Chapter 3 Methodology

3.1 Introduction

This chapter will explain on the research context in answering research questions before proceeding with the research sample. It then explains the data analysis used in the study and the schedule of research analysis for the proposed study.

3.2 The Research Context

In the proposed study, the research context will be English as second language (ESL) learners from a secondary school located in the rural area of Terengganu. In addition, a total of five English teachers will be chosen to participate in this study with intention they are able to provide sufficient information pertaining to their awareness on the learners’ preferred language learning styles.

3.3 Research Questions

The research questions for the proposed study will be:

1.      To find out language learning styles of ESL students in secondary school.

2.      To investigate the most preferred language learning styles of ESL students in secondary school.

3.      To what extent teachers are aware of these preferences?

1.4  The Research Sample

The sampling that will be used in the proposed study is the simple random sampling where everyone in the population of the selected school has the same chances of being chosen to answer the questionnaire. A simple random sample (SRS) is chosen to be used in the proposed study to avoid biased data collection which will affect the results of the proposed study.

The population chosen for the proposed study will be three classes of Form Four students in the selected school. The quantity of participants in the study is estimated around 120 students. The exact quantity is yet to be confirmed in early 2015 as the students for Form Four is now sitting for Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) examinations. On top of that, five English teachers will also be involved in the proposed study so that insights from English teachers are able to be collected.

Participants chosen for the proposed study is Purposive Sampling. The researcher intentionally choosing selected respondents in one particular group because it hoped that these respondents are the best group to provide information regarding their best learning styles when it comes to English language learning. Additionally, it is because they have just finished sitting for the PT3 examination and are able to identify their preferred learning styles.

1.5  Data Gathering Instrument

The instrument that will be used in the proposed study will be a set of questionnaire consists of 13-item language learning preference adopted from Nurul Bazilah (2011) which followed Brindley’s (1984) research. The benefit of the questionnaire is that it consists of two versions that are for students and teachers. The questions in both versions are oddly similar except item 3 and 4 in are not included in teachers’ version as they are irrelevant to the teachers. Both versions aim to get a better view of how students prefer to learn the language and how teachers perceive their students learn the language in the best way. Having both versions for teachers and students will help the researcher to gather data to find out the most preferred way in language learning.

Fundamentally, the questionnaire contains three important sections: Learning, Error Correction and Assessment or Evaluation. Question 1 until 7, 10 and 11 will dig around the preferred learning styles in acquiring knowledge in language, whereas question 8 and 9 will be focusing on the learners’ preferred methods of correction. The last two questions will revolve on learners’ preferred methods of assessments. In the learning section, the students will also be asked on their preferences on learning individually, small or big groups apart from the preferred learning modalities; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.

The proposed study will be conducted in a rural area where the level of proficiency among ESL learners is expected around beginner and intermediate level. To avoid misunderstanding and confusion among the learners, the questionnaires will be given to them in dual-language that is English language and also in Malay language.

3.6 Procedures Employed

Quantitative method is chosen for the proposed study because the response rate is usually higher than other methods and it is easy to gather information from the respondents because they can complete the questionnaire in their leisure time. A set of questionnaire will be distributed to the respondents in which the reliability and validity of the questionnaire is reported to be legitimate aside from its relevance in recognizing learners’ learning styles and also teachers’ awareness of the preferences.

Using descriptive quantitative approach, the researcher will be able to gather numerical data in identifying most preferred learning styles among ESL learners in a secondary school and whether the teachers are aware of those preferences. The data that will be collected will be used to make a generalisation about the population in which the proposed study will be carried out.

The rationale of the questionnaire to be answered carefully will be briefly described to all the learners and lecturers so that they will understand the importance of the proposed study and the positive changes that may occur once the proposed study was conducted. The questionnaire will be distributed according to learners’ and teachers’ free time as to avoid disturbing them during teaching and learning process. The average time needed for respondents to complete the questions will be around 10 minutes.

3.7  Data Analysis

The analysis of the data will be conducted based on the research questions. After all the data will be collected, all of them will be read carefully by the researcher to ensure the questionnaire is fully answered. After that, the data that will be tabulated in Microsoft Excel and analysed using statistical software to avoid human errors and in order to save more time. The software that will be used is the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) in order to get more accurate result in the analysis.

3.8 Conclusion

The chapter has described in detail the research context for the proposed study and has discussed once again the research questions. Research population that will be chosen for the study has also been talked about followed by the data gathering instrument. Next, the details of the procedures that will be employed and data analysis have also been explained.