This presentation was a part of online participation via Google Hangout in the panel discussion on 'Teaching Writing Skills to Engineering Students. It was organised by Samvad Faculty forum of Dept. of Communication Skills, Marwadi Education Foundation's Group of Institutions, Rajkot (Gujarat - India).
It was wonderful learning experience. Unfortunately, we were not able to 'Hangout on Air', instead joined by personal video call and so we missed auto-recording of the entire presentation. Had that been done, it would have supported us with ample learning lessons.
The organising institue has recorded entire session with the help of external camera. As soon as it is uploaded on YouTube, it will be embedded on this blog.
Presentations on Research Methodology:
Introduction to Research Methodology, Literature Review and Plagiarism
Research Methodology in Humanities, especially, in English literary studies is important to the aspirants of M.Phil, Ph.D. or to the research scholars/teachers who wish to apply for minor or major research projects to UGC or similar funding agencies.
Some important points to be kept in mind while preparing research proposal for Ph.D. / M.Phil in language and literature are:
Method and Methodology: Guba, E.G. (1990) in 'The Paradigm Dialogue' has argued that there are three fundamental research questions that structure any research project:
What is there that can be known – what is knowable?
What is the relation of the knower to the known?
How do we find things out?
Ann Gray in 'Research Practice for Cultural Studies' (2003 - Sage Publication) elaborates these questions:
What is there that can be known - what is knowable?
This is an ontological question, it refers to the aspect of social reality to be studied, but it also deals with assumptions we are willing to make about the nature of reality. It requires you to take a position in relation to your project and to define your ‘knowable space’. How you construct your knowable space and how you go about exploring and investigating that knowable space will depend upon your theoretical approach to the social world and the actors
or texts involved.
What is the relation of the knower to the known? This is an epistemological question and, put simply, asks how we know what we know. The assumptions that are made about this depend on how we perceive of the reality, and, although Guba does not suggest this, how we are located as subjects within our research. What we bring to our work, how our own knowledge and experience is brought to bear on the research itself will certainly shape it. This is not a question of being ‘subjective’, nor to suggest that we can only view aspects of the world from our own perspective. Rather, it is to acknowledge what we ourselves bring to our research in terms of our lived experience, certainly, but also our politics and our intellectual frameworks. It is important to make these explicit. The point about who we are and how we relate to the project itself is a key issue for researchers and, again, has informed many debates about research practice and the politics of knowledge generation.
How do we find things out?
This is methodological questions. What kind of methods must I employ in order to know, or to put me in a position of being able to interpret and analyse this aspect of the social world? This, then, is where you can begin to think about the kinds of data you need and how to gather it in order to begin to explore your research questions
Theoretical framework: A researcher stands on the shoulders of previous researchers. The scholars who have worked and given general theories in the area of research should be taken as frame within which new work is explored. The aim of this new work should be to support, refute or go for new theories. This should be clearly defined in the research proposal.
Review of related literature: This makes for the foundation - the stepping stones - for new research. One should have birds-eye-view of the work done in the area of research which is to be explored. After understanding the work done, the research scholar should think of taking a step further in new direction in the research under consideration. The roadmap of this new direction should be chalked out in research proposal. (While doing an online open course (MOOC) on Coursera - offered by University of London, i came across these articles on Literature Review. All three of them are worth reading:
Robin Kiteley and Chris Stogdon, 'What is a literature review?' from Literature Reviews in Social Work (SAGE, 2014), pp.5-22.
Hypothesis: This makes for the research questions > the problem which is to be solved. If there is no problem, there is no need to solve it and hence no need to do research. So, first of all identify problem. Ask questions, doubt and apply deconstructionist approach to raise questions. The hypothesis will emerge from this exercise. Write hypothesis in clear statements.
Objectivity Most of us tend to select topic of research not because there is a problem which requires urgent solution but because we are personally, emotionally attached to it. The very first and foremost thing to keep in mind is 'depersonalization'. It is advised to read T.S. Eliot's Tradition and Individual Talent - Part II on poetic process > "It is not an expression of emotion and feelings but an escape from it."One should practice 'detachment' to be a good researcher. Like an umpire in the cricket match, totally engrossed and right at the centre of the match, yet aloof, detached - completely away from the emotions and feelings that drive players and audience.So, the researcher is engrossed, submerged in the research, yet can detach him/herself to critical evaluate his/her own position. It is observed that most of the research scholars fail to achieve this position and so are not able to raise proper questions > they remain emotionally attached and are, thus, blinded to empirical evidences necessary to make statements in thesis/dissertaion.
Plan of research (Chapterization): Normally, there are five chapters in thesis/dissertation:
Chapter 1: Introduction: It should include, theoretical framework, concept clarification, aims, objectives, hypotheses, research questions and introduction to writers, key terms etc.
Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature: All that can be reviewed i.e. theories to be applied, conceptual notes, similar research theses/dissertations, journal articles, books etc should be mentioned with annotated bibliographic record in this chapter. Remember, this is the foundation / stepping stones on which you have to stand or walk your path towards the climax in your thesis/dissertation. The more sound work is done here, you will find the it easy to write chapter 3 and 4.
Chapter 3 and 4: These are core chapters in thesis/dissertation. The research questions, hypothesis, analysis of literary texts, analysis of elt experiments etc are thoroughly discussed in these two chapters.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: In the entire thesis/dissertation, if there is any space where research scholar is free to write his/her views, it is this chapter. Do not cite any thing. Do not use in-text citation. This space is all yours. You are free to give your interpretations and make the most of it. What ever you have reviewed in chapter 2, whatever you have analyses in chapter 3 and 4, now its time to connect dots - join the arguments - and bring your story to a beautiful end.
In this video, you will find basics of literature review and about 'ontological' and 'epistemological' approaches to research question:
This presentation gives an outline of model syllabus for such courses. It also presents some views of Richard Altick and John Fenstermaker from 'The Art of Literary Research'.
Literature Review or Review of Related Literature is one of the most vital stages in any research. This presentation attempts to throw some light on the process and important aspects of literature review.
This is the presentation for the National Symposium at Charotar University of Science and Technology CHARUSAT (Gujarat - India) organised by Indukaka Ipcowala Institute of Management (I2IM) on Technology in ELT Challenges and Remedies on 23 November, 2013.
It discusses importance of ICT in testing and evaluation / assessment. It refers to Ken Robinson and Sugata Mitra as well as applications like Moodle, Hotpotatotes, ProProfs, Zoho Quiz, Testmoz etc and then narrows down on Google Docs / forms for online testing and Flubaroo script for auto grading. In live demo, it demonstrates benefits of Google Forms and Flubaroo for online testing and continuous assessment.
The collage of stamp size photographs of students making presentations with a handy-cam in the centre represents the innovative practice of 'Presentations used for 'self-appraisal' and 'self-improvement'. The DVD of all presentations is given to students and are asked to view with their family, friends and relatives. We have experienced drastic change in students' command over language, body language, pitch, tone, expressions and presentation skills as they move from sem 1 to sem 4. (Oct 2013)
The experience shared by the pass out students will be available soon on this blog.
This site has very rich information and study material on 250 authors, 3000 full books, 4000 short stories, periods and movements, quotes and quizzes: http://www.online-literature.com/
This website has a collection of good resources on the literary text pertaining to syllabus of M.K. Bhavnagar University: www.exmaenglish.dilipbarad.com
(Caution:
These books are not reviewed and so do not guarantee about its quality. These
books are available and can be useful for startup on preparation for NET / SET
examination.)
1.NET / GSET
(English).
Pub: University Granth Nirman Board, Gujarat
State Patnagar Yojno Bhavan,Behind Gujarat College Compound, Old Shardamandir
Cross Road, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad–
380006 Fax:26569074 -Phone:26424268.
Rs. 375/- Order online
2.An
Objective Approach to English Literature for NET, JRF, SLET and Pre-Ph.D.
Registration Test - Ivan K. Masih,K. K.
Narayan,Pandey Om Prakash,Rahmat Jahan,Neeraj Kumar. Publisher: Atlantic, New
Delhi. Price: 394/- Buy
online
3.Popular Master
Guide: UGC NET/SLET – English Literature – H.S.Bhatia.
Published by R. Gupta’s: Ramesh Pub house, New Delhi. Price: 390/-. info@rameshpublishinghouse.com. 011-23261567/23275224.
4.Cosmos
Bookhives’s UGC NET/SLET – Paper II – English Literature – Dr. B K Sawlashwa. Price: 400 Rs. booksforall@bookhivesindia.com; indiamart.com/cosmosbookhive.
0124-4001086/1087/88.
5.Trueman’s
Specific Series UGC NET/SLET – English Literature – B P. Panigrahi. Pub by Dainik Pub Company. Price 475 Rs. dainikbooks@yahoo.com.
011-23278083, 011-30122482
6.Upkar’s UGC – English Lit. – paper II – B B Jain. Price 80 Rs. publisher@upkar.in, 0562-4031570/2530966
7.Jawahar/English/UGC-NET-ENGLISH-A-CRITICAL-HANDBOOK-OF-LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH
UGC NET ENGLISH: A CRITICAL HANDBOOK OF LITERATURE IN ENGLISHEdited
by :Shubhamoy
Das
8.Objective type
questions on literature in English for UGC NET (Paperback) by Bhim S. Dahiya. Rs. 250. Publisher:CEE BEE Publisher (2011) Purchase
online
(Bookmark this blog/Note - more links to come... :)
The embedded Facebook Note does not display immediately. It takes some time and required faster internet connection. So, the content of the Note is copy - pasted here:
Resources for Research in ELT - English Language Teaching
These days, the teachers & research scholars are more interested in Research in ELT. Here is the list of some important resources for those who are interested in English Language Teaching & Research.
I found these videos quite interesting. The entire workshop by Prof Simon Borg is in four parts. You will find all four parts embedded here under: Doing Good Quality ELT Research - Prof Simon Borg (3rd ELT Malta Conference ReSIG Supported Pre-conference Event)
I request readers to contribute thier best resouces for ELT by posting comments under this Note.
Cautionary: This is 'not' the best and the final list of 'Top 10' ELT resources.
ELT Journal is a quarterly publication for all those involved in the field of teaching English as a second or foreign language. The Journal links the everyday concerns of practitioners with insights gained from related academic disciplines such as applied linguistics, education, psychology, and sociology.
The Asian EFL Journal is published monthly and presents information, theories, research, methods and materials related to language acquisition and language learning. An academic Second Language Acquisition Research Journal.The Asian EFL Journal is one of the world's leading refereed and indexed journals for second language research.
TeachingEnglish is produced by the British Council with content and editorial support from the British Broadcasting Corporation. Both organisations receive funding from the UK government for their work in promoting English, supporting English language teaching (ELT) and providing information and access to ELT products, services and expertise from the UK. All teaching material on the site is free to access.
6. http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-english-elt.htm7.
If you are an English student or a teacher, this site can help you develop your skills and experience through English courses, teacher training courses, exams, online courses, information resources and networks.
8. http://www.eltworld.net/journal/journal.html
Published every three months,Horizons is the free journal of David’s English Teaching World. Available to download in PDF format, Horizons is a true reflection of what’s happening in the world of English teaching today.
10. http://www.cambridgeindia.org/
Visit this site to get updates on latest books published by Cambridge University Press in India.
11. http://www.scoop.it/t/elt-research
Generally related to ELT and language learning, but also to the wider world of education as well.
Curated by Richard Whiteside
Despite the substantial amount of work which has been conducted into teachers’ research engagement in mainstream education, this topic has been awarded scant attention in the field of English language teaching. This paper presents the results of a survey representing the first stage of multi-method investigation of research engagement in ELT. Moderate levels of reading and doing research were reported by the sample studied here, and this level of research engagement is analysed in relation to two key factors also examined in the survey: teacher’s conceptions of research and their perceptions of the institutional research culture.
(One of th M.Phil students Alpesh Parmar posted message on FB asking to share something on 'how to teach poetry?'... this note is written extempore for him... which may be helpful to others as well... I request all the readers of this note to contribute something by sharing your experince of teaching poetry by commenting on this note)
Dear Friends,
Teaching poetry is not everyone's cup of tea. There is no fun in the world as great as teaching it to those who love it... there is nothing as boring as teaching poetry to those who hate it. It is so because (to quote Yuri Lotman) - ‘A poem is both a system of rules, and a system of their violation’.
Reading/Teaching poetry is not as easy as one thinks. It necessisates undertanding of culture (in/for which it is written), history (historiography of metaphors, semantics etc) and above all linguistic competency.
Here is the list of books and websites which may help teachers and students in reading/teaching poetry:
Books:
Terry Eagleton: How to read a poem? Blackwell Publisher (2006). TERRY EAGLETON’S book seeks to teach its readers how to read poems through a combination of literary history, theoretical discussion, and leading by example. The book develops a simple and unshowy working definition of poetry (‘a certain memorable or inventive use of language, and a moral insight into human existence’), but at the same time suggests a correspondence between the best poetry and a kind of productive contradiction … (read Jonathan Baines's full article on http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/content/57/1/151.full)
I.A. Richards: Pratical Criticism (1920) From his practical experiments into 'reading poems' at Cambidge University, I A Richards drew 'a list of principle difficulties that may be encountered by any reader in the presence of any poem. This analysis was in part intended to develop educational method to teach poetry in the classroom. (read Robert Shaffer's full article on http://www.jstor.org/pss/40012942)
Elaine Showalter: Teaching Literature Blackwell Publisher (2003). Drawing on 40 years of international teaching experience, as well as the real life experiences of friends and colleagues in the field,Showalter offers original and provocative reflections on teaching literature in higher education, and addresses practical, theoretical, and methodological issues.
Websites:
Whenever students come with such questions which can't be answered, the easy way is to give him 'list' of books - whcih are unattainable... there are at least two benefits of doing this - (i) As teachers, we can create a favourable impression - of knowing names of so many books and we speak on those books with such an air of authority - as if we have written it or 'read' it - (ii) it helps in establishing superiority over student's lack of knowledge. But the best of all is - students will never dare to come agian to ask for anything.
I believe, if teacher 'really' want to 'share' with students, he should give books instead of lists - or atleast photocopies of important pages. I find easy way in sharing weblinks. Click and go...
Well, these weblinks are not as goos as the books listed above but it will serve the purpose of two-minute-maggie to hungry child - just as maggie does not give nutritions but helps in satisfying hunger - similarly, these weblinks are not 'nutritious' but it surely will cater the needs of hungry mind - i would be glad if it makes you more hungry to read the books.
Film Screening:‘The Birthday Party’- a British dramafilm (1968)- directed by
William Friedkin(The Birthday Party) - based on an unpublished screenplay by 2005Nobel LaureateHarold Pinter, which he adapted from his own playThe Birthday Party(Pinter, The Birthday Party).
·Harold Pinter – the man and his works(Pinter, The Birthday Party)
·Comedy of Menace: Whose plays are known so? Who termed it? What are its peculiar characteristics? How is it different from Absurd Theatre?
·Explain ‘Pinteresque’ – Pinter pause and use of ‘Silence’ in the play: a particular atmosphere and environment in drama.
·‘The Birthday Party’ – an allegory of ‘artist in exile and other interpretations
·‘The Birthday Party’ as a Political Play with reference to Harold Pinter’s Noble Speech: ‘Art, Truth & Politics[1]’. (Pinter, Art, Truth & Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture)
While – Viewing Tasks:
·Harriet Deer and Irving Deer’s article[2] on Pinter's "The Birthday Party": The Film and the Play. (Deer and Deer)
·A comparison of the film and play versions of ‘The Birthday Party’ affords us a rare opportunity to gain insight into how a reconception of a play into film may affect the dramatic experience it communicates. Mark the way Pinter treats the texture of the play.
·Observe how Pinter gives us the texture-the sounds and sights of a world without structure, which is the heart and soul of the play also.
·How many times the ‘knocking at the door’ happens in the play? Is it creating menacing effect while viewing the movie?
·How are ‘silences’ and ‘pauses’ used in the movie to give effect of lurking danger – how it helps in building the texture of comedy of menace.
·Comment upon the use of things like mirror, toy drum, newspapers, breakfast, chairs, window-hatch etc in the movie. What sort of symbolic reading can you give to these objects?
·How effective are scenes like ‘Interrogation scene’ (Act 1), ‘Birthday Party scene’ (Act 2) and ‘Faltering Goldberg & Petey’s timid resistance scene’ (Act 3) captured in the movie?
Post-Viewing Tasks:
·Why are two scenes of Lulu omitted from the movie?
·Is movie successful in giving us the effect of menace? Where you able to feel it while reading the text?
·Do you feel the effect of lurking danger while viewing the movie? Where you able to feel the same while reading the text
What do you read in 'newspaper' in the movie? Petey is reading newspaper to Meg, it torn into pieces by McCain, pieces are hidden by Petey in last scene.
Camera is positioned over the head of McCain when he is playing Blind Man's Buff and is positioned at the top with a view of room like a cage (trap) when Stanley is playing it. What interpretations can you give to these positioning of camera?
"Pinter restored theater to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of one another and pretense crumbles." (Pinter, Art, Truth & Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture). Does this happen in the movie?
·How does viewing movie help in better understanding of the play ‘The Birthday Party’ with its typical characteristics (like painteresque, pause, silence, menace, lurking danger)?
·With which of the following observations you agree:
o“It probably wasn't possible to make a satisfactory film of "The Birthday Party."
o“It's impossible to imagine a better film of Pinter's play than this sensitive, disturbing version directed byWilliam Friedkin”[3].(Ebert)
·If you were director or screenplay writer, what sort of difference would you make in the making of movie?
·Who would be your choice of actors to play the role of characters?
Do you see any similarities among Kafka's Joseph K. (in 'The Trial'), Orwell's Winston Smith (in 'Nineteen Eighty-Four') and Pinter's Victor (in 'One for the Road')?
The famous interrogation scene from the movie 'The Birthday Party':
The film version of the play can be viewed here:
Want to listen amazing video-speech by Harold Pinter on the occasion of his being awarded Nobel Prize in 2005?
Pinter, Harold. "Art, Truth & Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture." World Literature Today May-Jun 2006: 21-27.
—. The Birthday Party. New Delhi: Faber And Faber (penguin India), 1960, 1991.
The Birthday Party. By Harold Pinter. Dir. William Friedkin. Perf. Robert Shaw, et al. Prods. Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky. Continental Motion Pictures Corporation, 1968.
[1]Art Truth &Politics: Excerpts from the 2005 Nobel Lecture Author(s): Harold Pinter. Source: World Literature Today, Vol. 80, No. 3 (May - Jun., 2006), pp. 21-27Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40159078.
[2] Pinter's "The Birthday Party": The Film and the Play. Author(s): Harriet Deer and Irving Deer. Source: South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May, 1980), pp. 26-30Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language Association. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3199140
