Building on your in-class discussion, you will be asked to write a critical summary and analysis of the research article you have selected. In addition to the purposes listed above for the in-class discussions, this assignment will help to increase your expertise as a more informed, thoughtful, independent, constructively critical consumer of research, and will help develop your abilities to paraphrase, summarize, and quote research appropriately and effectively in APA style.
Your critique should be approximately 5 pages long, double-spaced in 12-point font with 1-inch margins, following APA guidelines. A first draft must be submitted electronically via Turnitin before class on the day of the discussion and will be worth 5% of your grade for the course. After receiving feedback, you will have 2 weeks to submit a revised version, which will also be worth 5%. Please label each file very clearly with your name and the type of assignment (e.g., "YourName SummaryDraft.door).
You are encouraged to visit the Writing, Research, and Media Center (http://www.viu.edu/wrmc) for assistance with this assignment. Please pay special attention to the quality of your writing, including both organization and language use. Use quotations sparingly (e.g., just for important definitions or in cases where the authors' exact wording is very important), and make an effort to paraphrase all other information, using your own words to express the ideas.
The critique should include the following components:
- The citation in APA format
- A brief overview of the theoretical foundation, previous research, and pedagogical considerations leading up to the specific goals of the study, with a clear statement of the study's purpose and research questions
- A summary of important participant characteristics, especially as they might relate to language instruction
- A brief description of the research design and methods
- A concise overview of the key results, the authors' interpretations, and the authors' suggested implications for language pedagogy (if any)
- A constructively critical assessment of the authors' interpretations and conclusions
- Your own perspectives on whether and how the results may or may not be applicable to particular teaching situations, with concrete examples in support of your ideas
- A conclusion tying the research to knowledge you have gained in this class and bringing up additional considerations or questions that you might have
The criteria for assessment will include the following:
- Clear, accurate, contextualized explanation of the purpose of the study
- Inclusion of relevant information regarding participant characteristics, design, methods, and analytic approach
- Substantive, yet succinct and focused, summary of key results and authors' interpretations
- Depth of understanding of the article, with a lack of misconceptions or glossing over of distinctions you could be expected to know from the course
- Evidence of reflection, analysis, and critical thinking regarding the validity of the authors' interpretations and your own suggested applications to pedagogy
- Detailed support for your points, arguments, and/or proposals
- Conclusions that go beyond summarizing (e.g., connections to other readings or teaching situations, implications for research or practice, outstanding questions, ideas for future research)
- Effective, coherent organization (e.g., topic sentences, supporting details, smooth transitions)
- Quality of written expression (e.g., clarity, register, word choice, grammar); attention to genre conventions, formatting in APA style, and proofreading
- Appropriate use of quotations and paraphrasing; citations of sources following APA guidelines
Journal - A Conceptual Approach to the Instruction of Phrasal Verbs by BENJAMIN J. WHITE