The development of statistical literacy in applied linguistics graduate students (original) (raw)
An Investigation of the Predictors of Statistical Literacy in Second Language Acquisition
The use of statistics in second language acquisition (SLA) research has increased over the past 30-40 years and continues to increase in both complexity and sophistication (Gass, 2009; Loewen & Gass, 2009). The increased use of statistical procedures has drawn attention to the current state of statistical literacy among second language (L2) researchers. Statistical literacy is a critical skill to acquire on the parts of both the producers and consumers of L2 research. However, it is a relatively new research topic in the field. So, little is known regarding what factors play key roles in the development of statistical literacy. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate the predictors of statistical literacy in SLA. One hundred and twenty SLA doctoral students took a statistical background questionnaire and a discipline-specific statistics survey. A series of multiple regression analyses were conducted on the statistics survey data. The results indicated that number of statistics courses taken, quantitative research orientation, and self-training in statistics were the significant predictors of statistical literacy. In light of the findings of this study, several suggestions directed toward improving statistical literacy in the field of SLA were made.
STATISTICS EDUCATION RESEARCH JOURNAL, 2013
The framework of linguistic register and case study research on Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) learning statistics informed the construction of a quantitative instrument, the Communication, Language, And Statistics Survey (CLASS). CLASS aims to assess whether ELLs and non-ELLs approach the learning of statistics differently with respect to the distinctive linguistic features of the field of statistics and with respect to language resources they bring to the class. The CLASS was administered to all (n = 137) students in an introductory statistics literacy course at a university with a majority Mexican-American student body. Findings suggest ELLs often have distinctive patterns in how they experience aspects of statistics instruction (e.g., wait time) as well as movement between mathematics/statistics and everyday registers. First published November 2013 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF STATISTICS: CHALLENGES AND TEACHING APPROACHES 1
Learning statistics requires learning the language of statistics. Statistics draws upon words from general English, mathematical English, discipline-specific English and words used primarily in statistics. This leads to many linguistic challenges in teaching statistics and the way in which the language is used in statistics creates an extra layer of challenge. This paper identifies several challenges in teaching statistics related to language. Some implications for the effective learning and teaching of statistics are raised and methods to help students overcome these linguistic challenges are suggested.
Learning the Language of Statistics: Challenges and Teaching Approaches
STATISTICS EDUCATION RESEARCH JOURNAL, 2016
Learning statistics requires learning the language of statistics. Statistics draws upon words from general English, mathematical English, discipline-specific English and words used primarily in statistics. This leads to many linguistic challenges in teaching statistics and the way in which the language is used in statistics creates an extra layer of challenge. This paper identifies several challenges in teaching statistics related to language. Some implications for the effective learning and teaching of statistics are raised and methods to help students overcome these linguistic challenges are suggested. First published May 2016 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives
Language and Discourse in the Learning of Statistical Concepts
MSOR Connections
Students on Business School courses will require a certain level of numerical ability; therefore, Mathematics and Statistics are important elements of the curriculum (Cottee et. al., 2014). Students often struggle with these quantitative parts of their course and this is sometimes seen as part of a general "Mathematics Problem" that impacts many disciplines including biology, economics, nursing and psychology (Mac an Bhaird and Lawson, 2012). Many students find Statistics in particular a difficult subject as it includes concepts which are complex and even counter-intuitive. For these students the way in which statistical ideas are communicated and specifically the use of language and discourse are of great importance.This paper reports on ongoing research into the role of language and discourse in teaching and learning Statistics. Included are: Findings from a Pilot Enquiry carried out in 2019; the theoretical background to the research and the challenges presented by the ...
Do we need statistics when we have linguistics?
Statistics is known to be a quantitative approach to research. However, most of the research done in the fields of language and linguistics is of a different kind, namely qualitative. Succinctly, qualitative analysis differs from quantitative analysis is that in the former no attempt is made to assign frequencies, percentages and the like, to the linguistic features found or identified in the data. In quantitative research, linguistic features are classified and counted, and even more complex statistical models are constructed in order to explain these observed facts. In qualitative research, however, we use the data only for identifying and describing features of language usage and for providing real occurrences/examples of particular phenomena. In this paper, we shall try to show how quantitative methods and statistical techniques can supplement qualitative analyses of language. We shall attempt to present some mathematical and statistical properties of natural languages, and introduce some of the quantitative methods which are of the most value in working empirically with texts and corpora, illustrating the various issues with numerous examples and moving from the most basic descriptive techniques (frequency counts and percentages) to decision-taking techniques (chi-square and z-score) and to more sophisticated statistical language models (Type-Token/Lemma-Token/Lemma-Type formulae, cluster analysis and discriminant function analysis).
Writing About Quantitative Research in Applied Linguistics
English for Specific Purposes, 2015
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. Contents List of Examples vii List of Tables and Figures x 1 Introduction 1 Part I General Considerations in Writing about Quantitative Research 2 Writing about Research Design 11 3 Reliability, Validity and Ethics 25 4 Writing about Participants 36
2012
Despite the rapidly growing population of English language learners in U.S. colleges and schools, very little research has focused on understanding the challenges of English language learners specifically in statistics education. At a university near the United States-México border, the authors conducted an exploratory qualitative case study of issues of language in learning statistics for pre-service teachers whose first (and stronger) language is Spanish. The two strongest findings that emerged from cross-case analysis of the interviews were the importance of the role of context (the setting in which information is communicated) and the confusion among registers (subsets of language). This paper overviews and synthesizes relevant literature and offers resources and recommendations for teaching and future research.
Uses and Limitations of Quantitative Research in English Language Education
Quantitative research is based on positivism which holds that there are facts with the objective reality that can be expressed numerically. Quantitative research is very important in different variables of English language education. This paper presents the uses and limitations of quantitative approaches of educational research with a particular focus on English language Education. It is found that quantitative research is the dominant method in English language education; researching four language skills, different aspects, teaching methods, motivation, language testing, and assessment by using statistical techniques of research. It is also found that quantitative research uses scientific methods to uncover the knowledge that is highly objective and empirically verifiable in English language Education. It is also found that quantitative research is unable to focus on the multiple meanings of individual experiences, in-depth information uses strategies of inquiry.