Course Description
In its original iteration in the life and medical sciences, the term “translational research” refers to research that aims to take results from basic science and translate them into direct clinical or therapeutic applications, as well as feed outcomes and insights from clinical applications back into theory-building. In the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), the term can be applied to research that takes concepts about (second) language learning and translates them into classroom practice. To some extent, translational research has long existed in SLA within the sub-field of “Instructed Second Language Acquisition” (ISLA). According to Sato and Loewen (2019b), “The overarching research agenda of [ISLA] is to understand second language (L2) learning and teaching issues in instructional settings and examine pedagogical interventions that help learners develop L2 skills more efficiently and effectively” (p. 1). Furthermore, they argue, “ISLA researchers endeavor to provide teachers with evidence-based pedagogy by conducting empirical investigations” (ibid). Therefore, at its core, ISLA is applied research with translational implications.
However, in recent years people have paid increased attention to the fact that research findings are in fact not finding their way to second language (L2) educators, and thus, by extension, to the L2 classroom (e.g., Marsden & Kasprowicz, 2017; Sato & Loewen, 2019a). Recent edited volumes with titles such as Evidence-based Second Language Pedagogy (Sato & Loewen, 2019) and Doing SLA Research with Implications for the Classroom: Reconciling Methodological Demands and Pedagogical Applicability (DeKeyser & Prieto Botana, 2019) point to the need to examine the presumed research-to-pedagogical practice pipeline more critically. Additionally, the reverse aspect of translational research is often neglected by ISLA researchers: how can research on instructional practices contribute to theories of SLA?
A major goal of this course is to move our thinking about the connection between research and pedagogy beyond the “pedagogical implications” paragraph that was once a hallmark of many SLA studies. After surveying the current state of the research-pedagogy “link” (or “divide,” depending on your perspective), we’ll dive into a more detailed exploration of major sub-topics in ISLA and examine various methodological approaches, though our primary focus will be classroom-based research. We’ll learn how to analyze the contributions of empirical research to both scientific knowledge and pedagogical practice and then apply this knowledge to designing research studies that don’t just have implications for pedagogy, but are informed by pedagogy (meaning the needs of actual language educators) and—where possible—can contribute to our understandings of the mechanisms of language learning.
Finally, in addition to theoretical and methodological concerns, we’ll consider issues such as accessibility of research findings for non-academics, focusing on formal initiatives, for example the OASIS database, as well as use of new media platforms such as YouTube.