Imre Fekete: Technology in English teaching • The Hungarian university context
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3. Research Methods

3. Research Methods

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This chapter details the processes taken to conduct the four studies of this research project. The participants, and the processes of data collection and analysis will be discussed study by study, followed by an overview section of the quality control measures and ethical considerations. For a comprehensive summary of the aims of each study as well as the data collection and analysis methods used in this project, Table 8 was created. Its aim was to summarise the research design before the procedures of the four studies are presented.
 

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Table 8 A Comprehensive Overview of the Aims, Corresponding Studies, Methods of Data Collection, and the Methods of Data Analysis of this Study
Aims
Corresponding study (and section)
Method of data collection
Method of data analysis (and software)
To investigate the state of affairs regarding the dimensions of ICT use among Hungarian English Studies / EFL Teacher Education majors and to discover the relationship between dimensions of ICT use.
Study 1 (3.1)
Questionnaire
Statistical analysis (SPSS v. 22)
To scrutinize the current situation regarding the dimensions of ICT use among Hungarian university instructors involved in English Studies / EFL Teacher Education programmes and to discover the relationship between dimensions of ICT use, briefly reflecting on the Covid-19-triggered emergency remote teaching periods in the spring and autumn of 2020.
Study 2 (3.2)
Questionnaire
Statistical analysis (SPSS v. 22)
To learn about the basic guiding principles, the reasons for, and attitudes towards ICT inclusion for learning and teaching/tutoring purposes of expert Hungarian English Studies / EFL Teacher Education majors and to collect good practices of inclusion also reflecting on Covid-19-triggered emergency remote teaching periods of the spring and autumn of 2020.
Study 3 (3.3)
Semi-structured interviews
Content analysis (QDA Miner Lite v. 2.0.8)
To learn about the basic guiding principles, the reasons for, and attitudes towards ICT inclusion for instructional purposes of expert Hungarian university instructors involved in English Studies / EFL Teacher Education programmes and to collect good practices of inclusion also reflecting on Covid-19-triggered emergency remote teaching periods of the spring and autumn of 2020.
Study 4 (3.4)
Semi-structured interviews
Content analysis (QDA Miner Lite v 2.0.8)
To propose recommendations (implications) based on the findings to enhance the use of ICT devices for learning and teaching purposes in English major programmes.
Studies 1 to 4 (3.1 to 3.4)
Mixed methods (questionnaire and semi-structured interviews)
Meta-analysis and synthesis of the findings of Studies 1 to 4
 

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The focus of the studies in this research project was on the ICT use of Hungarian English Studies / EFL teacher education majors as well as Hungarian university instructors teaching in English Studies and EFL teacher education programmes. The main research questions of the study (MainRQs) were the following:

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  • MainRQ1. What attitudes do Hungarian English Studies / EFL teacher education majors hold towards ICT use for general and learning purposes and what are their perceived levels of digital competences?
  • MainRQ2. What attitudes do Hungarian university instructors teaching in English Studies and EFL teacher education programmes hold towards ICT use for instructional purposes and what are their perceived levels of digital competences?
  • MainRQ3. What are the views of Hungarian English Studies / EFL teacher education majors on skilful ICT use for studying purposes and technology integration into their future teaching practices?
  • MainRQ4. What are the expert views of Hungarian university instructors teaching in English Studies and EFL teacher education programmes about skilful ICT use in English major programmes?
 

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To answer the research questions, a mixed methods investigation was designed consisting of four individual studies. Mixed methods research is conceptualised as “some sort of a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods within a single research project” (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 44). Dörnyei (2007) argues that mixed methods studies are advantageous because they can combine the strengths of both the quantitative and qualitative research paradigms to produce more detailed and better-supported implications of complex issues so that the validity of the findings is also improved. Mixed methods studies are also ideal to overcome the weaknesses of one paradigm (O’Leary, 2017); that is, rather focusing on the positivist, hypothesis-testing approaches without losing much information about individual cases, or only taking a phenomenologist approach to discuss some particular issues without addressing the bigger picture (Creswell, 2015; Dörnyei, 2007; O’Leary, 2017). As the first two research questions were concerned with more general tendencies, and the latter two aimed at discovering individual practices and approaches to learning and teaching, two very different pairs of tools had to be designed: a learner and instructor questionnaire, and a learner and instructor interview guide.

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The first pair of tools (regarding MainRQs1-2) were two questionnaires that fall into the quantitative research paradigm (Dörnyei, 2007; O’Leary, 2017). Advantages of questionnaires concern an easier data collection procedure involving several participants, but disadvantages include much invested effort into reliable construct design as well as limited possibilities to ensure that each questionnaire item is understood the same way by the participants, or that the participants are not influenced by certain social desirability bias to provide exaggerated answers (Dörnyei, 2003). Both questionnaires were conducted in Hungarian, which was the L1 of the participants, but for the purposes of this research projects, the items had been translated into English. Some of the item translations already appeared in Fekete (2021), while I carried out the rest of the translations more recently.

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The second pair of tools (regarding MainRQs3-4) were two interview guides that are associated with the qualitative research paradigm (Creswell, 2009; 2015; Dörnyei, 2007; O’Leary, 2017). Answering the corresponding research questions required a data collection instrument that allows for collecting naturalistic data from multiple perspectives over an extended period of time (Creswell, 2015; Friedman, 2012). Advantages of interview protocols concern the depth of data collected and the chance for the researcher and the participant to seek understanding through a live conversation, whereas coding qualitative data is laborious and has to follow a strict coding protocol (Baralt, 2012; Friedman, 2012; Révész, 2012).

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To date, I am unaware of any recent comprehensive studies that have been conducted into the ICT literacy of Hungarian English majors and university EFL teachers; thus, I decided that at first, a large-scale questionnaire would be administered on both targeted populations. The purpose of the two questionnaire studies was to design a reliable measurement tool that includes constructs developed based on niches in the literature to gain insights into the dimensions of ICT use among university learners and teachers. Then, partly based on the data collected through the two questionnaires, two interview studies were conducted to learn more about the specifics of skilful ICT inclusion from expert learners and teachers. The following sections discuss the development, pilot and final administration processes of the data collection instruments. For ease of understanding, the four studies of this research project will be referred to as follows:

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  • Study 1 (Chapter 3.1): The Hungarian English majors’ / EFL teacher education majors’ questionnaire study → The learners’ questionnaire study;
  • Study 2 (Chapter 3.2): The Hungarian university instructors teaching in English Studies and EFL teacher education programmes’ questionnaire study → The instructors’ questionnaire study;
  • Study 3 (Chapter 3.3): The Hungarian English majors’ / EFL teacher education majors’ interview study → The learners’ interview study;
  • Study 4 (Chapter 3.4): The Hungarian university instructors teaching in English Studies and EFL teacher education programmes’ interview study → The instructors’ interview study.
 

3.1. Study 1: The Learners’ Questionnaire Study

3.2. Study 2: The Instructors’ Questionnaire Study

3.3. Study 3: The Learners’ Interview Study

3.4. Study 4: The Instructors’ Interview Study

3.5. An Overview of Quality Control Measures and Ethical Considerations

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