Investigating the State of Globalized English Teaching Approaches in English Research Articles through Critical Discourse Analysis

2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K00696
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: ハーン アーロン 九州大学, 言語文化研究院, 講師 (40712435)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ハズウェル クリストファー 九州大学, 言語文化研究院, 准教授 (90536088)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: CDA / Corpus Linguistics / ELF / World Englishes / International English

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

In the first year of the project, we conducted a pilot project to determine optimal methods of analysis and provide direction for future work. By creating a corpus of all abstracts from a key journal in the field, we were able to chart the change in usage of Global English-related terms over a 35 year period. We found that certain phrases, such as "World Englishes" and "(Inner/Expanding/Outer) Circle" had increased significantly over time, while others, such as "native/non-native" and "EFL/ESL" had significantly decreased. These results show a clear change in the way that this portion of the field linguistically constructs the domain of Global English. Of especial interest was the near complete cessation of the term "English as an International Language," given that some prominent researchers in the field have argued that this has become the umbrella term. Thus, future research in this project must determine if this terminology shift is 1) unique to this journal, 2) evidence that the term has become so broad that it has ceased to be used in most practical applications, or 3) an indication that the common perception of the field is not, in fact, correct. Finally, the pilot work clearly demonstrated that certain methodologies will scale well while others will not, which will shape our future investigation.

Current Status of Research Progress

3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.

Reason

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we were unable to employ research assistants for most of the year. Thus, we were not able to complete as much data collection as originally planned. This is why we added a pilot project which the Investigators could complete without assistance. However, as described above, this pilot project turned out to be very valuable for the greater project. Near the end of the fiscal year we were able to start research assistants on a limited schedule, and anticipate being able to proceed at an accelerated in fiscal 2022.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

In fiscal 2022, we plan to accelerate the pace of data collection using the methods we refined during the pilot project. To make up for the time lost during 2021, we hope to hire more research assistants to get back on track as much as possible. By the end of the year, we will likely have sufficient data to begin initial quantitative analysis. Data collection will continue into fiscal 2023, when we also plan to do the bulk of the quantitative analysis and begin qualitative analysis. In addition, during fiscal 2023, we are scheduled to do the first presentation of our results at a domestic conference, and, depending on further data analysis, may be able to seek publication of a paper reporting our pilot results.

Causes of Carryover

In fiscal 2022, we plan to use both the amount originally budgeted for 2022 as well as the amount that was unused in fiscal 2021 because of the delay in research word due to COVID-19 emergency restrictions. This will include purchasing one or two additional computer systems and associated software so that additional research assistants can simultaneously work on the project, an increase in hours assigned to the current RA, and the hiring of additional RAs to continue data collection. In addition, during fiscal 2022 we will travel to at least one domestic conference.