Introduction

Complementarity in Research Syntheses

Bibliographic Data

ID22872136
AuthorsRod Ellis (0000-0003-0131-1743, University of Auckland, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume36
Issue3
Pages285-289
Publication date2015-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueApplied Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0142-6001 • E-ISSN: 1477-450X
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/applin/amv015
OpenAlexW2033342707
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited1

This special issue of Applied Linguistics has two primary goals: The first is to examine the complementarity of two types of research synthesis—traditional narrative reviews and meta-analysis. The second is to accumulate information from primary studies on the role that instruction plays in second language learning. The topics addressed in the six articles come from the field of SLA: two were relatively broadly defined (language aptitude and L2 pronunciation instruction) and one more narrowly (Processing Instruction). In this introduction, I will focus on the complementarity of the methodology of these two ways of conducting research synthesis. Research synthesis serves as a cover term for any attempt to review the literature related to a specified topic, either narrowly or broadly defined. In the context of this special issue, complementarity refers to how two different approaches to conducting a research synthesis can in combination provide a more complete explanation of a phenomenon than either approach by itself. In other words, if we want to know what research has told us about the role of instruction in language learning, we will benefit most from a combination of narrative and meta-analytic syntheses.

Cognitive science · Complementarity (molecular biology) · Epistemology · Language acquisition · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Narrative · Phenomenon · Computer Science · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Psychology