A scoping study: The effectiveness of borrowing approaches from other academic fields

Description

Over a decade ago Amos Paran (2008) noted an increase in use of children’s and young adult literature in the language classroom. This has been confirmed in a range of conceptually-grounded publications since then, which have shown the potential of children’s literature for contributing to the development of a variety of aspects of language learning. The data presented here investigates picturebooks, which afford a unique experience for the language learner. It is widely accepted that picturebooks are particularly useful in supporting the development of an intercultural stance, however, there is little empirical evidence that supports this. My presentation presents a scoping study, a qualitative approach to creating a systemic literature review. I will explain what a scoping study is, how it differs from traditional literature reviews, and describe its five-stage framework, which includes a ‘charting data’ stage (Arksey and O’Malley, 2005). As I looked to answer the question, ‘What is known from the existing literature about the effectiveness of picturebooks for developing an intercultural awareness in the language classroom?’, this scoping study enabled me to synthesize and interpret data by sifting, charting and sorting material according to key issues and themes. As such, I was able to chart the field, identify patterns and pinpoint gaps in existing evidence. In this session I will present examples from my findings, but also evaluate this qualitative approach to going about such a review. References Arksey, H., & O’Malley, L. (2005). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology: Theory & Practice, 8(1), 19-32. Paran, A. (2008). The role of literature in instructed foreign language learning and teaching: An evidence-based survey. Language Teaching, 41:4 pp. 465-49

Period	9 Oct 2019
Event title	Advanced Research Seminar: Languages inEducation
Event type	Seminar
Conference number	1
Location	Lisboa, PortugalShow on map
Degree of Recognition	Local