The Experience Sampling Method in SLA research, Opportunities and challenges

Activity: Participating in or organising an eventOrganisation of workshop/ seminar/ course

Description

The Experience Sampling Method (ESM; also Ecological Momentary Assessment or Diary Methods) is an intensive data collection approach which involves repeatedly prompting research participants to answer short, easy-to-complete questionnaires about their current or recent experiences, at fixed or random intervals. ESM yields exceptionally rich, highly contextualised data which can be analysed in a variety of ways, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Although the method has primarily been used in clinical psychology and medicine, it holds great potential for strengthening studies in the field of SLA, by helping researchers to closely study learners’ behaviour, mood, thoughts, and feelings and the physical and social context in which they occur. Because ESM data are collected repeatedly over a period of time, in various everyday situations, they are suitable both for providing a broad picture of a person’s ‘typical’ behaviour, and for facilitating the study of dynamic changes across time and contexts. Furthermore, the immediacy and high ecological validity of the ESM contribute to increased reliability and accuracy of the collected data.

The colloquium opened with a general introduction to the Experience Sampling Method, including its origins, a discussion of its strengths and limitations compared to other approaches, and an overview of practical considerations for the implementation of the ESM in SLA studies. Subsequently, three research projects were presented which have used variations of the ESM to study different aspects of language acquisition. The studies have been selected to illustrate different approaches that fall under the umbrella of Experience Sampling Methods and to demonstrate the great variety of topics within SLA that can benefit from using this method. The colloquium closed with reflections on the ESM by an invited discussant, followed by an open discussion between the invited speakers and colloquium participants.
Period2023 Mar 18
Event typeWorkshop
LocationPortlant, OR, United StatesShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational