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4.1.1 Definition and rationale

Many researchers have engaged in the difficult task of advancing a precise definition of qualitative research and have been able, in the eyes of qualitative practitioners, to describe this approach only partially. This is mainly due to the overarching and ever-changing nature of qualitative research, comprising a wide array of traditions and methods and adjusting to the demands of emerging worldviews ranging from social constructivism to pragmatism. Denzin and Lincoln provide a definition which includes the basic tenets of qualitative research:

Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that makes the world visible. These practices transform the world. They turn the world into a series of representations, including fieldnotes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos to the self. At this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. (2005: 3)

Key defining qualities in this definition about which there seems to be a wide consensus among researchers are: an interpretive and naturalistic character, the use of a series of methods or representations, and a concern with understanding the meanings which the people involved in the research bring to the phenomena. Several reasons motivated the adoption of a qualitative approach in this study. Given the exploratory and naturalistic aims of this research project and the type of questions and issues it intended to address, it seemed only natural to approach the study of the participants’ grammar teaching practices and the interacting experiential, cognitive, and contextual factors which give shape to them from a qualitative point of view. A qualitative approach potentially allowed me to explore the aspects under study in their full complexity and, therefore, to reach an understanding of their unique nature. This was made possible only by studying teachers in their natural contexts (i.e. their school setting and

necessary to empower them to share their viewpoints so that we could hear their voices directly. This required the use of specific and multiple sources of data such as autobiographical accounts, in-depth interviews, and stimulated recall, which helped me to appreciate and to gain different perspectives on the issues. A more comprehensive analysis of the qualitative approach adopted in my study will be provided in the description of its methodological, ontological and epistemological stances as well as the functions it was set to serve.

4.1.2 Methodological stances

The discussion of the methodological stances which were adopted in this research project and which are naturally associated with qualitative research is based on the characteristics delineated by Snape and Spencer (2003) and by Creswell (2007), who, in turn, draws on the work of Hatch (2002), LeCompte and Schensul (1999), and Marshall and Rossman (2006).

• Role and perspective of the researcher and the researched: I adopted an

‘emic’ perspective, which means that I sought to establish an insider’s perspective on the issues being explored. The participants and I were in close contact over a period of eight months and interacted face-to-face during the first and second semi-structured interviews, the observations, and the stimulated recall sessions. The purpose of using these methods, the teachers’ journals, and their autobiographical accounts was to learn about their professional and academic histories and to hear the rationale behind their teaching actions, their interpretations of classroom experiences, their personal and professional reflections, and, in general, the meaning(s) which they assigned to their instructional grammar practices. I adopted a non-judgemental stance during the whole study, since my purpose was not to judge the teachers’ practices but to understand and interpret their perspectives on them.

• Nature of research design: First, observations were made at the site where

the teachers’ grammar teaching practices took place (i.e. their classrooms) in order to capture naturally occurring data, though the study also included other methods which collected generated data (see 4.3). Second, a flexible research strategy was adopted, which means that I was willing to change my initial plans for research once I entered the field and began to collect the data. This was

reflected, for instance, in my readiness to change the language in which the stimulated recall sessions and final interview were held when both teachers expressed they felt more comfortable speaking in English rather than in Spanish; and in my decision to include some overall questions at the end of some stimulated recall interviews when I saw that the participants did not write much in their diaries either because of lack of time or because they forgot to do so. Additionally, many changes were made in the observation and follow-up interview schedules due to strikes, teacher absenteeism, or teachers’ unavailability.

• Nature of data generation and the research methods used: Firstly, I

became an important instrument in the data collection process and, instead of relying on questionnaires or instruments developed, and often administered, by others, I gathered the information myself, for instance, by observing classroom teaching behaviour and actions and by interviewing the participants. Secondly, I used methods of data collection which were flexible (e.g., semi-structured interviews), interactive (e.g., stimulated recall), and sensitive to the setting in which the data were gathered (e.g., non-participant observation). Finally, I employed multiple methods, which allowed me to explore the aspects under study from different angles and to collect extensive and information-rich data which were then reduced to a few categories that cut across all the data sources.

• Nature of analysis: First, the methods of analysis (thematic analysis,

codification, and categorisation) and explanation (detailed description and interpretation) employed reflected the complexity and context of the data. Quotes from the participants were included in the descriptions, which allows readers to hear the teachers’ voices and perspectives directly from them. Second, though the material was first linked mostly to pre-conceived themes which had been derived from the research questions, the codes and categories within each theme were derived from the data themselves and not imposed from the literature. Third, each teacher was treated as a unique case. Only when each had been studied and described individually was cross-case analysis conducted. Fourth, the meanings the participants expressed were always interpreted with reference to their context of occurrence. Finally, explanations were never meant to provide cause-and-effect relationships but to facilitate the understanding of the rationale

behind teaching actions and behaviour. See 9.2 to read some of the limitations of the study in relation to data analysis.

• Nature of outputs: Detailed descriptions and interpretations which were

based on the perspectives of the participants were produced. My ultimate intention was to provide not only a detailed account of each of the aspects under study (grammar teaching practices, PLLEs, KAG, GRPK, and CFs) but also a holistic picture which showed how these experiential, cognitive, and contextual factors interact and help define each teacher’s grammar teaching practices.

4.1.3 Ontological and epistemological stances

Ontology addresses philosophical issues about the nature of reality and what can be known about it. Key ontological questions within social research include “whether or not social reality exists independently of human conceptions and interpretations; whether there is a common, shared, social reality or just multiple context-specific realities; and whether or not social behaviour is governed by 'laws' that can be seen as immutable or generalisable” (Snape and Spencer, 2003: 11). Epistemology is concerned with the nature of knowledge and the relationship between the researcher and the researched. Epistemological questions the researcher addresses are “how can we know about reality and what is the basis of our knowledge?” (ibid.: 13)

In terms of ontological stance, I adhere most closely to a variant of idealism called ‘relativism’. That is, I believe there exists no single shared social reality independently of our individual subjective understanding, and that reality is only accessible to us through socially constructed meanings (Richards, 2003; Snape and Spencer, 2003). In my study, this is reflected in the emphasis it places on the participants’ interpretations of their own reality, which are then further interpreted by me (double hermeneutic). During the study, both the participants and I embrace multiple realities, evidence of which is the use of quotes based on the teachers’ actual words and the explicit interpretation that I make of these in the description of the findings (see Chapters V and VI). The teachers’ social reality is constructed, therefore, by all the individuals involved in the study.

With reference to epistemology, I can be said to adopt a ‘subjectivist’ stance. I believe that the researcher and the social world impact on each other and, therefore, the latter cannot be seen as independent of or unaffected by the

former. The relationship between the researcher and the participants is interactive, and, as explained above, only out of this interaction is knowledge constructed. In the context of my study, the teachers constructed meaning of their grammar teaching practices through their interaction with me (e.g., during interviews and stimulated recall sessions), my main objective being to understand the teachers’ rationale for their actions and their perspectives on the issues and then to interpret them. These interpretations, inevitably influenced by my own perspectives and values, were value-laden, and the ultimate findings, mediated by me as well, were value-mediated. As a result, I did not produce an objective and value-free representation of the social reality I was in contact with but rather a subjective account of a socially constructed reality.

These ontological and epistemological stances are in line with the tenets of ‘social constructivism’. The social actors, in their interaction with the researcher, develop subjective and multiple meanings of their experiences, which allows the latter to explore the aspects under study in their full complexity. There is also a focus on understanding the context in which the participants’ actions take place. Finally, the researcher intends to make sense of the perspectives others have of the world and, in doing so, he/she recognises that his/her interpretations are shaped by his/her own values, viewpoints, and background. Richards claims that constructivism is “a view holding firmly to the position that knowledge and truth are created rather than discovered and that reality is pluralistic”, and then adds that “constructivists seek to understand not the essence of a real world but the richness of a world that is socially determined” (2003: 39). These two quotes comprise, in a few words, the ontological and epistemological positions which I adopted.

4.1.4 Functions of qualitative research

Qualitative research projects can be claimed to serve one or a combination of four different functions: “contextual – describing the form or nature of what exists; explanatory – examining the reasons for, or associations between, what exists; evaluative – appraising the effectiveness of what exists; [and] generative – aiding the development of theories, strategies or actions” [emphasis added] (Ritchie, 2003: 27). The present study intends to fulfil two main functions: contextual and explanatory.

The contextual role of this project is manifest in its objective to describe in fine-tuned detail the nature of the teachers’ grammar teaching practices and the meaning they attach to grammar instruction not only in the particular context under study but also in their ELT practices in general. It could also be argued that there is a contextual function in the description of the participants’ PLLEs, KAG, GRPK, and the CFs which interact with their grammar practices. This role represents the descriptive or exploratory side of the study.

The explanatory purpose of this project is evident in its aim to study the rationale of and the experiential, cognitive, and contextual factors underlying the teachers’ instructional grammar practices, as well as the context in which these factors and practices take place. The focus is specifically on examining how the four aforesaid aspects are associated with the teachers’ grammar teaching actions in their particular classroom context. As specified above, though there may be some causal links in the report of the findings, the emphasis is not on finding cause-and-effect relationships among the aspects under study but on understanding their particular nature in the classroom context being explored and on identifying the way they interact to give shape to teachers’ grammar teaching.