CHAPTER THRE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
As noted by Kothari (2001), research is defined as a systematic and scientific method which consists of expressing the problem, data collection, the study of the evidence and inference of a certain generalization for a specific language is a type of solution. A methodology is a general approach to research design, a scheme that creates a bond between a tactic and the results to be generated (John W Creswell & Clark 2013). Research Methodology, on the other hand, is a systematic way to solve the problem that a researcher has identified. Research Methodology indicates the various steps a researcher can adopt while they are studying a problem in their research alongside with the logic and facts behind them (Kothari, 2001).
The purpose of this study is to assess spoken Arabic among non-Arab speakers in schools. This chapter seeks to explain how the data required will be gathered and afterwards analysed to answer the research questions and to also attain the research objectives. It starts by addressing the research questions of the study, the methodology selected population, collection of data procedures, sampling procedures, data analysis, validity and reliability and the ethical concerns.
3.2 Research Questions
This research seeks to form a hypothesis that will answer the following research questions:
- What is the current need for learning the local language and using it in the lives of our students?
- What are the main challenges of learning an additional language in an environment where the language is the national language but isn’t mandatory to use?
- How can we promote the use of living Arabic and avoid cohorts of non – Arab students who aren’t able to speak the language?
- How can we improve speech and language communication amongst students that learn Arabic as an additional language?
- What could be the main reasons for some non-Arab students who learn the language from years 1 to 9 who are not able to speak fluently while others don’t?
- What are some common ways that teachers can encourage and motivate them to speak in Arabic?
3.3 Methodology Selected
The research design refers to the strategy a researcher decides to use to integrate different components of a study logically hence ensuring that one will address the research problem (J W Creswell, 2013). Research designs can also be described by Babbie (2012) as an arrangement of situations and exploration of data in such a way that aims to promote significance to the research purpose. Described by Kothari (20010, a research design is what makes research operations easy to generate the most knowledge and to reduce cost and resource usage, a blueprint that encourages research activities. Kothari further argues that a good design must minimize while at the same time increasing reliability.
This study intends to use a pragmatic research design. A pragmatic design is suitable when you want to gather information to gain insight into a specific issue. The research intended to get insights into spoken Arabic among students that are not Arabic, the exploratory pragmatic design is appropriate in gathering the data. A quantitative and qualitative approach will be used in this research. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyse quantitative data to distinguish the orientations that are least and most important. The SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) will the tool used in the analysis of the data. The Likert scales questions will also be analysed using excel. To quantify the results and arrive at conclusions. Qualitative research will aid in exploring the attitudes, behaviours and experiences through interviews (Dawson, 2008).
Stake (2010) describes a qualitative study as being very appropriate when a researcher wants to describe an occurrence by counting on the interpretation of an experience of one person in a given situation. A quantitative methodology is important if a researcher wants to consider the relationship between variables as illustrated by Creswell (2003). Since the purpose of the study is to assess asses spoken Arabic amongst non-Arab speakers in schools, a qualitative approach is an appropriate choice. The theory of Grounded methodology will be used in the qualitative approach in this research. This theory is a known systematic way to shift from personal awareness to collective knowledge (Stake 2010: pg.17). The Discovery of this theory from data was presented to the scientific world in the 1960s (Glaser & Strauss, 1967, p. 1) as a basis for the theory. This approach was developed by Glaser and Straus (1967) where hypothesis may arise through coding interviews using words that describe each paragraph or phrase succinctly and conceptually.
This theory includes both positivist and constructionist leanings as claimed by (Charmaz, 2006 p.127). Charmaz described the positivist metaphysical stance as being flawed in recognizing the thinking of a person, which emerges from the subjective experience of full objectivism. The constructionist philosophical position was defined by Birks and Mills (2011) and Charmaz as a view which comes from human understanding according to the model of the person, conditioned by environment, history, etc. This research will be carried out in a constructivist way using the grounded theory. The philosophy will be focused on perception, of which the constructivist tradition is a member of, and aims to conceive the phenomena examined, in consideration to abstractly formulating scientific arguments, to theorize subjectivity, and to propose creative explanations (Charmaz 2006, p. 127). This research seeks to conceptualize the phenomena of each participant’s perspective and establish an interpreted hypothesis focused on the analysis of their common experiences by coding data from interviews in abstract terms.
Within this analysis, a trend and a reflective essence of the work will be stressed in the context of the theory (Charmaz, 2006). In the research analysis, it will be necessary to focus on the emerging theory. Changes in questions for interviews will be there to show specifics of new hypotheses during the analysis. To discover various variations and resemblance, the researcher will have to be fully aware of the subtleties in the data collected. The principle is the Interpretation of the results by the researcher following the constructivist grounded theory focused (Charmaz 2006).
The foundation for this thesis was the Sage Handbook on Fundamental Theory by Bryant and Charmaz (2007) that summarized the concepts of the grounded methodology of the theory employed here. Bryant (2009 pg. 1) presented concepts analysis of science such as codification, memos generation, key category collection and the hypothesis of generation data processing for the development of the theory. Together, the methodological methods used in the applied approach of grounded theory will allow the researcher to continuously view the evidence through a new perspective and foster prospects for the development of new hypothesis from the evidence (Charmaz, 2006).
3.4 Population
The population is a large category of people, entities and artefacts with a specific characteristic that is of concern to the researcher. The specific characteristics of the classes differentiate them from other individuals, entities, which we wish to make inferences as argued by (J W Creswell, 2013). Mugenda & Mugenda (2013 pg. 11) defines a population as individuals in a group who are under consideration in a field of inquiry and have common features. The target population for this study will be non-Arabic students that are speaking or learning. However, since the students are below the age of 18, I will sent the questionnaire to their teachers and direct questions about how they think the students are acquiring the knowledge. For any stud, the target audience is identified as the number or community of people the researcher would try to include in his / her study (Israel, 1992). The qualifications to take part in this research will be that they are teachers teaching in in any Arabic language learning centre and currently teaching students Arabic as their second language. Teachers who in the past have taught non-Arabic students will also be considered for the study as I believe the can provide useful insights for the research. The teachers will also have their questionnaire that will ask about their teaching methods. They will also have to be at least eighteen years old. Both male and females will be considered for the study. The Arabic language is taught in the following three stages, concerning the above-mentioned centres, where the research will be done. So all those phases’ participants will be interviewed to understand spoken Arabic among non-Arabic students.
The researcher is a Master of education student and no student will be specifically linked to the researcher that will cause a conflict of interest. There will be no friendship relations, contract or connection between the participants and the researcher which may have an impact on the biasness of the study.
3.5 Data collection
Primary data will be used in the study because the researcher will be able to obtain first-hand information which is current and related to the study. The data collection method used in this research was Questionnaires. Kothari (2001) notes that a questionnaire has an advantage of being used in large scale, which means having a wider reach which leads to dependability of the results. Questionnaires are also free from bias. Questionnaires, however, have limitations such as ambiguous responses, the capability to lose the questionnaire and also omissions from the respondents (Rowley, 2014). The Questionnaire will be formed via Google Forms and the link will be shared via Emails and Whatsapp. After completion of filling the questionnaires, the data will be collected on the goggle form doc and will be analysed. The responses will be anonymous is there will no place for the respondents to indicate their names or identification. So, the return responses will be completely anonymous as there will be no way for the research to identify who exactly filled which questionnaire.
Husseinali’s first survey (2006) will be adopted in this research. The questionnaire will consist of two components, one of which consisted of demographic data collection; the other part will have a question as per the objectives to get an insight about students’ experiences. Questions will be formulated according to the Likert scale of measure. There will be six categories with six representing strongly agree and one will represent strongly disagree. The final statements in each category will be left blank for the participants to make their comments that describe their explanations for the learning of Arabic.
I will share the questionnaires with teachers who are teaching non –Arabic students. I will follow the necessary procedures with regard to the use of people and obtained permission from the Universities to distribute the questionnaires and interview teachers as from the various faculties. I will approach the Office of Integrative Student Services (OISS) with this permission and request for the teachers teaching non- Arabic student’s names, mobile numbers and their addresses. This will help me pick out the teachers that teach non Arabic students from those that don’t. After getting their addresses, I will send an email to the teachers to notify them that they will be receiving a questionnaire and kindly ask them to participate in my study. I will follow up through emails and calls and ask them if they are experiencing any problems and have questions regarding the questionnaire.
The researcher will also carry out a Semi-structured Interview with the Arabic head of departments to understand what they think about way spoken Arabic is taught to non-Arabic speaking students. The interviews will address leaders because they represent traditional non-Arabic students which are a unique category. This research will use a form of interview method where both the respondent and the questions of the interview will be the instrument for the data collection. During and after each interview, memos will be used to collect research ideas. Olympus WS-803 that is a voice recorder will be used with conference recording services and to electronically record the interviews. The interviews will start with open-ended questions on their interest in spoken Arabic among Non-Arabic students and just their interest in general. They will be followed by more intensified questions in order to gather more detailed data. The interviews will then end with more open questions, which will be organized to invite more depth about the topic.
Due to the current global pandemic, most of the interviews will be conducted through a telephone call. The researcher will also utilize zoom meetings with the participants that won’t be available physically and the interview will be recorded. Before any interviews will be recorded, the conference recording company will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. There will also be no interview without Confirmation of the participants’ written and oral informed consent. For the interviews that will be carried out in person, the process will be carried out in an open place of the classroom with one interviewee being allowed in the room. Safety measure to curb corona will also be put in place to prevent any transmission and risk exposure of both the researcher and the participants.
Interview questions will be analysed using thematic analysis. This analysis describes an iterative process as to how the most important subjects in the data can pass from raw data to meaningful data. Six steps are involved in the thematic analysis. The first step is to get acquainted with your knowledge, To define the material, allocate preliminary codes to your data, Check the codes through the individual interviews for trends or themes, Test subjects, Specify themes and name them and then lastly produce a report. In an interview data, a thematical analysis seeks to identify patterns of subjects (Virginia & Victoria, 2016). Thematic analysis benefits include its simplicity and it is an easy tool to use for all exploratory research, where you have no easily defined interpretation of the correlations and dedicatory experiments you ‘re searching for, where you precisely know what you want to do. The findings will also be as truthful as possible to represent the actual findings from the interview that was provided. The researcher will be very be open about everything from the way that they will selected subjects to the way they will administer the study while discussing the findings with others. This would ensure that the will be accurate.
3.6 Sampling Procedure and Technique
Sampling is an intentional selection of individuals who will provide data from which observations are made from a wider community-identified (Kothari, 2001). Sampling is a statistical research method that requires a given number of findings from a wider sample. Based on the nature of experiments being conducted, the methods used for sampling from a wider population may involve basic random conditions or systematic tests.
Sampling Frame
The sample frame is a list of all the components of a sample population from which the researcher will pick (Kothari, 2001). A sample frame of a probability survey is a partial list of the population is included. The Sampling frame of this study will be teachers of Arabic language and the leaders of the faculties related to Arabic teaching in schools.
Sample Size
This is a fragment of the population that will be selected for research to represent the population in general (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2013) and (Kothari, 2001). The size should neither be too small or too high. Sampling size is a number of people in this research that will be selected as a representation of the population as a whole. The sample size for the research will consist of 20 teachers and 5 leaders. This sample size is appropriate as it will provide a valid result.
Sampling Techniques
Purposive sampling technique will be used to pick a representative sample from the schools. The sampling technique was adopted because it is a careful or intentional selection of the respondents as per the qualities possessed by the respondent (Tongco, 2007 pg. 147). Purposive sampling technique is a non-random technique that the researcher decides what needs to be known and sets out to find people who can and are willing to provide either through experience, assumptions or knowledge (Etikan, Abubakar, & Sunusi, 2017). Purposive sampling will, therefore, suit this study because it seeks to find the experiences, challenges and opinions of the respondents.
3.7 Data Analysis
Data analysis is a method of review, processing and simulation of data to identify relevant details, to draw conclusions and to facilitate decision-making (Rowley, 2014). Data analysis will be done through descriptive analysis which transforms raw data into tables and charts for the data to be easily interpreted (Rowley, 2014). This is because these methods offer a visual aid to data being presented and make understanding easier. The recording will be done to be able to replicate and modify interview questions in batches at a time when hypotheses begin to develop from the results. The researcher will use coding to help in understanding the participants’ viewpoints and evaluate their collective interactions. During the research process, data-based codes will be created for data analysis by using manual and using tools for qualitative data processing aided by computer (Urquhart, 2013 pg. 118).
A crucial aspect of the data processing will be the labelling or splitting of the transcripts into usable and accessible text pieces. The use of coding in fundamental research has been influential in structurally based interview study on participants’ experience. Codes will assist in preventing the researcher from stressing the significance of any aspect early in the research and ensure that the entire interview has been carefully analysed (Charmaz, 2006; Stake, 2010).
A continuous comparison is known as the analysing process, reviewing and associating new information with existing data (Birks & Mills, 2011; Urquhart, 2013). At every stage of coding, it will be critical that the coding continues to update the facts in preceding phases so that connections will be made before the saturation occurs continuously. Urquhart (2013) has adopted the coding terminology used in this dissertation, which has designated the three coding phases as theoretical, selective and open.
Open coding is the phase of coding line by line of each line of transcribed text. This is mirrored in its subtitle, where each line of interviews is marked by a few words, as Urquhart (2013), Birks and Mills (2011) and Charmaz (2006). The researchers’ emphasis on each interview in depth was supported by this coding approach. This approach has served to inculcate the tradition of basic analysis, under which the philosophy of evidence itself originated. Open coding is usually done on a number of lines (Birks & Mills, 2011). Selective coding starts where new open codes do not exist, or whether codes are linked exclusively to existing core categories (Urquhart, 2013). The terms groups and systems can usually be interchanged by the fundamental techniques of analysis (Birks & Mills, 2011; Urquhart, 2013). Selective codes can occur more frequently than others. A selective code is sometimes a major theme or code (Birks and Mills, 2011; Urquhart, 2013).
The researcher attempts selectively to identify types that appear but assumes that the number of restricted codes is not as many as open codes. Proposed by Urgohart (2013) revisiting the types of selective coding if the original code has created too much selective code. To improve this coding as an IT practice, Urguhart recommended that select codes be investigated by the researcher to decide whether or not specific code names represent the most widely known available codes. Urguhart proposed that the restricted coding be investigated by the researchers as this will help to differentiate between available attributes and probable relationships.
There is a division between grounded theorists when theoretical sampling is starting exactly. Charmaz (2006) said that sampling begins theoretically according to the categories. Theoretical sampling should be started in open-ended coding as the initial data tend to display ideas that start signalling new hypotheses or describing anomalies. Birks and Mills (2011) argued that Coding happens potentially as the definitions and comparisons of the codes are made and connections between codes or groups arise during open code and selective coding (Urquhart, 2013). Through these interactions comes the idea or hypothesis as the whole coding is iterative.
3.8 Validity and Reliability
How the researcher thinks and listens to the results will determine the trustworthiness and validity of the study. Madill (2012 pg. 20) has noted that credibility and trustworthiness are critical for maintaining reliability and conformability. One way of maintaining reliability and transferability is by maintaining that the interviewees understand the phenomena to be investigated by the researchers (Lincoln & Guba 1994). Interview vignettes will be used to highlight the main themes of the study and to support the survey results (Leedy & Ormrod, 2013). Another way of ensuring conformability is by eliminating bias from the researcher. It is necessary to understand what the unbiased data informs the researcher. This will help in providing a clear interpretation of the interview and the participant expectations by transcribing and coding of whole interviews.
By using constant comparative analyses, rigorous comparisons will be made and the connections between analysis and the resulting hypotheses will be demonstrated. A continuous comparative study is also critical in providing legitimacy to hypotheses extracted from the evidence, as the researchers will illustrate the codes and categories used for the creation of the hypothesis (Charmaz, 2006). Saturation evidence will also be a factor in ensuring that the gathered data will provide adequate data to provide the hypothesis with legitimacy. In this research review, the transferability will be limited as this thesis is intended to examine a particular topic. The data for the study will be available for five years, all transcriptions and records will then be disposed of afterwards. The lack of evidence availability after five years could theoretically hinder the possible reliability and trustworthiness of this report.
Various forms were simplified for the implementation of the hypothesis or idea that results from this analysis. Yin (2011) proposed that simple guidelines should be developed and enforced to minimize study bias. The researcher will have a number of clear rules and a number of checks to ensure that the rules will be followed. Conference call recordings and a digital audio recorder will be used to record the interviews and this will prevent the researcher from adding or excluding any data from the participant interviews. The manual recording of the interviews using a ground-breaking theoretical approach will lead to unbiased data analysis and minimized exaggeration from the researcher.
3.9 Ethical Concerns
In the report, researchers maintained that ethics remained a high priority. The feasibility and precision of the analysis were crucially assured using the methodology described in this chapter. The participants will be provided with a form that will provide their consent. This, they will be required to sign before they participate in the research. This consent form will be in line with the federal directives as outlined in Frankfurt (2008) which provides a just clarification of procedures and the description of reasonably expected risks, a description of benefits reasonably expected and an offer to inquire into the procedures that the researcher will use in the gathering of the information. The participants will also be allowed to withdraw from participating in the researcher at any time they will want to.
There will be minor risks for the individuals who will be interested to participate in this research. The researcher will ensure that all the participants will have attained a minimum of 18 years; in addition, they will ensure that the participants don’t have any intellectual capability compromised regardless of their ability to carry out their duties. Only those that will meet the criteria will be allowed to participate in the study. With regards to the approval of the research committee, all the materials that will be collected and recorded will be erased to minimize any risks of confidentiality in the future.
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