The role of authority has been debated in the history of education (Buzzelli &
Johnston, 2001). One traditional perspective is seeing the authority inherent in educational
settings (Spring, 1999). In contrast, ideas to avoid authority and minimising its role in
education have been discussed (Spring, 1999; Welker, 1992). Buzzelli and Johnston (2001)
propose two fundamental assumptions about authority in teaching. One is the idea that
“authority of the teacher is a constant in education” (p. 874). They (2001) believe that “this
is so whatever form of pedagogy is involved, and however the teacher is prepared to share
authority or devolve responsibility to the students” (p. 874). The second idea is that teacher
authority has two different but interrelated aspects: “the teacher possesses authority both in
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knowledge that the students need to acquire” (p. 875). I was aware of this concept of
authority and was very careful in communicating my research ideas with the participants
who were also my students. By me having dual roles as a researcher/teacher of my own
students, I wanted to make sure that the students did not feel pressured to take part in the
research to please me.
At the beginning of the course, I told the class that I was conducting a study and data
from the class would be used for my Ph.D. thesis. I also explained that the information given
in the class materials might be used for research purposes and it was mentioned on each class
worksheet (See attached sample worksheets in the Appendix). A small box to tick was
provided on each class worksheet if any student wished to opt out. In addition, I explained
orally that other kinds of data (such as audio- and video-recordings of the classes) would be
used for the study. Most importantly, I made sure that the students understood their privacy
would be protected in the use of any of the data.
There was one particular issue raised by the ethical committee of Birmingham
University. I could not think of it when planning the project, which was: “Would the basis
upon which participants are selected (the significance of change in their L2 vision) be explicitly explained to potential participants? If it would, may this cause concern for those not selected, and how would it be handled?” Here are the measures I took in order to prevent
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the students from feeling excluded and anxious about it.
I told the class at the beginning that I would approach several students at the end of
the course to interview about their L2 learning and intercultural experience. I avoided the
wording “the significant change in the L2 vision” for two reasons: 1) This concept was too
abstract to many students, and even if they understood the concept, 2) I did not want the
students to write what was not real or true about themselves in the class worksheets which
were used as data.
I also explained that even if they did not get selected as interview participants at the
end of the course, anybody was welcome to participate in the interviews, and that I would
appreciate their cooperation. I made this interview open to all the students in the class and
they were able to choose to participate in the interview if they wished. Therefore, it is
unlikely that any student felt left out and was worried about not having been selected as
interview participants. All the students were also explained that their participation in the
research would have no influence on their grades.
The basis upon which participants were selected (their class engagement, interesting
L2 learning and intercultural experience, and gender) were explicitly explained to potential
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my project and I repeated whether they participate in the interview has nothing to do with
the course requirement or their grades. I told them that I would organise a separate meeting
with each participant in order to provide further information on the project and an
opportunity to ask any questions on their request. Detailed information about the research
such as the general procedure, what they were expected to do, and the kinds of data they
were asked to provide were given to the participants on Participant Information Sheet (See
Appendix 2). Ethical issues including anonymity, confidentiality, and their rights to
withdraw were explained to the participants on this form in Japanese. Additionally, I gave
them a Consent Form, which they could sign and return to me later if they wanted to
participate in the interview. The Consent Form consisted of the following three parts: 1) brief
explanation about the research project, 2) participant’s rights, and 3) questions concerning
participant’s consent showing that they are entirely voluntary to engage in current project
(See Appendix 3).
These were the ethical issues that I needed to consider in carrying out this project,
especially in terms of students’ welfare. Finally, this study was based on EP, “cast in terms
of a set of ethically and epistemologically motivated principles for practitioner research.
(Allwright, 2005, p. 2) intended to bring all people together working towards mutual
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with my students/participants seeking “meaningful teacher development and students’
learning” (Kubanyiova & Feryok, 2015, p. 437).
5.7 SUMMARY
In this chapter, I have provided the details of the design, method, and context of this
EP study, in which I sought in-depth understanding of the students’ development of L2
vision and explained its holistic nature. I had dual roles as a teacher and a researcher in this
study. As a teacher, I endeavoured to enhance students’ L2 visions through my course and
improve the ‘quality of life’ during the aftermath of the earthquake. As a researcher, I tried
to understand the course impact on their L2 visions and other factors that might have affected
their vision formation.
In the next three chapters (Chapters 6, 7, and 8), I will provide the findings gained
through the analysis with an interpretive approach. The discussion in Chapter 6 is related to
the first research question, ‘What L2 visions and L2 vision-related experiences do the course
participants have when they begin their college life?’ and Chapter 7 offers the insights gained
regarding the second research question, ‘How is this L2 vision impacted by English course
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integrates all the themes discussed in Chapter 6 and 7, and they will be retold in a different
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