A Comparative Analysis Of Questionnaire Surveys On Second Language Teaching And Learning In And Outside China

The empirical L2research involves the people (L2learners/teachers), situations, teaching methods, texts, etc., in language teaching and learning, which needs to collect quantitative or qualitative data. One of the most common methods of data collection is to use questionnaires of various kinds.The wide application of questionnaires in L2research has resulted in the accumulation of studies on questionnaire surveys. Qin (2008) identified the trend and domain of questionnaire surveys by reviewing the literature using questionnaires on second language teaching and learning published in2001through2007. However, the growing popularity of questionnaire use has been problematic, as Gao Xuesong (2004) revealed that in particular, one or two questionnaire tool tends to be used uncritically across different research contexts, in spite of the need to respect local realities.How are questionnaires used in L2research from2008till now? Is it still the case quoted from Dornyei (2010:xiii) that "It is all too common to find studies which start out with exciting research questions but are flawed by a badly designed or inadequately processed questionnaire". What is the recent trend and domain of questionnaire surveys in L2research? These questions motivate us to take an empirical approach towards examining the trend and domain of questionnaire surveys from2008till2013, as well as describing and evaluating their methodological quality.We surveyed a corpus of214and300study reports collected respectively outside and in China between2008and2013. Each report was independently coded for questionnaire topics, data-collection methods, statistical analyses, and reporting practices associated with the questionnaire quality and descriptive statistics, and 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 methodological strengths and weaknesses in the sample, but also similarities and differences in coded study features between questionnaire surveys outside China and in China, In addition to providing direction for future research and research practices, our findings are discussed and contextualized within the research culture of L2teaching and learning internationally and in China. This research constitutes the first empirical study in China on the latest trend and domain of questionnaire surveys 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 questionnaire data processing in L2research. Practically, the revealed trend and domain of questionnaire surveys and methodological features help readers critically appraise and determine their confidence to the findings when reading L2studies using questionnaires. Moreover, it can also keep L2researchers, especially those in China, informed of the status quo of questionnaires used in L2research and raise their methodological awareness in future studies with questionnaires as a data-collection method.