An Analysis Of The Application Of Chinese And English Language Teaching Research Methods

Research method of the essay, especially the essay of core journals, is one of priority in the applied linguistics. The Chinese and Western scholars have different preference in the use of research method, therefore this study attempts to examine and compare current trends of research methods in second language teaching in China and the West. A review is conducted on second language teaching articles in four Chinese journals(Chinese Teaching in the World, TCSOL Studies, Chinese Language Learning, Language Teaching and Linguistic Studies), from 2005 to 2014, and four English journals (The Modern Language Journal, Language learning, TESOL Quarterly, Foreign Language Annals), from 2010 to 2014. These articles are categorized into quantitative, qualitative, mix-method and non-empirical studies, each in turn subcategorized.In my research, I found that non-empirical study took account for almost 50% in four Chinese Journal from 2005 to 2014. And quantitative research accounted for 45,88%, and qualitative research and mixed method took up for 5.4% and 2.4%, respectively. However, among the four English Journals, the percentage of non-empirical study just take small proportion. The quantitative study. qualitative study and mixed method took 52.04%,28.51% and 11.31% respectively. From the result, I concluded that the articles in Chinese journals need standardization because personal perspectives failed to carry conviction.What’s more, Chinese Journals are gradually turn to positivism. The number of empirical study increased from year to year. But the largest number of empirical study are quantitative study, which use single way to collect and analyze data.