The Right Pathway to Becoming a Successful Qualitative Researcher: A Book Review of Char Ullman, Kate Mangelsdorf, and Jair Muñoz’ Graduate Students Becoming Qualitative Researchers: An Ethnographic Study

Graduate Students Becoming Qualitative Researchers: An Ethnographic Study is a book written by Char Ullman, Kate Mangelsdorf, and their student, Jair Munoz, of the University of Texas. The book addresses questions such as, What problems do inexperienced qualitative researchers face? and “How can an individual become a qualitative researcher?” This book examines the academic and identity processes of disadvantaged students who become qualitative researchers. An in-depth ethnographic study was conducted by the authors to demonstrate how these elements fit into Communities of Practice. As ethnographers and researchers, students engage with and learn from communities, drawing from their prior experiences and identities while exploring new perspectives. Students renegotiated the significance of contributing their own expertise to the classroom and research through identity work. The authors discuss how students become researchers and construct a community of practice by discovering motivation, making personal sacrifices, embracing hybridity, and overcoming resistance. This book is appropriate for doctoral candidates, postgraduate researchers, academics, and educators conducting qualitative research in education, rhetoric, the humanities, and the social sciences. Furthermore, it will appeal to multiculturalism and diversity in the education sector

“Academic Writing as the Departure Point the Writer has Chosen for His/Her Academic Career”: A Book Review of Zhihui Fang’s Demystifying Academic Writing: Genre, Moves, Skills, and Strategies

In the book, Demystifying Academic Writing, the author, Zhihui Fang, emphasizes the importance of improving the ability of graduate and undergraduate students, as well as early-career scholars, to write for academic purposes. Through a wide range of aspects of academic writing, adopting a functional linguistics perspective, he demonstrates how academic language can be used to think outside the box when it comes to typical tasks such as attracting readers, presenting information, constructing arguments, integrating perspectives, and organizing cross-genre and interdisciplinary texts for having participated in research fields. This well-referenced book is a valuable resource for academic writing as well as a strategic toolkit for readers who are writing for academic purposes, and it is highly recommended. Readers of this book will be inspired and energized to learn how to write in a variety of genres and in depth about a variety of topics

“The Secret Weapons to be a successful teacher researcher : A Book Review of Inquiry and Research Skills for Language Teachers by Kenan Dikilitas and Ali Bostancioglu

The authors of the book, Inquiry and Research Skills for Language Teachers, Kenan Dikilitas and Ali Bostancioglu, present a comprehensive account of how to integrate exploratory practice (EP) concepts into the research process, including step-by-step processes and general criteria to follow. This book guides pre-service teachers\u27 research comprehension and utilization in a pleasant, engaging, and non-overwhelming manner. It includes introspective inquiries, research projects, and the experiences of pre-service teachers. In different parts of the book, the authors explain how this book can help future teachers learn how to do research and ask questions that they can use in the classroom. Research is shown to be a tool that teachers can use to satisfy their own curiosity, encourage an investigative perspective, and strengthen the connections between theory and practice, rather than a burden they have to add to their already busy lives. This excellent, user-friendly monograph is a valuable resource for teachers all over the world who are frustrated by the complexities of publications on educational research methodologies written by academics for academics. This book will help teachers improve their classrooms through inquiry-based pedagogical reflection, exploratory practice, and research skills and methods

The Position of Insider (Emic) and Outsider (Etic): A Review of Deborah Court and Randa Khair Abbas’ Insider-Outsider Research in Qualitative Inquiry: New Perspectives on Method and Meaning

In their book, Insider-Outsider Research in Qualitative Inquiry: New Perspectives on Method and Meaning by Deborah Court and Randa Khair Abbas, they deconstruct the outdated or puzzling terminology associated with this type of research, examine ethical challenges, and recommend methodological approaches. This book also situates qualitative insider-outsider research, by its very nature, within the larger research ecology. The authors describe in full a researcher partnership—a relationship that is more personal and fruitful than a team and significantly more than the sum of its parts. Through their nearly two-decade-long research collaboration and study of the Israeli Druze, the authors have established mutual trust, which has led to a deeper understanding of cultural norms and the meanings they convey. Examples from their research with Israeli Druze will be used to illustrate this argument and their methodology. This book will be of interest to ethnographers, qualitative researchers, and graduate students of all experience levels

Video viewing as a mediation of learning content-based vocabulary: Assisting students in understanding disciplinary vocabulary in context

Although much research in the area of second language (L2) vocabulary development has extensively been researched, video text viewing as a strategy for understanding disciplinary vocabulary in context is rarely reported in the literature. To fill this void, the present action research reports the findings of vocabulary self-collection strategy (VSS) along with the use of video as a multi-semiotic medium of understanding disciplinary vocabulary in content-based EFL instruction. Informed by students’ reflective journal, observation, and interview data, students recounted that the VSS encouraged them to learn disciplinary vocabulary in different discourse contexts. Through role scaffolding by a teacher and peer support, they were engaged in the discovery of vocabulary by documenting unfamiliar or interesting words from their readings and by exploring different meanings of vocabulary using e-dictionaries and corpora. The other research findings showed that the students had enhanced their awareness of word classes, word orders, and word meanings. This empirical evidence suggests that VSS can be a catalyst for engaging students in such post-listening tasks as writing a summary of the video text and creating new vocabulary mapping or profiling

Grounding Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Theory in Deepening ELL\u27s Discipline Knowledge and Exploring the Praxis of Teaching and Researching Disciplinary Literacy Development: A Book Review

In the book, Teaching and Researching ELLs’ Disciplinary Literacies: SFL in Action in the Context of US School Reform (2019), Meg Gebhard, professor of Applied Linguistics and co-director of the Secondary English Education Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, provides a comprehensive description to second language researchers, multilingual learners, language teachers, and teacher educators of how Halliday\u27s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) can be applied to give ELLs access to the language and literacies they need to succeed across the curriculum. Throughout the chapters, Gebhard provides convincing evidence that mastering their various grammars and genres (text types) is equally important. This well-referenced book is a valuable resource for practitioners and educators who want to expand their understandings of how language works and how to best support its development in school settings. Gebhard offers a straightforward introduction to SFL-based literacy instruction and discourse analysis. The work is distinctive in its use of highly contextualized examples of how teachers and students utilize texts across the curriculum. This book is also unique because as the reader moves through the chapters, the suggested practices get more detailed and begin to take into account the institutional and community conversations that shape how teaching and learning happen in our public schools

Gender Representation in The English Textbook for Grade Ninth in Indonesia

This study aims to examine how different genders are represented in Indonesia's grade eight English textbooks. The primary goal of this research is to ascertain the various gender representations and how language and images are used in the English textbook "Think Globally Act Locally." The study employs Fairclough's (1989) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) frameworks, specifically the description, interpretation, and explanation. Analyses are divided into five categories: Authors' genders, character genders, issues centered on men or women pictures and visibility, and linguistic traits. Additionally, the images have been subjected to a critical image analysis using the Critical Image Analysis program. The investigation's findings reveal that gender prejudice or stereotypes persist in the English textbooks used in Indonesian schools, despite the government's efforts to promote equality and fairness in education through the country's educational policy. Lastly, the study offers some pedagogical implications and recommendations for resolving gender inequality in the educational materials used in English classrooms

ENGAGING STUDENTS IN A FLIPPED CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRAMMAR PROGRAM

The importance of grammar pedagogy in learning and teaching of foreign language has been the focus of discussion for many years which has resulted in a variety of views on grammar and grammar teaching and different teaching approach as well depend on  various perspectives and contexts of language learning. The present study reports students’ perception on flipped classroom mode in learning English grammar. Drawing on classroom action research through reflective journal, photo elicitation and interviews data. Qualitative findings show that:  All of the students enjoyed watching the video materials and had an interest in using them for learning grammar; (2) the use of the flipped classroom mode in learning grammar made students’ independent and active in learning grammar; (3) flipped classroom engaged them in learning grammar in different discourse contexts; (4) flipped classroom mode motivated students in learning grammar. The findings of this study may  be useful to other researchers who are interested in EFL teaching innovation or teachers who seek effective grammar teaching method

PELATIHAN REFLECTIVE PRACTICE AND EXPLORATORY PRACTICE (RPEP) BAGI GURU BAHASA INGGRIS SMP DI KABUPATEN KARAWANG

Pengembangan profesional guru sangat penting untuk meningkatkan kualitas proses belajar mengajar. Namun praktik pengembangan keahlian guru selama ini belum mampu menjadikan guru sebagai guru yang profesional, sehingga guru belum mampu menciptakan hasil pendidikan. pembelajaran yang bermanfaat. Oleh karena itu, penulis makalah kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat ini akan membekali para guru dengan penelitian pembelajaran yang dapat dilakukan guru ketika mengajar di kelas. Ilmu dan praktik penelitian yang akan ditanamkan kepada guru adalah praktik reflektif (Reflective Practice) dan praktik eksplorasi kelas (Exploratory Practice) (RPEP). Kedua jenis penelitian ini ditujukan bagi guru yang ingin menciptakan kelas yang lebih baik dengan mendukung guru dalam perencanaan, pelaksanaan dan evaluasi pembelajaran. RPEP menyediakan proses pembelajaran praktis dan refleksi praktis atas hasil pembelajaran. Oleh karena itu, penting untuk membekali guru dengan pelatihan dan strategi pembelajaran berdasarkan RPEP. Studi ini menggunakan penelitian tindakan partisipatif untuk fokus pada mengidentifikasi cara efektif untuk mengubah cara kita mengajar melalui praktik dan penelitian reflektif. Guru akan berpartisipasi sebagai mitra penelitian dalam penelitian ini. Observasi, kuesioner dan wawancara mendalam terstruktur digunakan untuk pengumpulan data