A Comparative Analysis Of Experimental Studies On Foreign Language Teaching And Learning In And Outside China

Foreign language (L2) research entails many experimental studies on foreign language learning and teaching. The number of articles about experimental studies published in academic journals in and outside China is soaring. Moreover, it is easily found that various kinds of experimental studies have been employed to examine almost aspects of foreign language teaching and learning in China, such as foreign language learners and teachers, foreign language teaching and learning in classroom settings, teaching evaluation, new teaching modes with computer and Internet technologies, etc.However, the growing popularity of the use of experimental studies has been problematic. Carefully examining the experimental studies published in academic journals in recent years in and outside China, though highly qualified ones can be found, many of their problems can also be identified, such as improper design of research designs, lacking reporting of reliability and validity analysis, even the inappropriate statistical procedures for processing the data for research results.Based on previous studies on experimental studies and the appraisal of experimental studies, several questions emerge:What are the respective trend and domain of experimental studies in L2research outside and in China from2008till now? What is the research method of experimental studies published in and outside China, such as research design, data-collection procedure and statistical analysis? What about the quality of experimental studies? And are there any similarities and differences between experimental studies published outside China and in China? All these questions motivate our present study.We choose50experimental studies published outside China and50experimental studies published in China between2008and2013. Each report was independently coded for research topics, research designs, research subjects, data-collecting procedures and statistical analysis methods, and then the resulting data were examined cumulatively over the period of2008and2013and all these study features were compared between those in the sample outside China and in China. The findings indicate not only strengths and weaknesses of methodological quality in the sample, but also similarities and differences in study features between L2research outside China and in China.This research constitutes the first empirical study in China on the latest trend and domain of experimental studies outside China and in China between2008and2013and also on the description and assessment of their methodological quality. Theoretically, our study, especially its comparative approach to the sample outside China and in China, can contribute to the development of the theory of experimental studies in L2research. Practically, the revealed trend and domain of experimental studies and methodological features assist readers critically in appraising and determining their confidence to the findings when reading experimental studies and raising their methodological awareness in future studies.