Elementos del costo

In social research, ethics is an important consideration. The main principle of research ethics is that the participants should be protected from any mental or

physical harm which might occur as a result of being involved in an investigation (Wellington, 2000; Dörnyei, 2007; Bryman, 2008). In view of this, a number of educational organisations, such as the British Psychological Society and the British Research Association, have offered ethical codes to researchers in the field of social sciences. My research complies with British Educational Research Association (BERA) guidelines, including: informed consent, anonymity and confidentiality. Punch (1994, p. 90) makes it clear that “a professional code of ethics is beneficial as a guideline that alerts researchers to the ethical dimensions of their work, particularly prior to entry”. In this regard, several ethical issues were considered during the implementation of this research and they will be considered throughout the research stages.It has been stressed that “ethical concerns should be at the forefront of any research project and should continue through to the write-up and dissemination stages” (Wellington, 2000).

According to the BERA guidelines, any social research requires the obtainment of the institution and the participants’ agreement to assist in an investigation. Prior to conducting my research, the permission of the institution was obtained from the English Language Department. It permitted me to use the departmental documentation and rooms, and to invite the students to take part in this experimental research.

Since my research involved adult, Libyan EFL learners, it was necessary for me to obtain their consent. Before that, I provided the participants with a full oral and written explanation of my research in Arabic language. In this, I informed them of all areas of my research and clarified any aspects that might reasonably be expected to influence their willingness to participate in the experiment. I also answered honestly any questions raised by the students regarding ER in general, my research procedure, and the participants’ role in particular. Once the participants showed their agreement to take part in the research, they were asked to sign the consent form. This also meant a

confirmation that the participants had been provided with sufficient information about the research procedures and their obligation towards them. It also indicated that all possible questions about the research had all been fully answered by the researcher.

Nonetheless, due to the sensitivity of incidental learning of vocabulary as a research topic, I limited the participants’ understanding of what the research was about. In doing so, I believed that the participants would respond more naturally to the experimental treatment. The study could have been invalidated if the participants had been informed that they were involved in research of incidental vocabulary acquisition. As Fraenkel and Wallen (2006) state, in particular instances, social research cannot be carried out unless some deception of the subjects takes place. Therefore, the information given to the participants was not complete. It included the general benefits that a language learner can gain from participating in an ER programme, without mention of the incidental gain of vocabulary. According to Anderson and Arsenault (1998), researchers can implement a ‘deception’ experiment if it is the only way to discover the truth, and providing that no harm comes to the participants.

An additional ethical issue was related to the research sampling. As a random selection of participants was used in this research, I was aware of the fact that their participation was voluntary and that some students might be unwilling to be involved. The consent process, therefore, respected and protected the right of the participants’ self-determination without coercion. Participants had the right to refuse to participate in the research or to withdraw from participating at any point in the experimental period without repercussions.

Another ethical concern relevant to this research was the confidentiality of the data. Participants were required to put their names on all data collection forms. However, to achieve confidentiality and anonymity, it was guaranteed in the research information form that the participants’ information, including personal

or any other identifying details, would not to be used in any publications. All participants were assured that any data collected from or about them would be kept confidential. Therefore, participants’ names were removed from all data collection forms and they were coded by letters and numbers.

In any social research the potential benefits must outweigh the burden of subjects’ participation and cooperation in the enquiry (Anderson & Arsenault, 1998). In my opinion, considering the issue of harm and benefit in my research, the Libyan EFL learners could be regarded as benefitting from the research, as reading long interesting texts in a relaxing environment could provide them with additional English language learning input.

In order to maintain a high level of enthusiasm during the experiment, refreshments were provided to participants free of charge. Likewise, a friendly, relaxed atmosphere was created by providing the research library with additional furniture, such as sofas, tables, and chairs. Although there was no promise of personal benefits, understanding the need to ‘give something back’ to the research subjects was my primary concern. In this regard, small gifts were offered to all participants at the end of the experiment. Letters of appreciation were also given to them, expressing my gratitude for their participation during the experimental period. Moreover, two copies of each title of the 40 research books were given to my research participants. They were invited to select the titles they were interested in, to keep for themselves.

At the research preparation stage, many students, including control group participants, attended discussion sessions on the ER program, but, due to the research design, they were not involved in the reading treatment. For ethical reasons, I donated a set of all 40 titles of the research books to the English language department. These books were made available to interested students who had missed the reading program, as well as other colleagues in the English language department.