Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning - (Guides to Research Methods in Language and Linguistics) (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

• Each chapter is written by a leading language policy expert and provides a how-to guide to planning studies as well as gathering and analyzing data
• Covers a broad range of methods, making it easily accessible to and useful for transdisciplinary researchers working with language policy in any capacity
• Will serve as both a foundational methods text for graduate students and novice researchers, and a useful methodological reference for experienced LPP researchers
• Includes a series of guidelines for public engagement to assist scholars as they endeavor to incorporate their work into the public policy process

From the Back Cover

"This timely book provides a much-needed resource for teachers and research students alike. It addresses a long-standing need in the field by offering a comprehensive survey by leading researchers of theoretical frameworks and analytic approaches in a single volume."
Tony Liddicoat, University of South Australia

"The study of language policy and planning has often been viewed with suspicion in the social sciences because the research methodologies deal with issues that are multi-faceted. This volume is meant to counter that view, and provide research methods that are more trustworthy."
Harold Schiffman, University of Pennsylvania

Language policy and planning (LPP) is one of the fastest growing sub-disciplines of applied linguistics. This book is the first volume that is exclusively devoted to research methods in language policy and planning. As in other areas of applied linguistics, LPP scholars have drawn upon an array of research methods from a range of disciplines. This book is designed as a practical roadmap for those methods.

Each chapter is written by a leading language policy expert and provides a how-to guide to planning studies, gathering data, and engaging with data analysis. In addition to this accessible structure, the book includes a series of guidelines for public engagement to help researchers as they endeavor to incorporate their work into public policy. Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide will serve as both a foundational methods text for graduate students and novice researchers and a useful methodological reference that experienced LPP researchers will find themselves returning to time and again.

Review Quotes

"[T]he book is a thoroughly enjoyable whistle-stop tour of research methods, highly readable and accessible at a glance. The suggestions from experts on research methods, data collection, potential research questions and literature dissemination will be highly valued by post-graduate or doctoral research students. The methodological rigor and topical richness will make this book appeal to LPP researchers, (critical) discourse analysts, applied linguists and scholars in bilingual/multilingual education research." - Wenge Chen, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2016

About the Author

Francis M. Hult is Associate Professor at the Lund University Centre for Languages and Literature. He is the co-editor (with Kendall A. King) of Educational Linguistics in Practice (2011), editor of Directions and Prospects for Educational Linguistics (2010), and co-editor (with Bernard Spolsky) of The Handbook of Educational Linguistics (Wiley, 2008).

David Cassels Johnson is Assistant Professor of Language Education at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Language Policy (2013).