas for the improvement of ES teaching and learning worldwide.

JW was the research designer and executor of this study, participated in and completed the data analysis, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. RA and L-ML gave suggestions when necessary. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

JW would like to express their gratitude to RA and L-ML who participated in this project.

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Keywords : English-speaking skills, bibliometric analysis, research trends, enlightenment, research state

Citation: Wang J, Abdullah R and Leong L-M (2022) Studies of Teaching and Learning English-Speaking Skills: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Front. Educ. 7:880990. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.880990

Received: 22 February 2022; Accepted: 01 June 2022; Published: 06 July 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Wang, Abdullah and Leong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Rohaya Abdullah, [email protected]

• Open access
• Published: 13 May 2021

A meta-analysis on educational technology in English language teaching

• Jafar Rahmati 1 ,
• Siros Izadpanah   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2061-8110 1 &
• Ali Shahnavaz 2  

Language Testing in Asia volume  11 , Article number:  7 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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As more various types of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programs have been incorporated into language classrooms over the recent decades, it has become more important to uncover whether, to what extent, and under which moderator variables CALL can be yield more effective outcomes than traditional language instruction. The issue of education is one of the most important materials addressed by technology. Instead, meta-analysis is a statistical and quantitative method that leads us to a general conclusion by integrating the results of different researches. In this study, researchers worked on the impact of educational technology in English language teaching by studying 67 articles and theses (from 1000 studies that were relevant in title and abstract). All articles and theses were included from 2009 to 2020 and 7 articles were excluded from this study due to insufficient information. Furthermore, two instruments, SPSS (mainly its sub-branch Kruskal-Wallis test) and CMA were used to calculate and evaluate data in this research. The total effect size calculated for studies under both fixed and random models was statistically significant and also the study of effects by year of publication, instruments used in research and research methods showed that their effect size was significant. Teaching English with the help of technology has an effective effect size and has shown the success of this technology in language learning.

Introduction

Due to the rapid advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the world, there is growing attention to combine technologies into the classrooms to prepare learners to meet the needs of a progressively technological-dependent culture (Bond). The presence of technology and its constant advances have been disclosed into society by shifting the way how people cooperate with technology itself and through technology devices (Hollands & Escueta, 2020 ; Gonzalez-Acevedo, 2016 ). Warni, Aziz, and Febriawan ( 2018 ) believe that technology allows students to study independently and cooperate with their peers. This is possible because technology inspires students to reflect and analyze where these two capabilities are at the basics of developing autonomy. Since the 1960s, educational technologists have tried to make this image become a reality through emerging programs based on computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to drill, train, and test students (Andone & Frydenberg, 2019 ). According to Xiao ( 2019 ), every educator must utterly think about, update concepts, be courageous in innovation, let advanced science and technology assist college English education, and familiarize multimedia technology with a large amount of information, closeness and interactivity into college English teaching. Many educational researchers believe that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) would prove to be effective because it would decrease educational costs and increase learning outcomes in the long period (Atabek, 2020 ; Oz, Demirezen, & Pourfeiz, 2015 ).

Research in English language teaching sometimes contradicts differences in educational measures, situations, measurement instruments, and research methods that make it difficult for the researcher to easily compare the findings (Ozkale & Koc, 2020 ).

The disagreement between the results means that there is no acceptable answer to guide policymakers, and there is always an endless demand for re-research. There is a danger that the sponsors of social and educational research would conclude that this research is unproductive and unscientific. In addition, reviewing the sources of empirical research is usually not helpful, and because it depends so much on the opinion, judgment, preferences, and tendencies of the reviewers, conflicting interpretations of a piece of evidence are not uncommon.

However, examining the effectiveness of CALL is not easy for a number of reasons. First, the effect of any CALL program on learning outcomes is some way related to its uses. A specific CALL program may have great educational potential not revealed until it is used properly. Hence, evaluating the effectiveness of the CALL in language education is evaluating its uses rather than the CALL program itself. Second, the effectiveness of CALL is affected by some other moderator variables such as the learners, tasks, the educational setting conditions, and the assessment instruments. Third, CALL can be used either in isolation, as the sole instrument to convey language knowledge to the students, or in combination with traditional, face-to-face teaching methods (Sadeghi & Dousti, 2013 ). In addition to the above obstacles, no individual study by itself can show whether CALL programs are actually effective or not. In most countries, the use of educational technology is a headway and a national movement, and many organizations and educational institutions have been created in order to properly use educational technology and find better and more complete ways and techniques.

General objectives of the article: The role of educational technology in teaching English in Iran

Literature review

• Educational technology

An accurate understanding of the definition, subject, and scope of educational technology depends largely on the root meaning of the word technology. The word is derived from the word technology in Greek, meaning systematically performing art or profession. The first part of this word (technologia) is a combination of performing art and a technique involving knowledge of the meaning of the principles and the ability to achieve the desired results. In other words, logos mean practical things like knowing and doing. The word root means reasoning, explanation, principle, and ratiocination. So technology means the rational application of knowledge. The word consists of two words “technique” and “logic.” “Technique” means skillfully doing any work and “logic” is equivalent to the “knowing” suffix and means “science and knowledge.” Technology can, therefore, be regarded as methodology or knowledge and science in subtle ways of doing things. The second meaning is what the word “technology” is mostly used to express (Faradanesh, 2001 ).

Concept of educational technology

There are many definitions of educational technology, each referring to its various aspects. Before the application of technology in its new sense, planners helped improve the teaching and learning outcomes of audiovisual cases and devices. Thus, it can be concluded that the contributions of this branch are summarized from education to the use of purely educational items. But Brown ( 1972 ) has defined educational technology differently: Educational technology goes beyond the use of instruments. Educational technology is thus more than just a set of components (Ipek & Ziatdinov, 2018 ). It is a systematic way of designing, executing, and evaluating the whole process of research and learning to use specific goals, utilizing research findings in psychology and human communication, and employing a combination of human and non-human resources to create more effective learning, more reliable, and more deeply. In-depth attention to the above definition leads the reader to several basic conclusions:

The first conclusion to be drawn from the first part of the definition is that educational technology is not just about the use of educational instruments, but the broader scope of the use of educational instruments and the use of educational materials as part of it.

As educational technology is considered to be a systematic way or method, so it is more like an empire than its constituent parts because they are actions and reactions. Because the action, reaction, or interaction between its constituents lead to effects and results that are greater than the sum of its constituent elements.

Educational technology uses scientific findings such as psychology and the humanities to design and implement the whole process of teaching and learning.

Educational technology employs a good mix of human and non-human resources. In other words, unlike the use of educational materials or audio-visual training in which the use of material instruments is concerned, in technology, human resources are appropriately used.

The most recent definition agreed by educational technology experts, The American Association of Educational Communication & Technology (AECT) stated that educational technology is the theory and practice of designing, producing, using, and evaluating learning processes and resources (Spector & Yuen, 2016 ). Caffarela and Fly ( 1992 ) define this as considering that in any field of science philosophical issues such as epistemological epistemology and methodology are raised and that experts in different disciplines present theories in that field.

Application of educational technology in English language teaching

The application of educational technology in English language teaching includes any possible means and information that can be used in language teaching. It deals with language teaching instruments such as television, language labs, and a variety of designed media. In other words, the use of educational technology in language teaching is the same folk concept of educational technology as the use of audiovisual devices, monitors, and computer keyboards. The public domain of its audiovisual equipment consists of two distinct parts: the hardware and the software. The hardware talking part deals with physical and real equipment, such as projectors, sound recorders, TV sets, microcomputers, etc., and the software part includes many items used in connection with such equipment and devices like slide, audiotapes, videotapes of computer programs, written languages, and more (Ahdian, 2007 ); (Xu, Banerjee, Ramirez, Zhu, & Wijekumar, 2019 ).

Research in the field of education is sometimes contradictory. Differences in educational measures, situations, measuring tools, and research methods make it difficult for the researcher to compare the findings (Rai'i, Farzaneh, & Delavar, 2013 ). The contradiction between the results leads to no acceptable answer to be a guidance for policy makers (Talan, 2021 ). It also means that there is always an endless demand for research and re-research. There is a risk that research sponsors may conclude that this research is confusing, unproductive, and unscientific (Asgharpour, 2006 ).

Considering the research done in the field of language learning with the help of technology, it can be seen that there are a lot of disagreements about the success rate of teaching English with the help of technology. Some researchers such as Sung, Cheng and Liu ( 2016 ) and Lee ( 2010 ) are its defenders, while other researchers such as Lipsey and Wilson ( 2001 ), Norris and Ortega ( 2000 ), and Oswald and Plonsky ( 2010 ) have expressed doubts about its success.

Proponents of using technology for language learning, giving the learner freedom of action, access to a variety of language content, ease of access and its inherent attractiveness, opponents of factors such as lack of infrastructure, lack of software and hardware to especially in developing countries, students and teachers are not familiar with this technology, teachers do not master technology to produce appropriate educational content, superficial and unrealistic interactions in existing software, too much emphasis on the use of multimedia, heavy volume Content for language learners, lack of appropriate feedback and finally receiving superficial and unrealistic feedback as reasons for their opposition to using technology for language learning. These contradictory reasons led us to perform meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of technology-assisted language learning and, in general, whether it was successful or not. These reasons became contradictory in order to determine the effectiveness of language learning through meta-analysis with the help of technology and to reach a general conclusion whether it was successful or not.

Research methods

Considering that the purpose of this research was to describe, analyze, and combine the studies presented in the field of educational technology in English language teaching based on research; the method of this research was a meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is a set of statistical methods that are performed in order to combine the results of independent experimental and correlation studies that have the same research questions on a single topic, and leads to a single estimate and result. Unlike traditional research methods, a meta-analysis uses statistical summaries of individual studies as research data.

Based on the main assumption of this method, each study provided different estimates of the underlying relationships in society. Therefore, by combining the results of these studies, a more accurate view of these relationships could be provided, which was provided by estimating individual studies. Meta-analysis research was applied type and was among the few pieces of research. The method used to collect data in this research was the library.

General objective subgroups: variables

Hypothesis 1 — There is a significant difference between the years of publication in research on the application of technology in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 2 — The research method used in the research has been used in the field of application of educational technology in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 3 — Research tools have been used in the application of educational technology in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 4 — There is a significant difference between the effect size of different statistical methods in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 5 — There is a significant difference between the size of the work based on the gender of the sample in research on the application of technology through English language teaching.

Eligibility criteria and exclusion criteria

In this research, 67 articles or theses out of 1000 articles or theses which were related to technology in English language teaching in Iranian cites, like Tehran, Shahr-e- Qods, Yasouj, Shahrood, Mazandaran, Bandar Abbas, Alborz, Shahrekord, Ahvaz, Qeshm, Guilan, Semnan, and Chabahar, were randomly chosen from Iran Doc, google scholar, and science direct websites.

It is important to mention that 7 out of 67 articles and theses were ignored in this thesis based on the table that has been mentioned (Additional file 1 : Appendix A). Topics in selected articles were completely consistent and had a relatively high and appropriate subject similarity for meta-analysis were from the years between 2009 and 2020 (Additional file 1 : Appendix B). Conditions were detected and meta-analysis tests had been performed on them. It should be noted that in the meta-analysis method, there is no specific limit on the number of studies.

Method of data collection

To perform meta-analysis, the specifications of all theses in the field of educational technology in English language teaching, which are the year of publication, sampling method, statistical method, research method, and gender of the sample were studied. These data were then used in analysis, syntheses, and comparison.

Instruments

Meta-analysis is the statistical method which was used in this study. The SPSS (Sciences Statistical Package for the Social) software (SPSS Statistics 26) that researchers examined the frequency and statistical significance. The research hypotheses were also tested by SPSS software. CMA 2 software (Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 2) was used to calculate the effect size for each study, the overall size effect, and the size of the discriminant effect to test their statistical significance in this research.

In addition, the research hypotheses were tested using SPSS software and the Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test. The effect size in this r was calculated using the Hex method.

The Egger regression method has also been used to evaluate the homogeneity of the studies. The advantage of this method compared to other tests is that it is stronger. This method uses real effect size methods for prediction.

Data analysis

Part 1: descriptive analysis, description of general characteristics of the studied samples.

Descriptive information about the year of publication of the studies was examined in this study.

As can be seen in Table 1 , the highest percentage is related to research published during the years 2015 to 2017 with a rate of 51.7% and the lowest percentage is related to research published in the years 2018 to 2020 with a rate of 6.7 percentage.

Descriptive information about the research methods used in the studies reviewed in this study

As can be seen in Table 2 , the highest percentage is related to the quasi-experimental research method with 36.7% and the lowest percentage is related to the qualitative research method with 3.3%.

Descriptive information about the instruments used in the studies examined in this study

As can be seen in Table 3 , for the instruments used, the highest percentage is related to the Questionnaire instrument with 37% and the lowest percentage is related to the Observations instrument with a rate of 3.3%.

Descriptive information about the statistical method used in the studies examined in this study

As can be seen in Table 4 , the highest percentage is related to the method of using pre- and post-tests with 56.7% and the lowest percentage is related to the statistical method of ANOVA with 1.7%.

Descriptive information about the sex of the sample in the studies

As can be seen in Table 5 , for the sample gender, the highest percentage is related to mixed-gender with a rate of 48% and the lowest percentage is related to female gender with a rate of 20%.

Homogeneity of studies

In order to check the homogeneity of the studies, the Eger regression test is used and the results of this test are summarized in the following table:

As can be seen in Table 6 , due to the value of Sig, which is greater than 0.05, the assumption of homogeneity of studies at an error level of 0.05% is accepted.

The following Fig.  1 is used to determine whether the initial studies are biased and their impact on data analysis.

Funnel diagram shape the size of each study with the effect size accuracy

If the initial studies do not have a diffusion bias, they should be distributed symmetrically around the average effect size, as shown in the diagram above.

Overall effect size

Before examining the effect size separately for the variables in this study, the overall effect size is calculated in two modes: a model with random effects and a model with fixed effects, and the results are recorded in the table below.

It should be noted that due to the homogeneity of the initial studies in this study, the model with fixed effects is more efficient than the model with random effects.

As can be seen in Table 7 , considering that the sig value for both models is less than 0.01, it can be accepted that the total effect size in both models is significant with random effects and fixed effects at the error level of one percent.

Effect size by year of publication

The following table records the results related to the effect size by year of publication of studies in both model modes with random effects and fixed effects.

According to the Sig values obtained in Table 8 , the size of the effects in all the studied years is significant in both types of models with fixed effects and random effects.

The size of the work is used separately according to the research method

In the table below, the results related to the size of the effect are recorded separately by the research method used in the studies in both models with random effects and fixed effects.

According to the Sig values obtained in Table 9 , the size of the effects in all research methods used in the studies under study in both types of models with fixed effects and random effects are significant.

Effect size by the instrument used

In the table below, the results related to the size of the effect by instruments used in the studies are recorded in both model modes with random effects and with fixed effects.

According to the Sig values obtained in Table 10 , the size of the effects in all instruments used in the studies under study in both types of models with fixed effects and random effects are significant.

The size of the work is separated by statistical methods

In the table below, the results related to the effect size are recorded separately by the statistical methods used in the studies in both models with random effects and with fixed effects.

According to the Sig values obtained in Table 11 , the size of the effects in all statistical methods used in the studies in both types of models with fixed effects and random effects, except the random effects model in the case where the statistical instrument is used Qualitative Have been meaningful.

Effect size by sample gender

In the table below, the results related to the effect size by sample gender in both models with random effects and fixed effects are recorded.

According to the Sig values obtained in Table 12 , the size of the effects on the sex of the sample in both types of models with fixed effects and random effects are significant.

Part II: Inferential analysis

Hypothesis 1.

There is no significant difference between the size of the effect of years of the publication on research in the application of educational technology in English language teaching.

To test the above hypothesis, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used and the results of this test are recorded in the following tables:

As can be seen in Table 13 , considering the value of Sig = 0.151, which is greater than 0.05, the assumption of zero, i.e. the assumption that the size of the work is the same according to the year of publication is not rejected at the level of 5% error.

The effect of years of publication in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching is not significantly different.

Hypothesis 2

There is no significant difference between the size of the work and the research method used. Research conducted in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

To test the above hypothesis, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used and the results of this test are recorded in the following table:

As can be seen in Table 14 , considering the value of Sig = 0.302, which is greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis, i.e. the assumption that the size of the work is the same, is not rejected at the 5% error level, so researchers can say: There is no significant difference between the size of the work and the research method used in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 3

There is no significant difference between the size of the work and the instruments used in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

To test the above hypothesis, Kruskal-Wallis test was used and the results of this test are recorded in the following table:

As can be seen in Table 15 , considering the value of Sig = 0.830, which is greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis, i.e. the assumption that the size of the work is the same, is not rejected at the 5% error level, so researchers can say: There is no significant difference between the size of the work and the instruments used in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 4

There is no significant difference between the size of the work according to the statistical method used in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

To test the above hypothesis, Kruskal-Wallis test was used and the results of this test are recorded in the following tables:

As can be seen in Table 16 , considering the value of Sig = 0.814, which is greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis, i.e. the assumption that the size of the work is the same, is not rejected at the 5% error level, so researchers can say: There is no significant difference between the size of the work according to the statistical method used in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching.

Hypothesis 5

There is no significant difference between the size of the work by gender of the sample in research in the field of technology application through English language teaching.

As can be seen in Table 17 , considering the value of Sig = 0.819, which is greater than 0.05, the null hypothesis, i.e. the assumption which the size of the work is the same, is not rejected at the 5% error level, so researchers can say: There is no significant difference between the size of the work by gender of the sample in research in the field of technology application through English language teaching.

In this part, researchers describe the collected results in general and discuss the statistical results obtained. The present study includes 67 studies out of 1000 theses and articles which 7 of them were excluded from this study due to a lack of sufficient information ( Appendix A ).

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of educational technology on English language teaching. The optimal research method to achieve this goal was meta-analysis. In this method, “each research” was a unit of study, furthermore, the amount of effect size was calculated for each research in order to obtain the effectiveness of each research.

Our results indicate that technology applications have a large effect (1.68 and 0.91, fixed effect model and random effect model respectively) on English language teaching. This proposes that the use of technology is more effective than traditional teaching methods without technology for English language teaching quality.

Overall effects of educational technology on English language teaching

The result of a medium-sized overall positive effect of educational technology on English language teaching confirmed that the use of a computer, telegram, mobile, laptop devices, and software could facilitate language learning. These results were consistent with other research findings regarding the effects of different devices and software on English language teaching.

Related to the first research question: Year of publication

This research question was in line with Sung, Yang, and Lee ( 2017 ) and Chauhan ( 2017 ), which both had the same experimental results show that their meta-analysis was not substantially affected by publication bias. The most obvious finding to emerge from this research question was that years of publication did not have a significant result in this research.

Based on the fact, the year of publication was selected for research as a variable; if years are considered differently, that is, for example, the year 2009 is assumed alone, they are meaningful. They also have the same feature for the year of publication until 2020. However, based on the research question of how much the effect of the year of publication affects educational technology, it should be noted that this variable is not recommended for future research because it changes every time based on advances in technology and different methods for research. Considering the year of publication, it will not have a significant effect as a whole on the effect size of the work.

Related to the second research question: research method

It is in line with Farzaneh Shakki ( 2015 ). There is no significant difference between the effect size by the research method used and the research conducted in the field of technology application in the English language teaching.

In fact, the research method as a whole depends on the researcher and the type of research that is being done. In this research, we conclude that if we want to consider the research methods one by one we can claim that they all have a significant effect but when we want to consider all of them relative to each other, they do not have a significant effect. Therefore, this research shows us that the required research methods or resources required as well as different goals can be variable, so it depends on the researcher in what circumstances, in what environment and with what tools they can choose the research method. Of course, a single research method may not be used in an article, and several types can be used.

Related to the third research question: instruments

It was in line with Fazeli ( 2016 ). It was not in line with Pourtayebi ( 2015 ), Alinejad ( 2015 ), Sadeqi ( 2015 ), Rastegar ( 2014 ), Shahkooei ( 2016 ), and Parinaz ( 2010 ). There is no significant difference between the effect size and the instruments used in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching

As we have seen, among the number of theses and articles we reviewed, a variety of instruments were used. In the meantime, the questionnaire was used more than other instruments, but this does not mean that this instrument is superior to others in research instruments. In this study, in each of the articles and theses, one or more instruments were used, which were significant, but in general, they were not significant in comparison to each other. This means that we cannot say which tool is better than other instruments so it depends on the researcher which instrument to choose over the research.

Related to the fourth research question: statistical method

It was not in line with Shahkooei ( 2016 ). There is no significant difference between the size of the work according to the statistical method used in research in the field of technology application in English language teaching. Although the number of statistical methods used in these studies was different, in the ranking, they did not have a significant difference.

To check the quantitative research data, the use of statistical tests is mandatory. A statistical method is necessary to use for each research. Reviewing all statistical tests can be a good guide for analyzing data in an article. Meanwhile, it may not always be enough to use a test.

Statistical methods are one of the practical ways to identify problems and provide solutions to managerial, social, and psychological problems, etc. that, if implemented correctly, can provide real data for our research.

In other words, there may be different ways of doing research or how we can collect our data to prove or answer questions. At this point, having high analytical power, problem-solving ability. And sufficient experience can help you to know the correct method of research. Because it directly uses people’s opinions, it can solve society’s problems, and these studies are often very practical and can be cited.

Related to the fifth research question: gender

It was in line with Alipour ( 2017 ), Sadeqi ( 2015 ), Nateghi ( 2018 ), Dayani ( 2014 ), Ghazavi ( 2017 ), and Aliakbari ( 2013 ). It was not in line with Mohammadi ( 2014 ), Alashti ( 2013 ), AsgharHeidari ( 2014 ), and Nakhaei ( 2017 ) found the result of the study that the attitudes of English teachers or students regarding their gender towards the use of the Internet, mobile or other devices were positive and high.

According to the statistical part of this study, the participants were mixed in most of the articles, but in some of them, exclusively female participants or in some other male participants were used to conduct the research. Based on the findings, we conclude that there is not much difference between men being superior to women or vice versa.

Based on the availability of technology in education, educational technology has caused many changes in the field that meet the needs of students in different ways. With the provision of software that teaches students with special needs, the appropriate educational equipment is designed to make learning easier for the individual.

With the use of technology, the concept of education is changing for both students and teachers to progress. Therefore, the introduction of technology in education is very important.

Research limitations

The present meta-analysis, like many others, has its limitations and forces the researcher to interpret the findings with extreme caution.

Lack of access to some articles and dissertations that did not receive a response from the authors despite sending an email.

Suggestion for further study

Due to the limitations that researchers applied in this research, 67 theses and articles were selected from different cities of Iran that had a topic related to the subject of this research, but it should be noted that due to development and progress in recent years, the importance of this thesis is observed. It is better to select researches that have been published in reputable publications all over the world, in addition to this, it is suggested to work on other various variables.

A meta-analysis of research on the application of technology in English language teaching, which was published in valid journals in this field and examined, showed that the application of information technology in this field has an acceptable impact factor.

In this section, the overall findings of the current study were presented. According to the studied variables, we conclude that the five variables studied and researched, according to their statistical information in this study, did not have a significant effect size. And in response to the overall purpose of the article, how much technology can affect English language teaching, it can be concluded that, initially, compared to the variable of the year, 2017 to 2020, the size of the work was more representative than previous years, so technology has been effective. Other variables, such as tools, research methods, statistical methods, and gender, have had a smaller effect than size that we can ignore.

The results showed that all chosen variables in this study, considering every unique thesis or article, were significant, but as the whole consideration of each variable to 60 theses and articles, they were not significant.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Information and communication technology

Computer-assisted language learning

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Rahmati, J., Izadpanah, S. & Shahnavaz, A. A meta-analysis on educational technology in English language teaching. Lang Test Asia 11 , 7 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-021-00121-w

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• English language teaching
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English Research Basics

• Create Research Questions
• Select & Focus Your Topic

Why Research Questions?

Getting started with research questions, guiding research question vs. thesis.

• Know Your Sources
• Find Information
• Cite Your Sources

Sample Research Questions

Check out these sample lists of research questions. Notice how the same core questions are useful to guide your exploration into a variety of topics.

For a more complete list of research questions check out Developing Research Questions: Some Examples .

• Criminal Behavior
• Environmental Issue
• Homelessness
• Human Trafficking
• Online Social Networking
• Outsourcing
• Pet Therapy
• Same Sex Marriage
• Sex on Television
• Shop Local Campaign
• Substance Abuse
• Technological Singularity
• Video Games

Create the flow of your paper

Now that you've done your background reading and know the basics about your topic and what you want to focus on, create some research questions to help you develop the flow of your paper.

Why research questions

Think of your research questions as a grocery list designed to guide you through a huge “storehouse” of information.

This list will allow you to efficiently locate and retrieve the most relevant knowledge possible to support your thesis, prevent you from getting off track as you sift through large quantities of information, and even help keep you organized as you begin writing.

Your list of questions may change and/or expand as your research progresses.

Good academic communication should include  an introduction in which your topic and thesis is clearly defined,  an analysis of your topic, and a clear conclusion .

Start out by introducing your topic , communicating to your audience why the topic is important, and providing enough background information to allow your audience to understand the analysis that is about to take place. Your introduction is also the logical place to embed your thesis.

Before you begin writing your research questions, you'll want to do a little background reading  to begin learning something about your topic. 

Examples of defining/introductory questions:

• What is _________________?
• Why is ____________ an important issue?
• What background information is necessary to understand ______________?
• What are the different types of ____________?

All academic research demands analysis . Some projects lend themselves well to a cause/effect structure ("What caused hip-hop to emerge and what are some of the effects it's had on American culture?), while other assignments require a pro/con format ("What are the positive aspects of stem cell research? What are some of the negative implications?). Some projects can easily conform to both modes.

Examples of analytical/body questions:

• What are the causes of ________________?

What are the “pro” arguments about_______________?

What are the “con” arguments about ______________?

How can I refute arguments about ______________?

What is being done about ______________?

Your conclusion allows you to demonstrate to your instructor that you have synthesized the information you found and clearly answered your thesis question (informative projects) or effectively proven your thesis statement (persuasive/argumentative assignments).

Examples of concluding questions:

• What do I think should be done about  ________________?
• Based on my research what do I think about  ________________ and why?

If you think of your focus as a single, overriding question guiding the exploration of your topic, you can think of your thesis statement as an answer to that question.

Your thesis:

• Defines your point of view on your topic
• Briefly outlines your arguments
• Is often only fully developed toward the end of your research process  

Here are some examples that show you the transition from Topics to Guiding Questions to Thesis Statements

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100 Excellent English Research Topics and Ideas

Table of Contents

Are you confused about what topic to choose for English research? Don’t worry. When it comes to English, there are no boundaries to the subjects you can research. Moreover, the English research paper topic you pick should focus on answering a question based on your investigation. Usually, selecting a fascinating English research title that has the power to attract an audience and demonstrate your academic skills might be challenging. Therefore, in this blog, we have published a list of 100 excellent English research topics and ideas suggested by our team of experts. Additionally, we have also shared how to choose a good English research topic to get started.

If you have difficulty identifying a suitable study topic, explore this blog and get amazing ideas for English research.

Know How to Select a Perfect English Research Topic

It is important to possess the necessary knowledge to identify a topic for English research. In case, you struggle to choose a topic for your English research paper, follow these steps.

• First, select a subject that interests you.
• After doing a thorough background investigation, generate numerous English research ideas based on your interests.
• List the different keywords that will help you concentrate on the main idea.
• Examine a variety of perspectives on the topic you have chosen. Specifically, ask essential questions like what, who, why, who, and when to achieve this.
• Outline the content’s structure depending on how you want it to appear and the questions you answered.
• Pay close attention to the research paper’s length and due date.
• Confirm that your topic meets all of your professor’s research guidelines and requirements.

Note that the research topic you choose will only be good if it appeals to both you and your audience. It is recommended that you choose a subject that is familiar to you and can support your research with adequate sources. So keep these in mind while you brainstorm ideas and topics for your English research paper.

Read More – Learn and Understand the Common English Techniques

List of the Best English Research Topics

English is a broad subject and so it contains several research topics to focus on. Especially, for English research, you may choose any topic that is related to categories such as drugs, politics, technology, drugs, religion, English literature, gender discrimination, and others.

If you are unsure what topic to choose for your English research paper, make use of the list published below. In the list, you will get 100 engaging English research questions, titles, and ideas on various themes.

Also read: Learn About Different Language Features in English

Simple English Research Topics

• Examine the impact of social media on mental health.
• Discuss the importance of symbolism in poetry.
• Examine the role of social capital in community development.
• Discuss the causes and effects of the Great Depression.
• Explain how to enhance racial relations.
• Conduct a literary analysis of ‘The Monk’ written by Matthew Lewis.
• Examine the risks associated with organic food consumption.
• Discuss the importance of imagination in poetry writing.
• Explore the role of digital communication in learning the English language.
• Discuss the effect of the mother tongue on learning the English language.
• Explore the future of renewable energy.
• Discuss the cultural impact of superhero movies in society.
• Explore the importance of storytelling in human communication.
• Explain how mental illness is portrayed in contemporary literature.
• Discuss the psychology of motivation and goal-setting.

Interesting English Research Ideas

• Analyze the effects of climate change on agriculture.
• Focus on the representation of women in literature.
• Investigate the role of AI in education.
• Explore the role of women in historical events and movements.
• Analyze the impact of books on political issues.
• Examine the correlation between illegal immigration and terrorism.
• Analyze the impact of the English language on other cultures.
• Discuss romantic philosophy in Walt Whitman’s poetry.
• Suggest the best methods to improve speaking attributes.
• Explore how pronunciation varies in various learning cultures.
• Explain the psychology of decision-making.
• Focus on the Cultural Revolution in China.
• Explain how the popular media represents race and ethnicity.
• Examine the social effects of child work.
• Focus on English language acquisition difficulties.

Outstanding English Research Paper Topics

• Focus on the gender stereotypes in the workplace.
• Analyze the influence of foreshadowing in Gothic literature.
• Examine the effect of income inequality on social mobility.
• Analyze different film techniques.
• Examine the effects of terrorism on business.
• Focus on the evolution of marriage in contemporary culture.
• Discuss the risks of weight training for women.
• Focus on obstacles in modern English literature.
• Investigate the credibility of digital certification.
• Explain how to build interview skills.
• Discuss the use of animation and special effects in modern cinema.
• Take a look at the rise of communism and the Russian Revolution.
• Analyze the psychological and sociological effects of virtual reality technology.
• Explain how dietary misconceptions are hurting health.
• Investigate mercy killing incidents in the USA.

Amazing English Research Topics

• Analyze the ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
• Examine the significance of cryptography in modern society.
• Investigate the impact of the Industrial Revolution on society and culture.
• Discuss the influence of film noir on modern cinema.
• Analyze the impact of texting and mobile devices.
• Examine the negative effects of online dating apps.
• Analyze the effects of the civil rights movement.
• Discuss the Montessori Method of education.
• Explore the role of kinesics in communication.
• Analyze the impact of audiobooks in enhancing learning abilities.
• Focus on the representation of historical events and figures in films.
• Examine the impact of the Age of Exploration on world history.
• Analyze the evolution of science fiction as a literary genre.
• Take a look at the way of life in 18 th -century London.
• Focus on the advantages of studying abroad.

Awesome English Research Topics

• Take a look at the role of education in reducing poverty.
• Focus on the theme of identity in Postcolonial literature.
• Examine the causes and effects of the French Revolution.
• Explore the significance of music in films.
• Take a look at the place of technology in economics.
• Examine the adverse impact of doing improper exercises.
• Discuss the correlation between literature and psychology.
• Discuss the legal consequences of plagiarism in academic writing.
• Examine the scope of digital marketing for small businesses.
• Explain how to learn time management skills.

Engaging Topics for English Research

• Analyze the impact of globalization on cultural identity.
• Explore the role of religion in literature.
• Focus on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
• Examine the correlation between music and emotions.
• Focus on the modern literary allegories of the Bible.
• Analyze the influence of Europe on global fashion.
• Take a look at stream-of-consciousness writing style.
• Explain how to develop positivity in college students.
• Interpret American English drama.
• Focus on positive learning techniques.

Top English Research Ideas

• Explore the role of arts and culture in building strong communities.
• Examine the impact of war on literature and culture.
• Discuss the Holocaust’s legacy in modern society.
• Focus on the evolution of the fashion industry.
• Examine the negative aspects of a democratic government.
• Discuss the consequences of bioterrorism.
• Take a look at feminist perspectives in English literature.
• Explore the role of leadership in handling real-world issues.
• Analyze the impact of the internet on students’ psychology.
• Examine the effects of tobacco advertising.

Also read: Top 12 Longest Words in the English Language

Popular English Research Topics

• Examine the correlation between language and thought.
• Analyze the effect of cryptocurrency on financial markets.
• Explore the impact of the Cold War on International relations.
• Explain how technology affects health management.
• Analyze the significance of digitalized medical records.
• Analyze the effects of the commercialization of sports.
• Examine the impact of language on society’s development.
• Explain how to boost English communication skills for international students.
• Examine active listening skills.
• Analyze the ethical use of stem cells.

Wrapping Up

All the above-recommended ideas will aid you in coming up with a brilliant English research paper. If you need help with English research paper topic selection, writing, and proofreading, call us immediately.

At greatassignmenthelp.com, we have proficient academic writers to offer you cheap and the best English research help as per your requirements. Particularly, with the assistance of our English research paper helpers, you can flawlessly complete your assignments ahead of the deadline. Furthermore, by getting our English assignment help online , you can also enhance your language skills and achieve top grades for your work.

Related Post

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100 Unique Statistics Project Ideas To Consider

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Regions & Countries

About half of americans say public k-12 education is going in the wrong direction.

About half of U.S. adults (51%) say the country’s public K-12 education system is generally going in the wrong direction. A far smaller share (16%) say it’s going in the right direction, and about a third (32%) are not sure, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in November 2023.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how Americans view the K-12 public education system. We surveyed 5,029 U.S. adults from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16, 2023.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos for Pew Research Center on the Ipsos KnowledgePanel Omnibus. The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey is weighted by gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, income and other categories.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

A majority of those who say it’s headed in the wrong direction say a major reason is that schools are not spending enough time on core academic subjects.

These findings come amid debates about what is taught in schools , as well as concerns about school budget cuts and students falling behind academically.

Related: Race and LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Schools

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say the public K-12 education system is going in the wrong direction. About two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (65%) say this, compared with 40% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. In turn, 23% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans say it’s headed in the right direction.

Among Republicans, conservatives are the most likely to say public education is headed in the wrong direction: 75% say this, compared with 52% of moderate or liberal Republicans. There are no significant differences among Democrats by ideology.

Similar shares of K-12 parents and adults who don’t have a child in K-12 schools say the system is going in the wrong direction.

A separate Center survey of public K-12 teachers found that 82% think the overall state of public K-12 education has gotten worse in the past five years. And many teachers are pessimistic about the future.

Related: What’s It Like To Be A Teacher in America Today?

Why do Americans think public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction?

We asked adults who say the public education system is going in the wrong direction why that might be. About half or more say the following are major reasons:

• Schools not spending enough time on core academic subjects, like reading, math, science and social studies (69%)
• Teachers bringing their personal political and social views into the classroom (54%)
• Schools not having the funding and resources they need (52%)

About a quarter (26%) say a major reason is that parents have too much influence in decisions about what schools are teaching.

How views vary by party

Americans in each party point to different reasons why public education is headed in the wrong direction.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say major reasons are:

• A lack of focus on core academic subjects (79% vs. 55%)
• Teachers bringing their personal views into the classroom (76% vs. 23%)

In turn, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to point to:

• Insufficient school funding and resources (78% vs. 33%)
• Parents having too much say in what schools are teaching (46% vs. 13%)

Views also vary within each party by ideology.

Among Republicans, conservatives are particularly likely to cite a lack of focus on core academic subjects and teachers bringing their personal views into the classroom.

Among Democrats, liberals are especially likely to cite schools lacking resources and parents having too much say in the curriculum.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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Fresh data delivered Saturday mornings

‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Office of the Vice President for Research

Martín-estudillo named new director of obermann center for advanced studies.

Luis Martín-Estudillo , professor and collegiate scholar in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will serve as the next director of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies (OCAS). His appointment will begin July 1. 

“We are very excited that Professor Martín-Estudillo has agreed to lead the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies into its next chapter,” said Kristy Nabhan-Warren, associate vice president for research. “He brings a wealth of international connections, fresh ideas, and a proven track record of collaboration across units and disciplines here at Iowa and beyond. The search committee was deeply impressed with his vision for the center, and the campus feedback we solicited confirmed and amplified our excitement for new possibilities for OCAS.”

For more than four decades, the  OCAS has served as an interdisciplinary hub for artists, scholars, and researchers who bridge campus with the larger world. 

Situated on Church Street on the north end of campus, the center provides offices for six fellows-in-residence each semester, as well as funding for a major annual humanities conference, small group collaborations, and faculty book completion workshops, along with many other programs. The center is also a nexus for university-community activities, including lectures, workshops, and performances.

“I’m tremendously excited to lead a productive, inspiring center—one that is open to our whole community of researchers, scholars and artists at every stage of their studies and careers and attracts the presence of enriching national and international guests. I envision a global, interdisciplinary research center with a humanistic ethos,” said Martín-Estudillo.

Martín-Estudillo specializes in modern and contemporary Spanish cultural and intellectual history and criticism. He has also published broadly on early modern topics and visual culture. His scholarship has appeared in journals such as  Goya, Hispanic Review, Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, Ínsula, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Pasajes: Revista de Pensamiento Contemporáneo  and  Romance Quarterly . He is the Executive Editor of the Hispanic Issues  book series and of the journal Hispanic Issues Online .

A recipient of three awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Martín-Estudillo has also won several awards from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, including the Collegiate Teaching Award, the Dean's Scholar Award, the Collegiate Scholar Award. 

His recently authored and edited books include:  Filosofía y tiempo final  (2011),  The Rise of Euroskepticism: Europe and Its Critics in Spanish Culture  (2018)  Despertarse de Europa. Arte, literatura, euroescepticismo  (2019) and  Goya and the Mystery of Reading , for which he won the  2023 Goldberg Prize .

Martín-Estudillo will replace Teresa Mangum, professor in the Departments of Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies and English, who is retiring after serving as the OCAS director since 2010. 

The OCAS is a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Research.